Discipleship in the Gospel of Luke

Since we are currently studying the Gospel of Mark at Geist Community Church I thought it might be interesting to look at another Gospel writer's take on discipleship.

The concept of discipleship in the Gospel of Luke is not only implicitly modeled by Jesus but explicitly taught by Him as well. Luke in particular views discipleship in much broader terms than Matthew or Mark.[1]  As Goodnough explains, in Luke “Jesus’ disciples included a large number of followers.”[2] So, just so we are all on the same page for this post let me propose Goodnough's definition for discipleship as “a comprehensive process of coming to faith in Jesus Christ and growing in commitment to him throughout a lifetime.”[3]

Let's first look at Christ’s model of discipleship in Luke's Gospel and then evaluate three major passages where He explicitly taught on discipleship.

     Christ’s Model of Discipleship

In order to study the concept of discipleship in Luke it is of the utmost importance to look at the life of Jesus Christ. The twelve apostles (including the "betrayer," Judas) were privileged to witness Jesus’ model first-hand for around three years. They observed first-hand Jesus’ incredible commitment to fulfill the will of the Father even as they saw Him being beaten and hung on the cross. We too are privileged to have a written record of Jesus modeling discipleship in the Gospels. To facilitate our understanding of discipleship in Luke it is important to look at four main ways in which Jesus’ life and ministry clearly illustrated the concept of discipleship.

First, Jesus’ modeling of discipleship clearly involved building relationships. These relationships were not limited merely to the twelve disciples. Throughout the book of Luke Jesus speaks to crowds of people numbering into the thousands. Luke 12:1 says that “a crowd of many thousands had gathered” just to hear the incredible teaching of Jesus. Goodnough points out that “While it is true that in the later part of Jesus’ ministry He did focus more and more attention on the twelve disciples, He never abandoned His ministry to the crowds.”[4] In Luke 19:37 Jesus was riding the colt down the Mount of Olives making His final trip to Jerusalem and what Luke describes as a “whole crowd of disciples” began praising Jesus.

Jesus obviously had varying degrees of intimacy among those whom he referred to as His disciples. In Luke 10:1 Jesus appointed 72 others and sent them out in groups of two. In Luke 6:12-16 Jesus called His disciples to him and chose twelve of them whom he designated apostles. There were more than twelve disciples, but it was the core of twelve that Jesus chose to concentrate on developing relationships with. Of those twelve, Jesus also seemed to have a much closer relationship with Peter, John, and James as those are the three disciples He chose to reveal His glory to on the mountain in Luke 9:28-36. Regardless of the varying degrees of intimacy, it is clear that Jesus developed relationships with those He was leading.

The second way in which Jesus modeled discipleship was by focusing on the personal development of others through teaching and real life scenarios. Of the twelve apostles that Jesus originally chose, none of them were skilled in theology or Old Testament studies. Jesus made it a priority to develop them personally by teaching them what it means to be a disciple. He focused on developing them through many different situations. As stated earlier, the twelve disciples witnessed Jesus’ miracles first-hand as He fed over five thousand people in Luke 9 and healed a blind beggar in Luke 18. Jesus also put them in situations where they were forced to exercise their faith, or lack there of, in passages like Luke 8:22 when Jesus calmed the storm.

Third, Jesus modeled discipleship by making prayer a priority in His ministry. The first mention of Jesus praying in Luke’s Gospel is found near the beginning of His ministry in Luke 5:16 where it says “Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Again in Luke 6:12 is says “Jesus when out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.” Jesus not only modeled prayer, but he modeled it in a specific manner. Jesus’ prayer was done in private and often at the most difficult times for our human bodies to respond physically, early in the morning or late at night. Jesus likewise called upon His disciples to pray in Luke 22:40, in perhaps one of the most vivid images of Christ’s anguish as His death on the cross drew near.

Finally, Jesus modeled discipleship in the ultimate way possible by obeying the will of the Father and willingly dying on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for sin. He proved that He was completely committed to the will of the Father by giving of His own life. In Luke 14:11 and 18:14 Jesus said, “for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” The Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:8 that Jesus “humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.” Jesus exhibited the ultimate form of humility possible by giving of His own life and thus perfectly modeled true discipleship.

     Christ’s Teaching on Discipleship

The entire Gospel of Luke is filled with Jesus’ teaching on discipleship. There are, however, three main passages in Luke where Christ explicitly taught on discipleship.

Luke 9:23-27

In this first passage, Christ clearly “made high demands on those who would be His true disciples.” [5] This paper will briefly highlight two main calls of Christ in the passage. The first call of Christ toward true discipleship is that self denial and taking up one’s own cross daily. Weirsbe reminds us, “In the Roman world, the cross was a symbol of shame, guilt, suffering, and rejection. There could be no more despicable way to die. Crucifixion was not mentioned in polite conversation, and the people would no more think of wearing crosses on their person than we would think of wearing gold or silver electric chairs.” [6] In the shadow of just explaining His coming death and resurrection He calls all those who follow Him to “be prepared every day to die for Him.”[7] Discipleship is not just a one time thing. It is a daily commitment to following Christ even unto death.

The second main call of Christ in this passage is the call not to be ashamed of the Son of Man. Pentecost points out that in 9:26 Jesus basically states that “those who have rejected Him will be excluded from His kingdom. Only those who have received him will be accepted into that kingdom.”[8] When writing on this passage Bock states “discipleship is not easy, but difficult, for it involves suffering. The cost of total discipleship is the giving up of self for God.”[9]

Luke 9:57-62

The second main passage that deals with Christ’s teaching on discipleship is found at the end of Luke 9. Having already established earlier in the chapter that discipleship requires self-denial Luke transitions to issue three reminders about the requirements of discipleship after the disciples witness Jesus’ rejection in Samaria in 9:51-56. The first reminder in 9:57-58 is a reminder that Christ’s disciples are separated from this world. Even as foxes have holes and birds have nests, those who follow Christ as His true disciples do not have a home in this world. Bock explains that “disciples must recognize that they will be distanced from the world by their discipleship, and that family matters may suffer inattention in comparison to their discipleship.”[10]

The second reminder is that of the preeminence of proclaiming the kingdom of God over all other aspects of life, 9:59-60. Commitment to discipleship requires abandonment of personal goals and desires for that of the Lord. Bock surmises that “disciples must place Jesus and the kingdom first.”[11] Again, Jesus was the perfect model to follow in this regard having subjected Himself to the will of the Father even unto death on the cross.

The third and final reminder of this section is that commitment to Christ must not only be first, but it must remain constant, 9:61-62. A true disciple cannot commit to Christ and begin the work of the ministry and then turn back and put other things in life ahead of Christ. Hobbs correctly points out that none of the men in this passage who wanted to follow Christ “possessed the qualities necessary for successful discipleship.”[12]

Luke 14:25-35

This specific passage of Luke provides one of the most explicit descriptions of discipleship in the teachings of Jesus. Bock explains that in this passage Luke is essentially asking, “If the Jewish leadership does not teach the way to follow God, then what is required to follow God?”[13] In the midst of immense popularity Jesus was teaching to large crowds of people when he suddenly turned and said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.” Imagine the stir that Jesus’ words must have created in that large crowd! Hobbs comments on this verse by saying, “Jesus said that if one would be His disciple he must be prepared to choose Him over every one of life’s closest relationships. What is more, he must choose Jesus over life itself if such a choice is necessary.”[14] It is important to note that this verse does not mean that a disciple of Christ must completely ignore their family responsibilities and obligations. Other passages in Scripture clearly teach that husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and children all have responsibilities.

In the next verse, 14:27, Jesus returns to the same call to carry one’s own cross as He used in 9:23. Thus, Jesus clearly teaches that “no one can be His disciple who is not prepared to die daily for Him.”[15] The core of discipleship means placing Christ above all other areas of our own life. Discipleship according to Jesus’ teaching in this passage of Luke requires that our priorities be arranged properly.

Jesus then gives two illustrations using a builder and a king as examples in 9:28-32. The purpose of these illustrations was to show in a more tangible way the incredible cost of discipleship. Hobbs explains, “The point of these parables is that one should count the cost before proposing to be His disciple. There is no need of attempting it unless one is willing to pay the price. Anything less is not true discipleship.”[16]

Jesus then makes a comparison, “in the same way,” to that of material possessions in 14:33 by requiring disciples to be willing to “give up everything he has.” Bock explains, “Jesus seeks to lead people in doing the Father’s will, offering to the disciple the treasures of heaven.”[17] Discipleship means being able to give up momentary treasures in this life and look with great expectation to the eternal treasures waiting in the Kingdom of God.

In the final two verses of this section Jesus turns to use the image of salt. Salt is useful because it performs a function. If salt didn’t provide saltiness that it would be absolutely useless. In the same way, discipleship requires a complete and total commitment to the work of the ministry so that one doesn’t become useless.

Overall, this passage provides a vivid reminder that discipleship does not come without a price. Bock summarizes this section by saying,

                          “discipleship is demanding. Jesus asks both
                           the disciple and the potential disciple to
                           consider the cost of following him. It is
                           better to assess the risk, complete the task,
                           and remain useful to God. Associating with
                           God is not an easy affair. Commitments
                           come with the territory. In fact, Jesus is to
                           come ahead of all one’s possessions, family
                           and soul. It is embarrassing and fatal
                           to enter into discipleship and not complete
                           the task.” [18]

     Conclusion

The concept of discipleship in the Gospel of Luke is far more than a label or a simple one time act. It is an abiding condition of life for any follower of Christ. Citing the three passages discussed in this paper Zuck and Bock state,

                        “Above all, Jesus made it clear that discipleship
                          is a total commitment of one’s life and self to
                          God. In terms of God’s expectation and will,
                          there is no minimal discipleship; what He
                          desires is everything.”[19]

Discipleship is something radical. The cost is far more than some are willing to pay, as evidenced by Christ’s teaching. Bock reminds us, “Any disciple who would follow Jesus needs to understand that this choice will require complete commitment.”[20] For those who are willing to count the cost and be a disciple of Christ, we have Jesus’ incredible model of discipleship to follow as recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

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[1] Dana L. Goodnough. “Jesus’ Ministry as a Model for Discipleship Training.” (D.Min. Dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 20020, 26.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Goodnough, 40.

[4] Goodnough, 67.

[5] J. Dwight Pentecost, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing, 1981), 254.

[6] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary. (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1996, c1989), 218.

[7] Herschel H. Hobbs, An Exposition of the Gospel of Luke. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1966), 160.

[8] Pentecost, 255.

[9] Darrell L. Bock, Luke, volume 1: 1:1-9:50. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1994), 851.

[10] Darrell L. Bock, Luke, volume 2: 9:51-24:53. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), 977.

[11] Bock, 977.

[12] Hobbs, 177.

[13] Bock, 1280.

[14] Hobbs, 230.

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Bock, 1290.

[18] Ibid, 1292.

[19] Roy B. Zuck, Darrell L. Bock, A Biblical Theology of the New Testament. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1996), 115.

[20] Bock, 974.