Disciple, Discipleship
During Jesus' earthly ministry, and during the days of the early church, the term that was used most frequently to designate one of Jesus' followers was "disciple" (mathetes [maqhthv"], 262 times). Hence, discipleship is a central theological theme of the Gospels and Acts. The situation is different in the Old Testament and in the rest of the New Testament. There is a curious scarcity of words for "disciple" in the Old Testament, and mathetes [maqhthv"] does not occur at all in the Epistles and Revelation. However, other terms and expressions point to abundant theological concepts of discipleship everywhere in Scripture. Discipleship enjoys its most concrete expression in Scripture when Jesus walked with his disciples during his earthly ministry. Yet the Old Testament prepares for that relationship, and the Epistles and Revelation describe how that relationship was carried out after Jesus' ascension.
Called to a Relationship with God. The roots of biblical discipleship go deep into the fertile soil of God's calling. That calling is expressed in the pattern of divine initiative and human response that constitutes the heart of the biblical concept of covenant, manifested in the recurrent promise, "I will be your God, and you shall be my people." That call from Yahweh is reiterated in the call of Jesus, when he said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" ( Matt 11:28 ). God has called his people to represent him on the earth, to be with him in every circumstance of life, to be transformed in personal character to be like him. That calling is at the heart of biblical discipleship, both in the Old and New Testaments.
God and Israel. The ideal of discipleship in the Old Testament is the covenant relationship between Israel and God. Although the call came from God to individualsAbraham, Isaac, and Jacobit was directed toward their offspring ( Gen 13:15 ). God was creating a national community that would be his people. In turn, his people were to be a source of blessing to all peoples of the earth ( Gen 12:1-3 ). That calling was reiterated and confirmed in the exodus from Egypt and in the wilderness ( Exod 13:21-22 ). No other person or god was to take a place of preeminence and thus usurp God. While God placed men and women in leadership roles (e.g., Moses, Joshua, the judges, prophets), they were only intermediate leaders. God alone was to have the place of preeminence.
The ideal form of discipleship for Israel was the nation in covenantal relationship with God. That ideal is richly expressed in the prophets as they look ahead to the time when Israel would have the ultimate realization of that relationship. Isaiah expresses the personal nature of this relationship in the prophecies of the new covenant ( Isa 30:20-21 ; 31:31-34 ).
When giving the Law to Israel in the wilderness God stressed his covenant intent: "I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people" ( Lev 26:12 ). The nation was called to a relationship in which God was with his people.
Jesus and His Disciples. The Old Testament theme of God with his people finds explicit fulfillment in Jesus with his people. The promise of a coming Davidic Messiah is intertwined with the promise that God himself would be with his people. The significance of Matthew's interpretation of the meaning of Jesus' name, "Immanuel, " therefore, cannot be overstated: "The virgin will be with Child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call him Immanuel'which means, God with us'" ( Matt 1:23 ). In Jesus, God has come to be with his people, to fulfill the deepest meaning of the covenantGod with his people as Master, Lord, and Savior.