By Peter Amsterdam
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The Gospels tell us the story of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection, and they also address what He taught those who followed Him as disciples. Throughout the four Gospels we read about Jesus’ interactions with His followers, and their spiritual journey toward understanding who Jesus was, and issues that arose because of the way they sometimes misunderstood His teachings.
We find a general portrait of discipleship within the Gospels, with each Gospel sharing similarities when speaking of Jesus’ disciples, as well as some differences.1 For example, the Gospel of Luke speaks of the twelve disciples, who Jesus appointed as apostles (Luke 6:13), as well as a larger body of seventy-two disciples, over and above the twelve, who aren’t mentioned in the other Gospels (Luke 10:1). Luke’s Gospel also makes reference to a “multitude of disciples” who “began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen” (Luke 19:37).
The Gospels portray the disciples as ordinary people who made mistakes, misunderstood what Jesus said, argued among themselves, exhibited pride and selfishness, but who also stuck with Jesus when others left, and who eventually came to understand that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God (Matthew 16:16).
During Jesus’ lifetime, Jewish men who wished to honor God by fully obeying His Word would sometimes become disciples of rabbis. To do so would require that they choose a specific rabbi whom they would learn from and serve, and then they entered into a master-disciple relationship with that rabbi. However, Jesus reversed the usual process when it came to His disciples, as He chose His followers.
As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him (Matthew 9:9).
He said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you (John 15:16).
While Jesus chose and called His disciples, it was His disciples who responded to His call. We see this in the cases of the brothers Simon (Peter) and Andrew, who “immediately … left their nets and followed him,” and James and John, who “left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him” (Mark 1:17–20).
Responding to the call of discipleship resulted in a significant change of lifestyle for the disciples, as Jesus said: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:23–24). Discipleship in Jesus’ lifetime meant giving primary allegiance to Christ.
This allegiance took various forms in the Gospels. The twelve apostles, as well as others of Jesus’ disciples, were called to leave their professions, property, and family to follow Jesus in His ministry.
While all disciples were called to count the cost of discipleship, the call to follow Jesus as He traveled from town to town was not intended for all of them. This is seen, for example, in the story about the man who, after Jesus had delivered him from a demon, begged Jesus to let him follow Him as a disciple. Jesus’ response was, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” We then read that “he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled” (Mark 5:18–20). He obeyed Jesus, and successfully preached about Him, thus acting as a disciple, without joining Jesus in His travels.
Joseph of Arimathea became a disciple at some point, but apparently remained within the Jewish religious establishment. The Gospels note that he was “a respected member of the council” (Mark 15:43) and “a rich man … who was also a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews” (Matthew 27:57). He showed his allegiance as a disciple when he went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus and placed it in his own tomb (John 19:38). Even in Jesus’ time, the definition of discipleship didn’t always include people leaving their jobs, homes, or families.
It’s clear from the Gospels that the disciples were far from being perfect, and they often didn’t understand what Jesus taught. We also see that they grew in understanding as time went on. We read how, in spite of their weaknesses, Jesus taught and corrected them so that they grew strong enough to make more disciples and to help spread the gospel throughout their world.
In the book of Acts, Luke refers to believing in and following Jesus as being synonymous with discipleship. We read in Acts that Paul came to Ephesus, and “there he found some disciples”who, when asked if they had received the Holy Spirit upon believing in Christ, had “not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit” (Acts 19:1–2). These believers in Jesus (referred to in this context as disciples) had not yet heard about the Holy Spirit.
After Paul and Barnabas had preached in a number of cities, we’re told that they returned to them, “strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22–23). Here again, we see believers being called disciples. In the latter part of the book of Acts and in the Epistles, we find that believers came to be called “the church,” and were eventually referred to as Christians (Acts 11:26).
In various places in the Gospels, we also read that women were part of His group of disciples, and some of them accompanied Jesus during His travels (Luke 8:1–2). These women followed Jesus when He went to Jerusalem, were present at His crucifixion, and were the first to arrive at the empty tomb after His resurrection. In the book of Acts, we read of women having significant roles within the church. When a disciple named Tabitha is spoken of, the word “disciple” is used in the female form—affirming that both men and women were considered disciples (Acts 9:36).
When we recognize that being a Christian is synonymous with being a disciple of Jesus, then we understand that Jesus’ teachings for discipleship apply to all believers. It isn’t just guidance for people who have been called to full-time Christian service, such as missionaries, Christian workers, pastors, or preachers. Jesus’ words are directed to all believers, and all of us are called to believe and enact those words.
Many of Jesus’ instructions to His followers are very challenging, such as Jesus’ teachings of self-denial, taking up the cross daily, following in His footsteps, and realigning our relationship with material wealth. In the Gospel of John, we read of some disciples who had followed Jesus for a time, but left Him after He made a statement that was difficult for them to receive. “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’ … After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:60, 66).
While they had initially made some measure of commitment, they left Him. The phrase turned back indicates that they returned to the things they had left behind. They turned away from discipleship.
For the many who believed in and followed Jesus during His lifetime and beyond, the call to discipleship—to belief in Jesus and a willingness to live His teaching—came at a steep personal cost. Being His follower required commitment, dedication, and self-sacrifice, and He made this quite clear in what He preached and taught.
One such teaching on discipleship is found in Luke’s gospel, where he tells of three would-be disciples, two of whom express the desire to become Jesus’ followers and one whom Jesus calls. “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head’” (Luke 9:57–58).
We’re not told how this person responded to Jesus’ comment, but the message is clear: belief in the Lord and living for Him comes with a cost.
“To another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he said, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God’” (Luke 9:59–60).
Jesus called this man to follow Him, and unlike some of His other disciples who immediately left their nets and boats and jobs and followed Him, this man sought to fulfill a family obligation before following Jesus. Considering the importance placed on burying one’s parents, it’s most likely that this man’s father had not just died.2 The man was saying that he had to postpone following Jesus until he had fulfilled his responsibility to his father for as long as his father was alive—which possibly meant for years or decades.
The point of this passage was not to denigrate familial obligations or relationships; elsewhere, Jesus called out the Pharisees for not honoring their parents (Matthew 15:3–9). Rather, here He makes the point that following Him calls for a reframing of former allegiances, as we give God and His kingdom the highest place in our priorities. This doesn’t mean that our other loyalties to family and friends and to our responsibilities are unimportant, but that our commitment to Christ comes first.
In these examples, we are taught that the call to God’s kingdom must take precedence. Being a disciple—someone who believes and applies the teachings of Jesus, whose goal is to walk with God—commits a person to reorient their life in a way that is in alignment with God’s priorities.
Originally published September 2017. Adapted and republished May 2026. Read by Jon Marc.
1 The points in this article are summarized from the section “Discipleship,” by M. J. Wilkins, in The Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (Edited by Joel B. Green and Scot McKnight. InterVarsity Press, 1992), 182–188.
2 Kenneth E. Bailey, Through Peasant Eyes (Eerdmans, 1980), 26.
