Seeing the kingdom at work

Jesus began His ministry preaching the kingdom of God, and healing those who came to Him. As He made disciples, He began to teach them. As His disciples followed Him, they watched Him as He dealt with individuals. What they saw as they watched Him was essential in discipleship. The Word needs to become flesh; teaching needs to be illustrated in life.

Matthew gives a number of separate events of what the disciples witnessed between the Sermon on the Mount and when Jesus sent out twelve apostles. Mark and Luke record some of these as well; the account in Luke is probably more chronological for that was Luke's intention. Matthew usually begins each account with "and when"; Matthew is relating events, not necessarily the chronological order of the events.

These events gave the disciples a working understanding of the kingdom of God; this is what prepared them to be sent out and preach. A physician commented that during his training in surgery the rule was "see one, do one, teach one". He was shown once how to do a particular procedure, then he was expected to perform that procedure, and then he was expected to be able to teach that procedure to another. These events were the "see one" step in the lives of the apostles.

These events also address significant issues, but instead of a lengthy explanation which could be misunderstood, the disciples witnessed the practical application. The memory of the event would endure better than a explanation. When the disciples were ready to understand the concept, they were already familiar with the application.

Matthew records 15 separate events between the Sermon on the Mount and the choosing of the apostles. These events were part of how Jesus made disciples; in many of these events Jesus gave a short teaching as He acted.

These events deal with issues of theology: the will of God, the work of salvation, free will, power, prayer for others, relationships in the world, traditions, healing, and ministry. But His disciples were not listening to a lecture in a classroom, they were simply following this Man. Everything they witnessed was a work of God in life; they were being taught applied theology.

This is an essential part of discipleship. This is how Jesus made disciples; this is how we are to make disciples.

We are making disciples of ourselves every day in one way or another. Every choice we make and every thing we say is communicating something. We may not be communicating what we would like to, but we are communicating who we actually are. Those who are part of our life are learning; we are teaching one another. We may be teaching how God works in life or we may be teaching how we try to make things work.

The disciples of Jesus Christ became like Jesus Christ. They could say "Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ." They had followed Him; they had witnessed what He really did and how He really acted. Discipleship is imitation.

Our disciples will become like us.