As we study Jesus’ disciples we can discover what it means to be a disciple, and apply their lessons to ourselves as we strive to be the best disciples we can be. We understand that the principles of discipleship that we see born out in the lives of the disciples of Jesus’ time are the same principles that guide us today, though the challenges and circumstances we face are different from theirs.

The word disciple means learner; in Hebrew the word is talmid, one who learns. In Jesus’ time, disciples were followers “who wholeheartedly gave themselves over to their teachers… The essence of the relationship was one of trust in every area of living, and its goal was to make the talmid like his rabbi (teacher, master) in knowledge, wisdom and ethical behavior.” (David Stern)

Jesus’ first call to discipleship mentioned in the Gospels is in
Matt 4:19-20 “Come, follow me”, Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed Him.

This single verse of scripture provides a wealth of information that reveals much of what we need to know about what a disciple is and how we can be good disciples. Let us take it piece by piece.
We see in this verse first the Invitation, then the Intention, and finally the Imperative.

To show just how open His invitation is, Jesus uses this simple word, "Come" throughout the gospels. Here are just a few samples:

Matt 1:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
To the rich man:
Matt 19:21 Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor…and come and follow me.
John 7:37 If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
The risen Christ appears to Peter and the other men who went fishing:
John 21:12 Come and dine!
After Jesus is risen the Angel of the Lord invites the women to inspect the tomb:
Matt 28:6 Come see the place where the Lord lay.
After encountering Jesus in the Revelation, John issues this invitation in the last chapter of the bible:
Rev 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say Come. And let everyone who hears say Come, and let all who are thirsty come.

John 13:34 I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. As I have loved you, so you should have love for one another.
In the ancient Hebrew command through Moses we learned to love our neighbor as ourselves. Now we are given a higher challenge – to love our neighbor as Jesus loves us. This is one way we become His followers.

When Jesus first began His ministry, He went about preaching:
Mark 1:15 “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
That was His basic message to the masses. So when He sent out His disciples to spread His teachings, He told them:
Matt 10:7 “As you go, preach this message: The kingdom of heaven is near.”

Do we as modern day disciples understand what it means that the Kingdom of God is near, or that people should repent and believe the good news? What is the good news? If we are followers of Jesus in the world, we must learn these things by examining the Word of God, and be ready to lovingly explain what we believe, and address the concerns of those who challenge or question us with understanding and certainty that we are standing on the Truth.

About Learning from Jesus
Jesus’ disciples asked a lot of questions, sometimes seemingly dumb questions.
“How many times should we forgive?”
“Why do you always speak in parables?”
“Is this man blind because of his own sin, or because of the sin of his parents?”

We must also ask questions, sometimes dumb ones. The questions of the disciples gave Jesus an opportunity to teach. We must not only ask our questions, but we must also seek for an answer. Keep in mind that although Jesus heard the questions of the disciples, He did not always answer their questions directly, but sometimes with mind-bending symbolism and parable. Prepare to be challenged in your mind and your spirit. Prepare to receive answers that you do not necessarily wish to hear. The truth of the Gospel is not necessarily designed for your comfort in this life, but you will receive a reward of great comfort and joy in the world to come, for all eternity. Is that worth being bounced out of your comfort zone?

Jesus also rebuked the disciples when they were in the wrong. Likewise, part of our commitment to being followers of Jesus is our willingness to be corrected when we are in the wrong, corrected either by another person, or from God allowing a circumstance or our conscience to rebuke us. For encouragement in this, here is a tiny sampling from the book of Proverbs of truths concerning rebuke:
“A wise child loves discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.”
“One who heeds reproof is honored.”
“A fool despises a parent’s instruction, but the one who heeds admonition is prudent.”
“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but those who hate to be rebuked are stupid.”
“Those who ignore instruction despise themselves, but those who heed admonition gain understanding.”

Some of Jesus’ teachings are hard to accept. We see that the disciples had difficulties with them:
John 6:60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
We may likewise encounter truths that are difficult to swallow. Some disciples abandoned Jesus when they couldn’t accept His teachings.

The Intention
When we read in scripture as we do here that “Jesus said…”, we can be sure that what follows is the truth, because Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We can stand on what He says as on the firmest, surest foundation. Let that faith in the truth of Jesus position the way we read His words to the disciples, by establishing those words as undeniable truth.

As we move on to the Intention of Jesus in His call to His first disciples, we see that he says ”I will make you”. Jesus is declaring that He will do the work of transforming His disciples into what He wants them to be.

Jesus taught as one having authority given Him by the Most High God; with authority and power he commanded the unclean spirits to come out of people; he had authority on earth to forgive people.
Matt 28:18 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

When he says “I will make you”, we understand that although we can’t do this task ourselves, Jesus transfers onto us His authority, and in Him we can do all things. With Jesus’ authority the disciples are equipped to answer His call with assurance of success. God Himself is authorizing us in this endeavor.

As He is sending out the disciples He tells them:
Luke 9:1 Then Jesus called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.
As they come back He tells them:
Luke 10:34 See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you

When Jesus is to depart from this world, He promises another source of authority to teach in His place:
John 14:26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
John 16:13,15 But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth…the Spirit will take from what is Mine and make it known to you.

What higher calling is there than to allow Jesus to make us into what He wants us to be? And what does Jesus want us to be? He wants to make the disciples, and us, fishers of men - people who will draw more people into the Kingdom of God; evangelists.

Jesus has chosen a metaphor for what He will make of these men from their personal experience as fishermen. By choosing their form of work to describe how He will use them, He is making it clear that what they will be doing as evangelists will also be work, but a new sort of work for a new goal. Later He uses a different metaphor of work to say the same thing:
Matt 9:37-38 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.

As disciples, we will be partnering with Jesus in the Father’s work project:
John 9:4 We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work.

We will be expected to bear much fruit in our work:
John 15:16 And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last…
Bearing much fruit as fishers of men means that we bring many to the kingdom:
Matt 28: 19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.

The beautiful symmetry we see in Jesus’ Intention is that just as He says, “Come, …I will make you” in His first call to His disciples, so after He has completed their three year course of study, the Great Commission has Jesus telling the disciples to “Go, … and make.” First “Come and be made”, then “Go, and yourselves make others.”

Jesus doesn’t promise that our nets will always be full, but He has defined our work for us.

The Imperative
The disciples acted “At once” on the invitation given by Jesus. What was so attractive about the man Jesus, His countenance, His words or His reputation, that would compel them to leave their nets without looking back? Perhaps the Holy Spirit was working in their hearts to impress them with the urgent need to respond to something they did not yet fully understand. They did understand that the invitation couldn’t wait.

Matt 8:21-22 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead. (meaning, let me live with my father until he dies and I get his inheritance, then I can come be a disciple. If the father had been dead and not buried, this man would be sitting Shiva at his home according to Hebrew custom.)

If we say, “I’m not ready right now” we risk losing our chance, because tomorrow is not guaranteed. Jesus is extending an offer to be remade by Him into what He wants us to be. What could be more important than that? What could anyone possibly offer that would be better than what Jesus has offered?

They left their nets. The disciples made the choice to leave the lives they had known – their livelihoods, steady income, family and the comforts of home, to give themselves over to being disciples of Jesus. For this they paid a price and for this they received a reward.

A price they paid was that they left behind the securities and comforts that the world has to offer. They lived, as Jesus did, as itinerants, or homeless people. They were not assured of a meal or a place to rest.
Matt 8:20 And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.

They entered into a life that turned away from the values of the world, to embrace the values of a spiritually based existence. While this may seem like a great sacrifice, we can be sure that it was rewarding.

Luke 14: 26 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.
Hate in this verse means to prefer one thing over another. We may not have to sell all our possessions and go live as Jesus and the twelve did, but like them we have to make our discipleship the highest priority of our lives. We have to prefer our learning relationship with Jesus and our commitment to be His disciples over all else - other relationships, goals, self-identity, activities and possessions. In the disciple’s life, God’s will is more important than our will.

Here’s how the Hebrew scriptures (Old Testament) say it:
Psalm 45:10-11 Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear; Forget your people and your father’s house. The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for He is your Lord.

In Matt 10 Jesus lists some of the more unpleasant treatment the disciples could look forward to encountering: that people will hand you over to the local councils, flog you, arrest you, hate you, persecute you and kill you because of Jesus. In many nations of the world the truth of this is felt in ways we can only imagine. Visit Persecution.com for a look at Christians who are currently incarcerated around the world for their faith.

Here is a wonderful and encouraging statement about the rewards the disciples could anticipate for all that they sacrificed:
Mark 10:28-30 Then Peter began to say to Him, "See, we have left all and followed You." So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life.”

And followed him.
Luke 14: 27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran theologian imprisoned in a concentration camp in WWII and hanged at age 39 wrote, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

Each of the disciples, with the exception of the one who betrayed Jesus, played a major role in spreading the teachings of Jesus in the years after His crucifixion. They followed Him, learned from Him and themselves became teachers and spreaders of the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation He offers. All except John died a martyr’s death: