What the Four Gospels Say About Making Disciples and Discipleship

Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations, so how do we make disciples and be discipled by God?

The Gospel of John

Jesus commands us to make disciples of all nations, so how do we make disciples and be discipled by God? We begin our look at what the gospels say about making disciples with the Gospel of John, where we see many of his disciples heard His teaching and later fell away, saying, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it” (John 6:65), so “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him” (John 6:66). True disciples don’t fall away from following Christ. We not only follow Him but Jesus reminds us, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31).

The Apologetic of Love

If we love people who don’t deserve it, we’re more like God than at any other time. God loved us even while we were wicked, ungodly sinners, and enemies of Him (Rom 5:6-10), but God didn’t give us what we deserved, but what we needed, and that was mercy. What an act of love (John 3:16). How will people know we’re Jesus’ disciples? It is by loving those who don’t deserve it. We don’t give them what they deserve any more than God gave us what we deserved (His wrath). Instead, He gave us mercy and grace, so we must shower people with the same. Our love for one another can draw people to Christ, especially by loving our enemies, and it is “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). If we bear godly fruit, we not only glorify God, but we “prove to be [Jesus’] disciples” (John 15:8).

The Gospel of Matthew

One man who thought he was one of Jesus’ disciples revealed that he truly wasn’t, saying, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father” (Matt 8:21). Disciples will forsake all to follow Him. Speaking of Jesus, even “when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him” (Matt 8:23). Do we? To follow Jesus is to obey His command to go and make disciples (Matt 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). Then, these new disciples can enter into the harvest of souls. Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matt 9:37). Jesus’ own disciples then went out to make other disciples (Matt 11:1), as we must also do.

The Gospel Offends

Matthew 15:12 is where the disciples seem to be concerned about hurting the Pharisees feelings, which is why “the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” The gospel does offend most people at first. Exceedingly few hear the gospel the first time and then put their trust in Christ immediately. We can’t worry about offending people;’ we should worry about keeping silent about the gospel. We have to deny our own feelings of not wanting to cause people to not like us. It’s natural that we don’t want to offend people, but it’s our duty before God to share Christ. Our Lord reminds us that “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Matt 16:24). Crosses are heavy, and the weight of persecution sometimes bears down on us, but we must do share Christ out of love; love for the sinner as God did for us (Rom 5:6-10). Even though the gospel offends, it also saves. The Word of God comforts the afflicted, but it afflicts the comfortable.

The Gospel of Mark

At first, Jesus had thousands following Him as we read in Mark 3:7 where Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and “a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea.” Even when He “came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him” (Mark 6:1). Mark’s theme about the gospel is similar to Matthew’s in that Jesus calls “the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). The cross is not a head cold or having the flu or even having cancer. The cross relates to persecutions that the believer faces; Persecution from family, co-workers and even strangers with whom you share the gospel with. Jesus was never sick, so His cross wasn’t arthritis or some illness, but the cross of persecution. Since we claim to follow Christ, we must bear the cross of persecution.

The Gospel of Luke

Luke, the Physician and Evangelist, says that Jesus’ disciples are blessed by the miracles that they have seen with their own eyes, because even the ancient prophets longed to see their Messiah. This explains what in Luke 10:23 Jesus turned “to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see!”

Jesus’ disciples also don’t stress about tomorrow. They trust in the God of the Universe who not only owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10)…He owns the hills too. In Luke 12:22 Jesus “said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.” We’re never more like atheists as when we worry. We can understand why atheists worry, because everything doesn’t work out for their good because they’re not called by God (Rom 8:28), and they are their only resource. They have no supernatural help when needed, as Jesus’ disciples do (see Mark 4:35-41; 6:47-53).

Bearing Our Cross

And once again, we hear from the gospels the requirement to bear our own cross. This is mentioned in all four gospels, showing its importance. No one can bear our cross, for “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27). And that’s very costly, since “any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).

Conclusion

Matthew 28:19 commands us to “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 I pray God will use you as a means to save some. There is no disciple-making without evangelism and without evangelism, we can’t make disciples.

As for you, I pray you have put your trust in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If that has not happened yet, my friend, you are in real danger of hell fire. And I mean, in immediate danger. You’re one breath, one heartbeat…one accident away from eternity when it will be too late to repent. Today is the best day to believe (2 Cor 6:2) since tomorrow is no guarantee. If Jesus Christ came today, here is your fate (Matt 7:21-23). This is why I plead with you as you read this, repent today…and I mean right now. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. If you do not, you will face God’s judgment after death guaranteed (Heb 9:27) or at Jesus Christ’s appearance (Rev 20:12-15), which could happen at any moment.

Here is some related reading for you: Who Are the Disciples of Christ?

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Tagged as: Discipleship, evangelism, Great Commission, Making Disciples