What was the work of the desciples?

Answer 1

The primary work of the disciples was to learn from Jesus Christ. A disciple is, by definition, a learner. Each disciple had a teacher, which was called a Rabbi. That is why Jesus was called a Rabbi. When Jesus called them to be His disciples, they understood that they were enrolling in a religious school.

Though they were to learn from Jesus Christ, their primary subject was Jesus Christ. He said, "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." Matthew 11:28, 29

a. Before work could be done, resting must occur for Jesus' disciples. He viewed people as "tired and burdened", primarily because of the legalistic religion of his time. It was a merit system (Acts 15:1), whereby a disciple received blessings from God because of their personal goodness. Consequently, it was a system of enslavement to fear (Romans 8:15). Jesus taught that it was a cruel religion (Matthew 12:11, 12), and that it left people as inordinately proud of their religious achievements (Matthew 23:5-9). Furthermore, He called disciples from a powerless religion according to Matthew 23:3 and Romans 2:21-23.

b. He invited people to "take His yoke upon them". To the people of that day, the "yoke" was a wooden frame for the shoulders. According to 1 Timothy 6:1 the Greek word zugon translated "yoke", was used for servitude. The Rabbis who taught as contemporaries of Christ spoke of the "yoke of the law." By it, they meant their legalistic interpretation of the law of Moses. The Rabbis' disciples were thought to be enslaved to the Law of Moses. In contrast to that, Jesus presented Himself as being a greater Moses, and as being the one that the law pointed to as Messiah.

c. Indeed people were to take Jesus' yoke. Thus, they were to obey His commandments, just as those under the law were enjoined to do all that was contained in the law. But, unlike discipleship to the law, obedience to Jesus' commandments was not considered to be burdensome (1 John 5:3)

d. Jesus said to "take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:29, 30) He presented Himself as very much suited to peope who were oppressed by religion, because He was humble also. He shunned and disdained those who were proud religionists. He did not chide His disciples over trivial matters.

e. Jesus taught that in Him the disciples would find rest, which would be given to them as a gift. The "resting" was the reward of coming to Chrst and learning of Him. It was imperative that His disciples would rest in His person, promises, and work.

So, when Jesus was asked what people should do to do the work of God, He answered by saying, "The work of God is this, to believe in the one He has sent" (John 6:29). So, before any work was to be done by any disciple, there must be resting in Christ by faith. Jesus taught that one must renounce his personal work and rest in Him. Otherwise the supposed disciple was not really Jesus' disciple.

Many disciples became disenchanted with Jesus because, in religion, they wanted to establish their own righteousness by their good works. Many saw themselves as good, and as not needing God's righteousness, as it was in Christ. These people were offended that their best works were not good enough for Jesus. So, Romans 10:2-4 says, "For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God, and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."

Belief in Jesus conveyed justification to the disciple. The follower of Christ did not wait until the end of his life to be acquitted of his sins, but was treated as a righteous person from the beginning of his discipleship.

Following Christ meant that the disciple was a new creation of God. He was thought of as a work of God. That is why Ephesians 2:10 says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." So the disciple was a work of God, and even his production was divinely ordained by God. The good works of a disciple were given through the disciple's faith. But they were really God's works.

Jesus commanded His disciples to:

a. Ask God to send out workers into His harvest field. (Matthew 9:38)

b. Drive out evil spirits and heal disease and sickness.

c. Go only to Israelites. (Matthew 10:6)

d. Preach that "the kingdom of heaven is at hand". By this, they were to preach that the King (Jesus) was near.

e. Be extensions of Jesus' ministry, and "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons".

f. Be like Jesus re. money - They were to take no money with them. When people responded to the message of the Kingdom of God, they would support the disciples (Matthew 10:9)

g. Establish fellowship with those who responded to the message of the kingdom. Thus they were to let their peace come upon the house that received the message (Matthew 10:11-14)

Note: The disciples were never told to just go about doing good. That is a common misconception. If the message of the kingdom was rejected, those who rejected it, were also to be rejected as not fit for discipleship. (Matthew 10:14)

Even in doing the works of God the disciples' work required faith. They were highly gifted by God for the work they had to do. But they had to believe in themselves as gifted men. Thus Jesus told them that if they had faith as a grain of Mustard Seed they could move mountains. So, even in the exercise of their gifts, the disciples must have faith.

Furthermore, the disciples were given a new commandment (John 13:34). They were to love one another. This was a work of the disciples. It was not that the Old Testament did not teach that they were to love. But this commandment had much higher significance under Jesus Christ. The teachers of Moses' law taught that the Ten Commandments were the highest of all laws. Jesus took two rather obscure commandments of the law and taught that they were more important than all the others. To love God supremely and to love one's neighbor as oneself were foundational ethical principles. Works in the Church must flow from that kind of love. Jesus even demonstrated the love of which He spoke. He said, "as I have love you that you love one another." He went to the cross to die for His people, and, by that, became the eternal example of love for the people of God.