Apostles, Disciples and Seekers

Week Two - Day 6

Today's Reading -- Luke 5:1 to 6:49

Luke’s version of Jesus calling his followers is different from Matthew’s in several respects.  In Matthew, Jesus calls his first disciples at the very beginning of his ministry:  Peter and his brother Andrew who worked together as fishermen, and the brothers James and John who worked with their father Zebedee.  In Luke, Jesus has already been active in parts of Galilee, and  when he first issues a call for followers there is no mention of Andrew, and it is Peter, James and John who are all working together.

Luke also makes a greater distinction between disciples and apostles.  A “disciple” is anyone who becomes a follower of Jesus.  He is their teacher, their rabbi, who instructs them in the ways of God.  An “apostle” is one who is sent out with authority in the name of the teacher in order to carry on the original message and mission.  Matthew only uses the term “apostles” once (Matthew 10:2) when Jesus specifically names the Twelve.  Luke, on the other hand, uses the term six times in his gospel account to distinguish between the Twelve who have been specially commissioned and growing group of disciples and others who are surrounding Jesus.

We can see this played out when, after a night of prayer on the mountain, Jesus “called his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles” (6:13).  Luke then says the Jesus “came down with them (meaning ”the apostles”) and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon” (6:17).   Jesus then delivers his Sermon on the Plain (in contrast to the Sermon on the Mount portrayed in Matthew chapters 5-7), instructing all who are following him of the blessings and woes facing them, on the love of enemies, on judging others, and on actions as the proof of goodness and obedience.

Whether an apostle, disciple, or seeker of God’s ways, there is much to learn from Jesus before taking the next step of faith.