The Three

Disclaimer: This mutual apprenticeship is a different approach to discipleship. With this approach, a veteran Christian can be on the same ‘level’ as a brand new believer, as each submits in the same covenant to the same principles and lifestyle priorities and answers the same probing questions about relationship with Jesus and how it is playout out in daily life. It is a refreshing counterpoint to issues of power and unhealthy power dynamics experienced out in the world. All of this said, the examples, we’re using in this short reading plan include Jesus who, obviously, doesn’t need apprenticing from His disciples in how to advance the great commission. However, if we read closely, there are many lessons for us to extract and apply. Let’s read on!

Jesus chose what came to be known as ‘the Twelve’ – twelve disciples to follow Him intentionally. And from among the Twelve He designated a few disciples – James, John, and Peter – into whom He invested special attention.

If you’ve watched some of THE CHOSEN show about Jesus, you’ll have observed that Jesus plus all of His disciples – not just ‘the Twelve’ – makes for a bit of a caravan. They don’t have to announce their arrival – they take up space. It’s not just for that reason that Jesus focused some of His efforts in replicating Himself in just a few of them. Australian Nathan Casey has a philosophy of discipleship that seems to be summed up in this short phrase: “Whoever spends the most time wins.” While we infer that Casey’s talking about influencing youth-at-risk more than drug dealers and human traffickers and other ne’er-do-wells do, it works as a general discipling principle. And Jesus modelled it. 

Jesus took the three of them up the mount of ‘transfiguration in Matthew 17:1;

Jesus took the three of them in Jairus’s dead daughter’s room, in Mark 5: 36-37;

After Jesus prophesied the fall of the temple (Mark 13:2), James, John, Peter, plus Andrew debriefed with Him privately (v3-4);

And in one of the toughest moments of His life (Gethsemane), He took the three of them with Him, in Mark 14: 32-34.

Jesus shared His life with them, the good and the bad. This is the archetypical example of discipling. 

(But stay tuned, as we continue with The Three in Day 2 of this reading plan!)