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Jesus’ Interactions with His Disciples

While Jesus associated with a number of different characters throughout the Gospel of Matthew, He spent most of his time with His disciples. In today’s reading, we will look at one lesson that can be learned from the many interactions Jesus had with His disciples.

One of the interesting dynamics of Jesus’ interactions with His disciples was that He had different types of relationships with the same group of people.

Jesus had the following relationships with His disciples:

1) Friend relationship

Matthew 17:9 - As they went back down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, ‘Don’t tell anyone what you have seen until the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.’

Matthew 26:1–2 - When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ‘As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.’

As we saw yesterday, in Gethsemane Jesus trusted the disciples enough to share His secrets and inner feelings with them. Jesus treated them as friends. John explicitly recalls the disciples were Jesus’ friends because He told them everything he knew.

John 15:16 - I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

One of the striking features of Moses was the way the Lord spoke to him. The Lord spoke to Moses as a person would speak to a friend.

Exodus 33:11 - Inside the Tent of Meeting, the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Afterward, Moses would return to the camp, but the young man who assisted him, Joshua son of Nun, would remain behind in the Tent of Meeting.

2) Teacher–disciple relationship

The Gospel of Matthew is littered with accounts of Jesus teaching His disciples. Some of these teachings were instigated by Jesus, others by questions from the disciples. Some of the teachings were influenced by the circumstances they found themselves in as they traveled together. Other teachings were in response to the actions of people they met along the way.

Jesus was constantly teaching and interacting with His disciples. He had enough contact with them to become their source of knowledge. As a leader, you may know far more than the people you are leading, but if you have hardly any contact or interactions with them, you will never be able to teach them. The teacher–disciple relationship will never blossom.

3) Master–servant relationship

Matthew 26:17–19 - On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you?’‘As you go into the city,’ he told them, ‘you will see a certain man. Tell him, “The Teacher says: My time has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.”’ So, the disciples did as Jesus told them and prepared the Passover meal there.

The disciples saw Jesus as their master whom they were happy to serve.

4) Family relationship

Matthew 26:20 - When it was evening, Jesus sat down at the table with the Twelve.

Jesus shared festivities with His disciples. Passover is traditionally an occasion for the family. It is pretty much like sitting down for Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving dinner. These events are usually shared and celebrated with family.

After His resurrection, Jesus referred to his disciples as His brothers. The disciples remained His family even in his exalted state.

Matthew 28:10 - Then Jesus said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.’

All these relationships are possible at once and in their own right. Just like Jesus, the people we are leading ought to feel comfortable enough around us to be able to switch between each relationship freely and willingly without issue or fear.

Questions: What type of relationships do I have with the people I am leading? Do the people working with me trust me? Do I think of them as friends and family? Do they think of me as a friend or family? Is our relationship only that of master and servant? Do I teach the people I am leading?