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C. The NT.
1. Usage.
a.
Statistical Data. In the NT
mathētḗs occurs only
in the Gospels and Acts. It is attested some 250 times, almost always for
those who follow Jesus. Acts has it in the absolute for a disciple of Jesus.
Occasionally we read of the disciples of the Baptist and of Paul. In Mk.
2:18; Mt. 22:16 we read of
mathētaí of the
Pharisees and in Jn. 9:28 of
mathētaí of Moses.
b.
Uniformity of Usage. In each instance we find attachment to a person. Jesus
as the head of the group is expected to give the ruling in Mk. 2:18ff.,
23ff. It is he who, like the Baptist, teaches his disciples to pray (Lk.
11:1ff.). The destiny of the disciples is bound up with his.
c.
Relation to
talmîḏ. NT usage manifests a close
linguistic relation to the rabbinic use of
talmîḏ.
d. Peculiarities of Usage. Luke commonly has
mathētaí
for the personal disciples of Jesus but never uses the term in the Gospel
after 22:45. He starts using the term again in Acts 6:1, but this time for
all believers.
2. Jewish
mathētaí
in the NT.
a. The
phrase “disciples of the Pharisees” (Mk. 2:18 and
par.) causes some difficulty in
view of the fact that the Pharisees are practical exponents of the law (as
distinct from the scribes). The point, perhaps, is that many scribes might
be Pharisaic leaders, for the boundaries between the theoretical and the
practical are fluid. It may be noted, too, that the rabbis teach by example
as well as word.
b. In
Jn. 9:28 the opponents of Jesus, by calling themselves the disciples of
Moses, argue that they belong to the chain of tradition that stretches back
to Moses, whereas Jesus is a new and unknown teacher whom they cannot accept
merely on his personal authority.
3. The Disciples of Jesus.
a. The
Call. (a) The Initiative of Jesus. A basic feature of NT discipleship is
that it begins with a call in which Jesus takes the initiative (Mk. 1:17;
Mt. 4:19; Lk. 9:49; Jn. 1:43). This differs sharply from rabbinic practice,
in which it is the student’s duty to find a teacher. A further point is that
Jesus calls those who seem to lack the necessary qualifications (Mk.
2:13ff.). (b) Exceptions? Some passages suggest, of course, that the wider
circle of
mathētaí included many who simply began
to follow with no specific call. A few names are given with no corresponding
stories of calling, e.g., Cleopas
in Lk. 24:18. Jesus also seems to be ready to accept people into fellowship
without a summons if there is true readiness to follow (Lk. 9:57, 61). On
the other hand, the larger group in, e.g., Jn. 6:60, 66 seems to consist of
a great number who were only interested and not fully committed.
b. The
Disciples in Their Relation to Jesus. (a) Commitment to His Person. A unique
aspect of NT discipleship is that it is commitment to the person of Jesus.
His teaching has force only when there is first this commitment to his
person. Peter probably knows Jesus, and has heard him speak, prior to the
incident in Lk. 5:1ff., but it is the impact of the person of Jesus that
makes him a
mathētḗs (cf.
Nathanael in Jn. 1:45ff.). This personal commitment explains the deep
depression of the disciples after the crucifixion (Lk. 24:19ff.). It is not
enough that they have the legacy of his word. They have lost Jesus himself.
The crucial importance of the resurrection reinforces this. Jesus himself
reinstitutes the group (in spite of initial resistance, Lk. 24:36ff.; Jn.
20:24ff.), restores personal fellowship, and sends the disciples out, not to
transmit his teaching, but to bear witness to his resurrection (Lk. 24:48).
To mark the break in fellowship Luke ceases to use
mathētḗs
after Gethsemane and begins to use it again only for the wider community in
Acts. John after 6:66 prefers to speak of the
dṓdeka
(mathētaí)
in order to show that faith in Jesus (cf. 6:64) is an essential mark of the
true disciple. As distinct from the customary rabbi, or indeed the Greek
teacher, Jesus offers himself rather than his outstanding gifts, and claims
allegiance to himself rather than to a cause that he represents. (b)
Obedience to Jesus. Many rabbis give up a great deal to study the law, but
later they enjoy fame and authority in the strength of the law that they
study and teach. Jesus, however, requires that his disciples leave all
things for his sake alone (Mt. 10:37ff.). In so doing, they are not merely
to believe in him; they are to obey him as
doúloi
obey their
kýrios (Mt. 24:45ff.). The services
they perform go beyond those that students perform for their teachers (cf.
Mk. 14:12ff.). They obey him because they see in him the Messiah. Whereas
rabbinic students will one day be rabbis themselves, the disciples of Jesus
are simply his disciples. Their lives are permanently stamped and fashioned
by him. Jesus himself follows the normal course of a teacher, but the
disciples are simply listeners who ask questions only for clarification and
for whom the decisive thing is not just to appropriate intellectually but to
obey. The true disciple in John (8:31) is the one who abides in the words of
Jesus and keeps his commands (13:34-35 etc.). This disciple is not just a
doúlos.
But he is also not a
gnṓrimos or
hetaíros,
terms which imply equality. By Jesus’ own gift, he is his
phílos
(15:14ff.). (c) The Obligation to Suffer. Drawn into fellowship with Jesus,
the disciples are set on the way of the cross. Suffering is unavoidable for
the apostles (Mt. 10:17ff.; Jn. 15:18ff.). It also applies, more generally,
to all disciples (cf. Mk. 8:34ff.; Lk. 14:26-27).
c. The
Disciples, the Twelve, and the Apostles. The relation between these terms in
the NT is a complicated one. If not all disciples are apostles, all apostles
are disciples, and the Twelve are the inner circle as compared to wider
groups.
d. The
Band of (Twelve) Disciples. (a) Failure to Understand. By choosing the
Twelve, Jesus manifests his claim to be divinely sent to save his people.
The disciples, however, fail to understand either his mission or his
message. This is shown by their fears (Mt. 8:23ff.), their quarrels (Mt.
20:20ff.), their protests against the passion (Mt. 16:22-23), their eventual
flight (Mt. 26:55-56), and their doubts about the resurrection (Lk. 24:11).
Only When they recognize the risen Lord do they finally achieve the
understanding that sends them out as his primary witnesses. Jesus himself
obviously feels this lack of understanding as a severe burden (Jn. 14:9),
but he handles it with matchless patience (Lk. 22:31-32) in his concern to
bring the disciples to salvation and service. (b) Composition. Jesus chooses
men of all types to make up a representative inner group. We find Zealots, a
publican, a Judean, Galileans, and men with Greek as well as Semitic names.
The selection shows that he has a realistic understanding of the
contemporary situation and seeks to serve the people as it is, with all the
inherent tensions as well as the possibilities.
e. The
Disciples’ Share in Jesus‘ Work. The call to discipleship is a call to
partnership in service (Lk. 5:1ff.). This comes out in sayings (Mt. 5:13ff.;
Jn. 17:13ff.), parables (Mt. 25:14ff.), and specific directions (Mt.
10:5ff.). The sending out of the disciples two by two (Mk. 6:7ff.; cf. Lk.
10:1ff.) is for the purpose of doing the work of Jesus on his authority and
according to the principle that, as they have freely received, so they
should freely give (Mt. 10:8). In Jn. 3:22, 26; 4:1-2 this ministry includes
baptizing on his behalf.
f. The
Principle of Tradition in Jesus’ Band of Disciples. (a) Lack of a Principle.
Obviously there are similarities in Christianity to the principle of
tradition that one finds in Greek and Jewish teaching. Paul refers to
tradition in 1 Cor. 15:3ff., and the gospel material clearly derives from
tradition. Yet it is debatable whether there is any true principle of
tradition. Recollection of Jesus as a teacher is always secondary. The story
of the cross and the resurrection is the heart of the message, and the
sayings of Jesus are handed down with considerable freedom. For the
disciples Jesus is not the head of a school but the living Lord. Again, the
primary emphasis is on witness (Acts 1:21-22). To support his apostleship
Paul has to argue that he has in fact seen the Lord (1 Cor. 9:1).
Furthermore, Jesus plainly takes a different course from that of rabbinism,
for he chooses ordinary people, and warns them that they will always be
mathētaí,
never rabbis (Mt. 23:8). Love is to be a sign of the
mathētḗs
to the world (Jn. 13:34-35). (b) Reasons for the Lack. The disciples are
witnesses rather than bearers of a tradition because their attachment is to
Jesus and because Jesus himself brings tradition to a definitive end. As the
fulfilment of his people’s hope, who is the truth itself (Jn. 14:6), Jesus
cuts across all traditions (cf. Mk. 3:1ff.). He calls his disciples, not to
the mediation of insights, but to the obedient giving of testimony (cf. Lk.
24:48; Acts 1:8; Jn. 19:35; 21:24).
g.
Summary. (a) For all the formal similarities, there is no inner relation
between the
talmîḏ of the rabbis and the
mathētḗs
of Jesus. Jesus is
kýrios, not rabbi.
(b) Witness to Jesus rather than transmission of his teachings or imitation
of his life is the primary task of the
mathētḗs.
4. The
mathētaí
of John the Baptist.
a. In
John’s Lifetime. John, too, has a solid band of disciples who must have been
fairly numerous (Jn. 4:1), who have a rule of fasting and prayer (Mt. 9:14;
Lk. 11:1), who engage in discussions (Jn. 3:25), and who visit John in
prison, come to Jesus with his question, and finally bury him (Mt. 11:2;
14:12). Jesus’ own first disciples seem to come from this group, but it is
highly doubtful whether Jesus himself does so. One might ask why all John’s
disciples do not become followers of Jesus. Possibly John consolidates his
group more than he first intends.
b.
After John’s Death. The group goes on after John’s execution. In Acts 18:24
and 19:7 we read of conversions from among those who know only John’s
baptism. The transition to faith in Jesus presents little difficulty but has
not taken place en bloc. What finally happens to the remaining disciples of
John is not known. There is no direct link with the Mandaeans.
5.
mathētḗs
as a Term for Christians in Acts.
a. The
Linguistic Problem. The term occurs in Acts only in specific sections and
according to no systematic principle. The textual tradition tends to
increase the use. It is found in the “we” passages only in 21:4, 16.
Normally it has no explanatory addition (toú
kyríou in 9:1); this suggests that it
derives from the term used for Christians by Palestinian believers. It
applies to all believers, e.g., Timothy in 16:1, converts in 13:52; 14:20ff.
This usage is peculiar to Acts but
mathētḗs
is not the only term Acts uses for Christians (cf. believers, brethren,
saints, etc.).
b. The
Material Problem. Materially the primary point is that Acts uses
mathētaí
for those who come to believe in Jesus (cf. Jn. 8:31). True faith means
abiding in the word of Jesus and thus enjoying personal fellowship with him
even across the generations. The presence and operation of the Holy Spirit
makes this possible (cf. Acts 19:1ff.). The Greek communities, however, do
not continue to use
mathētḗs in this
sense, probably because it tends to suggest that Christianity is simply a
philosophical movement rather than personal fellowship with Christ as Lord.
6.
mathētaí
of Paul in Acts 9:25? The reference to Paul’s
mathētaí
in Acts 9:25 might mean that Paul as a recognized rabbi has a group of his
own disciples, but it is more likely that these
mathētaí
are either Christians whom he brought to faith in Damascus or those who were
in his party on the way to Damascus and who were converted through his
witness.
D. Early Church Usage. Hellenistic
influences strengthen the use of
mathētḗs for
intellectual adherence or imitation of Christ, so that Ignatius can say that
only the martyr is a true disciple (Romans
4.2; 5.3).
symmathētḗs.
This word, rare outside the NT, occurs in Jn. 11:16 for “fellow disciple”
(of Jesus). The context stresses the element of fellowship with Christ and
one another.
mathḗtria.
This feminine form is rare, for women are outside organized education, both
in Greece and among the rabbis. The one NT instance is in Acts 9:36
(Tabitha). The meaning is either that Tabitha is one of the disciples (which
is possible though not probable; cf. Mk. 15:40-41), or that she is a
Christian (cf. the use of
mathētḗs in Acts).
mathēteúō.
Intransitively this word means “to be or become a pupil.” One reading of Mt.
27:57 has it with reference to Joseph of Arimathea; he is said to be a
disciple of Jesus. In a distinctive transitive use (Mt. 13:52; 28:19; Acts
14:21) the NT also uses the term for “to make disciples.” Behind this sense
possibly stands the NT belief that a call is the basis of discipleship of
Jesus. [K.
H. Rengstorf, IV, 390-461]
e.g.
exempli gratia,
for example
Kittel, G., Friedrich, G., &
Bromiley, G. W. 1995, c1985. Theological dictionary of the
New Testament. Translation of: Theologisches Worterbuch zum
Neuen Testament. W.B. Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, Mich.
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