What is the best decision you’ve ever made in your life? Most likely, you are thinking of a life-altering event. Your mind is reviewing the highlight reels. Maybe your college graduation ceremony, or your first exercise class, or your wedding day flashes across the screen.
While these events are certainly significant, the best decision you could ever make is the one to trust Jesus Christ with the forgiveness and salvation of your soul. But once we have made the decision to believe on Christ for salvation, what is the next best decision we could ever make in our lives? That would be the decision to become a disciple of Jesus.
Our initiation into discipleship is baptism. Throughout the Bible, baptism is described as the first step of obedience after salvation which publicly identifies the new Christian with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans 6:4 says, “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Walking in this “newness of life” could be described as discipleship. What does walking in newness of life look like? What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ today? In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said to a multitude, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” So many elements of discipleship are packed into these words of Jesus. Let’s break it down.
First, to be a disciple, you must come to Jesus. The first command Jesus ever issues, the first invitation Jesus ever makes to anyone is that of “Come unto me.” As mentioned above, you must be saved by Jesus before you can be a disciple of Jesus. Has there ever been a time when you put your faith exclusively in Jesus Christ as your way to heaven? If not, then that is the first step: come to Jesus for salvation. Then, as a Christian, you must come to Jesus in surrender. Has there ever been a time when you surrendered your life to Jesus, telling Him that you were willing to do whatever He may ask of you? Have you ever stopped trying to “make life happen” and rest in the plan Jesus has for you? Our existential angst is calmed when we finally surrender and accept Jesus’ invitation to come. Romans 12:1 famously calls such surrender our “reasonable service” to the One who saved our souls. This surrender requires the denial of self, the death of self-will. As Jesus said in Luke 14:27, “Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” Before you can be a disciple of Jesus, you must come to Jesus for salvation and then come to Him in surrender to His plan for your life.
Next, to be a disciple, you must share the life of Jesus. The second command and invitation that Jesus gives in these verses is, “Take my yoke upon you.” In that day, a yoke was an instrument that joined two oxen together so that they could pull together for the completion of a task. The yoke split the burden between two coworkers, making the burden more bearable. In using this metaphor, Jesus is inviting us to share in His life. He is not asking us to bear the burden of Christian living on our own. Jesus is inviting us to share a yoke with Him, to pull together with Him for the completion of a task. What an incredible invitation! We are joint-heirs and co-laborers with Christ! Disciples share the life of Christ in four primary ways.
One way that disciples share Christ’s life is in His mission. Jesus stated His mission in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” He then invited His original disciples to share in this mission in Matthew 4:19, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” When Jesus invites us to become fishers of men, He is imparting to us His evangelistic mission. The seekers for truth are out there. The question is whether we will share Christ’s mission and seek out the seekers! As Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 9:37, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.” Sharing in Christ’s life means being a co-laborer with Christ in His mission of evangelizing the lost.
In sharing Christ’s mission, we also get to share Christ’s power to complete the mission. Before He went to the cross, Jesus encouraged His disciples with the promise of this power source. In John 16:7-13, Jesus said, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. . .. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he will not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he shall shew you things to come.” We often say that these disciples went on to “turn the world upside down for Jesus.” That is not completely accurate. These disciples simply took on Christ’s yoke and, as a result, experienced the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through them. We can experience that same power today! While the physical Jesus may not be present with us now, the Spirit of Jesus in the form of the Holy Spirit is indwelling us. He is the power source which helps us to carry on Christ’s mission.
A third way in which disciples share Christ’s life is in His suffering. In I Peter 2:21, God addresses the persecuted Church, saying, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.” When we face persecution for doing right, we must emulate the example of our suffering Savior. This is not to be counted a drudgery, but an honor. I Peter 3:14 and 18 says, “. . . if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled . . . For Christ also hath suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit.” Suffering is part of the human experience in a fallen world. Sometimes we may feel it isn’t fair, but we can never say God doesn’t understand. The only difference between our suffering and Christ’s suffering is that Christ suffered, not for His sins, but for ours. Even when suffering is not a result of our sin, and it often isn’t, we will never suffer as innocently or as extensively as Christ did. We suffer because it is thrust upon us in this fallen world. Christ chose suffering because he condescended to this fallen world. If our suffering is ever compounded with the mental anguish of, “It’s not fair,” we need to look at the cross. We must turn to our empathetic High Priest who suffered perfectly for us and realize that we are in good company. I Peter 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings.” When we are suffering persecution for doing right, we are sharing in Christ’s suffering. This brings comfort and joy even in the suffering.
While it is comforting to know that we are not alone in our suffering, it is also good to know that suffering is not the ultimate reality. If we share in Christ’s suffering, we also share in His victory and glory! I Peter 4:13-14 continues, saying, “but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirt of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” When Christ died and rose again, He won the victory over, sin, death, and the devil. We can stand, fight, and live in that victory today! And someday, we will be glorified as Christ is glorified! Romans 8:17 reiterates this promise: “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Those who suffer in Christ will also be glorified with Christ! On that day, the suffering will seem slight compared to the weightier glory. Such knowledge and hope matures, strengthens, and grounds us. As I Peter 5:10 puts it, “But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” Did you notice the contrast between “a while” of suffering and an eternity of glory? Right now, we may experience suffering like Jesus did when He was on this earth. Yet we have an eternity of glory to look forward to because we are partakers in Christ’s life. Being a disciple means sharing the life of Christ—His mission, His power, His suffering, as well as His victory and glory!
As we have looked at this important decision of discipleship, based on Matthew 11, we have found it to be a simple but all consuming one. To be a disciple means we must come to Jesus in total surrender to His will, and it means to share in the life of Christ. A disciple accepts the privilege of sharing in Christ’s mission, power, suffering, and victory. Matthew 11:28-30 still contains some more elements of discipleship which we will explore in part two of this article. Have you taken these first two basic steps of discipleship?