Being a Disciple of Jesus

[HKHaugan]

Being a Disciple of Jesus

 Being a true disciple is not about evangelism, church, mission, ethics, behavior, religion or theology. It is about Jesus. It is about letting Him be our focus. It is about Him being our priority. It is about Jesus being here right now and being His disciple. He is to be our focus and our priority. Peter says it so well when he tells a crippled man to stand up and walk (Acts 3:6). It is Jesus’ name and faith that comes through Him. Faith comes through Jesus to us and taps our ability, our capacity for faith to act faithfully. Faith is moving about with Him in mind. It is never about how faithful I am. It is about Jesus being faithful in us and through us.   He doesn’t just want to do away with our guilt, our sin, our evil, the hesitation that comes from fear, doubt, uncertainty and our aloneness. He wants to fill the space in our heart that these have occupied.

 What all this is saying for us is that miracles are real, changed hearts happen and social issues are resolved because Jesus is lifted up. “If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me (Jn.12:32).” What does this mean for how we approach being a church, a disciple, a witness and fulfilling our true life’s goal? Let’s consider Jesus’ words about being lifted up.

First, if He is lifted on the Cross He will be a perfect spiritual sacrifice for our sin, our aloneness and self-centeredness.

Second, if He is lifted up from the grave, resurrected, it means He is alive, present and with us as He promised.

Third, if He is lifted up and received as Savior and Lord He becomes the center of our mind, heart and spirit.  

 It means we have to do three things:

First, we have to really center our mind on Him as He appears in His Word.

Second, we have to trust Him in our heart to replace our self-concern about being faithful, good and right as though it can be done apart from Him.

Third, we need to let His Spirit guide our spirit in the passion Jesus exhibited.

 It is the Resurrection that makes all this possible. We are disciples of the resurrected and present Jesus. There are several points in Scripture where the Resurrection is the substance of our present and future as disciples. Let’s look at three things:

 First, the physical incidents recorded by John. There are five.

 1.The stone was rolled away from the tomb to let the disciples in. Jesus had already passed through the walls. The linen strips, the spices, the head cloth, all were undisturbed not strewn about. They simply collapsed, and he rose through them.

 2.The incident with Mary Magdalene. At first, she thinks He is the gardener. She doesn’t recognize Him until He addresses her personally by name. He opens her inner eyes and she realizes it is Him.

 3.Then He comes through locked doors and brings the disciples His peace to replace the fear that gripped them.

 4.Of course, ‘doubting’ Thomas touches the hands and side of the risen Jesus who has retained His crucifixion wounds for identity.

 5.Then He has breakfast with His disciples at lakeside and they caught so many fish they had a hard time taking in the nets.

 The point of the physical incidents is that there is nothing physical or emotional that can keep Jesus from entering and leading your heart if you let Him. Look at those five incidents:

The tomb was stone like our sin closed minds.

Sometimes our hearts are like locked doors, but His Holy Spirit brings Him through them.

He actually brings peace in the midst of fear and doubt.

He knows and addresses us personally all the time (Are we listening?)

Just as He provided breakfast for His disciples He has made an ongoing Supper for us. And He sends us out to catch fish.

 Second, spiritual reality is identified as real and eternal. We are, first and foremost, spiritual people. Since Jesus is resurrected He is present at all times and in all places. His Holy Spirit is our heart companion who brings Him to each of us in a special way. Because of Him, everything we think, say and do has spiritual significance. The bottom line is that we walk in the spiritual realm all the time. It is the Holy Spirit who takes us through the spiritual wilderness as the Lord Jesus directs.

 Third, each of us is significant to God’s purpose of bringing the whole world into reconciliation with God. We have been made diplomats to represent the resurrected Jesus and carry an ambassadorship with an anointing. Our embassy is the Body of Christ and in the world of unbelievers, we are the ones offering citizenship to all those who would receive Jesus by faith. He is our living visa, our living passport, enabling us to move from this fallen world across the border into the Kingdom of God.

 Being a disciple of Jesus is more than membership in an institutional structure. It is being an emissary who brings the good news of God’s love revealed in Jesus to each and every person we meet. How that takes shape is unique to each of us. It is a personal work of the Holy Spirit in each of us. He offers complete and perfect relational ties with the Lord God and one another, recognizing that our uniqueness is why we live, move and share our faith according to our personal testimony.