The Cost of Discipleship 3

 Remember when Mr. Miyagi told his karate student Daniel to wax his car. The master gave minimal instructions but insisted on a certain motion: “Wax on, wax off.” At the time, Daniel did not understand the difference, or why it was important to put the wax on with a circular motion to the right, then polish the wax with a circular motion to the left.  

 The master gave Daniel a series of seemingly mindless chores: painting Mr. Miyagi’s house, redoing the fence, sanding the wooden floor. However, ‘mindless’ is not the right word because there is another level of the mind where ‘muscle memory’ resides. That means that repeated motions become routine motions well nigh automatic. 

 Now Daniel had something to build on, and was ready for the next step. What the master was teaching became clear when the student had to learn karate moves such as blocking punches, returning the hand to the base position, etc. The muscle memory was already there so the moves were not that difficult to learn. 

 However, Mr. Miyagi was also teaching the apprentice, for that is what Daniel had become, to trust him when he gave instructions. The apprentice may not immediately see the reason, but he or she needs to follow with trust and to wait for the explanation with patience. The master is not obliged to stop every time and explain what he is doing because explanation involves making a convincing argument in order to entice the person to comply. In that case, compliance is up to the person who decides what is right or wrong. We have already established that discipleship means to trust Jesus the person and not depend on one’s own human decision-making abilities. We have faith in Jesus, not our limited reasoning.  

 There are different types of learning relationships: teacher–student, mentor–mentee, coach–athlete, boss–worker. The one that is closest to the discipleship model is master–apprentice. In the past, though rarely today, an apprentice would be sent to live with a master so he could learn a trade. The apprentice ‘paid his way’, so to speak, by living in the house and carrying out household chores for the master. In other words, the learning came as a total life experience. That is the kind of relationship that Mr. Miyagi and Daniel developed.

 That is also the kind of relationship that Jesus developed with the disciples. They had three years on the road. With every day came the routine of preparing meals, deciding where to go today, managing people they met, sometimes even feeding crowds that gathered, then finding a place to sleep for the night. 

 We catch glimpses along the way. For example, once Jesus selected two disciples and sent them on ahead to find a donkey. He didn’t say why they should do this; he just instructed them to tell the owner that the master needed the donkey. So, they did it without knowing why.   

 In many passages, we see that there is a difference between preaching to the crowds and teaching the disciples. For example, at the height of his popularity in Galilee, “Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables…” (Matthew 13: 2-3). We learn that later, “Then the disciples came and asked him, ‘Why do you speak to them in parables?’ He answered, ‘To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given’ (Matthew 13: 10-11). 

 So, there is teaching and then there is discipling, and they are not the same thing. Why drag it out? Why not just cut to the chase and explain the whole plan to the disciples? Because they are not ready. Three times Jesus began to explain that the Messiah must suffer in order to bring the salvation they expected; and three times the disciples did not get it. 

 The first time, Peter reacted with horror at what Jesus was saying (Matthew 16: 21-23). The second time, the disciples heard and were greatly distressed, but didn’t say anything (Matthew 17: 22-23). The third time, the response was a non sequitur, it did not follow at all. John and James came up to ask for the best seats when Jesus came into his kingdom, not considering that that reward was God’s to give and then only to the ones who suffered the most along with his Son (Matthew 20: 17-28). The disciples were not ready for Jesus’ death; it was not until after the resurrection that they were ready for a bigger picture. 

So, the disciples as apprentices struggled as Jesus carefully nurtured them from one level of instruction to the next. For example, after a rough encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees, Jesus followed up privately with a lesson: “Watch out, and beware the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 

 You would think that the disciples would be far enough along to put two and two together. Yet their response when they heard Jesus say ‘yeast’ was to whisper to each other, “It is because we have brought no bread” (Matthew 16: 6-7).

 Jesus heard their comments and expressed his exasperation that the disciples did not recognize a metaphor when they heard one. “You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you gathered? (Meaning, don’t worry about bread) … How could you fail to perceive that I was not talking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees” (Matthew 16: 6-11). 

 After Jesus’ resurrection, on the road to Emmaus, Jesus gently put the puzzle pieces together for the two disciples who walked with him. “Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared. Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures” (Luke 24: 25-27).

 Now they were ready, and their response was, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24: 32). Those are disciples coming into their maturity! 

 Discipleship is a journey with a person, walking with Jesus, learning by steps and stages as we go. Discipleship means to take the life of Jesus as our life, including the suffering with the serving, the death of the old self with new life in Christ, growing through our life experience, learning through relationship with God.