Discipleship has, "Christ as the standard." By definition, “disciple” means “one who engages in learning through instruction from another.” While the actual word “discipleship” is not found in Scripture, the words “disciple” and “disciples” are found throughout the Bible to signify those who learn or follow from another person/worldview. But on a deeper level, a disciple is committed to the one they follow. For the Christian, it means that they have given their lives, heart, emotions, and ultimate purpose to Jesus.
First-century discipleship was expressed as a servant-master relationship (see Matthew 10:24). Once accepted as a disciple, a young man started as a talmidh, or beginner, who sat in the back of the room and could not speak. Then he became a distinguished student, who took an independent line in his approach or questioning. At the next level, he became a disciple-associate, who sat immediately behind the rabbi during prayer time. Finally he achieved the highest level, a disciple of the wise, and was recognized as the intellectual equal of his rabbi.'" Let's understand the characteristics of the rabbinical tradition.
#1 Deciding to follow a teacher
Young men could join a variety of schools, each led by a rabbi or a teacher. In some cases, students chose their teacher and, of course, teachers could accept or reject a student's application. If a young man hadn't achieved a certain academic and social status by the time of his bar mitzvah at age thirteen, he would instead choose a life of farming, fishing, carpentry, or the like.
The fact that Jesus and his followers were laborers explains why the religious establishment didn't accept them. The disciple of first-century Judaism learned everything from his teachers. He learned his teacher's stories, his life habits, how to keep the Sabbath his way, and his interpretations of the Torah. And when a disciple learned everything his teacher knew, he then taught his own disciples.
A disciple's commitment to follow his teacher lies at the heart of the transformational process. Every disciple must make a commitment of submission to at least one other person. Without this relational dimension, everything that follows is weakened. The teacher disciple relationship creates a powerful bond that's at least as important and often more crucial than a father-son
relationship
#2 Memorizing the teacher's words
Oral tradition provided the basic way of studying. Disciples learned the teacher's words verbatim to pass along to the next person. Often disciples learned as many as four interpretations of each major passage in the Torah.
#3 Learning the teacher's way of ministry
A disciple learned how his teacher kept God's commands, including how he practiced the Sabbath, fasted, prayed, and said blessings in ceremonial situations. He would also learn his rabbi's teaching methods and the many traditions his master followed.
#4 Imitating the teacher's life and character
Jesus said that when a disciple is fully taught, he "will be like his teacher" (Luke 6:40). The highest calling of a disciple was to imitate his teacher. Paul called on Timothy to follow his example (see 2 Timothy 3:10-14), and he didn't hesitate to call on all believers to do the same (see 1 Corinthians 4:14-16; 1 1:1; Philippians 4:9). One story in ancient tradition tells of a rabbinical student so devoted to his teacher that he hid in the teacher's bedchamber to discover the mentor's sexual technique. To be sure, this is a bit extreme, yet it demonstrates the level of commitment required to be a disciple.
#4 Raising up their own disciples
When a disciple finished his training, he was expected to reproduce what he'd learned by finding and training his own apprentices. He would start his own school and call it after his name, such as the House of Hillel
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