Yeshua in Context >> 1a - Intro to the Gospels , Discipleship - Formation , Reading Strategies , Study Tips >> Reading as a disciple.

Reading as a disciple.

February 1st, 2012 | Add a Comment

There are many valid things to look for during a reading of the gospels. In some ways, the highest level of reading is reading as a disciple. In Mark 4:10-11, those who were surrounding Yeshua -- in addition to the Twelve -- asked him questions. They were the inner circle. They were those who sought to be disciples (he had more than Twelve disciples). To them was given the secret of the kingdom of God. Perhaps the secret is, simply put, to follow and believe and implement.

Discipleship reading might look like the following:

Replacement at the level of ideas (truths to replace falsehood and subtle errors). Example: Yeshua sought to replace his disciples' notion that "Messiah's coming is to bring retribution on Israel's enemies and to glorify us nationally" with a different notion that "Messiah's coming is about healing Israel and the nations and the path begins with suffering." In our time, a notion that needs replacing is "Yeshua came to reward me with an opulent afterlife experience."

Replacement at the level of desires (the proper desires which replace envy, lust, and pride). Example: Yeshua sought to replace national pride (Mark 12:1-9) with a desire to see broken people redeemed (Luke 14:15-24).

Replacing wicked and unhealthy habits with good ones . Example: Yeshua taught that a tree can only have either good or bad fruit and right after followed this up with a charge to build life on his teachings in order to survive storms. Thus, the many things Yeshua taught by example and by admonition are active ways to bear fruit for God and keep out bad fruit.

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Replace fear with faith. Add knowledge to root out ignorance. Abandon unhelpful goals and reorder misplaced priorities. Repent of unforgiveness. I will add more over time to this article, but this seemed like a good start.