rests n|.on ih.. aiiri(ml taiihorof a 'way of life'
whii 11 Clirisi .elopie.l for 1 1 imself when He affirmed •I am Ihe \\a\, and wliieli underl.ay and coloured noi a hlile Ml Hi. I.nmn.aje. So iIm- call, 'Follow ine,' i, an .ippe.il lo tni-l III- ^uida nee, and venture oneself .ilon- Ihe Iraek llial He explores into the unknown le-ion- ni life, \\itli the need of 'bear- ing the cio~- ;iihl loMMu lif<' to find it.' 'Come on! I'e.n noi lo j,. ilM,.n'_;h the valley of the shadow of de.iil, wMl, me in the rpiest of life.
"He that i- near i, near the tile: lielh.it is far
from me is f;ir from Ihe kiimdoiii.'" Thus at the thrcsh.ild of diseijilesliip lies the riaiuirement which lie alwaj-s made of those to whom He rendered service, — the requirement of courageous trust or 'f.iith.' And for such as are ready to obey this first appeal to ' follow ' He opens ' a new and living way through the veil' which hides so nnich of the realms of life from our eyes. And this way is ' human to the red-ripe of the heart,' and fit for human feet to travel, for the way is 'His flesh,' His mortal life. His human nature— what for us men and for our salvation He came down to make His own.
There are some few sayings in which the Lord delineates the features of diseiph'-hip under one or another of its aspects. K.if. ' .\ cii-eiide is not above his master ... it is cnouuli for liie ilisciple
lat he be as ] i.Miiaslerof ■
eonnexion wil li 'Whosoever li.' that he hath. In Elsewhere He e the inner char unto me all ye that lal
. If they have called ■liub, how much more lO-^'-)- And in close e reiterated teaching, .at reiiounceth not all
Ihe Mill »,nd'l.,t, but pleship: (.,/. 'Come my yoke
you, arid learn of me ; for I am gentle and <K]y in heart : and ye shall iind rest unto your
(Mt ] vliieh
•). Till
iiess and lowli-
are ;|eain t,aui;lii .1- 1 h. >•; discipleship in
the .aeiion of wa-hiML' 1 I ' . ■ , ,,: i.^ef, on the last eNening, when, IliaIml: -a i do\\ )i a-.ain. He said, 'Perceive ye what I h.ave done to you? Ye call me Teacher and Lord : and ye say well ; for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I gave you an example that ye also sliould do as I have done to you' (Jn IS'-"-, cf. also Lk 22-*-'^, Mk 9=3-", JMt 23"-i'--). What the disciple must learn is not mainly 'teachini;': he must 'learn Christ.' 'Truth is in '.lesus,'-' Ihe Truth and the Life,'—
and tlM.ilis.aple muM mow Mn the I «ledu.. and
love of Cod ;iiid of Hi-. Son .le-u> < 'hiist <.ur Lord.' So love is what iiin.st lie learnt above all el.sc, and affords the test of true discipleship. ' By_ this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another '(Jn IS^'*).' And the Lord traces discipleship down to its roots when He declares, ' No man can come to me except the Father which sent me draw him. ... It is written . . . They shall all be taught of God. Every one that hatn lieard from the Father, and hath learned, cometh unto me' (Jn G-""-)-
A large proportion of the Lord's teaching bears, of course, upon the nature of iliseipleship and the
>rof (1
.saltof the earth 'a little flock' I (Jn 15=), 'e\er; hath not plante
it is not cast .•(■tly. E.ff.the e aspect, all so phors like 'the orld'(Mt5"-»), hes of the vine' e.avenly Father uiy another, in-
460
DISCIPLINE
DISCIPLINE
cluilin<' those developed into parables,— all sketch some features of discipleship, as do such sayiufp as that one must be reborn, and much of the teach- ing concerning the Kingdom.
The final charge -which the Lord laid ui)on the disciples whom He had trained and tested Himself was, • Going forth, make' ye disciples of all the nations' {fiaBip-eviTaTe ■wavra. rd Idvq, Mt 28'"). Discipleship for all is thus set forth as His own ultimate aim. In reading the words one must carefully guard against the lamentable imperfec- tion of rendering in the AV, and borrowed tlience in some of the language of the Book of Common I'niyer ; :ilso against the faulty punctuation of the sL'ntemx' « hioh is found alike in the AV and the 11 V. ' Toatliiiig ' is no translation of /taflijrf [Vare, wliich means far more ; while a colon ought to re- l)lace the comma after ' nations,' and only commas, or at the most semicolons, should separate the suc- ceeding clauses. Without attention to this, the <;reat importance of thLs passage must be missed. Rightly read, it gives the Lord's own interpretation of how discipleship is constituted. The whole commission is, 'Make disciples -of all'; and three steps are then indicated in so doiuR, which answer to tliree essential factors in discipleship— (1) Bap- tizing into the Name ; (2) teaching to observe all commands; (3) the constant spiritual presence of Christ. There is no complete discipleship without these three elements. The first is the portal of discipleship, the admission to a new destiny ; at once the begetting of a new life on the part of God, and the profession of a new hope and purpose on the part of those whom He claims as His children. The second is the training needed to make the promise good ; for only in the course of life's dis- cipline can character be formed or resolutions realized, — it is ' in our endurance that we must win our souls.' The third is the pledge that none shall ever be left to face the stress of life's probation alone, but that for every disciple union with Christ is a support which may be securely trusted, the Divine Incarnation working itsplf out for ever till the goal shall be reached, wliin ■ ( ;.i>l -li.il! lie all, in air (1 Co 15=«). The first Ji- iii!- in-l.Tstood the charge which had been uii :i ih m, md acted on the lines laid down from ili . nli. i .lay on which they began to 'makr <li-ri],l.-' i,,r iliiir Lord. So when, on the day cif I'l mI'.u-i. ilm-i' who had been touched by I'lt.i > |.i.,u liin- [hU the inquiry, 'Brethren, what shall we dui' tlie answer of the Apostle was explicit : ' Kepent ye ... be bai)tized ... ye shall receive tlie gift of the Holy Spirit' (Ac 2*'- ss). Here are the same tliree elements of discipleship; for 'repentance' (ytierdi'oio) is the form which 'observing all things commanded' necessarily takes to start with in those who are pa-ssing from walking in their own ways to following the way of Christ ; while the Holy Spirit is, of course, the Spirit of Christ present permanently with those whom He unites to Him- self. See also preceding article.