Association

Steve Youngblood

Association: Matt 28:20 Lo I am with you always…

Having called his men, Jesus made a practice of being with them. This was the essence of his training program – Just letting his disciples follow him. When one thinks of it, this was an incredibly simple way of doing it. Jesus had no formal school, no outlined course of study, no periodic membership classes, no seminar classes in which he enrolled his followers…. Amazing as it may seem, all Jesus did to teach these men his way was to draw them close to himself. He was his own school and curriculum.

This was in obvious contrast to the highly organized and formal training of the religious leaders of his day.

Come and see-

John 1:37-40 And the two disciples (John’s) heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 and Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and said to them, “what do you seek?” and they said to Him, ‘Rabbi 9which translated means Teacher0 where are You staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see” They came therefore and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour….

And they stayed with Him that day- They were hanging out with Jesus

Phillip was simply invited – Follow me John 1:43

Phillip invited Nathaniel - Come and see the master John 1:46

James John, Peter and Andrew – Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men Mark 1:17

Matthew was called from the tax collectors booth - Follow me Mark 2:14

Selection of the twelve – Mark 3:14 And he appointed twelve that they might be with Him, and that He might send them out to preach.

The first priority here is clear… to be with Him… before they went out to preach etc. You cannot have one without the other.

He took special retreat trips where he was relatively unknown seeking to avoid publicity as far as possible.

They took trips to…

Tyre and Sidon – Mark 7:24

The borders of Decapolis – Mark 7:31

The parts of Dalmanutha (southeast of Galilee Mark 8:10

The Villages of Caesarea Philippi… to the northeast Mark 8:27

He spent several months with His disciples in Perea, east of the Jordan …

Luke 13:22- 19:28

Later as opposition mounted there He… “walked no more openly among the Jews, but departed thence into the country near to the wilderness, into a city called Ephraim; and there he tarried with his disciples. John 11:54

On the way to the Cross – “He took the twelve disciples apart from the rest”… as he made his way slowly to the city. Matt 20:17

During the Passion Week – He scarcely let the disciples out of his sight… Even when He prayed alone in Gethsemane, his disciples were only a stone’s throw away. Luke 22:41

Post Resurrection – Every one of the ten appearances of Jesus was to His disciples…

There is no substitute for spending time together – they ate together, stayed together, talked together, walked together, sailed together, fished together, prayed together, traveled together, worshipped together. Everything Jesus did was witnessed by one of His disciples…

This is a sacrifice of time- Jesus had virtually no time to call his own…

Other examples with other people-

He went home with Zacchaeus - Luke 19:7

He stayed in Samaria for two extra days to instruct the people there…

John 4:39-42

Others like Bartimaeus were permitted to join the procession following Jesus.

Mark 10:52

Mary, Martha, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, Salome and many others…

Summary: Jesus eventually called his disciples friends… Friendship requires time and communication… Jesus made sure that He knew his disciples and that his disciples knew him. There is truly no other way to make disciples… it requires personal attention, personal relationship, and personal time.

Steve Youngblood