The simple but supernatural life of Christ’s disciples

In the last piece, we looked at the differences between the disciples, the multitudes, and the impostors relative to our relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

First, who is a disciple of Jesus Christ? There are different ways to answer this question. But the basic understanding is that a disciple of Jesus is someone who follows Jesus, obeys His commands, and lives by His teachings.

Disciples of Jesus might look like ordinary people, with obvious limitations and inadequacies, but when you observe their conduct and the supernatural outputs of their lives, you cannot but conclude that they have the exceptional advantage of having been with Jesus.

That is what happened in Acts Chapter 4 verse 13. “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marvelled. And they realised that they had been with Jesus.”

They looked at Peter and John and compared them with the notable miracle that had just happened and concluded that their fishing prowess and other abilities they had could not have produced that. Then they concluded that the miracle is only traceable to the fact that they had been with Jesus. Nothing else made sense.

This should be the desire of every disciple of Christ that the outcome of your life would be so great that people would say that they know that you are incapable of producing such results, except for your relationship with God. May you be able to say, “My real advantage in life is that I have been with Jesus, and I have unhindered access to Him.” This includes having access to understanding the mysteries of God’s Kingdom.

In Matthew chapter 13, we see a clear difference in the way Jesus teaches different types of audiences. While on earth, the Lord was such a meticulous teacher that He could teach the same things in different ways to deliver to each set of people what they needed to know.

He spoke to the multitude in parables, but to His disciples, He explained the parables.

“On the same day, Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea and great multitudes were gathered together to Him so that He got into a boat and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. Then He spoke many things to them in parables,” the first three verses of Matthew chapter 13 reads.

Jesus went on to teach the multitude with parables. One wonders what the reactions of those people were when Jesus taught them in parables. Did they understand His teaching, or were they left pondering in perplexity, what the parables meant?

The disciples of Jesus must have observed this method of delivery and how it was significantly different it was from how Jesus taught them privately. I imagine they would have become concerned that the multitude would not get what Jesus was teaching. They decided to query their master.

Verse 10 states that the disciples went to Jesus and queried His teaching method, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” They asked.

Jesus answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them, it has not been given.” He went on and showed them how His teaching of the multitude in parables was a fulfilment of prophecy.

However, the important point here is that He taught the multitude in parables and taught the disciples in plain language. This addresses the point that the way you receive God’s communication is an indication of where you are in your relationship with Him.

If you find God speaking to you in parables, it means you are not a disciple. Every disciple is entitled to understanding the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. One of the ways to gauge your Christian walk is how God communicates with you. The Lord speaks to His disciples in clear terms, not in parables or with ambiguity.

When God begins to hide His counsel from you or begins to speak to you in dark speeches, you are in trouble. God never intends to speak to any believer, hiding His counsel. Pray that God will bring you to a place where He speaks to you in plain language and with clarity.

The good news is that these categories are not static. The disciples came out from the multitude, and then the Lord chose the 12 apostles from the disciples.

This means that you may be a part of the multitude today, but you can become a disciple of Jesus. It’s your choice to make. If you read through the scriptures, you will find that the requirements for being a disciple are clearly stated.

One of the clearest is in Matthew chapter 16, verse 24. It says, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, if anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].”

It is a serious business. Being a disciple of Jesus will cost you a lot. It involves self-denial, readiness to suffer because of your faith in Christ, readiness to obey the Lord and prioritise His commands over comfort and convenience, and loving other disciples whether or not you like the way they look or behave.

However, whatever price we pay to follow Jesus is not compared to the prize of being numbered among His disciples. In fact, the price is aided by grace, the supply of the Spirit.

The glory is to the Lord who aids and rewards people, who believe in Him and choose to lay hands on the plough without looking back. To what can we compare the access disciples have to the Almighty, the wisdom that made the universe and decodes all mysteries?

If the Lord knows you as one of His disciples, speaks to you clearly, and explains parables to you, nothing in this world compares to that. The result is that your life will simplify mysteries and produce the supernatural naturally.

Reverend Austin Ukporhe is the Senior Pastor at Remnant Christian Network, Lagos. Raised in Sokoto, northern Nigeria, he was trained in peculiar firebrand evangelism and was ordained as a pastor in 2001. He has experienced countless and diverse workings of the faithfulness of God over two decades and has developed a passion to see God’s will for Nigeria become a reality. He can be reached on ‪+2348060255604‬.