Читать книгу The Book of Gratitudes - Pablo R. Andiñach - Страница 11

A disciple is a person who adheres to a doctrine under the guidance of a master. The prophets had disciples, as did the Pharisees and John the Baptist. As we know, Jesus had disciples.

Usually, we consider that Jesus had twelve disciples. Their names are given in several texts, with a few variations: in Matthew 10:1–4 they coincide, with some minor discrepancies, with the lists in the other Gospels and Acts 1:13, where Mathias is chosen to replace Judas Iscariot after his death. It is true that Jesus gave special attention to a group of twelve disciples in order to give them special training (Matthew 11:1), but it is also true that a crowd followed Him on the road and many of them were also considered disciples.

Matthew 27:55 mentions that many women were at the foot of the cross, as that they had followed Him from Galilee. In two places, Luke (vv. 23:27 and 49) confirms this version of a group of women who followed Jesus on his journeys. Without forcing the meaning of the text, we have every right to consider this large group as disciples of Jesus. If we consider woman’s secondary place in those times, we can discern how brave and transgressing it must have been for women to leave their homes alone and follow their master on the road. At one time, Jesus deemed it necessary to extend the preaching and designated seventy disciples, in pairs, to prepare the way for Him in every town (Luke 10:1–17). We do not know if there were women among them, but there is nothing said against it.

Acts 6:1–2 says that the number of disciples had grown until it had become a multitude. This is because in that book the word disciple is synonymous with Christian and, consequently, each new believer was considered a disciple. We already have the names of Sapphira and the “disciple” Dorcas (Acts 9:36). Acts 9:19 mentions that there were disciples in Damascus, quite a distance from the region where Jesus acted during his life.

What may be cause for surprise or doubt to us, was not so for the first Christians. For them, it was common for women to be part of the leadership of the emerging Church.