Читать книгу New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of John vol. 2 - William Barclay - Страница 20

THE TRUE DISCIPLESHIP

John 8:31–2

So Jesus said to the Jews who had come to believe in him: ‘If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth; and the truth will make you free.’

FEW New Testament passages have such a complete picture of discipleship as this.

(1) Discipleship begins with belief. Its beginning is the moment when we accept what Jesus says as true – all that he says about the love of God, all that he says about the terror of sin, all that he says about the real meaning of life.

(2) Discipleship means constantly remaining in the word of Jesus, and that involves four things.

(a) It involves constant listening to the word of Jesus. It was said of the eighteenth-century cleric John Brown of Haddington that when he preached he paused every now and then as if listening for a voice. Christians are people who all their lives listen for the voice of Jesus and will take no decision until they have first heard what he has to say.

(b) It involves constant learning from Jesus. The disciple (mathetes) is literally the learner, for that is what the Greek word means. Throughout their lives, Christians should be learning more and more about Jesus. The shut mind is the end of discipleship.

(c) It involves constant penetrating into the truth which the words of Jesus bear. None of us can hear or read the words of Jesus once and then say that we understand their full meaning. The difference between a great book and one which is fashionable and of the moment lies in the fact that we read the latter once and never wish to go back to it; whereas we read a great book many times. To remain in the word of Jesus means constantly to study and think about what he said until more and more of its meaning becomes ours.

(d) It involves constant obeying of the word of Jesus. We study it not simply for academic satisfaction or for intellectual appreciation, but in order to find out what God wishes us to do. The disciple is the learner who learns in order to do. The truth which Jesus brought is designed for action.

(3) Discipleship issues in knowledge of the truth. To learn from Jesus is to learn the truth. ‘You will know the truth,’ said Jesus. What is that truth? There are many possible answers to that question, but the most comprehensive way to put it is that the truth which Jesus brings shows us the real values of life. The fundamental question to which everyone has consciously or unconsciously to give an answer is: ‘To what am I to give my life? To a career? To the amassing of material possessions? To pleasure? To the service of God?’ In the truth of Jesus, we see what things are really important and what are not.

(4) Discipleship results in freedom. ‘The truth will make you free.’ ‘In his service is perfect freedom.’ Discipleship brings us four freedoms. (a) It brings us freedom from fear. Those who are disciples never again have to walk alone. They walk forever in the company of Jesus, and in that company fear is gone. (b) It brings freedom from self. Many of us fully recognize that our greatest handicap is our own self. And we may in despair cry out: ‘I cannot change myself. I have tried, but it is impossible.’ But the power and presence of Jesus can recreate us until we are altogether new. (c) It brings freedom from other people. There are many whose lives are dominated by the fear of what other people may think and say. H. G. Wells once said that the voice of our neighbours sounds louder in our ears than the voice of God. Disciples are people who have ceased to care what people say, because they think only of what God says. (d) It brings freedom from sin. Many people have come to the stage when they sin, not because they want to, but because they cannot help it. Their sins have so taken over their lives that, try as they will, they cannot break away from them. Discipleship breaks the chains which bind us to them and enables us to be the persons we know we ought to be. The prayer that the old self may be put aside and that as disciples of Christ we may become new people will indeed be answered.