Discipling His Disciples

Someone once said to me; “Wouldn’t be wonderful to have sat at the feet of Jesus when He taught His disciples like Mary and Lazarus did (Luke 10:39; John 12:2)?”  Thankfully, the answer to that is that we have that privilege as blood-bought, born-again believers as we allow the Spirit of God to teach us from the Scriptures. Through His Word, Jesus is “discipling His disciples” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). And we have the indwelling Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17; Romans 8:9) which gives the advantage (John 16:12-15) over these disciples before Pentecost concerning His teaching ministry.

But you still can’t help but wonder just what that was like to sit at the feet of Jesus as Lazarus did? Another thing we need to remember is that we are asking this question with 20/20 visions, without the doubts these men Jesus chose exhibited from time to time.

This last week of our Lord’s life He intentionally pulled His disciples aside to prepare them for what was to come (Matthew 20:17) and to instill in them some extraordinary truths.  From time to time there were others, such as the Sadducees and the crowds listening in, but this last week Jesus is zeroing in on His disciples. Truths they and we as well, will spend our lives absorbing.  These few days culminating with the Last Supper were literally packed with spiritual truths.  Let me just catalog them for you in just Matthew and the parables and other teachings of Christ, culminating in chapters 24 and 25 with His teachings on the second coming.

1. The Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32).
2. The Parable of the Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46).
3. The Parable of the Wedding Feast (Matthew 22:1-14).
4. Paying Taxes (Matthew 22:15-22).
5. Some teaching on the resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33).
6. The Great Commandment (Matt 22:34-40).
7. Who is the Christ (Matthew 22:41-46).
8. Seven woes to the Scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 23:1-36).
9. His Lament over Jerusalem (Matthew 23:36-39).
10. The Destruction of the Temple (Matthew 24:1-2).
11. Signs of the End of the Age (Matthew 24:3-14)
12. The Abomination of Desolation (Matthew 24:15-28)
13. The Coming of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:19-31).
14. The Lesson of the Fig Tree (Matthew 24:32-35).
15. No one knows the Day or Hour (Matthew 24:36-51).
16. The parable of the ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13).
17. The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).
18. The Final Judgment (Matthew 25:31-46).

Have you got a headache yet?  Think about the material that Jesus covered. And of course, they all got it, right? His parables were breathtakingly simple and yet profound and then Chapters 24 and 25 as Jesus answers the question of Matthew 24:3. WOW!

Matthew 24:3 (ESV) ³  As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

This question is a nationalistic and messianic Jewish question that our Lord answers in a Jewish context. It is deep. At times confounding and at the same time wonderful, as He reveals the end of the age and His second coming.

Here’s what is unbelievable…  He’s not done yet with these men. There is more teaching to come, that is wrapped up in the lengthy Passover Supper and that is wonderfully changed into the Last Supper, a memorial to His crucifixion yet to come in a few short hours as the true Passover Lamb. That’s where John takes over with his narrative starting in John 13 through 17. We’ll briefly look at that tomorrow.

-Michael Holtzinger