How Did Jesus Do It?

Most of us are extremely familiar with the command Jesus left his disciples in Matthew 28 called the Great Commission. It is a call to action, specifically to baptize believers and make disciples. I have lamented for years that it would have been awesome if he had left the disciples a blueprint for a disciple making process we could use in the church. Recently, my podcast co-host Charla Sherbakoff shared an insight from a book she read that gave me a new perspective.

In Jesus, A Pilgrimage, Father James Martin shared the stories of Zaccheus and Blind Bartimaeus and how Jesus made them disciples. One point related to both of these encounters was that everyone around these two had given up on them, everybody but Jesus. This caused me to dig into the Gospels with a different lens to find Jesus’ blueprint for making disciples.

The lens or perspective I used to approach this new look at the encounters Jesus had with people was to answer a few questions about each. Where was he making disciples? How was he transforming people into disciples? When was Jesus making disciples? And then what were the outcomes from these encounters? 

What I discovered was that Jesus was very intentional, or as I call it, proactive in making disciples. Many of the encounters we read about in the Gospels are viewed as Jesus healing or performing a miracle with persons. But this was just the beginning of the process, Jesus addressed the problems these people were facing whether it was demonic possession or people living a life far from righteousness. Jesus always invited these people into a relationship with him to find life and not death. He was healing their physical infirmities but he also healed their sinful souls.

Not only did Jesus give them all a personal invitation into a relationship, he always gave them a call to action. And it was not always a call to physically follow him. Obviously, Jesus could see into their hearts to know the healing they truly needed, but he also could see their gifts and abilities to know how to put them to work. And then what were the outcomes of these encounters that helped spread the Good News.

One of my favorite examples is the story of the Gerasene Demoniac found in Mark 5. Jesus and his disciples traveled to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to a region called the Gerasenes and the Decapolis (the Ten Cities). This was not a Jewish settlement like the other side of the lake, it was mainly pagans who despised Rome (that’s a story for another day). The first person Jesus encountered was a man living in the graveyard possessed by a legion of demons. He was a wild man known and feared by the whole community. Let’s pick up the story midway through verse 14:

…Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man possessed by demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion, and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen what had happened to the man possessed by demons and to the swine reported it. 17 Then they began to beg Jesus[d] to leave their neighborhood. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 But Jesus[e] refused and said to him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and what mercy he has shown you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed. Mark 5:14-20 NRSVU

It is interesting that the people who came to see what had happened were afraid when they saw the man sitting and having a conversation with Jesus. They were so afraid they asked Jesus to leave! Notice what happens next, the healed man wants to climb in the boat and go with Jesus. But Jesus tells him no, to go home to his own people and tell them what has happened to him. The passage concludes with the man “proclaiming in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.”

Now, you might think the story ends there. I was always unsure why Jesus asked others to follow him and not this man, until I found this nugget tucked away in Mark 7 a few years ago. In Mark 7:31, we read that Jesus has returned to the region of the Decapolis. Remember, the first time he went in chapter 5, he was only met by a demon-possessed, mad man. Let’s read in verse 32 and 33 to see how he is received now: 

32 They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. (Emphasis Added) Mark 7:32-33 NRSVU

Notice in verse 33 what is highlighted, Jesus is about to heal someone and he takes him away from THE CROWD. This crowd that now received Jesus in this pagan region was the result of the testimony of this once wild man whose life was transformed, he accepted his role as a disciple, and obeyed Jesus’ call to tell his story.

So what was Jesus’ process for making disciples? He paid attention to people along his path and he wasn’t afraid to travel to the non-religious places, to leave the beaten path. Nor did he set up an office in the synagogue and see people by appointment. Jesus met people where they were, even if it might be dangerous or uncomfortable. I refer to this activity as connecting.

Jesus first addressed the problem that was impeding the person from living their life fully. He showed empathy and many times “tough love” but he understood their issues and helped them overcome them. He also could see their gifts and potential impact and called them into service where they could thrive in sharing the Gospel. In the Proactive Strategy I call this engaging and guiding.

The outcomes from Jesus’ disciple making are still evident some 2,000 years later. The first disciples spread the story of Jesus around the known world in a few generations. The Gerasene Demoniac created a movement of Jesus followers in a few months. We are still living into that same calling to connect with, engage, and guide the people that will continue to spread the Gospel Message to the next generations. We can learn a lot about being intentional and consistent by watching Jesus make his disciples that would change the world forever!