1) What is a christian

The word ‘Christian’ actually appears only three times in the Bible, and it is mentioned by Luke twice in the Acts of the Apostles and by Petros in his first letter.

Acts 11:26: „And having found him, they took him to Antioch. And it happened that they gathered together during the whole year with the Assembly and that they taught a fairly large crowd. And it is in Antioch that, for the first time, the disciples received the name of christians„.

We see here that the actual term for those who followed Yehoshua was ‘disciples’ and that they were only called ‘Christians’ after they had received intensive teaching, that is, after the word had taken root in them. According to this, the ‘Christians’ are already taught disciples. From this we see that the term ‘Christian’ has a different meaning than the one attributed to it today. In our time, ‘Christian’ is used quite loosely and thoughtlessly for a part of humanity that belongs to churches and certain religious groups.

On the other hand, the word ‘disciple’ appears over 260 times in the Bible. The question then arises:

2) What is a disciple?

Yehoshua’s last words before his ascension were the well-known Great Commission: “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Yehoshua had designated. […] Therefore, having gone, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to keep all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you all the days to the end of the age. Amen!” (Matthew 28:16, 19-20)

So, you become a disciple from the day of your conversion, when you come to believe in Yehoshua. We read here that a disciple is one who is in a training program, completing an apprenticeship. This is also evidenced by the Greek word for disciple, ‘mathetes’, which means ‘learner, student, disciple’. In the school of faith, you have to learn and be taught. Just as in normal life, there are diligent and lazy, quick and slow students in faith. Age is not relevant here.

The prophet Yesha’yah in Isaiah 50:4-5 provides particular insight into discipleship: “Adonay YHWH has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary: he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned. Adonay YHWH has opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back”. 

Here we learn about two qualities of a disciple, or two processes of discipleship: –> hearing (which is further divided into receiving teaching, listening and learning) and –> passing it on. Let us look into this in more detail in the following.

3) The Disciple in the Old Covenant

A disciple has a master. In the Old Covenant, the disciple was a servant of his master, another human being who was his lord and role model. The Hebrew word translated as ‘disciple’ in English is limmûwd. It means ‘taught, learned’, ‘instructed in discipleship’ and ‘accustomed to something’. The disciple does not just learn in theory but becomes accustomed to the lifestyle of his master to such an extent and for so long that he becomes like his Master. This is the goal of the discipleship. Some examples in the Bible are:

Moshe (Moses) and Yehoshua (Joshua)

Shemot/Exodus 24:13: “And Moses rose up, and his minister Yehoshua: and Moses went up into the mount of Elohim [1]”. As long as Moshe was on the mountain (for 40 days!), his servant Yehoshua (Joshua) had to wait for him. He did not leave the side of his master Moshe: “And YHWH spake to Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Yehoshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle” (Exodus 33:11).

Eliyah (Elijah) and Eliysha (Elisha)

1 Kings 19:19-21: “So he departed thence, and found Eliysha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Eliyah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Eliyah, and said, Let me, I pray you, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you. And he said to him, Go back again: for what have I done to you? And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Eliyah, and ministered to him”.

Yohanan (John) the Baptist and his disciples

“And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said to him, Lord, teach us to pray, as Yohanan also taught his disciples” (Luke 11:1). From this passage, we see that the disciples of John the Baptist – who can be called the last prophet before the New Covenant (see Matthew 11:11) – had even learned how to pray from their master. Thus, we understand that Yehoshua’s contemporary disciples understood exactly what it means to be a disciple of a master.

4) Discipleship in the transition period

The transition period was the time of Yohanan the Baptist: “And this is the testimony of Yohanan, when the Jews sent from Yerushalaim the priests and the levites to question him: Who are you? He confessed and denied not, but confessed: I am not the Mashiah. And they asked him: What then? Are you Eliyah? And he says: I am not. Are you the prophet? And he answered: Num. Therefore they said to him: Who are you? That we may give a reply to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself? He said: I am the voice of one crying: In the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord, as said Yesha’yah the prophet” (John 1:19-23). 

This prophecy of preparing the way was given 400 years earlier by the prophet Yesha’yah (see Isaiah 40:3) and was fulfilled with Yohanan. 

Since the time of John the Baptist, discipleship has changed because of a significant event: the Lamb of Elohim has appeared on earth as a human being. “The next day, Yohanan stood again with two of his disciples. And, looking at Yehoshua walking, he says: Behold the Lamb of Elohim! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Yehoshua” (John 1:35-37). 

Here we were in a time of transition from the Old to the New Covenant. The two disciples – one of whom was the later apostle Andrew – left their old master, the Baptist. Now, for the first time in human history, some disciples followed someone who was not only 100% human, but even 100% Elohim! From that day onwards, the disciples followed Yehoshua exclusively. Soon afterwards, Yohanan the Baptist confessed: “He must increase and I must decrease in popularity” (John 3:30).

We now also understand what Yehoshua said in Luke 7:28 (Matthew 11:11): “For I say to you, among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than Yohanan the Baptist. But he that is least in the kingdom of Elohim is greater than he”. What an honour for a disciple of Yehoshua to be called greater than Yohanan the Baptist!

5) The Disciple in the New Covenant

In the new covenant, the disciple also has a master. However, this is not a human being, but Elohim, Yehoshua Mashiah [2] himself. 

Yehoshua and Petros (Peter)

In the following example, we see that Petros also acted according to the example of his master Yehoshua to bring a dead woman back to life. Yehoshua Mashiah’s actions still fall within the transition period when Yehoshua was living as a human being.

In Mark 5:35-42, Yehoshua acted as follows: “While he yet is speaking, they come from the ruler of the synagogue, saying, your daughter is dead. Why do you still trouble the Teacher? As soon as Yehoshua heard the word that was spoken, he says to the ruler of the synagogue: Be not afraid, only believe. And he allowed no one to follow him, except Petros, Yaacov and Yohanan, the brother of Yaacov. And he comes to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and sees the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. And coming in, he says to them: Why do you make this uproar and weep? The little girl is not dead, but sleeps. And they laughed at him scornfully. But he, having cast them all out, takes the father and mother of the little girl, and those with him, and enters where the little girl is lying. And taking the young child by the hand, he says to her: Talitha koumi, which is, being translated: Little girl, I say to you arise! And straightaway the little girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years old. And they were astonished with a great astonishment”.

And in Acts 9:36-42, Petros acted in this way – now in the time of the New Covenant, after the death and resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit: “But there was in Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorkas. She was full of good works and gave alms. But it happened in those days, having fallen ill, she died. And after washing her, she was laid in a upper chamber. But as Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples having learned that Petros was there, sent to him two men, to beg him to come to them without delay. And Petros got up and left with these men. When he had arrived, they brought him into the upper chamber. All the widows surrounded him crying, and showed him the tunics and the clothes that Dorkas made, when she was with them. But Petros made everyone leave, kneeled down and prayed and, turning towards the body, he said: Tabitha, rise up! And she opened her eyes and, seeing Petros, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. And having called the saints and the widows, he presented her to them alive. And it was known throughout all Joppa and many believed in the Lord”. 

In his personal relationship with the Master Yehoshua, Peter learned and we learn what the Lord wants from us. We are allowed to ask our teacher Yehoshua questions. Our goal is also to become like the Master himself: “The disciple is not above his teacher, when he is fully equipped, he will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40). The Greek verb katartizo translated as ‘fully equipped’ also means ‘to arrange’, ‘to adjust’, ‘to complete’ or ‘to repair’, which we also read about in Galatians 6:1.

6) The equipment of the disciple

The original Greek word ‘katartizo’ can also be further translated as ‘to mend’, ‘to fit out’, ‘to put in order’, ‘to strengthen’, ‘to perfect’ or ‘make one what he ought to be’. Every disciple naturally needs teachers. The new kind of masters, or teachers, only pass on the teachings they have received from Yehoshua. The ultimate Teacher, Yehoshua ha Mashiah, has also established the five ministries of the Word in this world for His disciples – five types of teachers with slightly different orientations – to accomplish this. 

In Ephesians 4:11-14 we read, “And himself gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds and teachers; For the equipping of the saints, for the work of the service, for the building of the body of Mashiah: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the precise and correct knowledge of the Son of Elohim, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Mashiah: That we may be no longer children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by in the playing at dice of humans, and the skill, whereby they cunning art to deceive”.

a) The Teacher/Doctor

In general, all five ministries of the Word can also be described as teachers of the Word, as they transmit the teaching of Yehoshua. However, only one ministry is specifically called to teach: the ‘didaskalos’. He is an ‘instructor’, a doctor of the Word, who digs deep into the Word and is devoted to instruction and teaching. The disciple of Mashiah who is instructed in the word of the Lord must also dig deeper himself and investigate whether he is being taught the truth [3] (on the subject of ‘teacher’, see also Matthew 8:19, 22:16, 1 Cor 12:28). Yaakov (James) warns: “My brothers, be not many masters, knowing that we will receive a more severe judgment” (James 3:1). In this verse Yaakov, the brother in the flesh of the Lord Yehoshua, admonishes teachers to be exemplary. He is the author of the letter of Yaakov (James) and also described himself as a teacher.

b) The Pastor/Shepherd

The Greek word ‘poimen’ means ‘shepherd’, ‘one who tends the flock’. He heals wounds, guides, feeds and takes care, and is therefore a caring person. Elohim reproaches the false shepherds in Ezekiel 34:4: “The diseased have you not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them”. 

The pastor is not – as most people think – responsible for a single local church, but can also look after other congregations because, like the other ministries, he is commissioned for the whole body. The local church, on the other hand, has ‘elders’ – tested, experienced and therefore respected leaders who work together with the pastor as a team. A pastor must never forget that he must follow the most excellent pastor, his Chief Shepherd Yehoshua ha Mashiah.

c) The Evangelist

An ‘euangelistes’ is literally the bearer of glad tidings, the good news. Isaiah 52:7 says: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith to Zion, Your Elohim reigneth!”

As it says in Ephesians 4:12, an evangelist is also first of all there “for the building up of the body of Mashiah” and is integrated into a local congregation, in other words not permanently travelling the streets shouting, as has been mistakenly thought. An evangelist brings enthusiasm and excitement. He moves people and touches hearts with the good news. Moreover, this task and gift of proclaiming the gospel is not only for the unconverted, but also to teach the congregation to proclaim the gospel. All of Yehoshua’s disciples and everyone who calls themselves a christian must be active in evangelism. 

Yehoshua gave us this command in Matthew 28:19-20. This is why the evangelist motivates his fellow brothers and sisters and trains other disciples in the assembly to also proclaim Yehoshua. In Acts 8:5-8, we read that an evangelist is accompanied by signs and wonders: “And Philippos, went down to the city of Samaria, preached to them the Mashiah. And the crowds with one accord, were attentive to what Philippos said, by hearing him and by seeing the signs that he produced. Because the unclean spirits of many people who had them, came out crying with a loud voice, and many paralitics and lame were healed. And there was a great joy in that city”.

d) The Prophet

Prophets (in Greek: ‘prophetes’) are considered to be the mouth and eyes of the Lord. Although, like other ministries, they can also edify and teach, they are especially characterised by their gift of receiving future things. The prophecy they receive must always be in accordance with the Word. Prophecy that contradicts the Bible does not come from the Lord. There are no female prophets in this sense, although women can also receive prophecies. The ministries of the Word are carried out by men. Prophets were regarded as seers in the Old Covenant, they were like an oracle. You can read about this in 1 Samuel 9, where Shaul (Saul) was looking for his father’s donkeys and sought advice from the prophet Shemuel, for which he offered a quarter of a shekel of silver. Nowadays, prophecy is a gift of grace from the Lord which, as a free present from the Lord, must not be remunerated in any way! The prophet is also not to be regarded as a fortune teller who makes predictions for private life by pressing a button. His gift – like that of the other ministries – serves exclusively to build up the body of Yehoshua.

e) The Apostle

The “apóstolos” lays the foundation, he builds the church. He gives a congregation the basis, the foundation of faith. To achieve this, he moves around a lot, visits different places and does not stay in one place. According to the Bible, there are also apostolic couples, as the example of Akulas and Priscilla in Acts 18 shows.

Task of the ministries

These five ministries are endowed with special spiritual gifts of teaching to serve the believers in the understanding of the Word. They all have the same task, namely, to build up and edify the church, but with different characteristics and in different ways. In 1 Corinthians 12:28-31, we also read: “And Elohim has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I to you a more excellent way”. 

Paul also mentions other ministries and gifts of grace with the purpose of equipping the body of Mashiah. The ministers of the word, like the other believers, are also disciples of the Lord Yehoshua. Paulos therefore says: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: so that, after I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27)

7) Reaching adult status

The goal of equipping is maturity, the adult status of the disciple, the state of the ‘Christian’. Accordingly, not only the ministers of the Word or holders of special gifts of grace have tasks, but also all believers, i.e. disciples. They are also equipped with the Holy Spirit in order to receive the word and be perfected by it. 

a) From child to adult

Hebrews 5:11-14: „concerning whom we have many words to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of Elohim, and you have become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. For every one who partakes of milk is inexperienced in the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But strong food belongs to perfect men, even those who by reason of use have their faculties exercised to distinguish both good and evil“.

In this Bible text, we have the two opposites in bold print, namely the Greek adjectives ‘nepios’ and ‘téleios’. The first term is translated as ‘infant’ in English but also means ‘untaught’, ‘little child’ or ‘not of age’. Those who are immature say ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ to everything, even to false teachings or teachers. They need milk to begin their growth. The second term, ‘perfect’, also means ‘completed’, ‘accomplished’, ‘adult’, ‘brought to its end’, ‘full age’. This person or state is compared here to someone who eats solid food. We remember the previously mentioned state of “a perfect man” from Ephesians 4:13. 

The Lord Yehoshua tells us in the Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore, you will be perfect, just as your father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). By this he means that every disciple must become mature, which results from his own relationship with Yehoshua.

b) Walking step by step in the Lord’s school

As we have learnt above, the disciple is a pupil and therefore the equipping of the disciple is also a school for disciples.

There are different types of courses:

• the school of Bible teaching, through the previously mentioned ministries of the Word, who themselves had (and still have) to go through the school and start drinking milk; they have already gained experience.
• the desert school, a school in which one learns to trust in the Lord through difficult situations (‘desert experiences’).
• the school of the world, where you learn by observing your surroundings and experiences.
• the personal school, in which the Lord himself gives you instructions (the problems that arise here are due to disobedience)

In Yehoshua’s school, there are also several class levels to go through. You have to listen, observe, understand and then answer and act accordingly. There are pupils who are willing to learn and who pass one class level after another. But there are also disobedient pupils who must repeat one or more classes. It even happens that someone who was about to graduate must return to a lower class because not having learnt his or her lesson. This person then has small children as classmates and is perhaps ridiculed because he is still at this age level. So, the most important thing in this school is obedience.

It’s like in natural life: Those who are not willing to learn and invest time will achieve nothing. Those who are not willing to recognise their mistakes and to listen to what they are told will not get anywhere. They are part of the unteachable, rebellious people.

In Yehoshua’s school, for example, there are quick learners who, after two or three years, are already so well equipped that they can go on a mission. Then again, there are people who have been in this school for 20 years but are not yet ready.

There are also pupils who, after starting school, want to go straight to year 10. How can a baby that still needs milk already want to eat meat and bones?

c) Too high aspirations?

We read earlier in Luke 6:40: “The disciple is not above his teacher”. It is important that the follower of Yehoshua remains humble and does not immediately pursue too high ambitions. 

In the Gospel of Mattithyah, we read about a negative example and Yehoshua’s rebuke: “Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Yehoshua with her sons, worshipping him and making a request of him. And he said to her: What do you wish? She said to him: Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one from your right sides and the other from your left sides, in your Kingdom. But Yehoshua answered and said: You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They said to him: We are able. And he said to them: You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit from my right sides and from my left sides is not mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by my Father. And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. But Yehoshua having called them to him, said: You know that the rulers of the nations exercise lordship over them, and the great exercise authority over them. But it will not be so among you. On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you, let him be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you, let him be your slave. Just as the Son of human did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:20-28). This incident between Yehoshua and his disciples teaches us a lot! 

• Yehoshua, the King of kings and Lord of lords, was also humble and served first as a human being.
• It requires a hard path to become like Yehoshua: drinking his cup.
• It is not man who decides what place he takes and what path he must walk to get there, but Elohim.
• Too much or false zeal causes unnecessary problems and enemies.

Anyone who ignores this principle of gradual maturing and throws themselves into service by hook or by crook, is risking their life. In the worst case, he can die spiritually or even die physically or quickly give up his course, as the following incident from the Gospel of John, chapter 6, shows us.

d) To know one’s Lord and remain with him

John 6:60-69: “Therefore out of the disciples having heard, they said: This word is hard, who can hear it? But Yehoshua, knowing in himself that the disciples murmured about it, said to them: Does this offend you? If then you will see the Son of human ascend up where he was before? It’s the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and life. But they are some of you who do not believe. For Yehoshua had known from the beginning who were those who believed not and who will deliver him up. And he said: therefore I said to you no man can come to me, unless it is given him by my Father. From that time, many of his disciples went away back and walked no more with him. Then Yehoshua said to the twelve: And you, will you also go away? Then Shim’on Petros answered him: Lord to who will we go to? You have the word of eternal life. And we have believed and known that you are the Mashiah, the Son of the living Elohim”.

The prophet Daniel made a prediction about the preservation of the Lord’s faithful disciples and the importance of knowing Yehoshua, especially when the affliction grows greater: “And arms will stand on his part, and they will pollute the sanctuary of strength, and will take away the daily sacrifice, and they will place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant will he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their Elohim will be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11,31-32).

The call to remain with the Lord also applies in particular to the teachers and ministries of the Word. Since this has been given too little consideration in the course of history, many different denominations have emerged that do not point to the Lord Yehoshua, but rather represent their various teachings.

8) The decision: Who to hate, who to love?

Luke 14:26: “If any one comes to me, and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and yet his own life also, he cannot be my disciple”. 

Should a disciple of Yehoshua hate according to this biblical passage? That can clearly be denied! By ‘hate’ here is meant that one should love all people, including oneself, less than Elohim. He must have the first place in our heart. 

We can read more about this later in the Bible passage: “Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough for its completion, lest he has laid the foundation, is not able to finish it, and everyone who sees it begin to mock him, saying: This man began to build, and was not able to finish? Or, what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first, take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, he sends an embassy while he is yet a great way off to ask for terms of peace. So therefore, everyone of you who forsakes not all his possessions cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27-33). 

We can see this later in Luke 16:13: “No domestic can be a slave of two lords: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve Elohim and mammon”. We understand here that the disciple has a price to pay. He must calculate well beforehand whether he will make the decision in favour of Yehoshua and be able to see it through to the end. It is not a game, but a well-considered decision.

9) Useless slaves

Luke 17:7-10: “But who among you, having a slave plowing or keeping sheep, will say to him immediately when he comes in from the field: Come at once and sit at the table? Instead, will he not say to him: Prepare my supper, gird yourself, and serve me until I have eaten and drunken, and afterward you will eat and drink? Does he thank that slave because he did what was commanded? I think not. So you also, when you have done all the things which are commanded you, say: We are useless slaves, and we have done that which we ought to do”.

The unprofitable servants here refer to people who really work for the Lord Yehoshua. They are told that they cannot rest after the work is done but must continue to serve immediately: “Prepare my supper, gird yourself, and serve me …”. The Lord shows us that we should not expect a reward after every stroke. 

The well-deserved rest comes only in heaven. We also read in Luke 6:23, “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven …” and in 10:20, “… but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven”. 

These answers of the Lord to the disciples confirm once again that we should look forward to the reward in heaven and consider ourselves as useless slaves.

Connected to this is the insight that the work belongs to the Lord and that we must not expect or accept the thanks of men in this regard. In the book of Leviticus (Vayiqra), chapters 3 and 7, we read about the Peace offering, the thank offering, which belongs to Elohim alone. It is not about money, but about thanks and honour, which are due to Yehoshua Mashiah and to him alone! No man may claim this honour for himself or receive or expect praise from his brothers and sisters for his work for the Lord. The humility in the heart of the slave is unceasing. He only does what he owes to do. The right self-understanding is: I am a slave who has been redeemed from the world and continues to serve as such in the team of Yehoshua, the Master. My reward awaits me in heaven from the Master Himself!

10) Some characteristics of a true disciple

• A true disciple must be disciplined in all areas of life, for example, in speech, behaviour, dress, etc.
• A true disciple follows Yehoshua and not human beings.
• A true disciple listens: “The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise. He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding” (Proverbs 15:31-32).
• A true disciple passes on the teachings he has received from his Master.
• A true disciple must as the Lord’s forerunner – like Yohanan/John the Baptist – point to Yehoshua and not to other people: “… I am the voice of one crying: In the wilderness, make straight the way of the Lord …” (Isaiah 40:3 and John 1:23).
• A true disciple is hated by the world because of the name Yehoshua: “You will be hated by all because of my name, but it is the one who has endured bravely and calmly mistreatments to the end who will be saved” (Matthew 10:22).
• A true disciple fears the Lord: “The fear of YHWH is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility” (Proverbs 15:33).
• A true disciple becomes just like his master.
• A true disciple has love for others: “I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so that you also loved one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love among each others” (John 13:34-35).