The meaning of ‘make disciples’ can be learned from Matthew 28:19, which says, “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. Therefore, to ‘make disciples’ means to make unbelievers become followers of Jesus Christ.
The command in Matthew 28:19-20 is the last command uttered by Jesus Christ Himself, and He said it to His disciples. On Mount Olivet, a group of people stood looking up to heaven. They were Peter, John, James, and the others. And as Jesus ascended before their eyes, He commanded them to go and win unbelievers to become His disciples. The question is how did Jesus win those people who became His disciples.
1. Jesus made disciples through Socialization
One of the things that differentiated Jesus and John the Baptist was that Jesus was sociable. Because of Jesus’ sociable nature, He was often invited to ceremonies and homes of people. In His turn, Jesus got along well with almost everybody and He also visited, invited, and welcomed people into his life. And we see from biblical accounts that Jesus turned some of His social activities into disciple-making strategies.
i. Visitation
Zacchaeus was a sinner much like Judas Iscariot. He too was struggling with the sin of the love of money or greed for money. He revealed it himself when he said, “… and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” However, this fellow, irrespective of his sins and weaknesses, was led into repentance by Jesus Christ and became Jesus’ disciples.
You might not have still taken notice of what exactly Jesus Christ did to win Zacchaeus to His side. Actually, He did nothing so extraordinary. He did not lay hands on Zacchaeus to take him through a long deliverance prayer, nor command any evil spirit of greed out of him, nor preach to him on end, nor perform signs and wonders. Jesus won Zacchaeus simply by visitation.
Somewhere in the streets of Jericho, Jesus saw Zacchaeus in a sycamore tree. In a friendly manner, He called him to descend and He went with Zacchaeus to His house. That was all. Then Zacchaeus, full of appreciation for Jesus’ visit, repented and stood up before Jesus and His disciples and said to Jesus, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” (Luke 19:8).
It did not take preaching or miracles or prayer, we see that just a visitation from Jesus Christ made a disciple of a sinner like Zacchaeus.
ii. Invitation
It might surprise you to learn that Jesus won some of His faithful disciples such as Peter, Andrew, Matthew, Philip, and Nathaniel simply by invitation.
One day, Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two fishermen, Simon Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea. Then He threw an invitation to them, saying, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The two brothers immediately left their nets and followed Him. (Matthew 4:18-20)
After calling Peter and Andrew, Jesus went on from there, and He saw another two brothers, James and John, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. And Jesus threw an invitation to them by calling them. And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. (Matthew 4:21-22)
One day, a man called Matthew was sitting at the tax office collecting taxes. Then when Jesus was passing by, He saw Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He threw an invitation to him, saying, “Follow Me.” So Matthew arose and followed Him. (Mark 2:14)
In the course of time, Jesus found Philip when he was about to go to Galilee and he invited him saying, “Follow Me.” Philip became His disciple right from that time. (John 1:43)
After Philip had been won by invitation, he also found his friend Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” So Philip also invited Nathaniel to come to Jesus (John 1:45-46)
It is evident from biblical accounts that, at least six of the twelve disciples of Jesus were won by invitation. Jesus invited them to come and follow Him and they came.
2. Jesus made disciples by leading a sinless life
When Jesus was arrested and was being tried, the Bible testifies – 55 Now the chief priests and all the council sought testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but found none. (Mark 14:55).
If the very people who saw, heard, and met Jesus could not find any accusation against Him, then so shall it be that for all ages to come none would ever find any provable accusation against Jesus. One of the things very remarkable about Jesus is the sinless life He led. He was clean, unspotted, and perfect; and the people of His time could testify to it. Jesus’ righteous life became one of the strategies by which He made disciples.
When Jesus was crucified on the cross at Calvary, two criminals were also crucified with Him, one on His left and the other on His right. Though Jesus did not preach on the cross nor do any miracles nor say anything in His own defense, one of the criminals who was crucified with Him acknowledged Jesus’ innocence and testified that He was a righteous man and further, he believed in Jesus and became His disciple at the final moment of their lives. The Bible says –
39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.” 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man (Jesus) has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:39–42)
Jesus made a disciple even on the cross; i.e. He won an unbeliever and criminal to become His disciple even on the cross. But this time, He did not do it by miracles, preaching, and socialization; rather, it was His innocence and righteousness, coupled with the unfair judgment He received, won the heart of the crucified criminal.
Generally, Jesus’ righteous life buttressed His other disciple-making strategies. If Jesus were preaching and working miracles alright, yet His life was tainted with sins such as lying, alcoholism, pride, fornication, hypocrisy, etc., do you think people would have come to believe that He is Christ the Son of God? No. And do you think the crucified criminal would have had faith in Him and would have had a clear conscience to testify of His innocence on the cross? Certainly not.
Jesus’ righteous life made many people believe that Jesus Himself, the word that He preached, and the miracles which He worked were from God.
- Had it not been that Jesus was not a sinner, but a righteous man, Nicodemus would not have come to Him to seek the way to salvation. John 3:1-14
- Had it not been that Jesus was not a sinner, but a righteous man, the rich young man would not have come to Him to seek the way to eternal life. Mark 10:17-31/Matthew 19:16-30
3. Jesus made disciples by preaching the word of God
At the time Jesus was doing His ministry, there were quite a lot of religious leaders: the people had seen the likes of John the Baptist, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes, the priests, etc. Yet Jesus Christ stood out.
One day Jesus stood amid the crowd and taught in their presence. As usual, his teachings were saturated with mysteries – things that the people have never heard before. Though some of the audience took offense at his teachings and did not believe, there were quite a lot of them who believed in Him.
Jesus was known for being a great teacher; his teachings stood out. The people of his day could distinguish Him from the Pharisees, and they made the remark that He taught with authority, unlike the Pharisees and the scribes. His teachings were one of the tools by which he won the hearts of the people to become His disciples. Examples
- And many more believed because of his own word; 42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. John 4:41-42
- As he (Jesus) spake these words, many believed on him. John 8:30
- Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: John 12:42
4. Jesus made disciples by working miracles
One day, when Jesus was in Cana in the region of Galilee, a man who was an official came to Him to plead that He should follow Him to His house to heal his dying son. Jesus did not go with him, rather, He told him to go and his son would live. The man listened and went. Before he reached home, he met his servants who told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” On account of this miracle, the man and his family believed in Jesus Christ; in other words, this man and his entire family became disciples of Jesus. John 4:46-54
This man and his family are one of many examples of persons and families whose hearts were touched and moved to accept Jesus into their lives and become His disciples through miracles. Jesus had used His teachings, His holy life, and his sociability to win the hearts of people to become His disciples; but to speak frankly, the miracles He worked outdid all these other strategies of making disciples.
Jesus’ fame spread like wildfire, and He became a household name all on account of the miraculous healing, raising the dead, feeding the multitudes, etc. and many came from within and without Israel to see Him. Many of those who encountered his power and those who witnessed or heard of His miracles believed in Him and became his disciples. Examples:
- Jesus healed a man born blind, later the man believed in Him and worshipped Him. (John 9:35-38)
- Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead leading many of the Jews to believe in Him. (John 11:38-45)
- The disciples of Jesus began to believe in Him when they saw the miracle He did in Cana, turning water into wine (John 2:1-11)
- And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done? John 7:31
Conclusion
These strategies that Jesus used to make disciples have become our tools in this modern time for making disciples because they are the best strategies we can lay our hands on to fulfill the Great Commission.