TRANSFORMATION OF JESUS’S DISCIPLES | PART 3
This article is the last topic in this series on the transformation of the disciple that results from staying with and learning from Jesus.
The Transformation of the Disciple
We previously stated that the goal of Christian discipleship is transformation—to become like Jesus. This transformation does not happen overnight. It is the result of moving with Jesus, staying with Him, learning from Him, and imitating Him. Peter, John, and James give us an example of this process of transformation. We know that when they began their discipleship journey with Jesus, they were dangerous, volatile men, still willing to kill and destroy their adversaries if necessary. Jesus knew them, and instead of rejecting them, He decided to draw them closer to Himself to teach them and model for them what true discipleship based on love and filial relationship looked like. Their lives are an example of the transforming power of Jesus.
Transformation is made possible by our filial relationship with Jesus. Jesus’s goal is not only to make us His disciples but to make us His family. His disciples began as followers, but Jesus made them His friends (John 15:14–15), His brothers (John 20:17), and children of God (John 1:11–13; 13:33). This relationship was consummated with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
Although we have no writings from James, we have two epistles from Peter and three from John. The language that Peter and John use in their letters reveals that they learned to speak the language of their teacher, which reflects their personal transformation.
Transformation of James and John
Jesus called James while he was mending nets with his brother John (Mark 1:19–20). James and John not only left their nets, but they also left their father in the boat with the day laborers. The two of them received the name Sons of Thunder. As we know, James, along with Peter and John, witnessed the resurrection of Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:37). He also witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus (Mark 9:2) and was with Jesus in Gethsemane (Mark 14:33).
Remember the request that he and his brother made to Jesus—to grant them to sit, one on his right and one on his left, when He came into His kingdom (Mark 10:37). Jesus told them they did not know what they were asking and then asked them if they could drink the cup that He was going to drink and be baptized with the baptism with which He would be baptized. Both John and James said they were willing, which Jesus affirmed they would indeed do.
It was not long before James drank that cup and was baptized with Jesus’s baptism of death. In Acts 12:1–2 (NASB95) Luke says, “Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with the sword.” This Son of Thunder, now transformed, does not ask for fire from heaven to annihilate his enemies (Luke 9:54), but dies without offering resistance, following in the footsteps of his Master.
John, the second Son of Thunder, learned from Jesus the meaning of love for others. This same John, the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26), experienced Jesus’s love for sinners, for Samaritans, and for all those who approached Him. He learned the importance and relevance of love. After Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, John listened to him teach: “I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35 HCSB). In the teaching on the True Vine, John heard Jesus repeat, “My command is this: love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12–13 NIV).
John internalized this language, and we find it in his writings. In John 15:10 (NIV), Jesus said, “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” In 1 John 2:3–4 (ESV), John says, “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
John recognizes the filial relationship with Christians, calling them brothers and reminding them of the new commandment of love:
Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. (1 John 2:7–10 NKJV)
John also addresses the brothers as “children”: “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. . . . Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come . . .” (1 John 2:12, 18). In 1 John 3:1, the apostle reaffirms our status as children of God, saying, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”
John learned that transformative discipleship involves giving one’s life for others. That is why he wrote, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).
In chapter 4, John continues to insist on love among us:
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. (1 John 4:7–13)
John testifies that he now has the Spirit of Jesus, which is the Spirit that gives life, and not the spirit of destruction that he had before. This is demonstrated when, in Acts 8, together with Peter, he laid his hands on the Samaritans who had believed in Jesus so that the fire of the Holy Spirit would descend upon them (vv. 14–17). The transformed John now lays his hands on those he once wanted to destroy. What a difference! The transformed disciple loves everyone equally.
The Transformation of Peter
Peter was also transformed by his Lord. Peter, the sword-bearer, willing to kill his neighbor to defend his Lord, had to learn submission. Remember how Peter resisted Jesus washing his feet. While Peter girded a sword around his waist, Jesus girded himself with a towel (John 13). While Peter resisted humiliation, Jesus humbled himself to show Peter that true greatness is service to others.
Jesus had warned Peter that his faith was going to be tested. “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren” (Luke 22:31–32).
The courageous Peter of Gethsemane, who had declared his willingness to give his life for Jesus and who did not hesitate to use the sword, becomes the coward in the courtyard of Annas, denying Jesus three times (John 18:15–18, 25–27). His faith was tested. But Jesus remained attentive to Peter even as He was being mocked. After he had denied Jesus, “. . . the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So Peter went out and wept bitterly” (Luke 22:61–62).
But Peter needed to be reunited with Jesus. John 21 tells us that Peter returned to his former job. Sadly, the other disciples followed him. Jesus had to confront Peter, asking him three times if he loved Him. With each response, Jesus gave him a commission and responsibility to feed and shepherd His lambs and sheep. He also told Peter that later in life, his will would depend on another and that he would have to give his life for his Lord. As a final move, He reaffirmed the call: “Follow me” (John 21:18–20).
Peter learned the language of Jesus. His letters reveal this. Writing to the brothers in the Diaspora who were suffering persecution, he encouraged them, saying “that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7). In his previous hour of trial, Peter failed Jesus; now he can advise the brothers and sisters so they can pass the test.
Peter, who did not hesitate to use the sword when Jesus was approached by His enemies, now advises the brothers:
Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, And his ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:8–12; see also Psalm 34:12–16)
What different language from a man who did not hesitate to draw his sword to try to kill Malchus, the centurion’s servant, in the Garden of Gethsemane when they came to arrest Jesus!
The Peter who rebuked Jesus when He said He was going to suffer the cross (Mark 8:31–38) now writes to his brothers:
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened” [Isa. 8:12]. But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. (1 Peter 3:13–17 NIV)
Peter warns his brothers that suffering is part of the Christian life, following Jesus’s example: “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1–2 NKJV).
To the pastors, Peter writes:
The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” (1 Peter 5:1–4)
Peter’s epistolary language testifies that his life had been transformed by the Lord. Tradition says he was crucified in Rome, glorifying through his death the Lord he had loved so much.
Conclusion
In this study, we have affirmed that the goal of Christian discipleship is our transformation—to become like Jesus—and that this transformation
does not happen overnight. We must move with Jesus, remain with Him, and imitate Him. We have seen examples from the lives of Peter, John, and James that demonstrate their own transformation. The Lord changed them from volatile and dangerous individuals (willing to annihilate their adversaries, if necessary) into disciples who gave their lives for Jesus. Jesus knew them, but instead of rejecting them, He drew them close to Himself to teach them and to model true discipleship based on love and filial relationship. Jesus’s relationship with his disciples evolved beyond the rabbi-disciple relationship; He made them his friends: “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:14–15). Jesus made them His brothers. When speaking to Mary after His resurrection, He said, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God” (John 20:17). Jesus made them children of God: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12; see also John 13:33). This relationship was consummated with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
We can say that Pentecost was a crucial event in the transformation of the disciples. On that day, Peter preached fearlessly. After the healing of the lame man who was placed at the temple gate called Beautiful (Acts 3), Peter and John were arrested (Acts 4) and interrogated by the rulers, religious leaders, and teachers of the law. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, denounced them to their faces, telling them that they (the Jewish leaders) had crucified Jesus of Nazareth. Despite being “commanded” to stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus (4:18), Peter and John’s response was to tell these leaders that it was not right to obey them over God; they could not stop speaking about what they had seen and heard (4:19–20). Later (5:17–42), the disciples were beaten for continuing to preach in the name of the Lord. Peter and the other disciples left the council, “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (5:41).
Jesus’s model of discipleship teaches us to accept people as they are and to see them for what they can become. Transformation is possible through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Thus, what our Lord said will be fulfilled: “It is enough for a disciple to be like his teacher . . .” (Matthew 10:25).
Transformed lives will reflect our Lord. When we speak, what does our conversation reveal? What words do we use? Will people say, this man or woman has been with Jesus, when they hear us speak? Do our behavior and temperament reflect the transforming power of God? Just as Peter had to exchange his sword for a towel, what must you exchange today?
