A disciple is someone who follows another person and learns from their teachings.
Disciples in the Gospels and Early Church
The word "disciple" appears most often in the Gospels and the book of Acts in the Bible. The word also appears a few times in the Old Testament Isaiah 8:16, Isaiah 50:4; 54:13). In Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament, this word can mean both "learned" and "taught." Wherever there are teachers and students, there is discipleship. Discipleship is the process of learning from and following a teacher.
In the Gospels, Jesus's followers are called “disciples.” Some of these were a special group called "the Twelve," but Jesus had many other followers too. These people accepted Jesus's teachings and followed him faithfully. At this time, other religious teachers also had disciples. The Pharisees (a group of Jewish religious leaders) had followers (Mark 2:18; Luke 5:33). John the Baptist also had his own disciples (Matthew 9:14). Different leaders asked their followers to do different things. John's way was more strict than Jesus's, but both involved teaching about behavior and life and a special way of praying (Luke 11:1).
Jesus's disciples had a special experience. They learned from Jesus in person. They could see his face, hear his voice, and listen to his words directly (Mark 10:21). They also saw God's plan for salvation happening with their own eyes, with Jesus at its center. They followed a teacher whose actions matched his teachings.
The first disciples learned slowly from Jesus for multiple reasons:
They had wrong ideas that needed to be corrected (Matthew 16:21).
They could not fully understand Jesus's words and actions until after he died and came back to life (Matthew 28:9).
The disciples continued to learn even after Jesus went back to heaven when the Holy Spirit taught them things they could not understand while Jesus remained on earth (John 16:12).
The Role of Disciples in Spreading the Good News
Jesus had different groups of followers, including the Twelve (Matthew 26:20). He also chose 72 other people to be his special messengers (Luke 10:1; some manuscripts say there were 70 instead of 72). These disciples learned from Jesus and then taught other people about Jesus's message (Luke 10:1–11). They healed sick people through God's power (Matthew 10:1). They told others how Jesus could save them from their sins.
The Twelve had a very important role. They became the main teachers of the new Christian church after Jesus returned to heaven. Jesus gave them special power and responsibility in the church (Matthew 16:19; 28:16–20). However, Jesus taught them that they should use this power by helping and serving others, not by controlling them (Luke 22:24–30). When Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and died, the other disciples chose Matthias to take his place (Acts 1:26).
These twelve men became known as apostles (special messengers). Later, God chose one more apostle: Saul of Tarsus, who was also called Paul. On his way to a city called Damascus, Paul saw Jesus who had risen from death. Jesus gave Paul a special task (Galatians 1:12, 16). God chose Paul to be the apostle to the gentiles and teach non-Jewish people about the good news of Jesus (Acts 9:15).
Before he went to heaven, Jesus told the first disciples to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). So in the book of Acts, “disciple” is also used to describe believers who accept Jesus. These later disciples are called by Jesus's Spirit through the message of the first disciples.
The early Christians were called “the disciples” (Acts 6:1–2, 7; 9:36; 11:26). This was a good name for them because they followed Jesus's teachings and lived the way Jesus had shown them to live. These Christians lived together as a community and followed Jesus's teachings in their daily lives. The book of 1 John teaches that people show they love God by doing what Jesus taught them to do (1 John 2:3–6; 3:10–11).