5. The Disciples
As we read the gospel accounts of the ministry of Jesus, we get repeated views of his disciples – their calling, service, problems, and successes. But Luke's account tells the story of the disciples in much greater detail than any of the other gospels, and we are indebted to Luke for many of the insights we have regarding the individual disciples' lives and characters. In fact, a number of the episodes Luke records concerning the disciples are found only in his gospel.
Luke begins his narrative with a dedication to Theophilus – an otherwise unknown disciple of his day, though the name might possibly symbolize disciples in general. Luke alone tells us, for example, about the seventy (or seventy–two) disciples Jesus sent out (Luke 10:1–2); he alone tells us about the calling of Zacchaeus (19:1– 10); and about Jesus' post–resurrection appearance to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–35).
Luke also uniquely gives us a great deal of information about Jesus' female disciples. He alone tells us about the role of the women who accompanied Jesus (Luke 8:2–3), and of certain events involving some of these disciples (Luke 10:38–42). Interestingly, Luke also tells us far more about the mother of Jesus than any other gospel. Mary is barely mentioned in Mark, and only appears in Matthew in the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. But in Luke, Mary is the central character in much fuller birth and infancy narratives (1:1–2:52) and is clearly characterized as a model of faith (Luke 1:45; etc.).
Fuller Accounts, Greater Insights Even the stories about the disciples that are also found in the other gospels are often much more detailed in Luke. For example, if we look at the story of how Jesus called some of the disciples from their fishing nets, we find that while Matthew and Mark give only the essential details (Matthew 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20), Luke's account
(Luke 5:1–11) is over twice as long and provides many details not found in the other gospel accounts.
Such details often give us fascinating glimpses into the characters of the disciples that we would not otherwise have. For example, all readers of the gospels are familiar with the story of how the disciples argued over who would be the greatest in the kingdom of God, and how Jesus placed a small child before them and told his disciples that "it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest" (Matthew 18:1–5; Mark 9:33–41; Luke 9:46–48). But only Luke and Mark mention that the youngest of the disciples, John, suddenly projects himself into the conversation (Luke 9:49). Mark's account shows that this was not later, but at the same time (Mark 9:42), and Luke adds that soon after this James and John both wanted to bring fire down from heaven (Luke 9:54).
When we connect these details, we see that it is very likely that John – the youngest disciple – may have taken Jesus' words that the "least among you" would be greatest, personally! Luke shows that John, who is not recorded as having spoken till that point, suddenly is filled with confidence and desire to do great things! Luke's portrayal of the disciples is certainly candid, but overall it is a positive one. Because he presents them in more detail than the other gospels, Luke is able to more fully balance the disciples' "image" against the mistakes and problems the disciples so frequently exhibited.
In contrast to Mark, and even more so than Matthew, Luke improves the portrayal of Jesus' core disciples: they have more understanding and are more faithful than in Mark, and their frequent lack of faith is not stressed as it is in Matthew. Overall, the disciples are shown as being positive role models for believers.
Discipleship for Everyone Another notable aspect of Luke's gospel is that the disciples are not shown as representing a closed group. Although he shows the importance of the twelve disciples, in Luke discipleship is more clearly open to everyone who chooses to follow Christ. Luke stresses the roles of many of Jesus' other disciples – as we have seen, the women followers, especially Mary and Martha of Bethany, are mentioned earlier and are more actively involved in Jesus' work in Luke's account than in Matthew or Mark. The seventy–two disciples sent out by Jesus, and their success, are also uniquely emphasized (10:1–12).
Luke also adds a great number of unique parables not found in the other gospels (see Appendix), and when we look at the themes and messages of these extra parables, we see that he is particularly interested in recording teachings that show what disciples should understand and how they should act. Luke gives us a realistic portrayal of discipleship – for example, he alone records Jesus' words regarding the costs of discipleship (Luke 14:25–35), and the eventual necessity of taking a purse and a sword (Luke 22:35–38). But Luke also emphasizes the successes of the disciples despite the challenges of their calling.
In these, and in many other ways, we can confidently think of Luke as the gospel of discipleship – and for those of us who are disciples today, Luke's account gives us both realism and encouragement that we can apply to our own lives.