Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§14.3 The Character of Discipleship
ther to give to his children. 55 At the same time any suggestion that Jesus naively
encouraged his disciples to ask anything from God and assured them that God
would give them whatever they requested would itself be naive. The requests envisaged
are of a piece with the Lord's Prayer petition for basic food needs (bread,
fish, egg). And the assurance is not that God will give whatever is asked for but
that whatever the Father gives will be good.
In short, the portrayal of discipleship in terms of childlike trust in and reliance
on God as Father is consistent within the Jesus tradition. This emphasis
should not be set in antithesis to the Jewish piety of the day, even if it can be regarded
as an intensification of such piety. Nor should it be set in contrast to the
understanding of God as king (§ 14.1), since the absolute authority of the father is
always bound up in the term and in the relationship implied, 56 even if Jesus'
teaching gave greatest emphasis to the aspect of fatherly care. Nor should it be
lightly universalized, as though Jesus simply declared that all human beings were
children of God, even if his stringent call for repentance and faith was in principle
open to all. Granted these important qualifications, however, Jesus' teaching
on the fatherhood of God remains one of the most distinctive and alluring features
of the whole Jesus tradition.
14.3. Disciples of Jesus
A third feature of discipleship naturally follows from the third element of Jesus'
call — the call to 'follow me' (§13.2c). 'Disciples' were those who responded to
that call; they had become followers of Jesus. This is not to ignore again the likelihood
that Jesus' call to repent and believe was addressed to all Israel (§13.3),
nor to forget that there were many who 'followed' who should not be described
as 'disciples' (§ 13.2c) or that 'circles of discipleship' (§13.8) which merge into
'the poor' and 'sinners' of/within Israel cannot be delimited with any precision.
But neither should we underplay the clear recollection that Jesus called for a personal
following. 57 He was at the centre of the circles of discipleship. Whatever
55. Hence the corresponding implication that the child of such a father can be bold in
making requests known — as illustrated by Mark 5.27-28; 10.47-48; Matt. 8.8-9; 15.22-27.
56. Jeremias, Prayers 11; Schrenk stresses still more that 'the synthesis Father/Judge,
Father/Lord makes any lack of respect impossible by imposing submission to his holy rule'
(TDNT 5.985, and further 995-96); also worth noting is the authority and power of the Father
assumed in the petitions of the Lord's Prayer.
57. That Jesus did gather around himself a group of committed disciples is one of the securest
historical facts (Meier, Marginal Jew 3.41-47; bibliography 82-83 n. 1); inter alia, Meier
points out that prior to Jesus no Palestinian Jewish author speaks of 'disciples' (44) and that the
term is completely absent in a large number of the Apostolic Fathers (84-85 n. 6).
555