Since the great commission is to make disciples of Jesus it is important to know what a disciple is.

The apostle John tells us that a disciple is someone that lives as Jesus did. “Whoever claims to live in him (God) must live as Jesus did.” 1 John 2: 5-6 

Dallas Willard explains that a disciple is “a person who has decided that the most important thing in their life is to learn how to do what Jesus said to do. A disciple is not a person who has things under control, or knows a lot of things. Disciples simply are people who are constantly revising their affairs to carry through on their decision to follow Jesus.”[1]

How Jesus lived his life on earth is well documented. The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are biographical accounts of the life of Jesus from four different perspectives.

Joseph Hellerman says it this way: “The earthly ministry of Jesus of Nazareth constitutes the one time in history of humanity when heaven fully and finally came to earth. In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we have the opportunity to see the question What is God like? answered in the flesh-and-blood world in which we live. During His incarnation Jesus not only procured our way to heaven. He also showed us how to live on earth. Now we can pattern our lives after Jesus.”[2]

[1] http://www.dwillard.org/articles/artview.asp?artID=53

[2] Joseph H. Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2009),