“The great mystery is unlocked by people from all walks of life, backgrounds and beliefs, who have come to a childlike faith in the One who can lead them to the key.” – JCH
Reflect on the past and present relationships in your life. Of all of them, perhaps there was at least one special person that had a significant impact on you. Whether for a brief period or for years, you knew this person truly cared for you and about you, someone that you grew to trust and admire. This possibly was one of your older family members, a parent, coach, mentor or older role model. Any special person like this would’ve had a teaching role in your life, not necessarily a formal role, but someone that took the time for you, to teach you various life lessons along the way.
Change from the inside out
Maybe you even found that you’d do whatever was necessary to learn and mature under their direction. Through your choice to trust and spend time with them, you felt your life begin to change from the inside out. Indeed, you felt strong and self-assured because of them. Perhaps you gained a new identity that empowered you to achieve things you never thought possible and a confidence that you could become more than you ever dreamed. You may’ve enjoyed learning even though it was really difficult and challenging at times. You were willing to give up some things for them in order to reach new, world-changing heights. A beautiful mystery was unfolding inside you, all because of this relationship.
Goodbye to hello
It’s quite possible as you willingly chose to be in the presence of this special person you’d have to un-learn some stuff from the past. You’d need to let go of attitudes and learned behaviors that held you back. Even self-defeating habits would need to be relinquished in order to keep growing and reaching those new heights. You’d say goodbye to a myriad of things, beliefs, values and possibly even some other relationships that could distract and distance you from this role model in your life. In other words, they gave you the key to unlock a mystery inside of you, that saying goodbye (a figurative “death”) to some things in your life would always mean saying hello (new life) to new and better things. After all, this person so important to you saw something in you and knew you were meant for much more than your past. They challenged you, tested you and proved you in ways that you knew were only for your greater good.
An important note: Perhaps you may not recall a special person like this in your life? True role models in all honesty are rarer than we’d like to think. Sadly, you may be struggling with deep emotional wounds and bear the scars of your childhood. The deepest wounds have been cut into the young hearts of some who faced serious abuse from adults they trusted. Many have other kinds of painful wounds and hardened scars from those early years, due to feeling neglected, ignored, ridiculed, despised, or carelessly mistreated in so many more subtle but hurtful ways.
Keep in mind, friend, that every human being is fallible. There is no perfect human teacher, mentor, coach, parent or role model. If you didn’t have someone in your life that played that positive, life-changing role for you, don’t stop reading! Believe the best is yet to come for you. There is Someone who can’t wait to be that special person in your life, changing you forever.
A young carpenter
This mysterious yet transformative kind of “teacher-student” relationship has been common to every culture, country, era and age since the beginning of human history. Interestingly, near the center of the known world in the first century A.D. a young carpenter named Jesus began teaching others about a new and albeit controversial way of life. Jesus claimed things about Himself that no other human being had ever (or has ever) claimed, and He promised glorious eternal life to anyone who would believe in Him.
At first, just a few people were drawn to Him. There was something indescribable about Him, with an affection that penetrated even the most hardened hearts of broken people. He spoke to them with a gracious authority like no other teacher. Those who followed Him found a new identity, a brand-new hope and personal redemption. Eventually the number of people that believed in Jesus grew to what was called a “multitude.” (Today, believers in Jesus comprise the Christian faith which is the world’s largest.)
A brand new way of life
Those believers that first accepted a greater call from Jesus to follow Him more closely discovered the mystery of the “goodbye-to-hello” life never before known. It was a different life indeed because it wasn’t bound by the religion of the day, burdened with hundreds of rules and expectations. In fact, the religious leaders hated Jesus for usurping their leadership and authority. His teaching far surpassed all the popular philosophies. Those “enlightened thinkers” of philosophical persuasion claimed Jesus was an utter fool.
In this divisive environment the early students of Jesus – like followers today – willingly made great sacrifices in their personal lives and said goodbye to much of their past, including religion, to say hello to a relationship with their Savior – the most amazing teacher – and a brand-new way of life. Over the centuries to present day, believers that have decided to follow their Savior Jesus into a greater commitment are known as His disciples.
“The word “disciple” appears in the New Testament 261 times in the gospels and the book of Acts. What did it mean to be a disciple? In the ancient Hellenistic world a disciple was a pupil or learner of a great teacher. “ – Robert L. Foster, PhD, Society of Biblical Literature
“The Hebrew word for disciple is talmid. This word stresses the relationship between rabbi (teacher or master) and disciple (student). A talmid of Jesus’ day would give up his entire life in order to be with his teacher.” – Ray Vander Lann, www.thattheworldmayknow.com
It has been said that every disciple is a believer, but not every believer is necessarily a disciple. Let’s dig into that in the next article!
For reflection or discussion:
- What a great time to go back in time and remember (and share about) that special relationship in your life, with a “teacher” type of person that changed your life. By the same token, you may be ready to discuss or journal about the lack of that special relationship, your experience growing up without a special person in your life, and how this has affected you.
- Can you describe the actual “mystery” in this type of special relationship that is discussed above?
- From what you’ve learned in this article about the earthly life of Jesus, what stands out to you about Him, in terms of his relationships with the people around Him? What are some character traits that you see in Him?
- What is the greater commitment that some were willing to make, and why do you think they were willing to do so?
All scriptural references are taken from a variety of Bible translations and paraphrases including The Message Bible (MSG), The New Living Translation (NLT), English Standard Version (ESV), The Voice (Voice), The Passion Translation (TPT), New American Standard Bible (NASB), The Living Bible (TLB), New International Version (NIV). Quotations used from other sources are acknowledged in text. Photos used are taken from a variety of artists mentioned by name.
Photo by Arthur Poulin
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