The Role of the Disciples in the Prophetic Mission of Jesus

This article discusses what it meant for Jesus’ disciples to be disciples of a prophet and, consequently, what the presence of such prophet-disciples can tell us about his mission. This is done by situating the Gospel material about Jesus’ disciples in the context of early Jewish conceptions of prophetic discipleship, ultimately based on the Old Testament narratives about ancient Israelite prophets and on the prophetic books themselves. Among the ‘prophets of old’, the portrayals of Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah and their disciples will be considered. Despite the differences between various portrayals in the Old Testament and in early Jewish interpretations of it, there are some traits that are common to several of the prophet-disciples and that we may also detect in the disciples of the historical Jesus. Jesus’ disciples took on a threefold role in their capacity as prophet-disciples: first of all, they were tradition-bearers and as such probably expected to replace their master; secondly, they were representatives and co-workers who shared in tasks such as preaching, healing and baptising; thirdly and finally, they were informants from whom Jesus learned about his own reputation and prospects as a prophet