Rosesam

Q4. In your own words, how would you explain why circumcision is now obsolete for Christians and that baptism is now sign of the covenant? Circumcision didn’t save Abraham and his descendants. It was the faith of Abraham that was counted for him as righteousness. Circumcision was only a sign in the flesh to express that from then on, they will live not by the dictates of the flesh but by the Holy Spirit. Since, it was not circumcision that saved Abraham, but he was saved before he was circumcised, when he believed God, we too are saved when we believe God and put our trust in Him. Baptism is the closest Christian parallel to circumcision. In Colossians 2:11-12, Paul relates the two ideas together. However, baptism does not save us even though it is a sign of the covenant. But no Christian should refuse baptism. God circumcises our hearts, and that is what God expects His children to have, not a physical circumcision.

Q3. What does it mean to have your heart circumcised? Why is this a necessity for all true believers, both Jew and Christian? How can we keep our faith active as an inward expression of love rather than become only an external religion? Have you ever struggled with this? Paul says in Romans that the real test of who is truly a Jew is one of the spirit, not flesh. A true Jew is the one saved by faith, resulting in the marking of the Spirit. When we receive Him as our personal Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit marks us as His own. This cannot be done naturally, but supernaturally by the Holy Spirit. And because it is supernatural, this mark is not visible to other. This is the greater circumcision, and it is accomplished when we believe in the promises of God. This is the work of the Spirit when we give our lives to the Lord. The Spirit’s marking is a sign of our covenant of faith. Whether we receive physical circumcision today or not makes no difference in terms of our salvation. When we belong to Him, the outward expression of the inward reality, i.e. marked by the Holy Spirit, is our love for others. Jesus said, this is how everyone will know that we belong to Him, that we are truly His disciples. Yes, there have been struggles and learning to overcome them through His grace.

Q2. (17:11) What does circumcision signify for Abraham, his household, and his descendants? Why is some kind of definite act on Abraham's part important to confirming the covenant? What does Abraham's obedience the very same day signify? The idea behind circumcision is the life of the flesh that once dominated you is not to dominate you any longer. Cutting of the flesh symbolized casting away the fleshly life, and not putting any trust in the flesh. But, now because of the covenant, I will live by faith in the Spirit. I will live in the Spirit and not in the flesh. It was also the reminder of the blood covenant to Abraham and his descendants, for the process of circumcision involves blood. Because it was the organ that generated life, it was a reminder that his seed will ultimately bring the Messiah. Circumcision was the sign of the covenant that God made with Abraham showing they received the covenant by faith. Those who rejected the sign of the covenant, i.e. circumcision, made themselves enemies of the covenant. Abraham’s obedience was complete. He ensured that every male in his household were circumcised. His obedience was prompt for he did not delay the circumcision, even though it was a painful process, but did it the self-same day. It even exhibited his complete trust in the Lord, for he had virtually incapacitated all his fighting men at the same time. He didn’t tell his son to circumcise himself, but rather he did it for his son. He never thought this is all for others, I don’t have to do it since I am 99 years old. But the very day he heard the word, he submitted to it.

Q1. (17:1-2) When God tells Abraham, "Walk before me and be blameless," is he requiring moral perfection? What kind of blamelessness does he require of Abraham? Does he expect more (or less) of Christians under the new covenant? In Hebrew this “walk before me and be blameless” means come before My face. It means just as a servant presents himself before his master, Abraham has to present himself before God. He has to present before God and to walk before Him blameless, He is saying live his life knowing that He is watching everything he’s doing. And to be upright, pure, a man of integrity. The word is blameless not sinless. (We are blameless because Jesus took our blame on the cross.) To a ninety-nine year old Abraham, God doesn’t say that it’s time to retire, but to go higher. A walk with God can begin at any age. Yes, God expects the same thing from every Christian under the New Covenant.

Q5. (John 3:36) Is it possible to believe in God’s love and God’s wrath at the same time? How does God’s justice allow salvation, when what we deserve is punishment for our sin and unbelief? (Hint: the “substitutionary atonement.” God’s love and God’s wrath are like two sides of the same coin. He loves us with a agape love. Although He delights in forgiveness, His grace cannot nullify His justice. Those who refuse to repent are responsible before the Holy God. In a judicial context it takes on the meaning “to be guilty” before the Holy God. Because God is holy and just as well as loving and forgiving, the unrepentant will face the most serious consequence of their sin and rebellion. It is His love for the mankind and because His justice has to be met, that Jesus became the propitiation for our sins. The righteous indignation that God has on sin was hurled on Jesus on the cross. Jesus absorbed all the punishment for our sins, and gave us His eternal life in exchange. Thus because of His substitutionary atonement, His justice was met, and His love for us paved way for us to be reconciled back to Him.

Q4. (John 3:30) In what sense, in order to be successful in your Christian life, must you decrease and Christ increase? How can you facilitate the shift necessary for this change to occur? What steps might help you do this? Dying to self and giving Him the Lordship over my life. Know that He is not a co-pilot with me, but that He is steering my life, in the way He wants to do it. So, I need to let go of my rights, and allow Him to take the rightful ownership of me. Jesus said, to learn from Him and that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. Jesus being a carpenter, may have specialized in making yokes. Yokes are custom made. A novice ox is usually yoked with an experienced one and they both plow together. If the novice becomes rebellious and does not step in with the experienced one, the novice suffers from the yoke upon the neck. It can’t go ahead or fall back in step with the other. That’s what Jesus wants of us. Step by step allow Him to lead our lives and we humbly and willingly follow Him. This requires surrendering of our wills, letting go of our ego, stubbornness, and rebellion and allow Him to take the rein of our lives.

Q3. (John 3:29) How does John the Baptist find joy in Jesus’ success? Do you find joy in the success of others who could be seen as competing with your ministry – in your church or in your community or in your denomination? Why do you think some pastors seem to compete with each other? John the Baptist knew the calling God had placed upon His ministry and the boundaries that God had set before him. He knew that Jesus was more successful than him because God had given it to Him. He also knew that he was only a forerunner and once his ministry is over, he has to decrease and Jesus has to increase. The proper attitude that we should exhibit is to rejoice in another’s accomplishment and be happy to be a part of the process of their accomplishment. We need to contend in what our gifts are and know our limitations. Everyone is endowed with different gifts and different administrations of those gifts. Everything is given for the glory of God and for the use in His kingdom. If we realize that we are just instruments in His hands, then we will not feel jealous in the success of others. The carnal nature in man results in people expressing competitive spirit in such a situation. There need to be dying to self and recognizing their role in the kingdom. We need to learn a lot from John the Baptist, whom Jesus said was the greatest man alive until then. And his greatest attribute was to remain humble, herald the king and slowly retreat and give the rightful place to the King of kings.

Q2. (John 3:26) Have you ever resented “larger churches” that attracted people from “your” church? What is wrong with this kind of possessiveness? Is it self-pity or something else? May be in the earlier days of my walk with the Lord, I have felt sad when people left the church to go to other churches. But now I feel there might be a bigger purpose in all that. Because God is on the throne, He can make all things work together for the good of all those involved. Paul refused to take Mark with him on his missionary journey and hence Barnabbas left Paul. Both left in opposite directions. But if we think about it, it resulted in reaching many more people, more than when both were being together. So whatever happens ultimately there will be good for all. Some may be taught in the process, some may find satisfaction in the places that they are put in, and the Holy Spirit will have something imparted to all. It is His church, so possessiveness is not letting go as though the sheep belonged to us rather than the Lord. It could be because of grief, that the labor that had been put in to bring somebody into the kingdom had been lost. But the best mindset is to realize that we are under-shepherds of the Great Shepherd and to let go of every jealousy and possessiveness and know that God has a greater purpose for us in His heart.

Q1. (John 3:22) What is the importance of Jesus spending time with his disciples? What is his strategy? How does Jesus make disciples today? Where is our time with the Discipler? How important is your time as a discipler, “hanging out” with people God puts on your heart to disciple? It was hands on training for the disciples. They saw what He did, they heard what He said, they handled Him, saw His glory, and in the process they came to realize that He was truly the Messiah that they had sought for. After He died, resurrected and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, no amount of persecution or troubles could deter them from the ministry that Jesus had entrusted to them. All this was because of the time that Jesus spent with His disciples. They caught the things from Jesus. If they were only taught like in a classroom setting, rather than imparting into their lives, they wouldn’t have stood strong in the times of their greatest adversities. All His disciples, except John, suffered martyrdom, yet they went ahead willingly and joyfully because they were fully convinced of the cause for which they were called into. He wanted them to observe Him and have interaction with Him and all times. He gave them on the job training. That’s why we read in the epistle of John, what we have seen, heard and handled is what we entrust to you (paraphrased). Even though they didn’t understand or grasp al things at the time, they were able to understand and recollect many things when the Holy Spirit came upon them. So His strategy was to allow them to build a relationship with Him by spending time with them. The most effective way a person is brought to the Lord is one on one sharing. When we introduce someone to the Lord, and then they grow in a relationship with Him they become a disciple and a follower of Him. In our day, when we spend our quiet time with Him in prayer and reading of His word, worshiping Him etc. we grow in relationship with Him. The world is full of hurting people, needing the love of the Lord in their lives. We are the instruments that God uses to show forth His love to them. So it’s very important to spend time with people God puts in our path.

Q4. (John 3:16) Why is this verse so famous? What does it teach us about God? What does it teach us about salvation? Since “entering eternal life” is a synonym for “entering the Kingdom of God,” what does this verse teach us about our destiny? The entire gospel can be summed up in this particular verse. God initiated this salvation for us because he had intense love for the entire mankind. Jesus said this to Nicodemus, a Jew, of God’s agape love for the world. So it is not just for a select few, or only for the Jews, but for the whole world because sin is universal and there is only one cure for the S-I-N virus and that God provided for everyone. It is not initiated by man’s desire for self-improvement or self-advancement, but unless extended towards us from above, we cannot attain salvation. Because God’s love is active and not passive, He gave His best, only begotten, mongenes, one of a kind, unique Son. When Adam sinned he ran away from God, but God came to him. Likewise, there is no way we can initiate salvation by our efforts, God has to extend it to us, and He did because of His deepest love towards us, which is beyond our comprehension or understanding. And now, the invitation is given to “whoever”. All may not respond back to Him. But those who respond will not perish, but have everlasting life, or eternal life. But those who do not respond will perish, and will suffer eternal damnation.

Q3. (John 3:5-7) What does it mean to be “born of water and the Spirit”? What do you think “water” refers to? Why have you come to this conclusion? How, then, would you paraphrase “born of water and the Spirit” to best bring out the full meaning? Born of water does not mean baptismal regeneration, because Nicodemus would not have understood it. For Christian baptism didn’t exist yet. Another reason why it couldn’t mean baptism is because if it was so, then we would have seen Jesus go places baptizing people. If born of water in the sense baptism was a prerequisite, Jesus would have been baptizing everyone. The Bible specifically says He baptized no one. Being “born of water and of the Spirit” could mean one of two things. It could simply mean spiritual cleansing because the use of water and the Spirit were an Old Testament description of being spiritually cleansed. An example found in Ezekiel 36, “I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, you will no longer worship idols and I will give you a new heart and a new and right desire and I will put a new Spirit within you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new and obedient heart. And I will put My Spirit in you so that you will obey My laws and do whatever I command. Or it could also mean of physical birth followed by spiritual birth. Because ancient people used to refer to anybody being born, i.e. physical birth as being born of water. The baby is enclosed in a sack of amniotic fluid and when the baby is about to be born, her water breaks and the baby is born. The baby is born of water. So He might be saying: just as the first birth was necessary for physical life, so too the second birth is necessary for spiritual life. The following verse seems to reinforce this idea. For verse six says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, (born of water) and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. So I think it could mean either of the two above.

Q2. (John 3:3-5) What does “entering the Kingdom” have to do with being “born anew”? Which do you think is the best translation here: “born again,” “born anew,” or “born from above”? Defend your reasoning. The Greek construction of the two words born again is gennēthē anōthen and it could mean either to be born from above or to be born a second time. Nicodemus took the second meaning in a literal sense. Since every person born into this world are born spiritually dead on arrival there should be a spiritual birth in order to enter into the Kingdom. Just as we enter into this world and live because of birth, there should be a spiritual birth to enter the kingdom and have eternal life. I think the best translation would be “born from above anew”, for spiritual birth happens because of being born from above and causes us to become a new creation altogether as Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Q1. (John 3:3, 5) What does Jesus teach here about the nature of the Kingdom of God? Do you think Nicodemus understands him? Why or why not? Here Jesus is teaching two things about the Kingdom: 1. Because we are in the confines of space time, how much ever we try, we will not be able to understand or see the kingdom unless God enables us to see it. So there should be spiritual discernment with God’s enablement in order to see the kingdom. 2. We have life here on earth because of our birth. To have new life, a new birth is required because all humanity was born spiritually dead on arrival on this earth. To enter into the kingdom, we need to be born from above. Unless a person is changed spiritually, he cannot enter into the kingdom, so the kingdom can only be spiritually entered. Nicodemus took Jesus statement literally of entering into one’s mother’s womb so he is perplexed, for he does not understand Jesus. All devout Jews believed that there are six important moments of spiritual transformation during one’s life, like a Jewish boy having his bar mitzvah, marriage, becoming a rabbi etc. Not all men would experience these six moments, but they believed that each moment would result in spiritual advancement. Being a devout Pharisee, Nicodemus would have experienced all the six moments, but there was no moment where a person enters his mother’s womb again. Even though Nicodemus didn’t understand, at this point of time, his later actions show that he understood what Jesus meant by being born again.

Q3. (John 2:23-25) What is the problem with faith that rests solely on miracles? Is it true faith? What is necessary for it to develop into true faith? Did Jesus see these problems as a reason not to perform miracles? Bible says that faith comes not by miracles but by hearing the word of God. The children of Israel saw so many miracles, but their hearts were not steadfast upon the Lord. Whereas Moses who heard the word of the Lord remained submitted to the Lord throughout His life. Miracles will happen as signs to draw people to the Lord. But if we solely depend upon miracles, there will be a fall out in faith very soon, when there are no miracles. There was prophecy that there will be an abundant of miracles when Messiah comes. So the abundance of miracles was a sign in itself of the fact that Jesus is the Messiah. He wanted the people to be drawn unto the Messiah and that’s the reason why Jesus did miracles.

Q2 (John 2:11-17) Apparently, Jesus was angry. Was his anger justified? Why? Is anger good or bad? What about anger gets us into trouble? We usually associate anger as a negative emotion as expressed by fallen men. And that emotion is definitely bad. But the anger that Jesus expressed was righteous, and hence it is justified. He was angry because they were desecrating His Father’s house, converting the place into a den of thieves. The temple was to be a beacon to draw all men to the Lord, but by their actions they were actually disappointing the people and leading them astray. As fallen men, living in this fallen world with temptations abounding, we tend to misuse and abuse anger. This gets us into trouble. We need to yield to the Holy Spirit to work in us so that we are angry when required but do not fall into sin. (Ephesians 4:26-27). If we are controlled by the Holy Spirit, then we may express righteous indignation, but it should be only when we are completely yielded to the Holy Spirit.

Q1. (John 2:14-17) What was going on in the temple? Why was Jesus offended by it? What action did Jesus take? A scam was happening in the courts of the gentiles. The sacrificial animals were sold here and the exchange of temple currency with other currency was also happening here. The sacrificial animals brought by the worshiper would invariably be rejected by the specially qualified priests who had been extensively trained to spot blemishes. But these same animals would be given to another worshiper on the payment of money they required. Moreover only the temple currency was accepted for payment of these animals as well as to pay their temple tax which was mandatory every year for every Jewish male. For exchanging their currency for temple currency exorbitant exchange rates were charged. The priests made money in exchange of currencies, for the sacrificial animals and they were disrupting the worship of the gentiles which was the only place that the gentiles could enter. They were not allowed to proceed any further. This offended Jesus, for He knew that they were making His Father’s house to be a den of robbers, making merchandise of the place and not allowing the gentiles to worship God. So He made a chord of whip and drove them out and overturned their tables.

Q4. (John 2:6-10) Why did Jesus perform this miracle behind-the-scenes? Who was he trying to protect? What does the quantity of the wine tell us about Jesus’ glory? What does the quality of the wine tell us about Jesus’ glory? He did not want to draw attention to Himself before His hour had come. He did the miracle in such a way that only the servants knew how the wine was made. But no one would have paid attention to the words of servants. Probably the family from social embarrassment and to allow the continuity of celebration that was happening in the family. Moreover we again see a picture of Law and Grace. Moses, the representative of law, first miracle turned water to blood, brought destruction and misery. Jesus, representative of grace, first miracle turned water into wine, saved the day and brought joy into their midst. Jesus was not just meeting a need, but He was lavishing a gift. The bride and the groom could sell the wine and use the money. The water looked at its Master and blushed and became the best wine. It demonstrates His omnipotence in control of the natural world.

Q3. (John 2:6-10) Why do you think alcoholics are quick to point out this miracle? Which is wrong: drinking wine or drunkenness? How can we avoid excesses and still enjoy God’s good gifts? Probably because of their own weaknesses. I have heard a story of how an alcoholic was asking why such a miracle is still not repeated. Whether Jesus has stopped the work of transformation of water into wine, to which an ex alcoholic replies that He does better than that. For now He transforms wine into furniture, and essential things and a stability of income in the house and nurturing of relationships which far outweighed turning of water into wine in this person’s life. Wine symbolizes joy and celebration. Bible does not condemn consumption of wine in celebration but does condemn drunkenness. If we know our own limitations, we will not be drawn into temptation of those weaknesses that limit us. If someone knows they will be drawn into drunkenness they should not indulge in wine and hard liquor. Same goes for gluttony and anything we indulge in which causes us to sin. Moreover, we need His grace and power, and as we yield to Him, He will give us the strength and wisdom to live a life pleasing to Him.

Q2. (John 2:3-5) Why do you think Mary pushes Jesus to solve the wedding host’s problem? Are her words to Jesus appropriate? Would you categorize Jesus’ reply as a rebuke? If so, why does he go ahead with the miracle? Mary would have been a close relative to the groom’s family for she shows awareness that wine is over. To run out of wine was a social embarrassment and she cared the family enough that they do not go through such a social disgrace. All through her lifetime there would have been gossips and people talking behind her back that she had become pregnant before Joseph and Mary had come together in marriage. Her moral standards would have been questioned and she lived through all that in spite of knowing that she had been divinely impregnated and that Jesus is the Son of God. Probably she thought this is the time for her vindication. If Jesus does a miracle then the people would acknowledge that He is divine and all her past griefs would be erased by that single event. Her words to Jesus may not have been appropriate considering the response given by Jesus to her. His reply may not have been a rebuke because Jesus lived in obedience and submission to His authority, for He did obey and fulfill her request, but did it in such a way that this miracle was not for public spectacle but a low profile one and only the servants knew about it. The servants filled the water pots with water, the water looked at their Master and blushed and voila there was wine. This was then served to the Master of Ceremonies. But no investigation was made as to how such abundance of wine appeared where there was a lack of it earlier. The servants knew but their words would not be given weightage by others who heard it. Mary’s desire for vindication was also ultimately fulfilled. Even if it did not happen at the wedding of Cana, every believer believes that she was indeed a virgin when she conceived Jesus. She was the chosen vessel to bear His Son. Moreover, John’s gospel says that Law came through Moses whereas grace and truth came through Jesus. If the first miracle (plague) of Moses was to turn water into blood whereby none could drink of it, the first miracle done by Jesus was to turn water into wine which looks like blood, but it was the best wine worthy of consumption. So to provide a picture to us as well as to show that Jesus indeed lived a submissive, loving and obedient life He goes ahead with the miracle.

Q1. (John 2:1-2) Why are we sometimes “too busy” to spend time with friends and relatives? What does Jesus’ attendance at this wedding tell us about him? How can we apply that learning in our own personal lives? There could be a variety of reasons. Primarily it could be because we are so self-centered and the carnal nature in us look only in self-interests rather than the furtherance of the kingdom. We may not have the agape love in us to love other beyond their shortcomings. Procrastination and laziness could be another reason whereby we don’t want to go out of our comfort zone. We do not know how to prioritize what is important and may spend time on unimportant things that take our time and causing busyness in our lives. We may not value strong bonding relationships and the shallow relationships do not satisfy us and therefore the petty differences we face in our relationships cause us to shun them altogether. Jesus valued relationships for His earthly life was motivated by love for the people. He prioritized family relationships a lot and he attended social events and brought joy to those events. Jesus is our role model and the one whom we need to emulate. For this we need His grace and His Holy Spirit, to be like Him. Then it will be possible to show love to all around us.

Q5. (John 1:50-51) Which aspects of Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 7:13-14 does Jesus apply to his title as Son of Man? When will the Son of Man complete his ministry? In Daniel’s prophecy, he sees one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. Jesus uses this title to refer to Himself. He is the Son of God who became Son of Man to represent mankind before God. As the Son of Man, He has to rightfully rule over the earth as the King of kings and Lord of lords. In His first coming, He came as a suffering Servant, but He will come again as the conquering King. That’s when His ministry as Son of Man will be complete.

Q4. (John 1:45-50) How does Jesus deal with Nathanael’s skepticism? What was the nature of the miracle? Upon coming to faith, what title does Nathanael bestow upon Jesus? Judeans saw Galileans as uncouth. But even those in Galilee looked down on Nazareth. Nathanael was from Cana a rival city of Nazareth. Moreover the Bible says that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. So he was skeptical about Jesus of Nazareth. But Jesus knew what had transpired between Philip and Nathanael, through the gift of knowledge. He first tells him that he is an Israelite in whom there is no guile or in Hebrew “yakov”. It is actually a wordplay on the name of the Patriarch Jacob. What Jesus is alluding is that Nathanael was a man governed by God and had no deceit in him. And that He saw him sitting under the fig tree. The fig tree was a private place where he had an experience with God that no one knew about. But Jesus knew. Probably Nathanael was meditating on Genesis 28 where Jacob sees a vision of angels going up and down on a ladder to heaven and Jesus is saying that I am the link, the ladder between God and man. He also told Nathanael that he will see greater things in future. Later on we see that in his city Jesus performed the first miracle of turning water into wine. Upon coming to faith, Nathanael responds as, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Q3. (John 1:40-42) What role does Andrew play in Simon Peter’s conversion? Today, why do so many Christians substitute bringing a person to Jesus with bringing them to church? What might be the similarities? What might be the differences? When Andrew found the Messiah, he couldn’t keep it to himself. He goes back to his family and brings his brother Peter to Jesus. This is an automatic reaction of a true disciples of Jesus. He wants others also to follow Jesus, for he is not content to go to heaven alone. Mostly because they feel that they are inadequate to share the gospel and introduce them to Jesus and that it would be better if someone more authoritative will tell them about Jesus. But it is the sheep that gives birth to sheep. A great percentage of the people who come to Jesus, come because someone has shared to them personally about Jesus. Maybe growth happens in the church but birth happens mostly with personal exchange about who Jesus is just like Andrew told his brother Simon Peter about Jesus.

Q2. (John 1:38-39) Why doesn’t Jesus tell his inquirers where he is staying? Why was it important for disciples to “be with” Jesus? What does “being with” Jesus mean today? The disciples of John asked Jesus where He is staying which in Greek means abide. They want to come closer, know Him more before committing themselves to be His disciples because they are curious about Jesus. They want to know more about Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t give them the information that they sought, but He gives them an invitation, “Come and See.” Anyone who comes to Jesus must come to Him, abide with Him and know Him in intimacy. His invitation was met by their submission and obedience. They did not question Him further. As a disciple we need to come to Jesus and as we spend time with Him and obey we grow in intimacy and closeness with the Lord. In today’s scenario also this hasn’t changed much. Even though Jesus is not in our midst in a physical sense, He still dwells in our midst through His Spirit. We need to be submissive to His scriptural commands, accept His Lordship over our lives every day, and know that we can grow in intimacy with the Lord by knowing and obeying the scriptures. Jesus is the written word revealed in a human body.

Q1. (John 1:35-37) Upon whose recommendation did Andrew and another person start following Jesus? What did this recommendation cost the recommender in this case? It was John the Baptist who pointed Andrew and the other person (probably John, the author of this gospel) to Jesus. Immediately they left John and started following Jesus. Every leader likes people following them. But we see in John the attitude that says “you have been my disciples, but now be His disciples and follow Him”. He fades away slowly into insignificance. For it’s all about Jesus. Here the recommendation cost the recommender his disciples. But this should be the heart attitude of every leader. Rather than allowing the people to follow them, they should always point them to Jesus, and make the people disciples of Jesus rather than disciples of themselves.