them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Jesus provides the shaping influence. The lexical definition of “disciple” (mathētēs) “always implies the existence of a personal attachment which shapes the whole life of the one described as mathētēs, and which in its particularity, leaves no doubt as to who is deploying the formative power.”2 At this stage the Twelve are part of the larger group who have responded to the specific yet corporate call to be one of Jesus’
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