I once heard a preacher saying that the reason Jesus had disciples was because He knew He could not do the work alone. He knew He could not reach everyone and everywhere. I understand from the human perspective that is true, but is that Biblical?
A “disciple” is a “follower” and a “learner.” At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, He had no disciples. He began to preach the “gospel of the kingdom” (Mark 1:14-15), and then He called various men to follow Him. “And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrews his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become FISHERS OF MEN. They immediately left their nets and followed Him” (verses 16-17, see also verses 19-20). From that moment on, their vocation changed from “catching fish in a net” to “catching men in the gospel net.” As time went on others were specifically “called by Jesus to follow Him” and in other cases people followed Him from place to place because of their desire to hear Him preach and to see Him perform miracles of healing. Again, a disciple is a follower who becomes a learner while listening to the teachings of Jesus Christ. Some would believe the gospel that Jesus taught, and would then apply those teachings in their everyday lives. Others would listen and never believe the gospel, and in time they would abandon Jesus. We read of this “class of disciples” in John 6:60 & 66, “There many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’…From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.”
The disciples that Jesus CALLED to follow Him were then trained to go out to preach the gospel and in time He sent them out to preach and He gave them power to heal as well. We read of this in Matthew 10:1, “And when He had called twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases. In verse 2 they are called “twelve APOSTLES.” The word “apostle” means “sent one” and thus we read in verses 5-7, “These twelve Jesus SENT OUT and commanded them, saying: ‘Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But GO rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, PREACH, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is as hand.” In answer to your question, it seems obvious that Jesus did NOT want to go out alone; He wanted devoted followers to help Him spread the gospel throughout the cities and villages of Israel. Yet “one of the twelve” was not a true believer; he was under the influence of the devil. We read of this in John 6:70-71, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him.” Judas was a thief (John 12:1-6) who fulfilled Scripture by betraying Him (Psalm 41:9; John 13:21-30) and then he committed suicide (Matthew 27:1-5).
After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, He met with the eleven Apostles in Galilee (Matthew 28:16) and He gave them TWO COMMISSIONS. In Mark 16:15-16 He said, “GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” In Matthew 28:19-20 He said, “Go therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL THE NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” The “gospel” is the “good news of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and if one truly believes it, they are SAVED and can then be a TRUE DISCIPLE by learning and obeying Christ’s commands. As we read of the Apostle’s preaching in the book of Acts, we learn that MANY WERE SAVED (Acts 2:47) and “DISCIPLES MULTIPLIED GREATLY (Acts 6:7). Today there are MILLIONS of disciples of Christ all around the world! All are carrying on the work of spreading the gospel. This was God’s PURPOSE. He chose to use BELIEVERS for this work yet at the same time Christ is “with us” even though He is at the right Hand of God. We see this in Matthew 28:20 and Mark 16:20: “And lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, even to the end of the age…. And they went out and preached everywhere, THE LORD WORKING WITH THEM.” (DO) (736.1)