Jesus had many disciples (he sent out 70 on one occasion), but only 12 who were called out from the rest. These 12 would eventually be called Apostles. Form the 12 Peter, James, and John were were in his inner most circle. James and John were cousins to Jesus - his mother (Mary) was sister to their mother.
Disciples of Jesus in those days were people who were able to follow Jesus from town to town. The 12 followed him during most of Jesus' ministry - as for the others, there is no mention of how long they followed Jesus - although we do have at least 2 others from Acts 1 who followed Jesus every bit as much as the 12.
There are cultures today where men will leave their family for years to study in Bible schools in the West, but we in the U.S. do not usually leave our families for training. The Apostle Peter stayed with his wife after he followed Jesus during his ministry, so his ministry after the resurrection was much more like ours today where we usually work together and stay with our families.
Different cultures in the ancient world had their share of disciples who followed one person (a rabbi, a sage, a prophet, a philosopher, a political leader, or whoever could gather a following). I believe this was the most effective way to learn in a world with few books and where most people could not read or go to some school. Discipleship was like a school under the tutelage of one person who was often trained under someone else.
According to Matthew, Luke, and Mark, the disciples didn't know Jesus was the messiah until after they were his disciples for quite a while, saw his miracles, and wondered who he really was before finally realizing Jesus was the Christ after Jesus asked them, "Who do you say that I am?" So when they began to follow him they probably only thought of Jesus as a teacher of the Law who was trained under John the Baptist.
Following one person was a cultural necessity for finding the best opportunity to learn. I think we have so much more opportunity in our day and following one person is not as important as it was in that world.
FOLLOWERS
I believe that many people followed Jesus because they saw miracles or had hopes of him being the warrior messiah, but Jesus had a group of disciples who he called out to be trained under his teachings. They were his students. To me, followers were not really disciples wanting to learn, be corrected, and grow. Instead, followers looked for quick fixes and surface level, me-centered experiences.
EXCEPTIONS
Sometimes Jesus did call his disciples followers; so it is not completely accurate to make such a differentiation between the two groups.
TODAY'S DISCIPLESHIP
This historical look is the foundation of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Of course, we do not follow the earthly Jesus, we follow the risen Christ, so it is different. Modern discipleship is not usually sitting at the feet of one earthly person called Jesus, but sitting at the feet of many people who teach, preach, and live out the gospel. Through them, we sit at the feet of the risen Christ.
THREE GROUPS THAT TRIED INTENSE DISCIPLESHIP
Three groups since the 1970s have tried to pursue a higher level of discipleship.
The International Church of Christ under Kip McKeen developed a college centered intense discipleship. Baptism was all considered null unless one was baptized into discipleship and when one joined their group, that person submitted to an elder who submitted to one above him. The group eventually fell apart after gaining more than 500,000 followers because Kip McKeen realized that the group was too tightly controlled and abuse abounded. He quit his own group and overnight the church folded, leaving missionaries overseas stranded without support.
The Shepherding Movement was the design of 5 Charismatic leaders who designed the same intense discipleship that Kip did (although the Shepherding Movement came first). These 5 leaders set up shepherds who shepherded people, telling them what they could do and not to do, what they could wear, who they could date (I lost a fiance to the group), and so on. In a couple of years, 2 of the 5 leaders publicly repented of what developed saying their idea of discipleship was a bad idea. Another one claimed the Body of Christ was not ready for shepherding. I don't know about the other two. Perhaps they just wanted to quietly slip away unnoticed.
As much as we want so much to follow Christ to the extreme, we have to be careful. In the world of New Religions and Cults, high demand discipleship has not been good. Following Christ under a canopy of freedom is scary because of our sinful nature, but it is the best way to serve Christ with our whole hearts.
One exception to this is Youth With a Mission Discipleship Training School. They live under high demands, but it is only for 5 or 6 months. That is probably why they have not fallen apart after a year or two.
All three get legalistic in their attempts to follow Jesus.
