Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

APOSTLE

“One sent out,” generally to proclaim a message. NT use is continuous with the OT idea of a special messenger from God (cf. 2 Kgs. 2:2; 2 Sam. 24:13). The term has a variety of specific senses in the NT, but “special messenger, particularly from God” best captures the dominant sense.

According to Mark 3:14-15 Jesus “appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons” (cf. Matt. 10:1-4; Luke 6:13-16). The 12 apostles, along with other disciples, were sent by Jesus to proclaim the same message he himself proclaimed: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15; cf. 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6, 60). According to Matt. 10:2-4 the Twelve were Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus (cf. Luke 6:14-16; John 1:40-51; Acts 1:13; see Acts 1:15-26 for the successor to Judas).

Initially, Jesus sent the Twelve “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” rather than to the Gentiles or the Samaritans (Matt. 10:5-6; cf. 15:24). The relevance of the Twelve to the house of Israel becomes explicit in Matt. 19:28, where Jesus remarks to his disciples: “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The Twelve thus represent Jesus’ mission to bring renewal to all of Israel, through his inauguration of the kingdom of God (cf. Rev. 21:12-14).

The apostles were present at key junctures in Jesus’ mission, including the feeding of the five thousand (Mark 6:30-44), the Last Supper (Luke 22:14), and Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-43). Peter and the two sons of Zebedee were also present at the transfiguration of Jesus (Mark 9:2-8), and Jesus asked them in particular to accompany him at Gethsemane (14:33). Even so, those three show no special understanding of or fidelity to Jesus (cf. Mark 10:35-41; 14:66-72; Luke 9:33). In Matt. 26:31 the apostles are portrayed as being scattered at the arrest of Jesus (cf. Mark 14:27), and John 20:19 depicts them as hiding together in fear as a result of the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus. Nonetheless, all four Gospels represent the apostles as witnesses to the resurrected Jesus (Mark 14:28; 16:7; Matt. 26:32; 28:16; Luke 24:36-53; John 20:19-29; 21:1-14; cf. Acts 1:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:5). Luke depicts the apostles as receiving the power of God’s Spirit to proclaim a message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus to all nations (Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:4-8; 2:1-13; cf. John 20:19-23; Matt. 28:16-20).

The NT does not restrict the term “apostle” to the Twelve selected by Jesus. In Heb. 3:1 Jesus himself is called “the apostle and high priest of our confession”; this fits with Jesus’ references to himself as the one “sent” by God (Matt. 15:24; Mark 9:37; Luke 9:48; John 3:17, 34; cf. Luke 10:22; Matt. 11:27). In Gal. 1:19 Paul implies that James, the brother of Jesus, was an apostle (cf. 1 Cor. 9:5), and in 1 Cor. 15:9 Paul refers to himself as an apostle (cf. 9:1; 2 Cor. 11:5; Gal. 1:1). In Acts 14:14 Luke refers to Barnabas and Paul as apostles, and in Rom. 16:7 Paul implies that Andronicus and Junias were apostles at Rome. (Perhaps the latter were husband and wife.)

Paul distinguished true from false apostles (2 Cor. 11:13; cf. Rev. 2:2), and he acknowledged “signs of a true apostle,” apparently including “signs and wonders and mighty works” (2 Cor. 12:12). Paul may also have thought of his having seen the risen Jesus as sufficient for his being an apostle (1 Cor. 9:1). At any rate, some people in Corinth and Galatia had challenged Paul’s apostleship (cf. Gal. 2:8), perhaps on the ground that he had not followed the pre-resurrection Jesus. Paul insisted that he was an apostle through Jesus Christ and God the Father, not through human means (Gal. 1:1). In the Pauline tradition, apostles were apparently not just prophets (Eph. 4:11); still, this tradition could speak of apostles and prophets as the foundation of the household of God.

Bibliography. F. H. Agnew, “The Origin of the NT Apostle-Concept,” JBL 105 (1986): 75-96; R. E. Brown, “The Twelve and the Apostolate,” NJBC, 1377-81.

Paul K. Moser

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

APOSTLE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)