apostle

What is an apostle? What does it mean to be an apostle? What makes one an “apostle”? Are there modern day apostles, or was this only a first century anomaly in the Church? These are the questions that I want to address.

To set the stage for this investigation, I want to briefly look at baptism. Just like the word apostle, we get the name or action of baptism as a result of a transliteration of a Greek word. The Greek root word for baptism is baptizw (bap-ti-zo). It literally means to to dip repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge.¹ The point that I want to make is that instead of translating this word into English, the translators just wrote the same Greek word in English. This is not normal when translating material except when translating proper names. For instance, the English word “man” or “mankind” when it appears in the New Testament usually comes from the Greek word anqrwpoV (an-throw-pos) and we get the name for the scientific study of human beings, anthropology, from this Greek word. The point is that the translators used a word that was already in the language of the hearers instead of transliterating this word for man or mankind. A possible equivalent way that they could have translated the word “baptizw“ instead of just transliterating it into “baptize” would have been to write something like this:

"I immersed you with water; but He will immerse you with the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 1:8)

Leaving aside the debate about how we are to observe baptism (whether it is to dip, dunk, splash, sprinkle, or whatever) the meaning of the passage as it was communicated by Christ is clearer. We make a few mistakes, if we are not careful, when we read the passage with the word “baptize” in it. First of all, we may think that we need to be sprinkled, dipped, dunked, or splashed with the Holy Spirit if we don’t understand what Jesus is truly saying. We also might connect the indwelling of the Spirit of God with a physical act, and thereby make salvation available by undergoing some form of water baptism.

The Greek word that is behind the English word “apostle” is the word apostoloV (a-pos-tol-os) and it is transliterated in the same way as “baptize” is. So, in order to understand who or what an apostle is, we need to articulate what the word or title of apostoloV would have meant to the readers back when the New Testament was written.

The Greek word for apostle literally means “a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders”² and it also contains the idea that the person referenced has authority by the one who sent him out. So, in the most literal sense of the word, an apostle of Jesus Christ is a person telling about Jesus Christ (being a messenger) who clearly and unapologetically speaks the truth of God as communicated to him (authority).

It seems that all of the disciples of Christ were also called Apostles and held a special apostolic office. This office was of supernatural commission and had supernatural power to authenticate the message that they brought. We see that Jesus gave His disciples special power over unclean spirits and over sickness (Matthew 10:1-4) and that all of 12, even Judas Iscariot, were commissioned in the same way. After the declaration of the power given to them, they were referred to as apostles for the first time.

Luke refers to Paul and Barnabas as apostles (Acts 14:14) and it seems that Paul indicates that there were many apostles over and above the 12.³ The clearest indication that there were a number of men who were apostles is found in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, “and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” (1 Corinthians 15:5-8)

The James who is specifically mentioned above would seem to be the half brother of Jesus. Both James and Jude were the natural sons of Joseph and Mary.⁴ We also see Paul reference James specifically in another letter, “But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother.” (Galatians 1:19) He was clearly not one of the 12 disciples, but he was one of Jesus’ many siblings. “He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? ‘Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?’” (Matthew 13:54,55)

However, one of the clearest indications that an apostle is someone who goes out with power and authority by the one who does the sending as opposed to a title only reserved for the 12 close disciples of Jesus is found in the book of Hebrews. “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;” (Hebrews 3:1). Here we see that Jesus Christ Himself is an apostle from God. This does not negate or diminish His deity or any of His other attributes in the same way that being called our High Priest or our Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5) does not diminish this but serves to describe different parts of His ministry.

It seems that an apostle of Jesus Christ is someone who goes out to represent Him and speaks with the authority that He has given. I also believe that there was a special apostolic office that was only around during the first century where men spoke and wrote the infallible word of God for the people to hear, believe, and obey. Once the scriptures were completed, there was no need to have more apostolic teaching because the teaching was already contained in the written word. So in the sense of the power (to do miracles) and authority (to speak and write the infallible word of God) of the apostles that we see recorded in the Bible, that office no longer exists. However, in the sense that believers are sent by Christ and have the power of His Word (the Bible) to bear witness of Christ and to seek and save the lost, there are apostles today.

In short, the word “apostle” is not intended, and should not be limited, to only refer to the 12 men who made up the inner circle of the followers of Jesus. It was applied to many different individuals, including Christ Himself, and was referring to someone who was sent and had authority.

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¹ Thayer and Smith. "Greek Lexicon entry for Baptizo". "The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon". . 1999.

² Thayer and Smith. "Greek Lexicon entry for Apostolos". "The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon". . 1999.

³ After Judas betrayed Christ and killed himself, another man took his place and was numbered with the 12.

⁴ Joseph and Mary were not to be intimate until after Christ was born (Matthew 1:25), Luke refers to Christ as Mary’s firstborn son (Luke 2:7) and not her only son, and the word adelfoV (ah-del-fahs) that we see in Matthew 13:55 most properly refers to brothers, not cousins or other close kin.