Apostles

The apostles are the twelve men Jesus chose from among his disciples to be with him, to be sent to preach, and to bear witness to what they had seen and heard. The Gospels show them being called out, named, sent on tour, given authority over unclean spirits and disease, repeatedly misunderstanding what their teacher was about, and abandoning him at his arrest. Paul stands alongside the Twelve as an apostle of a different commissioning, addressed primarily to the Gentiles. The same vocabulary stretches further in the epistles to cover prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and faithful ministers, while warning that not everyone who calls himself an apostle actually is one.

Calling the Twelve

The number and the title are deliberate. Luke records the moment of selection: "And when it was day, he called his disciples; and he chose from them twelve, whom also he named apostles" (Luke 6:13). The list that follows pairs Simon (renamed Peter) with his brother Andrew, the brothers James and John, then Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas son of James, "and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor" (Luke 6:14-16).

Mark frames the same calling as a summons up a mountain to those Jesus himself wanted: "And he goes up into the mountain, and calls to him whom he himself wanted; and they went to him" (Mark 3:13). The purpose is double — companionship and mission: "And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, and to have authority to cast out demons" (Mark 3:14-15). Mark's roster includes the renamings — Peter for Simon, and "Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder" for the Zebedee brothers — and ends, like Luke, with Judas Iscariot, "who also delivered him up" (Mark 3:16-19).

John's gospel records individual callings strung along the early days, including the terse summons to Philip: "On the next day he was minded to go forth into Galilee, and he finds Philip: and Jesus says to him, Follow me" (John 1:43).

The Sending

The companionship of Mark 3:14 turns into a tour. Jesus "calls to him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and he gave them authority over the unclean spirits" (Mark 6:7), with instructions to travel light — staff only, no bread, no bag, no money — and to shake the dust from their feet against any town that would not receive them (Mark 6:8-11). Luke's parallel adds that he "gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases" and "sent them forth to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick" (Luke 9:1-2), repeating the travel restrictions and the dust-shaking testimony (Luke 9:3-5).

A second sending in Luke goes beyond the Twelve. The seventy-two are told to "heal the sick who are in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you⁺" (Luke 10:9), and they return reporting demons subject to them in Jesus' name (Luke 10:17). The promise to that wider circle — "Look, I have given you⁺ authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing will in any wise hurt you⁺" (Luke 10:19) — sits in the same gospel as the Spirit's promised tutelage: "for the Holy Spirit will teach you⁺ in that very hour what you⁺ ought to say" (Luke 12:12).

The kingdom assignment is tied to the cross. On the night of the betrayal Jesus tells them, "But you⁺ are those who have continued with me in my trials; and I appoint to you⁺, even as my Father appointed to me, a kingdom, that you⁺ may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and you⁺ will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:28-30).

Healing Power

The healing authority given the apostles is an extension of the power that flows from Jesus himself. Crowds press in "for power came forth from him, and healed [them] all" (Luke 6:19), and when the woman with the flow of blood touches him, he says, "Someone did touch me; for I perceived that power had gone forth from me" (Luke 8:46). The Galilean villages stage this on a mass scale: "they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and implored him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole" (Mark 6:56).

Paul claims the same signature in his own ministry. "Truly the signs of an apostle were worked among you⁺ in all patience, both by signs and wonders, and mighty works" (2 Corinthians 12:12), and he can say, "I thank God, I speak with tongues more than all of you⁺" (1 Corinthians 14:18).

The Apostles Before Pentecost

The men Jesus names are not yet competent to carry his message. They miss the point of the parables — "Do you⁺ not know this parable? And how will you⁺ know all the parables?" (Mark 4:13) — and of the loaves: "for they didn't understand concerning the loaves, but their heart was hardened" (Mark 6:52). When Jesus predicts his own death, "they didn't understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him" (Mark 9:32); Luke's parallel is sharper still: "they understood none of these things; and this saying was hid from them, and they didn't perceive the things that were said" (Luke 18:34). In the upper room Thomas does not know where Jesus is going, and Philip, after years in his company, asks to be shown the Father; Jesus answers, "Have I been so long time with you⁺, and don't you know me, Philip?" (John 14:9, with 14:5-8).

Their temper can be unworthy of the mission. When a Samaritan village will not receive Jesus, James and John ask, "Lord, do you want us to bid fire to come down from heaven, and consume them? But he turned, and rebuked them" (Luke 9:54-55). And in the garden "they all left him, and fled" (Mark 14:50).

Witness

What changes them is not new information but their qualification as witnesses. They are to bear witness because they were present from the start: "and you⁺ also bear witness, because you⁺ have been with me from the beginning" (John 15:27). The apostolic writers stake their authority on this directness. Peter: "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known to you⁺ the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty" (2 Peter 1:16); "and this voice we [ourselves] heard borne out of heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount" (2 Peter 1:18). John's first letter opens by piling the senses up: "That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands handled, concerning the Speech of life... that which we have seen and heard we declare to you⁺ also, that you⁺ also may have fellowship with us" (1 John 1:1-3).

The Beloved Disciple

Within the Twelve, John's gospel singles out one by an oblique title. At the last supper, "There was at the table reclining in Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved" (John 13:23). At the foot of the cross, "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he says to his mother, Woman, here is your son" (John 19:26). The same gospel's list of the inner circle — Peter, James, and John — surfaces in Galatians, where "James and Cephas and John... were reputed to be pillars" (Galatians 2:9, partial).

Paul's Apostleship

Paul opens almost every letter by claiming the title and locating its source outside himself. "Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, a called apostle, separated to the good news of God" (Romans 1:1). "Paul, an apostle (not from men, neither through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead)" (Galatians 1:1). The salutation formula recurs: "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God" — to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 1:1), to the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:1), to the Colossians (Colossians 1:1), to Timothy (2 Timothy 1:1) — varied as "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior" (1 Timothy 1:1).

The credential is contested and Paul argues for it. To Corinth he asks, "Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you⁺ my work in the Lord?" (1 Corinthians 9:1). He measures himself against the others two ways. Downward: "For I am the least of the apostles, who am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God" (1 Corinthians 15:9). Sideways, against opponents at Corinth: "For I reckon that I am not a bit behind the very chiefest apostles" (2 Corinthians 11:5). And his particular field is named: "But I speak to you⁺ who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I glorify my service" (Romans 11:13).

False Apostles

The same letters that defend Paul's apostleship name a counterfeit. "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:13). Revelation commends the church at Ephesus on the same ground: "I know your works, and your toil and patience, and that you can't bear evil men, and tried those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and found them false" (Revelation 2:2).

Wider Ministry

The apostolate is not the only office named. The risen Christ "gave some [to be] apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers" (Ephesians 4:11). Timothy is told, "But be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your service" (2 Timothy 4:5), and to be "a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine which you have followed [until now]" (1 Timothy 4:6). The contrast with insincere proclaimers is sharp: "but, the ones [that] proclaim Christ insincerely from faction, think to raise up affliction for me in my bonds" (Philippians 1:17). The Wisdom tradition makes the same demand from the other side: "With all your might, love him who made you. And do not forsake his ministers" (Sirach 7:30).

The Affection of the Sender

The apostolic letters carry a tone that matches the calling. Paul to the Thessalonians: "even so, being affectionately desirous of you⁺, we were well pleased to impart to you⁺, not the good news of God only, but also our own souls, because you⁺ became very dear to us" (1 Thessalonians 2:8). To the Corinthians: "I don't say it to condemn [you⁺]: for I have said before, that you⁺ are in our hearts to die together and live together" (2 Corinthians 7:3). To the Philippians: "Therefore, my brothers beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my beloved" (Philippians 4:1). And John to an "elect lady": "I rejoice greatly that I have found [certain] of your children walking in truth, even as we received commandment from the Father" (2 John 1:4).