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Topic:
Thoughts And Things Of The Bible -- Apostle
From Easton's Bible Dictionary
The word "apostle" means a person sent by another; a
messenger; envoy. This word is once used as a descriptive designation of
Jesus Christ, the Sent of the Father (Heb. 3:1; John 20:21). It is,
however, generally used as designating the body of disciples to whom he
entrusted the organization of His church and the dissemination of His
gospel, "the twelve," as they are called (Matt. 10:1-5; Mark
3:14; 6:7; Luke 6:13; 9:1). We have four lists of the apostles, one by
each of the synoptic evangelists (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16; Luke 6:14),
and one in the Acts (1:13). No two of these lists, however, perfectly
coincide. Our Lord gave them the "keys of the kingdom," and by
the gift of His Spirit fitted them to be the founders and governors of
His church (John 14:16, 17, 26; 15:26, 27; 16:7-15). To them, as
representing His church, he gave the commission to "preach the
gospel to every creature" (Matt. 28:18-20). After His ascension He
communicated to them, according to His promise, supernatural gifts to
qualify them for the discharge of their duties (Acts 2:4; 1 Cor. 2:16;
2:7, 10, 13; 2 Cor. 5:20; 1 Cor. 11:2). Judas Iscariot, one of "the
twelve," fell by transgression, and Matthias was substituted in his
place (Acts 1:21). Saul of Tarsus was afterwards added to their number
(Acts 9:3-20; 20:4; 26:15-18; 1 Tim. 1:12; 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11). Luke has
given some account of Peter, John, and the two Jameses (Acts 12:2, 17;
15:13; 21:18), but beyond this we know nothing from authentic history of
the rest of the original twelve. After the martyrdom of James the
Greater (Acts 12:2), James the Less usually resided at Jerusalem, while
Paul, "the apostle of the uncircumcision," usually traveled as
a missionary among the Gentiles (Gal. 2:8). It was characteristic of the
apostles and necessary (1) that they should have seen the Lord, and been
able to testify of Him and of His resurrection from personal knowledge
(John 15:27; Acts 1:21, 22; 1 Cor. 9:1; Acts 22:14, 15).
(2.) They must have been immediately called to that office by Christ
(Luke 6:13; Gal. 1:1).
(3.) It was essential that they should be infallibly inspired, and thus
secured against all error and mistake in their public teaching, whether
by word or by writing (John 14:26; 16:13; 1 Thess. 2:13).
(4.) Another qualification was the power of working miracles (Mark
16:20; Acts 2:43; 1 Cor. 12:8-11). The apostles therefore could have had
no successors. They are the only authoritative teachers of the Christian
doctrines. The office of an apostle ceased with its first holders. In 2
Cor. 8:23 and Phil. 2:25 the word "messenger" is the rendering
of the same Greek word, elsewhere rendered "apostle."
From Smith's Bible Dictionary
In the New Testament, originally the official name of those twelve of
the disciples whom Jesus chose to send forth first to preach the gospel
and to be with Him during the course of His ministry on earth. The word
also appears to have been used in a non-official sense to designate a
much wider circle of Christian messengers and teachers. See (2
Corinthians 8:23; Philemon 2:25) It is only of those who were officially
designated apostles that we treat in the article. Their names are given
in (Matthew 10:2-4) and Christ's charge to them in the rest of the
chapter.
Their office.-- (1) The original qualification of an apostle, as
stated by St. Peter on the occasion of electing a successor to the
traitor Judas, was that he should have been personally acquainted with
the whole ministerial course of our Lord from His baptism by John till
the day when he was taken up into heaven. (2) They were chosen by Christ
Himself (3) They had the power of working miracles. (4) They were
inspired. (John 16:13) (5) Their world seems to have been pre-eminently
that of founding the churches and upholding them by supernatural power
specially bestowed for that purpose. (6) The office ceased, a matter of
course, with its first holders-all continuation of it, from the very
condition of its existence (cf. (1 Corinthians 9:1)), being impossible.
Early history and training.--The apostles were from the lower ranks
of life, simple and uneducated; some of them were related to Jesus
according to the flesh; some had previously been disciples of John the
Baptist. Our Lord chose them early in His public career. They seem to
have been all on an equality, both during and after the ministry of
Christ on earth. Early in our Lord's ministry He sent them out two and
two to preach repentance and to perform miracles in His name Matt 10;
Luke 9. They accompanied him in His journey, saw His wonderful works,
heard His discourses addressed to the people, and made inquiries of Him
on religious matters. They recognized Him as the Christ of God, (Matthew
16:16; Luke 9:20) and described to Him supernatural power (Luke 9:54)
but in the recognition of the spiritual teaching and mission of Christ
they made very low progress, held back as they were by weakness of
apprehension and by national prejudices. Even at the removal of our Lord
from the earth they were yet weak in their knowledge, (Luke 24:21; John
16:12) though He had for so long been carefully preparing and
instructing them. On the feast of Pentecost, ten days after our Lord's
ascension, the Holy Spirit came down on the assembled church, Acts 2;
and from that time the apostles became altogether different men, giving
witness with power of the life and death and resurrection of Jesus, as
he had declared they should. (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8,22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32;
13:31)
Later labors and history.--First of all the mother-church at
Jerusalem grew up under their hands, Acts 3-7, and their superior
dignity and power were universally acknowledged by the rulers and the
people. (Acts 5:12) ff. Their first mission out of Jerusalem was to
Samaria (Acts 8:5-25) where the Lord Himself had, during His ministry,
sown the seed of the gospel. Here ends the first period of the apostles'
agency, during which its centre is Jerusalem and the prominent figure is
that of St. Peter. The centre of the second period of the apostolic
agency is Antioch, where a church soon was built up, consisting of Jews
and Gentiles; and the central figure of this and of the subsequent
period is St. Paul. The third apostolic period is marked by the almost
entire disappearance of the twelve from the sacred narrative and the
exclusive agency of St. Paul, the great apostle of the Gentiles. Of the
missionary work of the rest of the twelve we know absolutely nothing
from the sacred narrative.
Derived from Easton's and Smith's Bible
Dictionaries
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