Apostle

Apostle,  (from Greek apostolos, “person sent”), any of the 12 disciples chosen by Jesus Christ; the term is sometimes also applied to others, especially Paul, who was converted to Christianity a few years after Jesus’ death. In Luke 6:13 it is stated that Jesus chose 12 from his disciples “whom he named apostles,” and in Mark 6:30 the Twelve are called Apostles when mention is made of their return from the mission of preaching and healing on which Jesus had sent them. The full list of the Twelve is given with some variation in Mark 3, Matthew 10, and Luke 6 as: Peter; James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus, or Judas, the son of James; Simon the Cananaean, or the Zealot; and Judas Iscariot.

The privileges of the Twelve were to be in continual attendance on their master and to be the recipients of his special teaching and training. At least once they were sent on a special mission, two by two, to announce the imminence of the messianic Kingdom (Mark 6: compare Matthew 10; Luke 9). Three of them, Peter, James, and John, formed an inner circle who alone were permitted to witness such events as the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37; Luke 8:51), the Transfiguration (Mark 9; Matthew 17; Luke 9), and the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:33; Matthew 26:37).

Special importance seems to have been attached to the number 12, which some scholars interpret as a reference to the 12 tribes of Israel. When a gap had been left by the defection and death of the traitor Judas Iscariot, immediate steps were taken to fill it by the election of Matthias (Acts 1). It is to members of this band of 12 that the word Apostle is usually applied in Acts.

Paul himself claimed the title of Apostle, apparently on the ground that he had seen the Lord and received a commission directly from him. This appears to be in agreement with the condition in Acts that a newly appointed Apostle should be capable of giving eyewitness testimony to the Lord’s Resurrection. According to some early Christian writers, however, some were called apostles after the period covered by the New Testament. The word also has been used to designate a high administrative or ecclesiastical officer.