Are You an Apostle?

Quiz for the day:  Are you an apostle?  (sorry, Becky, but you know how I love to give quizzes).

No, really, are you?  What is an apostle? 

I was reading Hebrews this morning and I saw something I had never seen before (simply amazing how this happens time and time again).  In chapter 3, Paul, or whoever was the writer of this letter, stated OF JESUS. "the apostle and high priest whom we confess."  Jesus is an apostle?  I remember being taught that in order to be an apostle that you had to have been with Jesus during His teachings.  How many of you remember that?  But right here, it calls Jesus Himself to be an apostle---He had to have been with Himself during His teachings?????  Anyway, because of that verse, and what I had always considered to be an apostle.  I decided to do a little research. 

Let's look in Acts, chapter 1.  Peter, an apostle, stood up and gave a short speech.  With the suicide of Judas Iscariot behind them, he thought it necessary to fill that vacancy amongst 'the twelve'.  Verse 21: "Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John's baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us."  This criteria, of having to have been with them for that 3+ years, seemed to be a requirement to become an apostle.  As I had been taught in the past, that one had to have actually seen Jesus and carried on His message, in order to become an apostle.  But, this logic quickly falls apart when we read other Scriptures that refer to others, not just 'the twelve', Matthias and Joseph(Barsabbas/Justus).  Paul, as we all know, had not been with the original twelve during that time frame, in fact, we know that he was opposing them at that time, and was not even in the area where Jesus was teaching.  In 1st Corinthians, Paul calls himself an apostle, although the least of one he said, but still, an apostle.  In addition, if you turn to Acts, chapter 14, and read verse 14, you will see that Luke calls both Paul and BARNABAS (son of encouragement), apostles.  So now, we have Jesus, 'the twelve', obviously Matthias and possibly Joseph, and now Paul and Barnabas all called apostles.  I am not sure if Barnabas was 'with' Peter and the other eleven or not, so, based upon Peter's own description, he COULD have been an apostle.  Paul writes of two others in his letter to the Romans as being "outstanding among the apostles" (Both NIV and NASB): Andronicus and Junias.  The reference in the language used here is that they were not just "among" the group of apostles, but were actually "amongst", or part of, them.  The book of 1st Thessalonians, penned (or dictated) by Paul, talks about "we" did this, and "we" did that.  In fact when he talked about "them", as apostles, not being a burden to that church in chapter 1, verse 6, he was talking about himself, Silas, and Timothy (see chapter 1, verse 1).  So, theoretically, we can now add Silas and Timothy to our 'list' of people referred to as apostles in Scripture. 

I used my Vine's Bible dictionary to help find the meaning of the word apostle, to help me better understand the paragraph above.  What I had been taught seems to have been incorrect.  I found that the one of the Greek words translated as 'apostle', is apostolos.  The definition of the word is "one sent forth".  Now, what I have written above becomes more clear to me.  Jesus was 'sent forth' from God (Heb 3:1).  Paul was 'sent forth' by Jesus Himself (Acts chapter 9).  'The twelve' were sent forth by Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20).  And, with that definition, being 'sent forth', can apply to anyone who has accepted the challenge of Jesus.  We are sent forth to spread the gospel, are we not?  Now, I am not going to profess to be an apostle, but I believe I could if I desired.  I am certainly not going to denounce people in other churches who refer to themselves as apostles.  And I am also now in belief that you did not necessarily have to have been with the original twelve in order to be one.  I believe Peter's message, his calling for a replacement, was based more on attempting to find someone with knowledge and first hand experience to join that elite group.  Not necessarily a group of apostles, but a group of men with a formidable mission ahead of them.  They needed someone who ALREADY knew all about Christ, one they would not have to treach anew, one that could 'go forth' from that point on, ready for the battle ahead.

I hope this short study has helped you also determine what an apostle is, and who can be apostles.  It is not meant to mislead anyone, but just by beliefs after briefly looking at Scripture and word definitions.

Please enjoy the rest of the day, and feel free to comment on this.

Mac