Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

APOSTLE, APOSTLESHIP

Official designation given to certain leading individuals in the NT churches. Apostleship is the more comprehensive term, denoting the functions of the one who serves in such a capacity. Questions concerning origin, function, and history of the NT apostolate are much debated; one cannot speak of anything like consensus of opinion uniting the various church traditions. Some light is shed on our understanding of the terms by an examination of the possible linguistic and conceptual backgrounds.

The Greek word for “apostle” is not used outside the NT in the same sense as it is in the NT. It is derived from the verb “to send” and is at home in the language of the sea meaning a particular “ship” or “group of ships,” a “marine expedition” or “the leader” of such. Its usage is almost always impersonal and thoroughly passive. There is no hint of personal initiative or authorization, merely the connotation of something being sent. Later papyri use the word to mean “bill” or “invoice” or even a “passport,” continuing to reflect the vocabulary of maritime affairs.

In the NT, the word was used to designate those who had been sent by Jesus with the proclamation of the gospel. From among the wider group of those who followed him, Jesus selected 12 men (Mt 10:1-4; Mk 3:13-19; Lk 6:12-16) who maintained with him a particularly close relationship, receiving private instruction and witnessing his miracles and controversy with the Jewish authorities. On one occasion, Jesus sent these men out to preach the message of repentance, to cast out demons, and to heal the sick; that is, to minister in ways that were characteristic of his own work (Mt 10:1-15; Mk 6:7-13, 30; Lk 9:1-6). The same relationship is expressed in the saying “He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (Lk 10:16, rsv; cf. Mt 10:40). It is clear that the Twelve are not merely to pass Jesus’ teaching on but to represent his very person. After the resurrection, Jesus commissioned the Twelve (Mt 28; Lk 24; Jn 20–21) to proclaim God’s act in Christ on behalf of all men. Only those who had been with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry to his resurrection were qualified to be his apostolic witnesses (Acts 1:21-22). Paul qualified because he had seen the risen Christ (1 Cor 15:4-10).

The Pauline writings demonstrate two characteristic usages of the word “apostle.” On occasion, it refers to persons authorized by local congregations and entrusted with the safe delivery of specific gifts for other members of the Christian community (2 Cor 8:23; Phil 2:25). More important are those passages where “apostle” takes on a more technical sense through the qualifying phrase “of Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 1:1; 2 Cor 1:1; 11:13; Gal 1:1; Eph 1:1; Col 1:1; 1 Thes 2:6). The “sent one” is the “sent one of Jesus Christ” (Rom 16:7; 1 Cor 9:1, 5; 12:28; Gal 1:17-19). In the statements where Paul claims his own right to this title, he argues along lines assuming the same basic apostolic concept that Jesus had. He consistently links this claim to a specific event in the past in which the risen Lord had appeared to him (1 Cor 9:1; Gal 1:12, 16). This appearance he ranked alongside those of the resurrection appearances (1 Cor 15:3-8). Paul understood his experience outside Damascus (cf. Acts 9:1-19a; 22:6-16; 26:12-18; Gal 1:17) as a lifelong commission to preach the now-resurrected One (1 Cor 1:17; 2:1-2) chiefly among the Gentiles (Acts 9:15; 22:15; 26:17, 23; Gal 1:15-16). It was through his preaching ministry that Christ continued to work, creating the new people of God (1 Cor 9:1-2; Gal 2:8).