Apostle? Disciple?

Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles in his Roman jail cell

Throughout the Lenten season, I’ve heard my pastors refer to ‘the twelve’ as disciples. I had always considered the original twelve, chosen by Jesus, to be apostles. I had also always considered an apostle to be a disciple as well. A disciple however I understood was not always an apostle. I had not, however made the distinction of when the Apostles became such. Are you confused yet? That is my point exactly. What is the meaning of these words or designations. So I did some research and came up with some answers.

It turns out that an Apostle is an ambassador or teacher of the Gospel sent forth by Jesus to make ‘disciples (followers) of all nations.’ This commission is given to the twelve (minus Judas Iscariot) in Matthew 28:18-20. Paul and Luke subsequently redefined the title of Apostle  to include anyone who believes they are a divinely appointed messenger sent out into the world. No other writers in the new testament ever refer to anyone other than the original twelve as “apostles”. Judas Iscariot, however had taken his own life prior to the commission, out of the shame he felt for betraying Jesus. Was then Judas Iscariot an apostle. It would seem that he was not so, at least in the biblical sense of the word. Well, at least we know about eleven of the twelve. Matthias and Paul are subjects of disagreeing doctrine under different denominations (Paul was visited by Jesus in a vision and commissioned ‘Apostle to the Gentiles’. Matthias was chosen by Peter and the rest of the eleven remaining apostles to replace Judas Iscariot, by drawing lots, after the ascension of Christ). Some would argue that Matthias, being one of the 72 disciples who closely followed Jesus from the time of his baptism to his arrest and crucifixion was as fit to be called Apostle as any other. Yet the others are not. Only Matthias was chosen through a game of chance. Is he an apostle? I don’t know. Perhaps you have thoughts on this. Certainly, he was a disciple. As for Paul, much of what we have come to understand as Christianity was disseminated by him in letters from his jail cell (see illustration). Certainly he was divinely inspired in the guidance that he offered to the young leaders of the young church. Again, perhaps you have thoughts?

 

A disciple is much more broadly defined as a pupil, a student and a follower. The original twelve were disciples but not apostles until the remaining eleven were commissioned by the resurrected Christ himself. Each of us, in studying the divinely inspired words of God the Father, the recounted words of God the Son and the words scribed under direction of God the Holy Spirit are disciples, just as the early leaders of the Christian movement were disciples of Christ through the Apostles.

 

Logic, if the above assertions are true, would dictate that no Apostle walked the earth after about 100 A.D., by which time all of those directly commissioned would have passed away and joined the Lord in Heaven. Some have claimed apostolic succession, which I personally don’t believe to have a biblical foundation.

 

I leave you with the two questions that I have sought to answer in this research. What is an Apostle? What is a Disciple? I’d like to hear your thoughts and perspectives, as the process of research and explanation of these two fundamental questions has opened other questions for me.

~ by ddub74 on 19 April 2009.