apostle

apostle

The English transliteration of a Greek word meaning “one who is sent out.” In the NT Gospels, the term is commonly associated with the inner circle of Jesus’s twelve disciples. Apostolic lists appear in (Matt 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; and Acts 1:13). In (Acts 1:21-26), the qualifications for apostleship include being an eyewitness to Jesus. Paul the apostle regards himself as an eyewitness (1Cor 9:1), though only of the risen Jesus (1Cor 15:8). The designation of Barnabas (Acts 14:14) and Andronicus and Junias (Rom 16:7) as apostles seems to use the term in a more general sense (1Cor 12:28-29). In (Heb 3:1), Jesus is the “apostle,” the one sent by God.