Apostles

The apostles (Greek apostoloi, "those sent out, envoys") were the men commissioned by Jesus Christ to be the authoritative eyewitnesses and ambassadors of his gospel. The Greek term answers to the Hebrew shaliach, a fully authorized agent who represents the one who sends him, so that to receive the envoy is to receive the sender — as Jesus said, "whoever receives the one I send receives me" (John 13:20). Scripture even calls Jesus himself "the apostle and high priest of our confession," sent by the Father (Hebrews 3:1), so that the apostles' mission flows from and extends his own.

After a night of prayer Jesus chose twelve from among his wider body of disciples (Luke 6:12–13), a number plainly answering to the twelve tribes of Israel and signaling the reconstitution of God's people around himself. He appointed them, Mark says, "so that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach" (Mark 3:14–15) — first to the lost sheep of Israel (Matthew 10:5–7), and after the resurrection to "all nations" in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20; Acts 1:8). The defining qualification of an apostle was to have accompanied Jesus from John's baptism to the ascension and, above all, to be a witness of his resurrection (Acts 1:21–22); empowered by the Spirit at Pentecost, they became the first preachers of the risen Lord. When Judas Iscariot fell away, Matthias was chosen by lot to restore the Twelve (Acts 1:26).

The term is also used more widely. Paul vigorously defended his own apostleship as one "untimely born," grounded in his seeing the risen Christ on the Damascus road and his direct commission from him (1 Corinthians 15:8–9; Galatians 1:1), appealing to "the signs of a true apostle" worked among the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 12:12). The New Testament can name others apostles in a broader sense of commissioned messengers — Barnabas (Acts 14:14), James the Lord's brother (Galatians 1:19), and Andronicus and Junia (Romans 16:7). Theologically the apostles are "the foundation" of the church, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20); the first believers "devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching" (Acts 2:42), the deposit of truth that the New Testament preserves. Fittingly, the wall of the New Jerusalem rests on twelve foundations bearing "the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Revelation 21:14).

The members of the Twelve

The four lists (Matthew 10:2–4; Mark 3:16–19; Luke 6:14–16; Acts 1:13) differ slightly in order and in a few names, but together they name the same group. Each apostle is treated in his own article:

Simon Peter — a fisherman of Bethsaida and brother of Andrew; Jesus named him Cephas (“rock”) and he became the spokesman and leader of the Twelve (Matthew 16:16–18).

Andrew — Peter’s brother and a former disciple of John the Baptist; among the first called, he repeatedly brought others to Jesus (John 1:40–42).

James, son of Zebedee — brother of John and, with him, called a “son of thunder” (Mark 3:17); he was the first of the apostles to be martyred (Acts 12:2).

John — brother of James and “the disciple whom Jesus loved”; by tradition the author of the Fourth Gospel, three epistles, and Revelation.

Philip — from Bethsaida; he brought Nathanael to Jesus and later asked the Lord to “show us the Father” (John 1:43–46; John 14:8–9).

Bartholomew — named in all three Synoptic lists and in Acts, and usually identified with Nathanael of Cana.

Thomas — called Didymus, “the Twin”; he doubted the resurrection until he saw the risen Lord and confessed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24–28).

Matthew — a tax collector at Capernaum, also called Levi; by tradition the author of the First Gospel (Matthew 9:9).

James, son of Alphaeus — called “James the Less,” distinguishing him from James the son of Zebedee.

Thaddaeus — also called Lebbaeus and generally identified with Judas the son of James (Luke 6:16; John 14:22).

Simon the Zealot — called the Cananaean or Zealot, marking his earlier zeal for the law or ties to the Zealot party.

Judas Iscariot — keeper of the money bag, who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver and then perished (Matthew 26:14–16; 27:3–5).

After Judas’s defection, Matthias was chosen by lot to take his place as a witness of the resurrection, restoring the number to twelve (Acts 1:21–26).