Joe Explains What An Apostle Is
Joe is back this week explaining what an apostle is. This is a title thrown around by many. For some it is a spiritual trump office.
“Oh you’re a Bishop?”
“Yeah doc!”
“Cool! I’m Apostle Harry!”
See what I mean. Many throw around the title, but only a few have met the qualifications. Tune in to another excellent webisode by our dear friend Joe.
revdavemapes
Thank you so much for this video offering, Joe.
All my thumbs are up for sure on this one.
GREAT JOB.
David Mitchell
All good except for one really simple and really common mistake: the relationship between apostle and being sent and being a messenger.
Sorry to get Greek on you, and I by no means want to be a pedant, but like he said in the video, let’s let the Bible speak to us and get to the heart of what these words mean.
ἀπόστολος (apostle) is clearly related ἀποστέλλω (to send) and most of us use that relationship when we start memorizing Greek words. So we link the meaning to the etymology and remember that Apostle must have been sent. But that is not really the meaning. Messenger on the other hand is. In fact, we can probably push harder and say it is a special messenger, an envoy, an ambassador. This would really fit well with what Joe drives home so well in the video: the qualifications and the interaction between the apostles to make sure that they are saying the same thing etc.
For simple, modern English, I think ‘Representative’ probably works well best. We can see how in some ways we all represent Christ, we’re all apostles/representatives (little a/r). But the Apostles (captial A) are Christ’s Representatives.
Interestingly, Christ himself is THE Apostle (Heb 4:1) and there it is related to him being a high priest. I don’t know whether there it’s about him acting for us to God or God to us.