BSN: apostle

Apostles were sent by Jesus; that is, they were messengers, representatives, emissaries, ambassadors for Jesus.

apostle – a sent one, representative, ambassador; this is what Jesus called the men whom He sent out to represent Him; Jesus chose apostles from the ranks of His disciples (Luke 6:13), thus all apostles were disciples, but not all disciples were apostles, and thus the number of apostles was but a fraction of the number of disciples.

• Related words:
  • Compare and contrast with DISCIPLES – All apostles were disciples, but not all disciples were apostles (Luke 6:13). In other words, apostles (meaning “sent one,” “messengers,” or “representatives”) were a subset of the disciples (meaning “student,” “pupil,” or “learner”).
  • apostles and prophets –
    • Lk 11:49; 13:34; Eph 2:20; 2 Pet 3:1-2
    • As the prophets wrote the OT books, so the apostles wrote the NT books.
  • The 12 apostles related to the 12 tribes of Israel – Mt 19:28; Lk 22:30; Rev 21:12-14