Apostles

One of the problems with understanding the ministry of the apostle is caused by Bible. The noun “apostolos” is been translated as apostle. The equivalent noun, “apostello” is never translated as apostle. It is always translated as “sent”. This makes the name apostle seem much grander than it really is.

To be consistent, the verb apostllo should be translated as “apostled”. This would change our understanding of the role. Here are some examples.

• Jesus called the twelve and apostled them to heal the sick and proclaim the gospel (Mat 10:5,16).

• God apostled Jesus (Luke 4:18).

• People who knew Jesus apostled into the country and bought in the sick Matt 14:35).

• The owner of the vineyard apostled the labourers (Matt 20:2).

• Jesus apostled two disciples to get a donkey (Matt 21:1).

• The Rich man apostled his servant to bring in the guests (Matt 22:4).

• Pilates wife apostled a word to him (Matt 27:19).

• Jesus apostled two disciples to prepare for the Passover (Mark 14:13).

• Jesus appointed seventy and apostled them to preach the gospel and heal the sick (Luke 10:1). Were the seventy apostles?

• Herod apostled soldiers to kill the boys in Bethlehem (Matt 2:16).

Apostling is not being in charge. It is mostly about being a servant who does what they have been commanded to do.

Do the people you know who call themselves apostles go and look for donkeys and prepare meals.

The New Testament makes much greater use of the verb form apostello than it does the noun apostolos. This is because the act of being sent is far more important than the title apostle. Unfortunately, misleading translations have caused us to focus on the latter at the expense of the former. An apostle is a person who has been sent out to do a job for God, not the title of an authority figure.