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originally a Hebrew of the Hebrews and a Pharisee of the Pharisees, with the Gentile, to
whose salvation and glory he had been dedicated by the God of all grace.
#3.
APOSTOLOS, The Sent One (Eph. 1: 1).
pp. 179, 180
In this opening sentence of Ephesians Paul refers to himself as an apostle (apostolos).
The word is derived from the verb apostello, "I send", as in Rom. 10: 15: "How shall
they preach except they be sent?" The title is used of "the twelve" (Matt. 10: 2), and after
the defection of Judas, the number was made up again by the inclusion of Matthias
(Acts 1: 26). Paul dissociates himself from "the twelve", as may be seen from
I Cor. 15: 7-9. He was an apostle of new order. "The twelve" were obviously not given
when the Lord "ascended on high" (Eph. 4: 9, 10; Matt. 10: 2), whereas the apostle of
whom Paul was the first, are said to have been given from heaven (Eph. 4: 11).
The two epistles that contain the most emphatic statements by Paul himself as to his
full right to the title of "apostle" are Galatians and II Corinthians. The former opens as
follows:
"Paul, an apostle not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father,
Who raised Him from the dead' (Gal. 1: 1).
After this, the two opening chapters are largely taken up with proving the
independence of Paul's apostleship, gospel and authority.
In II Corinthians,
the question of Paul's apostleship
occupies a large part of
chapters 11: and 12:
"For I reckon that I am not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles" (II Cor. 11: 5, R.V.).
"In nothing was I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I am nothing. Truly the
signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders and
mighty deeds" (II Cor. 12: 11, 12).
The word apostolos is not much used in classical Greek. It is found in Herodotus as
"an envoy", and later it is used of the commander of a naval force. The fact that the word
was almost unused in classical Greek made it the more suitable for the new order of
envoys sent out by the Lord.
The word was known among the Jews, for Oecumenius says: "It is even yet a custom
among the Jews to call those who carry about circular letters from their rulers, by the
name of apostles." The word is also used in John 13: 16: "The servant is not greater
than his lord, neither he who is sent (apostolos) greater than he who sent him."