The Twelve
The Twelve and the other apostles
“And when they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James…And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:13, 26)
We often consider the “apostles” and the “disciples” as the same group. We use the terms synonymously and are usually referring to The Twelve (with or without Paul). But, we do not often consider the other apostles in Scripture. Barnabas is referred to as an apostle in Acts 4:14, James (Jesus’ half-brother) is called an apostle by Paul in Galatians 1:19, and to whom is Paul referring when he says “…He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve…then to all the apostles…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-9)?
The Twelve Apostles
The thesis of this brief post is that The Twelve served not only the immediate need for leadership in the first-century church, but they also served an eschatological function: the foundation of the New Jerusalem; the representatives of Israel.
“And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like precious stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall. It had twelve gates and at those gates, twelve angels; and names have been written on those gates, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Revelation 21:10-14)
The Twelve were a significant group, chosen by Christ (the Lamb), to demonstrate the reconstitution of Israel and provide leadership in Christ’s absence. They were supposed to judge the twelve tribes of the new Israel after Christ’s enthronement.
“Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You; what then will there be for us?” And Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matthew 19:27-28)
And, according to Peter in Acts 2, the Son of Man took His glorious throne at the Ascension,
“But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them…This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured out this which you both see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord “Sit at My right hand, Until I put Your enemies as a footstool for Your feet.”’ Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:14-36)1
Peter recognized that this had been fulfilled and that they then needed to choose a twelfth apostle to replace Judas so that The Twelve would be complete,
“Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” (Acts 1:21-22)
The Twelve are significant for their eschatological symbolism and leadership over the twelve tribes of the reconstituted Israel. It would not have been lost on the crowd of diaspora Jews present at Pentecost that Peter took “…his stand with the eleven…” (Acts 2:14). I believe that these twelve indicated that God was not “done” with Israel; He remade Israel and expanded its citizenry (Galatians 3:26-29).
The Other Apostles
What then of the other apostles? What was their function?
Beeke & Smalley point out that the word apostle, “…also has a broader meaning of “messenger” or “one sent on a mission. (Acts 14:14 [possibly]; 2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 2:25).” So the term could be used to identify missionaries.2
And John MacArthur says, “The term is sometimes used in the New Testament in a general sense to refer, for example, to the messengers of local churches (2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 2:25).”3
We believe that the office of “apostle” expired with the founding of the church. Today, we need builders, we do not need founders. The church was founded on the apostles and prophets, with Christ being the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-22). The first century church had the benefit of the apostle’s ministry in its founding and part of this ministry included the writing of Scripture. The apostles, as they filled the role of founding the church, included more than just The Twelve. It included Barnabas, James (Jesus’ half-brother), Paul4, and others.5
So Peter’s qualifications for apostleship (Acts 1:21-22), in my opinion, would only apply to the office of The Twelve in their role of reconstituting Israel. The other apostles (“messengers” according to Thayer’s lexicon) are those prominent teachers in the early church who were commissioned, or sent, by one of the Twelve (or Paul) to herald the good news and who also wrote some of the Scriptures (like James).
And see John 16:5-15, wherein Christ says that when the Spirit comes, “…the ruler of this world has been judged.” (John 16:11)
Beeke & Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology, Vol. 4, pg. 349
MacArthur & Mayhue, Biblical Doctrine, pg. 755
There has always been debate about how to place Paul. My personal view is that he is the thirteenth Apostle to the Gentiles. The Twelve represent the reconstituted Israel, and Paul represents the ingrafting of the Gentiles (1 Timothy 2:7). This may have been typified by the fact that there were actually thirteen tribes of Israel if you count both of Joseph’s children.
See 1 Thessalonian 1:1 with 2:6 where Timothy and Silvanus are called apostles along with Paul.