Disciples and Apostles: Matthew 10:1-5

“And when the day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named apostles” (Lk.6:13, NASB).

I had just begun watching a religious program on television. The host was giving introduction information about the subject that he was about to talk about. He made a statement that caught my attention. He read a scripture and said: “You see there they are called apostles.” I was expecting the speaker to explain the reason that in the particular text that he cited that “they are called apostles.” The speaker did not explain. Maybe it was because he took it for granted that his audience would know what an apostle is. I just remember thinking that as preachers and teachers we ought not to assume that people know what we are talking about, and we should not assume that our audience does not know what we are talking about. This experience is the basis of this article.

In the gospels we read that Jesus had twelve disciples. These twelve disciples are also known as the twelve apostles. What is the difference between a disciple and an apostle? Let us look at these words. First, a disciple is one that follows a teacher or a movement. In the gospels the disciples follow a teacher whose name is Jesus. In Matthew 16 Jesus clarifies to the twelve who He is and His purpose. Jesus did this because there were crowds that followed Jesus.

Each person in the crowd had their own reason for following Him. In John 6 we learn that many of the people in the crowds followed Jesus because they liked seeing Him perform miracles. “A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick” (Jn. 6:2, NASB). Later, John tells us that many in the crowd did not understand what Jesus was teaching. “Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled” (6:26). Jesus continued to teach in the synagogue and many found His teaching to be too difficult (v. 60). Many of them did not believe Jesus and turned from following Jesus. “As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore” (6:66, NASB). “So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you’” (v. 67)? In verses 68-69 Peter affirms their belief in Jesus and they have confidence that His teaching is true. Verse 70 is informative. “Jesus answered them, ‘Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil.” What can we learn from these things?

In those days a person made their own choice of a teacher or movement to follow and learn. We can see that they were free to follow the teacher and free to leave the teacher. On the other hand Jesus chose certain persons (men) to follow Him and to learn his teaching and His actions. In the gospels twelve men are chosen by Jesus to be His disciples. Jesus chose them because He had plans that they would be men whose allegiance was to Him and that they would be committed to Him and His mission. Thus we read that Jesus called Peter and his brother Andrew who were commercial fishermen to follow Him. “And he said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men’” (Matt. 4:19). “Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him’” (vv. 21-22, NASB). We can see that Jesus had many disciples; people that followed Him for their own personal reasons. At the same time Jesus found men that He intentionally chose to follow Him so that He could train them in specific ways to do specific work. These twelve men became known as the twelve disciples, and were often referred to as the Twelve. These twelve men became apostles. Let us see how.

Let us begin by giving the definition of the word “apostle.” The word apostle means “one who is sent out.” An apostle is a messenger; ambassador who is commissioned to carry out the instructions of the commissioning agent. In the gospels, Jesus is the commissioning agent. Jesus chose twelve men to accompany Him during His ministry, to receive His teaching and observe His actions. They were to follow His instructions. They are uniquely qualified both to authenticate His message and to carry on His work through the ministry of the church.

Jesus trained the twelve to teach and do the work that they were called to do. “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of sickness” (Matt. 10:1). The twelve had seen Jesus perform these miracles. Now they are given authority to do the same things that they have seen Jesus do. In His commission to the twelve Jesus gives them specific instructions to follow, including how they are to respond to those that accept them as well as those that reject them (vv. 5-23). We will notice that at this point the twelve are referred to as disciples. They are not yet apostles.

In Mark’s account we learn that Jesus summoned twelve that He specifically wanted. He wanted them to be with Him and He would send them out. Again, we see that the twelve are not disciples that were free to come and go as they pleased. Instead they were called by Jesus to carry out the mission that He assigned them to accomplish. Luke tells us that these twelve were called be apostles. “And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named apostles” (Lk. 12:13).

The Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts of the Apostles were written by Luke a physician. In Luke’s writing we learn that there are people that follow Jesus learning His teachings and seeing His actions. Luke describes some of them as women that followed Him and supported Him out of their private means (See Luke 8:1-3). After Judas had betrayed Jesus and killed himself, the eleven remaining disciples replaced him by the will of God by casting lots. Matthias was chosen over Joseph called Barsabbas and also called Justus (See Acts 1:21-26). It is Luke that refers to the twelve as apostles.

While Jesus was on the earth He was training twelve men to do the work of His mission in the world. The scope of their work would be increased when Jesus returned to the Father. In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus commissions them to make disciples of people from all nations (ethnic groups) throughout the world (See Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:7-8). They no longer follow the man Jesus up and down the roads. Jesus sends the Spirit to empower them to carry on the work even though He no longer walks with them. The Spirit empowers them. The Spirit teaches them, guides and directs them and reminds them of the things that Jesus had taught them. The Spirit would give them clarity of things that they had not previously understood (See John 14-16). These men are now apostles. They are men that have been commissioned by Jesus Himself to work independently of a physical Jesus. They were chosen by Jesus to be sent into the world with the gospel.

The gospels give us a list of the twelve disciples chosen to be apostles. These are found in Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; and Acts 1:13. The name Thaddaeus listed in Matthew and Mark is replaced with the name Judas son of James in Luke and Acts. Some scholars suggest that Thaddaeus and Judas son of James is the same person. We cannot be certain.

I have written this article because it provides for us an example that we can become so familiar with the scriptures that we fail to grasp what the scriptures tell us. At the beginning of this article I mentioned that the speaker mentioned that the twelve men were called disciples in some scripture passages and in other passages called apostles. It is distinguishing the difference between a disciple and an apostle that help give clarity to their calling, their commission, and their mission. There are other examples like this that can be found in the scriptures.