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The twelve apostles: their appointment and initial mission

This continues my series on apostleship.

After Jesus, the most obvious group of missionaries are the twelve apostles. They were chosen by Christ, were with him for the duration of his earthly ministry, and were witnesses of his resurrection (Acts 1:21-22). Mark and Luke note how Jesus appointed twelve of the disciples to be apostles (Mark 3:14, Luke 6:13). The Apostles would later become witnesses of all that Christ did and said, especially of his resurrection. It is entirely appropriate that they would need to spend time with Christ, learning from him, before being sent out as his representatives. John does not recount the appointment of the twelve, but does highlight how Christ had chosen them himself (John 6:70; 13:18; 15:16, 19). This inner ring of disciples are regularly referred to as ‘the twelve’ (Matt. 10:1, 2, 5; 11:1; 19:28; 20:17; 26:14, 20, 47; Mark 3:14, 16; 4:10; 6:7; 9:35; 10:32; 11:11; 14:10, 17, 20, 43; Luke 6:13; 8:1; 9:1, 12; 18:31; 22:3, 20, 47).

Jesus sent these twelve on a mission to Galilee (Matt. 10:5-8; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6) – just like Jesus’ mission was limited, at least in his earthly days, to the lost sheep of Israel. He gave them authority over evil spirits, and sent them to proclaim the kingdom – again, just like Jesus has been doing. This preparatory mission is a miniature of their future task in the wider world.

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