Apostles

When I was a little girl, I knew who the apostles were. They were twelve men the age of my grandpa who would talk on the TV twice a year and tell me that Jesus was real (see General Conference).

I did not know then, but I can appreciate now that this is remarkable. As I got older and could understand the scriptures better, I learned that the original apostles were called by Jesus Christ to lead his church and to proclaim the gospel as special witnesses of his divinity. The fact that this definition has not changed and is still how you would describe the modern day apostles is further proof to me of God's unchanging plan for his children and brings comfort into my life.

So what makes an apostle? A deciple is someone who is just a believer and follower, a prophet is someone called by God to preach the gospel, so what is it about apostles that make them so different?

To begin with, we could look at the original apostle's call. The original twelve have the great and heart-felt account given in Matthew 4:19:

19And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

This is great and teaches much about those called to follow Christ, but this isn't a new or unique experience. Everyone who is a follower of Christ can lay claim to Christ calling them to follow him.

The next step in the Apostle's calling, where Christ makes them a bit more different and gives them a bit more authority, is in Matthew 10:1:

1And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

This is once again special as they now have authority to act in God's name to perform miracles and manage temporal blessing. But once again, later in Luke 10:1 he gives this authority to the Seventies, so it is not a distinguishing characteristic of the Twelve Apostles.

So what is an Apostle?

* He is someone called of God to be Jesus's companions while he was on Earth, to preach the gospel and to heal the sick (Mark 3:14):

14And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,

15And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

* He is someone who has power to seal on Earth and seal in Heaven (Matthew 16:19):

19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

* He is someone who has authority to judge the members of the church (Matthew 19:28):

28And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

* He has been specially selected to be a specific witness of Christ's Resurrection (Acts 1:22):

22Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

* He is to be a part of the Twelve that runs the affairs of the church. Though this isn't specifically mentioned in the New Testament, the fact that we have letters of them doing just that is proof enough. For a specific scripture we can turn to Doctrine and Covenants 107:33:

33The Twelve are a Traveling Presiding High Council, to officiate in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Presidency of the Church, agreeable to the institution of heaven; to build up the church, and regulate all the affairs of the same in all nations, first unto the Gentiles and secondly unto the Jews.

* He is to be traveling to all the different parts of the church (D&C 107:23):

23The twelve traveling councilors are called to be the Twelve Apostles, or special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world—thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling.

This is a long list, and you can even go into further details with their specific duties. What I think the role of an apostle boils down to is in Christ's admonition to Peter before his ascension into Heaven recorded in John 21:15-17:

15So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

16He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

The role of an Apostle is different from that of a CEO of a company or a politician of a country. His power to serve only comes from God, not through his own efforts, and is only to be used for service to his fellow man. All he does is for others with the understanding that once he starts thinking of himself he will lose his power. That is the miracle of Apostles to me, that they are men just like you and me, but they are able to give their all for their God and for their fellow man that Christ loved so much, in following Christ's call to them to "feed my sheep."