How Many Apostles?
By Jeff Ward
Crisis. Acts 1. Jesus has just departed into the clouds. Former “Apostle” Judas was gone. He had to be replaced. He was required to “have been with us the whole time Jesus was living among us.” (Acts 1:21) Two men were found equally worthy. (Acts 1:23) Could they have both? Nope. The number was restored to exactly twelve (Acts 1:26). Eleven was not okay. Thirteen was not okay. Twelve. Exactly twelve. Mathias.
Years pass. Stephen and several others were “known to be full of the Spirit and Wisdom.” (Acts 6:5) Were they made “Apostles”? No. Why not? Can’t we have LOTS of Apostles? Nope. Only twelve. Spanning some 30 years of history, never was anyone promoted by the Jerusalem church to be an “Apostle”.
Jesus had the opinion there were only twelve. Does the opinion of Jesus matter? According to him, they were destined to rule over twelve thrones. (Matthew 19:28). Their names are on the twelve foundations of New Jerusalem someday (Revelation 21:14). So, think of the timeline: At the birth of the church, twelve. At the apocalypse, twelve. The time in between….how many according to Jesus? Maybe twelve?
Enter Paul. He declared himself an “Apostle”. Everywhere. Practically every letter he wrote. He grumbled that Mathias was “sent from men or a man” saying he was instead chosen “by Jesus Christ”. (Galatians 1:1). Aware of the requirements, apparently scrutinized, he lashed out, “Am I not an Apostle? Have I not seen Jesus?” He acknowledged he was “not an Apostle to others” and defended against those who “sit in judgement” of him. He claimed his followers were proof of his Apostleship. (1 Corinthians 9:1-3). Why is Paul always so worked up about proving his apostleship to those who examine me? Does he sound like a guy that’s been accused of not being one? Did Jesus endorse localization of the assignment? Of being an Apostle to certain people that are that Apostle’s workmanship? To whom then, was Paul not an Apostle?
He was forever defensive, apparently by an unheard conversation. He said “I am not lying” about being “appointed an apostle”. (1 Timothy 2:7). He even seemed to think his followers could be Apostles. (1 Corinthians 12:28). He mocked the twelve at Jerusalem calling them “super-Apostles”. (2 Corinthians 11:5)
Fast forward. Revelation. 30 years later. Notice that Revelation was written to “THE seven churches in Asia” (Revelation 1:4). This will be important in a moment.
Chapter two. Commentary on the seven churches. Ephesus. This church was dangerously close to losing their anointing. (Revelation 2:5) Why? “Wicked people.” People who “claim to be Apostles but are not.” (Revelation 2:2) The Ephesians “tested” them and “found them to be false”.
Does Paul fit? Was he ever actually TRIED like Revelation 2:2 says? After Paul exclaiming to Timothy he is “not lying” about being an Apostle, he went on to complain about some hearing. “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.” (2 Timothy 4:16).
Well, that was Ephesus. They were probably all just cowards, right? If that same thing happened in Jerusalem…hey, wait a minute…it did happen also in Jerusalem. Nobody defended him there either.
So what’s up with that? Is every follower of Jesus except Paul a complete coward? Or could it be, he was demonstrably guilty? He had been scolded by the leader of the Jerusalem church previously and did not deny the accusations. He was effectively sent to the woodshed by James (Acts 21:20-26). Confronted publicly at his hearing, he cleverly told a lie (Acts 23:6) to divert attention and create chaos (Acts 23:7-10). After having previously boasted, “I am ready to die at Jerusalem!” (Acts 21:13), Paul decides to deceive, take a side door, and “appeal to Caesar”. (Acts 25:11).
Should Jesus have done likewise? Were any side doors available to him? One lie like Paul cleverly told might have gotten him off the hook. Are these two made from the same moral cloth?
The seven churches in Asia, remember that? Well, guess who Paul says turned against him? Yep, you guessed it, everyone in Asia. (2 Timothy 1:15) Big fat coincidence says some. And of course, according to Paul, everyone else was wrong and he was right.
Guess who made the list of THE seven churches of Asia? Guess which ones still had their “candlestick” of annointing? Only one Paul church. Ephesus. The ones that almost lost their candlestick because of following false Apostles.
If the allegation in Revelation 2:2 is not about Paul, then who? Who is the better fit? Remember the timeline. It was already past-tense history in Ephesus in 90 AD. It HAD to reference someone in the 33 AD to 90 AD timeframe. Who else is a candidate?
Who else matches EVERYTHING about the description?
Are all these big coincidences?