Which is the greatest apostle?

Many people use the words disciple and apostle interchangeably but there is a distinct difference. Jesus had many disciples during His earthly ministry – at least hundreds, maybe thousands. Luke 6:13 tells us, “And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;”

The Greek word we translate as “disciple” is mathétés (μαθητής , Strongs word 3101). It means “a learner; a disciple, a follower of Christ who learns the doctrines of Scripture and the lifestyle.” All Christians are commanded to be students of His word (Matthew 28:19-20) but only a few people were named apostles. The word apostle is the untranslated Greek word apostolos (ἀπόστολος, Strong's word 652) and means, “a messenger, one sent on a mission, an apostle.” The cognate verb of apostolos is apostelló, (ἀποστέλλω, Strong's word 649), which means “I send forth, send (as a messenger, commission, etc.), send away, dismiss.” Sorry. I don't mean for this to be a Greek vocabulary lesson. I'm going somewhere with this.

Luke 4:43 says, “And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.” The term, “I am sent” sort of jumped out at me. It's a passive use of the verb apostelló. Before Jesus chose 12 men whom He would send out to preach the gospel, Jesus tells us He was sent to preach the gospel. Jesus is literally the first Apostle.

I got to thinking about which other verses use a passive form of apostelló and came across John's account of Jesus healing a blind man.

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. (John 9:3-7)

In this passage, Jesus, the One who was sent, puts clay on the blind man's eyes and tell him to wash in the Pool of Siloam – which means sent! Wow! Even the name of the pool is a reference to Jesus. How much more clear of a picture could be made?

The good news is not the words of Paul, John, or Peter. It is the message preached by the greatest of those who were sent – Jesus. When we need healing, when we need restoring, when we need forgiveness, we need to go to Him. We need to go to the One who was sent.

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