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2.1.4 - A History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age
Primitive Jewish Christianity
The New Beginning - Mission of the Twelve
There is no reason to suppose that in the thought of Jesus his resurrection and ascension marked such a crisis as it did in the thought of his disciples. Our Gospels indicate that he regarded himself as already fulfilling Messianic functions even during his earthly like.
His assumption of the power to forgive sins, where it is evidently a Messianic forgiveness that he dispenses; his constant exercise of authority over demons, which he cites as a proof that the kingdom is already established, and his delegation of that authority to his disciples; his avowed Lordship over the Sabbath; his tacit acceptance of the title of king, with which his followers hail him upon his entrance into Jerusalem, and his express adoption of that title in the presence of Pilate, -- all go to show that he looked upon himself as already the reigning and not simply the teaching Messiah.
Moreover, it should not be overlooked that his conception of service was such that he found in his ministering life and death on earth the most genuine exercise of his Messianic sovereignty, and we should make him untrue to himself, if we assumed that he saw in his heavenly existence, or in his continued presence with his disciples after death, or in his guidance of them through the Holy Spirit, or even in his exercise of judgment at his final advent upon the clouds of glory, an enthronement higher or more truly Messianic than he already enjoyed.
To say, then, that the disciples of Jesus regarded his departure from earth as his induction into the office of Messiah does not mean that Jesus himself looked upon it thus. But historically the important fact is, that whatever Jesus may have thought, his followers distinguished sharply between his earthly and heavenly existence, and saw in his entrance upon the latter the assumption of Messianic authority, and thus the pledge and guarantee of his return to exercise that authority on earth.
It was therefore as witnesses, prepared by what they had themselves seen, to testify to the Messiahship of Jesus, that these disciples returned to Jerusalem with the purpose of convincing others of the truth which meant so much to them.
That some days should be spent before their public work began, in gathering together their scattered forces, and in fitting themselves by prayer and mutual converse for the task that lay before them, was but natural, and there is no reason to doubt the general accuracy of the account of those days contained in Acts 1:13-26.
The idea that the apostolate should be dept at twelve, and that consequently it was necessary to fill the place made vacant by the treachery and death of Judas, is thoroughly characteristic of the early Jewish disciples. [Peter, of course did not utter all the words that are contained in vss. 16-22. But if vss. 18 and 19 be regarded as an insertion of the author, as they commonly are, there remains nothing that may not have been said by Peter; and if vs. 17 also be ascribed to Luke, the speech forms a consistent whole. But whether the speech be accurately reported or not, it is certain that vs. 22, which describes the mission of the apostles, cannot have originated with Luke, for he had an entirely different conception of an apostle's work.]
In his original appointment of the Twelve Jesus undoubtedly had a symbolic reference to the twelve tribes of Israel, and it is not surprising, therefore, that his disciples should have thought it necessary to preserve the symbolism by keeping the number intact. They certainly anticipated at this time neither an apostolate to the Gentiles which should deprive the symbolism of its significance, nor such a postponement of the return of Jesus as should make it impossible to preserve the number unbroken until the consummation.
It is not easy to discover just what significance attached to the apostles in these early days. They apparently held no official position in the church of Jerusalem, and were not regarded as in any way entrusted with its government or empowered to exercise authority within it. It was not as an office-bearer that Matthias was appointed, but as a witness to the resurrection. [Acts 1:22]
And it was not the Twelve that were actually at the head of the church of Jerusalem and the leaders in its affairs, but certain individuals, Peter alone, or Peter and John in the earlier years, and at a later date James, the brother of the Lord.
It is significant that the name "apostles," by which the Twelve are known in the Book of Acts, was early given to many others, who devoted themselves to the work of travelling missionaries, and who so far as we are able to learn, held no official position in any church or churches.
The work that they did seems to have been carried on after the pattern given by Jesus in his original commission to the Twelve. [See for instance The Teaching of the Apostles, chap. 11.] This fact throws light upon the traditional conception of an apostle's vocatoin, and thus argues against the absorption of the Twelve in work of a different character.
Indeed, the Author of the Acts himself, though he holds another idea of their mission, gives hints that they were primarily missionaries, when he records that Jesus, after his resurrection, commanded them to wait in Jerusalem, not permanently, buy only until the should be endued with power from on high (that is, according to Luke's own view of the matter, only until the day of Pentecost), in order that they might become witnesses "in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." [Acts 1:4,8]
Used by permission of the publisher.
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