Disciple:
A disciple is someone who studies or learns, and the term is usually used to refer to one who follows a particular teacher, distinguishing the disciple from the teacher himself (Matthew 10:24; Luke 6:40). It not only means accepting the teaching but also living according to it. Isaiah had disciples (Isaiah 8:16), as did John the Baptist (Matthew 9:14; Luke 7:18; John 3:25), the Pharisees (Matthew 22:16; Mark 2:18; Luke 5:33), and Moses (John 9:28).
However, the term is most commonly used to refer to the followers of Jesus:
(A) In the broad sense (Matthew 10:42; Luke 6:17; John 6:66), it is the only title used for Jesus’ followers in the Gospels.
(B) It is specifically used for the Twelve (Matthew 10:1; 11:1; 12:1, etc.).
(C) After the ascension of Christ, it refers to all who confess Jesus as Lord and Christ (Acts 6:1–2, 7; 9:36). “The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch” (Acts 11:26).
Apostle:
The Greek word translated as “apostle” in the New Testament is apostolos, derived from the verb apostellein, meaning “to send.” Thus, it means “a sent one, messenger.” The Septuagint used this Greek word to translate the Hebrew word for “send” (see Genesis 45:4–8; 1 Kings 14:6).
First: In the New Testament:
The word “apostle” is used for the Lord Jesus Himself: “the Apostle and High Priest of our confession” (Hebrews 3:1), for He was sent by the Father “as Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). It is often mentioned in the Gospel of John that “the Father sent the Son” (John 7:28–29; 8:42) “to speak the words of God” (John 3:34), “to do the works of God” (John 5:36; 6:29), to accomplish God’s will (John 6:38), to reveal God (John 5:37–47), and to give eternal life (John 17:2–3).
Every apostle thereafter is one sent by the Lord Jesus Christ (John 7:18–26; 20:21–23), and whoever receives the apostle receives Christ (Matthew 10:40), and whoever listens to the apostle listens to Christ (Luke 10:16).
The word is used in its absolute sense in Christ’s statement: “A servant is not greater than his master, nor is an apostle greater than the one who sent him” (John 13:16). It is also used to refer to delegates from churches (2 Corinthians 8:23; Philippians 2:25) and those sent by God to His people in the past, as when “the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute’” (Luke 11:49).
The word “apostle” or “apostles” appears 10 times in the Gospels, 28 times in the Book of Acts, 38 times in the Epistles, and 3 times in the Book of Revelation. In most of these occurrences, it refers to persons called by Christ to fulfill a specific mission in the Church.
When we hear the word “apostle,” the Twelve Apostles and Paul the Apostle come immediately to mind. However, the term was also used for others. James, the brother of the Lord, seems to have been regarded as an apostle (Galatians 1:19; 2:9; see also 1 Corinthians 15:7). The term was also used for Barnabas (Acts 14:4, 14), and Paul groups himself with Barnabas when he says, “Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working?” (1 Corinthians 9:6), even though neither of them was among the Twelve (Acts 9:27). Silvanus and Timothy can also be considered apostles (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:6), as well as “Andronicus and Junia… who are outstanding among the apostles” (Romans 16:7). Paul also seems to include “Apollos” among the apostles who “have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:6, 9). In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul commends two unnamed brothers, calling them “messengers of the churches and the glory of Christ” (2 Corinthians 8:23).
However, it became necessary to expose certain individuals as “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:13).
