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by
Doug Ward |
During his time on earth as an itinerant Jewish teacher, Jesus of
Nazareth trained a number of students. He selected a group of twelve of them
for whom he had special plans, calling them "apostles" (from the
Greek word apostolos), a word denoting
emissaries or people sent out (Lk 6:12-16).
The
number of apostles is the same as the number of tribes of Israel, giving a hint
about what their mission might include. At the Last Supper, on the eve of his
crucifixion, Jesus told them, "I assign to you, as my Father assigned to
me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on
thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Lk 22:29-30).
Jesus,
as the archangel Gabriel had announced before his birth, would occupy the
throne of David over Israel (Lk 1:26-33). The apostles, ruling under Jesus,
would judge the twelve tribes of Israel. This implies that there would be a
restored nation of Israel for them to judge, which was exciting news for them.
Like other Jews, they looked forward to the restoration that the prophets had
foreseen in passages like Ezekiel 37.
The
apostles, naturally, wanted to learn more. Forty days after the resurrection of
Jesus, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom
to Israel?" (Ac 1:6) It has often been suggested that this was a misguided
question, but notice that in his response (vv 7-8),
Jesus did not say that a restoration would not occur. Instead, he told the
apostles that he could not reveal to them the time required for the restoration
to be completed. He also promised an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, an event
the prophets had said would mark the beginning of restoration (Isa 32:9-20;
Joel 2:28-3:1).
After
the ascension of Jesus, the eleven remaining apostles (Judas having defected)
moved quickly to return their number to twelve by adding Matthias to their
ranks (Ac 1:15-26). After all, if they were going to judge the twelve tribes,
there should be twelve of them. At that point they anticipated that their reign
would begin soon.
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The
Reign of the Twelve? |
Were the apostles correct in their anticipation? To consider this question, we
should remember that Jesus had announced during his earthly ministry that the
Kingdom of God had broken into the world with his arrival as King. For example,
he told a group of Pharisees that "the kingdom of God is in the midst of
you" (Lk 17:21). On the other hand, the kingdom would be realized fully
only after he departed and returned (Lk 19:11-12). So
the kingdom of God, according to the Gospels, is a present reality that
continues to expand as we await Jesus' return. Theologians call this vision of
the kingdom an "inaugurated eschatology."
It
is illuminating to view the reign of the Twelve in terms of inaugurated
eschatology.1 The future
kingship of the resurrected apostles is implied in Mt 19:28, which pictures the
Twelve ruling under Jesus after his return. In the first century the Twelve
presided over the beginning of a restoration of Israel, a small but
fast-growing movement that began on Pentecost with the baptism of three
thousand Jews in Jerusalem who responded to their proclamation of the Gospel
(Ac 2).
In a
world dominated by the Roman Empire, the Twelve had no authority over an
earthly territory. They were a different kind of kings, following the teaching
and example of Jesus. Jesus had taught them that leaders in his kingdom should
be servants (Lk 22:24-27). On the road they might carry swords to protect
themselves (vv 35-38), but they would not be
launching an armed uprising to overthrow the government or conquer territory (vv 49-51). Instead, they would give their lives for those
whom they served (Jn 15:12-13).
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Judging
the Twelve Tribes |
The Twelve faced opposition from both outside their movement and within it. To
combat opposition and judge the twelve tribes, they did not wield physical
weapons. Instead, they employed prophetic speech empowered by the Holy Spirit.
In
this they again followed the example of Jesus at the Last Supper. Guided by the
Spirit, Jesus knew that his betrayer was among those at the meal (Lk 22:21).
"For the Son of Man goes as it has been determined," he stated,
"but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!" (v 22) Here Jesus
exercised grace in not identifying his betrayer, which gave Judas one last
opportunity and repent and abandon his plans. At the same time, he made it
clear that if Judas went ahead with his scheme, there would be serious
consequences.
In
an early challenge faced by the Twelve, two believers named Ananias and
Sapphira falsely claimed to donate to the apostles the full proceeds from the
sale of a piece of property (Ac 5:1-2). Recognizing a Satanic attack on the
integrity of the group, Peter rebuked the couple for their duplicity (vv 3-11). They were given an opportunity to confess their
wrongdoing, but both were struck dead when they failed to do so. In this case
Peter, like Jesus, exercised judgment through prophetic speech.
A
second challenge occurred when the Gospel spread to Samaria, and a magician
named Simon was baptized in response to the preaching of Philip (Ac 8:4-13).
When Simon offered money to the apostles for the ability to confer the Spirit
by laying on of hands, Peter rebuked him, making clear that his sorcery had no
place in the kingdom (vv 14-24). Through prophetic
speech, Peter squelched another threat to their movement.
We
see then, that the Twelve did begin to fulfill their roles as kings over a
restoration of Israel in their lifetimes, following the instruction and example
of their Master. In particular, they judged the tribes with Spirit-empowered
prophetic speech.
As
the book of Acts records, God led the Twelve to add Gentile believers to their
Israelite kingdom. Paul, an additional apostle, was a leader in this effort.
Along with the Twelve, he exercised prophetic judgment in directing his
congregations (1 Co 5) and encouraged believers to grow in servant leadership
as well (1 Co 6). Believers now can prepare for further opportunities to serve
alongside the resurrected apostles on a renewed earth when Jesus returns (Rev
2:26-27; 5:10).
1David
H. Wenkel does this in his book The Kingship of
the Twelve Apostles in Luke-Acts, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, a main source
for this article.
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On 20 Jul 2021, 12:47.
