When the scriptures speak of “the disciples” or “his disciples,” how can we know if the apostles are meant?<\/p>\n\t
The only way to tell is to look at the context of how the word is used and even then that is not a guarantee.\u00a0 Obviously, if they are named or if it refers specifically to the twelve, then it is easy to determine.\u00a0 Most people think that Jesus normally is referring to the twelve on most other occasions when he is speaking to them, but there are a couple of anomalies that would need to be explained.\u00a0 For example, when the apostles were choosing a replacement for Judas in Acts 1:15-26, they listed that a minimum qualification had to be that it be someone who had been with Jesus the whole time.\u00a0 Two men were deemed qualified.\u00a0 What were those two men if they were not some type of disciple?<\/p>\n
So, in a passage like Matthew 12:49 “Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers<\/em>” he could be referring to all those who were following him including the women (hence the reference to “mother”) or just metaphorically to the twelve.\u00a0 I see no easy way to prove either position.<\/p>\n Darrell Hamilton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: When the scriptures speak of “the disciples” or “his disciples,” how can we know if the apostles are meant? Answer: The only way to tell is to look at the context of how the word is used and even then that is not a guarantee.\u00a0 Obviously, if they are named or if it refers…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[170,76],"class_list":["post-8754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-apostles","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":39638,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-many-disciples-were-there\/","url_meta":{"origin":8754,"position":0},"title":"How many disciples were there?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good Day, My question concerns the number of Jesus's disciples. I read your answer addressing 12 disciples, but isn't there additional biblical evidence that there were somewhere around 70 disciples? Please clarify. Thanks. Answer: The word \"disciple\" simply means a student or follower. When people talk about the twelve\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52221,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-paul-say-jesus-appeared-to-the-twelve-when-judas-was-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":8754,"position":1},"title":"Why did Paul say Jesus appeared to the twelve when Judas was dead?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning Jeffrey, I have a question on what Paul meant in I Corinthians 15:5 when he said Christ appeared to Peter and the 12. If Judas had died by that time, there were only 11. Can you please explain this to me? It has been bugging me for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":791,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-the-apostles-baptized-in-the-name-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":8754,"position":2},"title":"Were the apostles baptized in the name of Jesus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 14, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Were the apostles baptized in the name of Jesus? Answer: Right after telling Nicodemus that no one can enter the kingdom unless they are born of water and the Spirit (John 3:5), we read in\u00a0John 3:22, \"After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1317,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/apostleship\/","url_meta":{"origin":8754,"position":3},"title":"Apostleship","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \"Your church is not organized as the early church was. Where are your apostles?\" Such was the contention of two Mormon \"elders\" who came to my door one day. It is not the only time I have heard such a question; there are several denominations that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7514,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-twelve-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":8754,"position":4},"title":"Why twelve apostles?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why were there only 12 apostles? Answer: Certain numbers appear frequently through the text of the Bible, much more frequently than you would expect from mere chance. Twelve is one such number and its repeated use indicates foreshadowing in the Bible and it is a reflection of the fact\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63873,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-apostles\/","url_meta":{"origin":8754,"position":5},"title":"The Apostles (Sermon)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: II Corinthians 11:1-15 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I Corinthians 12:28-29; Ephesians 4:11-13 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The world contains many strange ideas regarding apostles. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Mormons and some other denominations claim their organization is more truly like the first century church because they have apostles. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I have had some strong discussions with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8754"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8754\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}