In what way can the Church view Jesus as “our Apostle”?

In what way can the Church view Jesus as “our Apostle”?   The New International Version translates Hebrews 3:1 this way: “Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest.” (Hebrews 3:1, NIV)

Faced with this question, I find it personally easier to write.  Writing helps me think; and I believe it helps me communicate.  So I want to wrestle with this question.  How is it that I can confess Jesus as our Apostle?  The English Standard Version puts a different twist on the assertion: “Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession,” (Hebrews 3:1, ESV). 

My father used to quip: “The Book of Hebrews, was written by a Hebrew, telling the Hebrews, not to be Hebrews.” Essential one doesn’t find a clearer, more concise introduction to the Book.  Persecution had caused some Jewish Christians to consider caving in to the assaults of the Judaizers and return to the terms and practices of the Old Covenant.  The author’s intent is to warn them not to do that.  He partners his exhortation with a pronouncement of the exalted status of Jesus Christ.  In Chapter 3 he shows the reader that Jesus was better than Moses.

This is the only place in the New Testament where the word ‘apostle’ is applied to Jesus.  The idea is frequently woven into the fabric of the Bible; but that word is only used here.  “Apostolos (ἀπόστολος) is, literally, ‘one sent forth’ (apo, ‘from,’ stello, ‘to send’).” ^[1]   The concept that is clear in the Bible is that Jesus is the sent one from God (for example: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3, ESV). In John 3:17 (ESV) we read:

“¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

So how is Christ “our Apostle”?   The text suggests that He is ours by confession, not ours by commission.  “In Christ the functions of Moses and Aaron are combined, each in an infinitely loftier form. The compound description (ὁ ἀπόστ. καὶ ἀρχ.) gathers up what has been already established as to Christ as the last revealer of God’s will and the fulfiller of man’s destiny.”^[2]   Christ as Apostle and High Priest belong to our confession (ὁμολογία [homologiaI]) not our possession (as if we sent Him).  The New Living Bible is helpful here: “And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s messenger and High Priest.” (Hebrews 3:1, NLT)

Matthew Henry writes, “As the apostle of our profession, the prime-minister of the gospel church, a messenger and a principal messenger sent of God to men, upon the most important errand, the great revealer of that faith which we profess to hold and of that hope which we profess to have.”^[3]

So He is ours in the sense that we affirm no other messenger from God.  He alone has brought us the Gospel personified in Himself.  But better than any other delegate from the Father He is both the Apostle and the High Priest, in one.  He brings the message of the Gospel and also fulfills it in us who believe.  He is our Apostle and High Priest.  Hear these stirring words from Robert Murray McCheyne:

“Oh! brethren, could I lift you away to the eternity that is past, — could I bring you into the council of the Eternal Three; and as it was once said, "Let us make man," could I let you hear the word, "Let us save man," — could I show you how God from all eternity designed his Son to undertake for poor sinners; how it was the very plan and the bottommost desire of the heart of the Father that Jesus should come into the world, and do and die in the stead of sinners.”[4]

Consider Jesus Christ, the Apostle and High Priest whom we confess.

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^[1] Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W., Jr. (1996). Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Vol. 2, p. 30). Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.

^[2] Westcott, B. F. (Ed.). (1903). The Epistle to the Hebrews the Greek text with notes and essays (3d ed., p. 75). London: Macmillan.

^[3] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 2384). Peabody: Hendrickson.

[4] http://www.covenantofgrace.com/mccheyne_christ_the_apostle_and_high_priest.htm