Note 48 — Chapter V · THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS.

It was this latter destination that won for them the distinguished name of apostles, ἀπόστολοι (Matt. x. 2; Mark vi. 30; Luke vii. 13, etc.). It has been doubted whether Jesus himself conferred this name on the twelve, according to Luke vi. 13, and it has been suggested that it was not given them until later, ex eventu.48 But that Jesus should have called them his envoys cannot be improbable, if he really sent them on a journey to announce the approaching kingdom of the Messiah. We grant that it is possible to regard this journey as an event transposed from the period after the death of Jesus to his lifetime, in order that a sort of rehearsal of the subsequent mission of the apostles might pass under the eye of Jesus; but as it is not improbable that Jesus, perhaps even before he had a full conviction of his own Messiahship, sent out messengers to announce the Messiah’s kingdom, we are not warranted to urge such a doubt.