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Jesus – Apostle; [Hebrews 3:1]

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2025 11/30 Advent 1: Fix Your Eyes on Jesus – Apostle; [Heb.3:1];Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20251130_jesus-apostle.mp3

This Advent season I’d like to take our cue from the book of Hebrews and look at some of the lesser known titles of Jesus; to look at who he is, and what he came to do. Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the final Word (1:2). Hebrews instructs us to ‘fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter, the Founder and Finisher of our faith’ (12:2).

What Is an Apostle? (Mt.10:1-8)

Hebrews 3:1 says this:

Hebrews 3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him…

This is the only place Jesus is given the title ‘apostle’. In fact he is called ‘the apostle’.

We know in his earthly ministry, Jesus chose 12 men and appointed them as ‘apostles’. ‘Apostle’ is from the Greek word ἀπόστολος [apostolos] which means a delegate or ambassador, someone who is sent out with authority. Jesus

Matthew 10:1 And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay.

Apostles were ambassadors, delegates selected and commissioned, sent out with authority.

What was the message the Apostles were given to proclaim? ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ A kingdom is those over whom a king rules. To declare that the kingdom of God has come near is to proclaim the good news that the King himself has come near.

Outside of the twelve and Paul the last of all the Apostles (1Cor.15:8-9), the word apostle is used a few times (Ac.14:14; 2Cor.8:23; Phil.2:25) of what we might call a missionary; (that’s not a word we find in the Bible!) someone commissioned and sent out by the church on a mission.

An apostle is one appointed and commissioned, sent out with authority as a representative.

Jesus The Apostle

Hebrews 1:3 is the only place the noun ‘apostle’ is used as a title for Jesus, but Jesus uses the verb ἀποστέλλω [apostello] from which the title is derived 27 times in the gospels to refer to himself in phrases like ‘him who sent me’ or ‘the one who sent me’; ‘God sent’ or ‘the Father sent me’; or ‘I was sent’.

Jesus Sent to Proclaim Liberty and Grace (Lk.4:17-21)

Toward the beginning of his ministry, at the synagogue in Nazareth,

Luke 4:17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

The Spirit of YHWH sent me, anointed me (the word ‘anointed’ in Hebrew is ‘Messiah’ or in Greek ‘Christ’). Jesus was claiming to be the fulfillment of this prophecy, which his hometown interpreted as blasphemy, and attempted to kill him. He was sent out by God to proclaim good news, freedom, sight, God’s favor, God’s grace come.

Jesus Sent to Proclaim the Good News of the King (Lk.4:42-43)

In Capernaum, where Jesus had been healing the sick and casting out demons,

Luke 4:42 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

Jesus’ primary purpose was not physical healing and deliverance; these were signs authenticating his message; he was sent to proclaim the good news of the kingdom; that their King had arrived. He is the King who sets wrong things right, who truly sets captives free, who makes all things new. Jesus was sent to proclaim the good news that the kingdom of God had come down.

Jesus Sent From Above; Not of the Earth (Jn.1:15; 3:30-36)

John the Baptizer testified about Jesus;

John 1:15 ( John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”)

John testifies of Jesus’ pre-existence.

John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” 31 He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.

John is contrasting himself with Jesus; Jesus comes from above, from heaven. John is of the earth. John says about Jesus:

John 3:34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John testifies that it is essential what we believe about Jesus.

Believe in The One The Father Sent (Jn.5:18-40; 6:27-29)

In John 5, because Jesus healed on the Sabbath,

John 5:18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus responded:

John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. …22 The Father …has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Jesus himself makes it essential to our salvation what we believe about him.

John 5:36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

We must believe in the one the Father sent in fulfillment of all the Scriptures

When the crowds were chasing Jesus looking for another free meal, Jesus rebuked them;

John 6:27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”

What is required of us to do to earn eternal life?

John 6:29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

The only work God requires is to believe in, entrust ourselves to the Father’s Apostle.

Believe Jesus is the I AM or Die in Your Sins (Jn.8:18-54)

In John 8, the religious leaders were rejecting Jesus’ testimony about himself, and because of the virgin birth, they cast aspersions on who his father was. Jesus said:

John 8:18 I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me.” 19 They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”

…23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” … 26 …he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

Jesus claims to be from above, not of this world. He claims to be the I AM and declares that those who refuse to believe that he is the I AM will die in their sins. He says:

John 8:41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.”42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. … 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. …54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’

Jesus the Beloved Son Sent by His Father (Mk.12:1-10)

When the chief priests and scribes and elders in Jerusalem were challenging Jesus’ authority,

Mark 12:1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?” [cf. Matt.21; Lk.20]

Jesus is pointing them back to their history with the prophets, forward to what they are about to do, ultimately to himself, his own unique identity; the beloved only Son of the Father, sent to them.

Earlier, Jesus wept over Jerusalem;

Luke 13:34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

Jesus, the final word from the Father, the only Son sent out with his Father’s authority, was rejected by his own people.

Son Sent, Son Given (Jn.3:13-19; Mk.10:45; 1Jn.4:9-14)

But this was all part of the plan. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:

John 3:13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 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. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.

God sent his only Son into the world, ‘not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many’ (Mk.10:45).

1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. … 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

Jesus The Apostle Who Perfectly Makes God Known (Jn.1:18)

Jesus is the Apostle, the one the Father sent into this world, his only begotten Son, to become human, to be born of a virgin, to live among us as God with us; to perfectly represent his Father and make God known.

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

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