In Heb 3:1, we read the following description of
Jesus:
Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly
calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.
The Greek term translated as "apostle" is
αποστολος, referring to a messenger or an emissary. It is the noun form of the
verb αποστελλω, "to send out." The Hebrew equivalents of this noun
and verb would be שׁליח and שׁלח, respectively. The use of this term for Jesus
vis-a-vis His relationship with the Father is further biblical evidence for His
subordination to the Father.
In the Bible, the one who sends is greater than the
one who is sent/apostle. For instance, note the description of John the
Baptist:
There was a man sent (αποστελλω) from God, whose name
was John. (John 1:6)
Obviously, John the Baptist is subordinate to God.
This verb is used of the relationship between the
Father and the Son as well as the relationship between the Son and the
apostles:
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest
me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I come out from
thee, and they have believed that thou didst send (αποστελλω)
me. (John 17:8)
As (καθος) thou hast sent (αποστελλω)
me into the world, even so have I also sent (αποστελλω)
them into the world. (John 17:18)
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me,
and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that
thou hast sent (αποστελλω) me . . . I in them, and thou in me, that they may be
made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent (αποστελλω )me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me . . .
O righteous father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and
these have known that thou hast sent (αποστελλω )me. (John 17:21, 23, 25).
Such usage underscores (1) the subordination of the
apostles to Jesus and, by extension, (2) the subordination of Jesus to the
Father. Such is shown, for instance, in the usage of the conjunction καθος in
John 17:18 (quoted above) which means “just as,” showing the reciprocal
relationship between the Father and the Son with the Son and the apostles.
