Thank you for the question, “Did Jesus call his disciples apostles?”
I may be wrong, but from my reading briefly over the Gospels, Jesus did not call the 12 disciples with the title apostles. In other words, Jesus did not say, “Apostle Peter” or “Apostle John.” Jesus was their teacher. They were his disciples or students.
Through the Gospels, the Gospel writers refer to them as the 12 disciples or the Twelve. Here are some citations:
- Matthew 10:1–2: “Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him” (A searchable online Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages). Verse 2 in my view is after the ascension of Jesus, the Twelve Disciples became known known as the Twelve Apostles in carrying forth the Great Commission of Jesus (Matt. 28:18–20). Parallel passages are Mark 3:16, Luke 6:14. Citations are from the New International Version.
- Matthew 11:1: “After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee” (NIV).
- Matthew 20:17: “Now Jesus was going up to Jerusalem. On the way, he took the Twelve aside and said to them, 18 “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death 19 and will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!” (NIV).
- Mark 6:7: “Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. 7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits” (NIV).
- Mark 6:30: “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (NIV). In this citation, Jesus didn’t call the Twelve men “apostles” as the writer gives them that designation.
- Mark 11:11: “Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.
- John 20:24: “Now Thomas (also known as Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
This is the same for Luke and John that Jesus didn’t called the Twelve men as apostles as in Apostle Peter. The designation of apostle is a sent one with a message. Jesus sent them to preach ahead of them in the towns of Israel and to the world after his resurrection. The designation of the title, The Twelve, is used by the writers to separate those men from the other disciples of Jesus.
It is unclear to me how Jesus called the twelve men when he wanted them to gather around him. Did he say, “Peter, James, John, and the rest of you, come to me”? I don’t know and it doesn’t appear that he would say, “The Twelve of you come to me” The text is unclear to me at this point. Perhaps others have greater insight on this on how Jesus called his twelve men to him from time to time.
SUMMARY: Jesus most likely called them by individuals names as those twelve men soon learn that Jesus was speaking to them and not to the other disciples. The people began to see the twelve men being the closest disciples of Jesus who became known as The Twelve or his disciples. Jesus didn’t call his twelve men with the title apostle as far as I know but a designation given to them as he sent them out to do his will.
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