DAY 6 of #100daysofJesus - Christ Ordains Apostles

 

DAY 6 of #100daysofJesus

Of his disciples, Jesus chose 12 to become his apostles. You may wonder what the difference is between a disciple and an apostle - I think James Talmage described it well:

"Discipleship is general; any follower of a man or devotee to a principle may be called a disciple. The Holy Apostleship is an office and calling belonging to the Higher or Melchizedek Priesthood, at once exalted and specific, comprising as a distinguishing function that of personal and special witness to the divinity of Jesus Christ as the one and only Redeemer and Savior of mankind. The apostleship is an individual bestowal, and as such is conferred only through ordination."

In Matthew 10, Jesus gave his apostles "power against unclean spirits... and to heal all manner of sickness." Mark 3 clarifies that this power was given by ordination.

In Hebrews 5:4 the author describes how priesthood power must be bestowed: "And no man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron."

Naturally, the next question is, "how was Aaron called of God?"

We can read about it in Exodus 28. God commanded Moses to call Aaron and ordain him to be a priest. Aaron was called of God through Moses who had previously been called of God. This is how priesthood power and formal ordination is bestowed in Christ's church. Through inspiration from God, someone who has already received the priesthood authority bestows it upon the newly called. The newly called does not take it upon himself.

One of the miracles of the Restoration of Jesus Christ's original church nearly two centuries ago is the restoration of Priesthood power, including the office of the holy Apostleship. I believe that Jesus leads the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today through his prophets and apostles, each of whom was called and ordained as was Aaron.

This process of priesthood bestowal means that any man who holds the priesthood has a line of authority or priesthood lineage through which he can trace his authority back to Jesus Christ. I won't go into that further here, but if you're interested, shoot me a note, and I'd be happy to share my priesthood lineage and how I can trace my priesthood ordinations as an Elder and as a High Priest back to Jesus Christ.