Philip Apostle of Jesus

Philip was the fifth apostle chosen, being called when Jesus and his first four apostles were on their way home from being baptized by John in the Jordan River. Philip was made steward of the apostles, and it was his duty to see that they were at all times supplied with provisions.

Philip came from a family of seven, three boys and four girls. He was next to the oldest and, after the resurrection, baptized his entire family into the kingdom.

Philip’s people were fisherfolk. His father was a very able man, a deep thinker, and his mother came from a very average family. Philip was twenty-seven years of age when he joined the apostles; he had recently been married, but he had no children at the time.

Since he lived at Bethsaida, Philip had known of Jesus for some time, but it had not occurred to him that Jesus was a really great man until that day in the Jordan Valley when Jesus said, “Follow me.” Philip was also somewhat influenced by the fact that Andrew, Peter, James, and John had accepted Jesus as the Deliverer.

When the apostles were organized for service, Philip was made steward. It was his duty to see that the apostles were at all times supplied with provisions and he was a good steward. His strongest characteristic was his methodical thoroughness; he was both mathematical and systematic.

Philip wasn't a man who could be counted on to accomplish great things, but he was a man who could do small things well and admirably. Only a few times in four years did he fail to have food on hand to satisfy the needs of all. Even the many emergency demands attendant upon the life they lived seldom found him unprepared. The commissary department of the apostolic family was intelligently and efficiently managed.

The strong point about Philip was his methodical reliability; the weak point in his make-up was his utter lack of imagination, the absence of the ability to put two and two together to obtain four. He was mathematical in the abstract but not constructive in his imagination. He was almost entirely lacking in certain types of imagination.

He was the typical everyday and commonplace average man. There were a great many such men and women among the multitudes who came to hear Jesus teach and preach, and they derived great comfort from observing one like themselves elevated to an honored position in the councils of the Master. They derived courage from the fact that one like themselves had already found a high place in the affairs of the kingdom. Jesus learned much about the way some human minds function as he so patiently listened to Philip’s foolish questions and so many times complied with his steward’s request to “be shown.”

There was little about Philip’s personality that was impressive. He was often spoken of as “Philip of Bethsaida, the town where Andrew and Peter live.”

Philip had almost no discernment, and he had trouble seeing the dramatic implications of any given circumstance. He was pragmatic rather than pessimistic. He also lacked a great deal of spiritual understanding. He wouldn't think twice about interrupting Jesus in the middle of one of the Master's most insightful sermons to pose a seemingly silly query. But Jesus never chastised him for such carelessness; instead, he was understanding of his incapacity to understand the teaching's deeper implications and was gentle with him. Jesus was well aware that if he ever chastised Philip for his intrusive questions, he would not only offend this good man, but Philip would never again feel free to ask questions. Jesus wanted to inspire all of the untold billions of similarly slow-thinking mortals who lived on his worlds to turn to him and to always feel free to approach him with their issues. After all, Jesus was really more interested in Philip’s foolish questions than in the sermon he might be preaching. All types of men piqued Jesus' interest.

The one quality about Jesus which Philip so continuously admired was the Master’s unfailing generosity. Philip could never find anything in Jesus which was small, parsimonious, or stingy, and he worshiped this ever-present and unfailing liberality.

The nickname which the apostles gave him signified “curiosity.” Philip was always wanting to be shown. He never seemed to see very far into any proposition. He was not necessarily dull, but he lacked imagination. This lack of imagination was the great weakness of his character. He was a commonplace and matter-of-fact individual.

Although the apostolic steward was a very effective personal worker, he was not a strong public speaker. He was a plodder and extremely tenacious in anything he tried; he was rarely discouraged. He possessed the wonderful and uncommon ability to call out, "Come."

Philip's excellent response to Nathaniel, his first conversion, when he wanted to debate the virtues and shortcomings of Jesus was, "Come and see." He wasn't a rigid preacher who urged his audience to "Go! — do this and this.” He responded to every circumstance that came in his work with "Come here," ""Come with me; I will lead the way." And in all forms and stages of teaching, that method is always the most efficient one.

When the Greeks approached Philip in Jerusalem and said, "Sir, we desire to meet Jesus," Philip's incapacity to adjust to a new circumstance was amply demonstrated. Philip would have responded, "Come," to any Jewish person asking such a question. However, because they were foreigners, Philip was unable to recall any directives from his superiors regarding this matter. As a result, the only course of action he could think of was to consult Andrew, the chief, and then they both took the curious Greeks to Jesus. In the same way, as commanded by his Master, he did not lay hands on his converts in Samaria in token of their having received the Spirit of Truth when he went there to preach and baptize believers. This was done by Peter and John, who came from Jerusalem to observe his work on behalf of the mother church.

Philip persevered during the difficult days following the death of the Master, took part in the reorganization of the twelve, and was the first to venture outside of the immediate Jewish ranks to win souls for the kingdom. In all of his later efforts on behalf of the gospel, as well as in his work for the Samaritans, he was most effective.

After they fled the persecutions in Jerusalem, Philip's wife, a capable member of the women's corps, actively joined her husband in his evangelistic effort. His wife was a brave woman. She encouraged Philip to tell even his murderers about the good news as she stood at the foot of his crucifixion. She started recounting the account of salvation by trust in Jesus as his power failed, and she was only hushed when the enraged Jews charged her and stoned her to death. Leah, their eldest child, carried on their work and went on to become Hierapolis' well-known prophetess.