and began its life in the election of the apostles before Easter we are obliged to return to Luke’s story of Jesus in order to increase our understanding of his views about the Church and its origins (see Chapter 3 below). Second, in his characterization of both those who associated with Jesus before Easter and those eventually included among them, Luke gives expression to a number of his views about the purpose of the Church. In the very name ‘apostle’, with its roots in the Old Testament prophetic