There are two notable Philips in the Bible. Philip the Evangelist and Philip the Apostle. People often mistake the two as being the same person. Philip the Evangelist appears in the sixth and eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles—but he’s not the same as the disciple.
If you always thought Philip the Apostle and Philip the Evangelist were one in the same, then you are not alone; many of the early church fathers felt the same way, which led to many apocryphal accounts that were simply false (Eusebius, one of the most noted early Christian fathers, was one of the people who got the two confused). How do we know they aren’t the same? The Bible tells us so. In Acts 6, the 12 disciples got together to pick seven deacons, and it lists this second Philip as one of the seven.
What do we know about Philip the Apostle? Not a lot.
We know that Philip isn’t a Hebrew name, but he was Hebrew; that tells us that while his parents were Jewish, they were a little more liberal because they didn’t pick a Jewish name.
John 1:44, tells us that he was from the city of Bethsaida, but John also notes that his was the town of Andrew and Peter—a note that has made some speculate that John is implying they were friends before Jesus. If that’s the case, then Andrew, who, prior to becoming one of Jesus’ disciples was a disciple of John the Baptist, probably had lots of long discussions with Philip about John’s ministry.
Philip wasn’t quick to come to decision—in fact, Philip didn’t find Jesus; Jesus found Philip. John 1:43 says, “The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ (NIV) What’s curious is Philip then goes to Nathanael in verse 45 and says, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law” (NIV). That seems like a mighty bold move on Philip’s part since he didn’t exactly find Jesus—but that’s not what Philip is saying; he’s not saying he went out seeking to find the Messiah and he did just that. He’s saying he was empty but he found the void to make him whole.
The fact that Philip is referencing Moses and the Old Testament tells us that he is a good Jewish boy who has no doubt heard about the coming Messiah; every Jew during this period was looking for the Messiah.
What else does the Bible tell us about Philip? It tells us more about his character—who he was as a person—than what he actually did.
John 6:1-15 shows Jesus preaching to a huge crowd—thousands of people; Jesus went to Philip and basically said, “Hey, we need to feed these people—they’re hungry.” Philip is puzzled—he has no idea how to do that, and tells Jesus it would take half a year’s wage to buy enough bread for each person to have a single bite. It doesn’t say what Jesus said to Philip—perhaps he didn’t have time to say anything at all, because Andrew speaks up and tells Jesus about a boy with bread and fish.
John 12:21 shows two Gentiles asking Philip to get them an invitation to see Jesus; Philip in turn goes to Andrew, who goes with Philip to ask Jesus about it. That’s not very exciting. Except it tells us two important things. First, it shows that Philip doesn’t quite know what to do about Gentiles; and second, it shows his relationship with Andrew. Why can’t Philip go alone to see Jesus about this Gentile question he has? The fact that John has mentioned Philip twice and both times Andrew is also mentioned tells us that the two were probably pretty close.
In John 14, we see Philip one final time; in the Upper Room before his crucifixion, Philip challenges Jesus; Jesus tells his disciples in 14:6-7 that he is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him.” (NIV) He’s telling his disciples that he is God! It’s a divine moment! And then Philip speaks up…
He tells Jesus in verse 8 that if he shows them the Father, then that will be enough.
What Jesus says in reply to this is basically an epic, “Are you kidding me, Philip!” For the next several verses, Jesus reiterates who the Father is.
Some of the disciples are bold. Some are rather quiet. And some are simply ordinary. Philip was of the ordinary variety. There really was nothing special about him. He wasn’t bold—and when he is bold, it’s about something he shouldn’t be bold about. But God took this ordinary man and he used him to his glory.
After the Ascension, non-Biblical tradition says that he became a missionary in what is now the country of Turkey—not too far from Ephesus, where the Apostle John eventually settled.
And again, going off tradition, Philip performed a miracle in what is now the country of Turkey on the wife of a high-ranking city official; through the miracle and his teaching he converted her. This didn’t go over well with her husband, who ordered Philip and Bartholomew to be crucified upside-down.
Bartholomew was eventually released, but Philip supposedly asked that he himself be left on the cross. Was he martyred? Probably. Was he martyred in this way? Probably not. There were other traditions about what happened, but they conflict.
There’s enough traditions to make it easy to speculate that he indeed was killed. It’s just hard to say how. In 2011, archaeologists uncovered a tomb that some believe belongs to Philip. The tomb is in Turkey in the region he is believed to have been martyred.
If you always thought Philip the Apostle and Philip the Evangelist were one in the same, then you are not alone; many of the early church fathers felt the same way, which led to many apocryphal accounts that were simply false (Eusebius, one of the most noted early Christian fathers, was one of the people who got the two confused). How do we know they aren’t the same? The Bible tells us so. In Acts 6, the 12 disciples got together to pick seven deacons, and it lists this second Philip as one of the seven.
What do we know about Philip the Apostle? Not a lot.
We know that Philip isn’t a Hebrew name, but he was Hebrew; that tells us that while his parents were Jewish, they were a little more liberal because they didn’t pick a Jewish name.
John 1:44, tells us that he was from the city of Bethsaida, but John also notes that his was the town of Andrew and Peter—a note that has made some speculate that John is implying they were friends before Jesus. If that’s the case, then Andrew, who, prior to becoming one of Jesus’ disciples was a disciple of John the Baptist, probably had lots of long discussions with Philip about John’s ministry.
Philip wasn’t quick to come to decision—in fact, Philip didn’t find Jesus; Jesus found Philip. John 1:43 says, “The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ (NIV) What’s curious is Philip then goes to Nathanael in verse 45 and says, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law” (NIV). That seems like a mighty bold move on Philip’s part since he didn’t exactly find Jesus—but that’s not what Philip is saying; he’s not saying he went out seeking to find the Messiah and he did just that. He’s saying he was empty but he found the void to make him whole.
The fact that Philip is referencing Moses and the Old Testament tells us that he is a good Jewish boy who has no doubt heard about the coming Messiah; every Jew during this period was looking for the Messiah.
What else does the Bible tell us about Philip? It tells us more about his character—who he was as a person—than what he actually did.
John 6:1-15 shows Jesus preaching to a huge crowd—thousands of people; Jesus went to Philip and basically said, “Hey, we need to feed these people—they’re hungry.” Philip is puzzled—he has no idea how to do that, and tells Jesus it would take half a year’s wage to buy enough bread for each person to have a single bite. It doesn’t say what Jesus said to Philip—perhaps he didn’t have time to say anything at all, because Andrew speaks up and tells Jesus about a boy with bread and fish.
John 12:21 shows two Gentiles asking Philip to get them an invitation to see Jesus; Philip in turn goes to Andrew, who goes with Philip to ask Jesus about it. That’s not very exciting. Except it tells us two important things. First, it shows that Philip doesn’t quite know what to do about Gentiles; and second, it shows his relationship with Andrew. Why can’t Philip go alone to see Jesus about this Gentile question he has? The fact that John has mentioned Philip twice and both times Andrew is also mentioned tells us that the two were probably pretty close.
In John 14, we see Philip one final time; in the Upper Room before his crucifixion, Philip challenges Jesus; Jesus tells his disciples in 14:6-7 that he is “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him.” (NIV) He’s telling his disciples that he is God! It’s a divine moment! And then Philip speaks up…
He tells Jesus in verse 8 that if he shows them the Father, then that will be enough.
What Jesus says in reply to this is basically an epic, “Are you kidding me, Philip!” For the next several verses, Jesus reiterates who the Father is.
Some of the disciples are bold. Some are rather quiet. And some are simply ordinary. Philip was of the ordinary variety. There really was nothing special about him. He wasn’t bold—and when he is bold, it’s about something he shouldn’t be bold about. But God took this ordinary man and he used him to his glory.
After the Ascension, non-Biblical tradition says that he became a missionary in what is now the country of Turkey—not too far from Ephesus, where the Apostle John eventually settled.
And again, going off tradition, Philip performed a miracle in what is now the country of Turkey on the wife of a high-ranking city official; through the miracle and his teaching he converted her. This didn’t go over well with her husband, who ordered Philip and Bartholomew to be crucified upside-down.
Bartholomew was eventually released, but Philip supposedly asked that he himself be left on the cross. Was he martyred? Probably. Was he martyred in this way? Probably not. There were other traditions about what happened, but they conflict.
There’s enough traditions to make it easy to speculate that he indeed was killed. It’s just hard to say how. In 2011, archaeologists uncovered a tomb that some believe belongs to Philip. The tomb is in Turkey in the region he is believed to have been martyred.
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