Messages

Wrapping up our study of the twelve men whom Jesus named “apostles” we look at three about whom we have little Biblical information apart from their being listed among the twelve. Even this information can be a little confusing because their names are the same as some of the others apostles. James the son of Alphaeus should not be confused with James the son of Zebedee and brother of John. Likewise, Simon the zealot might be confused with Simon Peter. Finally, Thaddaeus is also known as Judas son of James, and could therefore be confused with Judas Iscariot – so much so that John is careful to explicitly point out in John 14:22 that he was not writing about Judas Iscariot.

Apart from these few brief references, we know little from scripture about the lives and ministries of these final three apostles. Various extra-biblical ancient texts and church traditions frequently conflict with each other about these men – particularly about the manner of their martyrdom. So what lessons can we glean about them? First, we know that Jesus Himself specifically named them as apostles, sending them out along with the others to preach the Gospel, cast out demons, and heal the sick empowered of His Spirit. Thus we can infer that Jesus found in them characteristics which would make them usable in the growing of His Kingdom. We can also take the very fact that we know so little about their lives as an encouragement that no ministry in the Name of Jesus is insignificant. Jesus can use anyone devoted to His Lordship to do mighty things in furtherance of His Gospel regardless of whether our ministries are deemed noteworthy by others.

The Bible gives us more information about Judas than any of the other eleven of Jesus’ named apostles. Most of us are well familiar with these scriptures, particularly that Judas Iscariot led the temple guard to the Garden of Gethsemane and pointed Jesus out to them by the prearranged signal that he would greet Jesus with a kiss. Jesus Himself knew all about the betrayal beforehand, saying to the twelve, “one of you is a devil.” Afterward in hindsight, the remaining eleven knew that Jesus was speaking of Judas Iscariot, but at the time Jesus made this declaration, none of them particularly suspected Judas and some even wondered whether they themselves might be the devil Jesus spoke of.

Yet, much as we know from scripture about Judas Iscariot, his motives in betraying Jesus remain mysterious. Clearly Jesus’ betrayal into the hands of those who crucified Him was necessary for His Gospel mission to take God’s rightful punishment for the sins of all mankind upon Himself. In the end, Judas Iscariot was the tool whom God used to accomplish this foreordained purpose. Clearly satan was also working in Judas’ heart to accomplish his own purpose which he mistakenly believed would thwart God’s plan of salvation. In all these things, Judas is a cautionary tale for all believers. After all, Jesus sent Judas out as one of the twelve He called apostles under the power of His Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel, cast out demons, and heal the sick. Yet at some point Judas decided to betray his calling and take matters into his own hands by his own motivations. Clearly if satan could tempt Judas in this way, he can certainly tempt us into betraying the Gospel, so we must be continually on our guard.

specifically and directly. No doubt Jesus’ choice didn’t sit very well with the other eleven, since Matthew was by profession a collaborator with the hated Roman occupiers, and tax collectors in general were seen as extortioners and oppressors.

Jesus chose Matthew in part due to his skills as a scribe. Just as importantly, Matthew immediately and completely obeyed Jesus’ command to follow Him just as the four fishermen Simon Peter, his brother Andrew, and the James and John the sons of Zebedee had. Matthew’s gospel is focused on a Jewish audience with the intent of convincing both the rank and file Israelites of his day and their leaders that Jesus is the perfect fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies concerning their Messiah, and we who read Matthew’s gospel nearly two thousand years later are also the undoubted beneficiaries of Jesus’ choice.

Thomas gets a bad rap and the common nickname “Doubting Thomas” due to the well-known stories from the gospel of John in which Thomas first refused to believe the other apostles’ report about the resurrected Jesus appearing to them, and then a week later Jesus’ mild rebuke of Thomas saying, “Be not unbelieving, but believing.” But does Thomas really deserve our scorn and ridicule. After all, the other apostles refused to believe the report from the women to whom Jesus appeared at the empty tomb until He appeared to them later. Furthermore, once Thomas touched and saw the resurrected Jesus for himself, his faith in the Gospel was fulfilled as he fell down in worship declaring, “My LORD and my God!”

The name Nathanael isn’t found in the Biblical listings of Jesus’ twelve chosen apostles. Most likely, Nathanael was the given name of Bartholomew – son (Aramaic “bar”) of Tolmai. From the story of his calling we find in John 1:43-51, we can safely infer that Nathanael was a close friend of Philip. From that story, we also learn that Nathanael was from Cana in Galilee where Jesus transformed the water into wine – the first miracle Jesus performed during His earthly ministry. Nathanael was also present with six other disciples of Jesus at the Sea of Galilee on the day Jesus took Peter aside to restore him after his denial on the night Jesus was betrayed.

Our information from scripture about Philip is limited, so we need to infer what we can about Philip from these few mentions of him taking care not to read anything into the scripture. We see that Philip was called directly and individually by Jesus to be one of His apostles…. read more

John – who refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” – was the human scribe who wrote five books of the New Testament. John was part of Jesus’ inner circle of chosen apostles who was present at the Mount of Transfiguration along with his brother James, and Simon… read more

Jesus gave the two sons of Zebedee – James and John – the nickname Boanerges meaning “Sons of Thunder.” Although this name is found only once in scripture, we are intrigued by it because we can imagine several reasons why Jesus might have tagged the brothers with it. James (sometimes… read more

Simon – whom Jesus named Peter (or Cephas) – is found listed first in all the Biblical listings of Jesus’ chosen apostles. So it is appropriate for us to begin our study of “The Twelve” with Simon Peter. For many of us, Simon Peter is the apostle with whom we… read more