Welcome to Wisdom for the Heart with Stephen Davey. Stephen has been teaching the Bible for over four decades, and we bring you these messages to help you know God, think biblically, and live wisely. Just before Stephen's message today, please take a moment to like and subscribe to this podcast. that helps more people find this biblically faithful teaching.
Now, here's Stephen. Jesus doesn't choose disciples to have the same impact, or the same ministry chooses disciples to deliver the same. Message.
Now you Peter and John are going to go on to you know make a real mark in church history They're going to be used to compose a New Testament scripture, but we know nothing of little James. He never wrote a book in the Bible? He never preached a sermon quoted in scripture. He never had a conversation with Jesus that was recorded for us. He never held an office in the church in Jerusalem.
He was simply called, and he followed.
Well, today we arrive at the conclusion of our Study in the Lives of these twelve disciples, we've paused long enough to take an overview of. The list that Luke has provided for us as we have begun an exposition through this wonderful gospel. We've observed together that these disciples appear in three groups. Four disciples. Each.
The first group is the most well-known. They'll speak the most. They will. Bespoken to the most by our Lord. The second group plays a less significant role, although we do know.
uh some events that occurred Including them. And today we're going to explore What we can in this last group of four, we know the least about them. All except the very last one, of course, Judas. The scariot.
Now we're learning in the process of this study Several principles of application that I trust have been encouraging to you as. As you are disciples of Christ, following him There are too many to rehearse. today as I've done last Lord's Day, but I'll repeat a couple of These principles are sort of primed to pump. We've learned that. Jesus chose his disciples not because of who they were, but because of who they would become.
Remember? And along the same lines, we learned that Jesus didn't choose disciples because of their spiritual heritage. He chooses them to begin. A spiritual heritage. And perhaps that's you, the first in your family to believe.
Perhaps the only one at this point to believe and follow Christ. It's going to be seen. This particular lesson. Even more clearly, in what little information we've been given of this. Third And final Grouping.
They all are all twelve. For the most part, and certainly this group, what we would call, as G. Campbell Morgan called them in his classic work in 1937. Twelve ordinary men. William Barclay would write 50 years ago These twelve ordinary men were not trained theologians.
They were not wealthy. They had no special position in society. They were unlettered. Unimpressive men Who walked closely with the Lord. And we've taken the analogy from the Mishnah, we've sort of used that expression, they've walked closely enough.
to wear his Dust. By the way, what makes you a good disciple to this day? Is it the fact that you are impressive? but that you are impressionable. You are willing to be taught.
Oswald Chambers Who you may be familiar with wrote that all throughout history, God has chosen and used nobody's. who depended entirely upon him and thus began displaying. His power. And disgrace. These disciples are ordinary run of the mill.
people, but but that's encouraging, isn't it? It should be encouraging to us. Abraham Lincoln once wrote it this way: God must like ordinary people because He made so many of them. It's a good point. But Ordinary was okay with the twelve because they're not the heroes.
Jesus is I think they might be a little embarrassed if they showed up and found out that we'd spend several weeks talking about them. We have much to learn from them as they have blazed the trail. wearing the dust of The master.
So with that, let's go back to Luke's Gospel. Dr. Luke gives us this list in chapter 6. If you're new to our study and We're in the latter part of verse 15 now. And we're given the names of this final grouping.
There at the end of verse 15, we're given the first of this list, and he is the leader of these four. typically appearing first in the list of four. He's simply called James the son of Alpheus. The truth is The only thing we really know about James... This James is the name of his father.
Alpheus. Probably Al for short. That's all we know. He never surfaces in any of the biblical accounts. Ministry of Jesus, there is one little clue.
That appears in Mark's gospel, where he is referred to as James. The less L-E-S-S. James the Less, Micros, is the original word. James the Little. But it's also used to refer to age.
And that's the way the ESV that I'm using translates it: James the Younger. He's younger. Then the other James, the son of thunder, basically, is what he might be saying, or the leader in the church in Jerusalem. Frankly, we don't know. It's more than likely that as these events unfold here.
in order to distinguish This apostle James from James the half-brother of Jesus or James the leading elder. In Jerusalem. They tag them. With Well, you could you could translate. Little James.
So here's, I want you to get this. Here's a man who has been. Called by Christ. Just as much as Peter Just as significantly as Andrew. John Now, you, Peter and John are going to go on to make a real mark in church history.
They're going to essentially become best-selling authors, right? They're going to be used to Compose. A New Testament scripture. But we know nothing of little James. He never wrote a book in the Bible.
He never preached a sermon quoted in Scripture. He never had a conversation with Jesus that was recorded for us. In the New Testament, he he never held an office in the church in In Jerusalem, he was simply called. And he followed. As a disciple of Jesus Christ.
kind of led me to craft this particular principle of application. Here's another one. Jesus doesn't choose disciples that have the same impact. Or the same ministry chooses disciples to deliver the same. Message.
It'll be wonderful to meet In the father's house one day, James the son of Alpheus. Here is story. Let's move on to the next Individual in the list, he's another disciple that also has to be distinguished. Because he has the same name as another of the twelve. Luke mentions him next here in verse 6, or chapter 6, at the end of verse 15.
Simon. The zealot. Not Simon Peter. The famous one, but Simon the Zealot Again, we're not given one conversation. Or one insight from this Man.
He he is as Obscure as Simon Peter is famous. Simon The zealot is never mentioned outside any of the four lists that were given in the New Testament. But Luke adds this tagline To his name, that really speaks volumes, that helps us understand. Uh quite a bit about him. It connects Simon to a group of nationalists.
Uh Jews who hated Rome and were willing to put their life on the line because of their hatred. They were known as zealots, they were willing to shed blood. If necessary, that this particular group Of called Zealots were organized about twenty years before. The ministry of the Lord. They were organized around the time Jesus was 10 years of age.
And it all started with taxation. It all had to do With money. And frankly, the Jewish people were tired of it. They hated Rome. And they really hated Giving some of their hard-earned income to Rome in the form of taxes.
You could, just with that little bit that we understand, you could write into the margin of your Bibles next to Simon the Zealot's name, another expression: Simon the Outlaw.
Well, in fact, one author wrote: He wasn't a safe man. to make an apostle of. He would have easily made the Roman government suspicious of Jesus. and his followers. Doesn't seem that Jesus was really helping himself out very much.
By choosing a zealot. As one of his Followers. But all that aside, forget the Roman government for a while and what the zealots meant to them. I mean, what's this going to mean for the 12 disciples? How do you put Simon the Zealot and Matthew the turncoat in the same Bible study?
I mean, you've got this red-hot patriotic Jew camping out, serving side by side with a Jewish traitor. You've got a tax hater. Serving with a tax gatherer. These men They arrive, all of them really, just like we arrived. We arrive.
and become disciples of Jesus with all our prejudices and all our You know, all our presuppositions. All our preferences, we, like them, have a lot to unlearn as much as learn. And I think it's interesting that what Jesus does is he puts them together.
Now they're eating their meals together. They're praying together. They're learning the message that they're going to deliver together. And that becomes more important. Than anything else.
They One author wrote, This union of opposites. was really prophetic. These twelve Very different men paint a picture of the future church. in miniature. To get along.
Not because they're naturally going to be drawn to each other. Not because they're naturally going to love each other. But because they love The master. And he teaches them to love. one another.
Let me put it in principle form. The differences between the disciples was, or were not, distractions. But Declarations. of unity. in the body of Christ.
The Lord uses this man's rugged personality. Church history informs us that Simon the Zealot. Will go on to pioneer the ministry of the gospel. He will take it. north to the rugged Island landscape of what we now call Great Britain.
He will eventually be martyred. Crucified Buried in an unmarked grave somewhere. on the British Isles. The next disciple, again, we're going to move quickly because we're going to get through all of them. Is going to be quickly distinguished as well from the other disciple, again, with the same name.
Uh It's as if back then they had a really little book on 200 of the favorite names. It must have been about 20, because they're all kind of named the same thing. Luke mentions him at the beginning of verse 16 as Judas. Then he adds the son of James. As if to say, oh, not the other Judas.
Oh, I mean, you don't want to mistake him for that one.
So, this is Judas, the son of. James. That Judas, by the way, even though nobody's named their son Judas since this day, I've never met one. But it's actually a wonderful name. It's probably a counterpart of Judah.
In the Old Testament, it means Jehovah leads. Of course, after the betrayal of Of Judas Iscariot, this particular Judas will prefer to go by one of his two. Uh nicknames. He's referred to, in fact, by early church leaders as the three named apostle. Judas Thaddeus Lebaeus.
Sounds like commencement, doesn't it? It's very official sounding. Matthew and Mark's gospel refer to him as Thaddeus. It means beloved.
Some manuscripts use the name Lebaeus. In Matthew 10 and verse 5, and that comes from the Hebrew word, root word that. Could be translated literally heart child. These nicknames are deserving. It's apparent that this obscure disciple was nicknamed these.
Th these tender nicknames because of his sweet. And kind, no doubt gracious. A disposition. Spirit. He's a man known for his heartfelt devotion.
He would have been known by others that way, and that's why they tag him. Like this. Beyond the These Names, we know very little. Fortunately, there is one conversation that includes this. Individual from this final four.
It's in John's Gospel where John is recording that moment where the Lord is telling his disciples that. He will not manifest himself to the world. Like he is manifesting himself. to them. And tenderhearted Judas Thaddeus Lebaeus.
speaks up and he asks the Lord a question. John writes, Judas, and then John adds this parenthesis, again, not Iscariot. And parenthesis, not that guy. said to him, Lord How is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered, if Anyone loves me, he will keep my word and My father will love him and he will come.
Come to him and We'll make our home with him. In other words, his heart seems to be troubled, seems to be broken over the fact that. The rest of the world isn't going to have the benefit of seeing Jesus like he's seen Jesus. This reveals a tender-hearted humility. It's almost as if he can't believe that Jesus is going to reveal himself to this ragtag team.
Not others. And with that question and the answer from Jesus, it basically says, I'm not going to have some external. Revelation to the whole world, but I'm going to win them one heart at a time.
So You can rest your heart with that sort of answer from the Lord. Judas Thaddeus Lebaeus disappears from From Scripture. We have no record of. Any accomplishment, we have no definitive record of churches he planted or ministries he launched. for the gospel.
All we have is an early church tradition that this Tender-hearted disciple traveled to modern-day Turkey and was eventually. Clubbed. to death. What we do know. John records for us.
in his revelation is that This disciple's name has already been carved into the gemstone foundation. of the Father's house. Right along with all the others. Revelation 21. 14.
And that leads me to make one quick principle here as it relates to obscure disciples, like this one. Your service for Christ doesn't have to be recognized on earth in order to be rewarded. In heaven. The writer of the book of Hebrews. who ironically has never been conclusively identified either.
He writes it this way: for God is not unrighteous to forget your work. And the love you have shown for his name. Hebrews 6, the first part of verse 10. That verb for forget, God is not unrighteous to forget, means to overlook, to pass over, to pass away from, or to ignore. In other words, no matter how great or small your service.
For the Lord, no matter how applauded you are, or maybe ignored you are, and much of what is done for Christ is not applauded. In fact, much of it is never seen, it's just not public. It is not Passed over. In heaven, though it is passed over on earth. The master sees.
He misses nothing.
Now finally, the last disciple to make an appearance. In this list, Luke writes here at the end of verse 16. Judas Iscariot. who became A traitor.
Some believe that this word Iscariot is a derivative. of the Latin Sicarious Which means dagger man. or assassin The curved Sika The dagger was concealed in the robes. And it was the practice of some of the zealots who were known. to use that Sika and assassinate.
both Romans and disloyal Jews. That's an intriguing description. But I don't think it's true. More than likely, especially since this is in the generative case, this is a reference to. carry off.
a region in northern Judea from which he came. In fact, John chapter 6 and verse 71 refers to his father. Also as Simon Iscariot. Simon of Kerioth. I mean, you picture Judas as that kind of disciple.
There's one little boy referred to him in Sunday school as Judas the scariest. It's a good one. Good at this. But the record of Scripture doesn't bear that out, does it? If you go to it rather open-mindedly, Without what you already know.
Of how he turns out, the scripture doesn't bear that out. He's so trusted by the disciples, they put him in charge of their bank account. He's He's a man of integrity. He's... outwardly trustworthy.
He he Volunteered to serve. He volunteered to follow Jesus, called like the others. Sacrificing. I mean, he would be, up until that moment when he reveals himself to most of us, I mean, this is your. This is your leader.
This is somebody you trust. This is your your Sunday school teacher, your committee member. He's involved. He wasn't Scary. We're strange.
He's in the thick of ministry. In fact, I'll give you one illustration. In the upper room, when Jesus announces that one of them is going to betray him, nobody looked at Judas and said, I knew it. I knew it was you. It's those beady eyes have been watching you.
I knew it was you. No. Nobody looked at Judas. They all said what? Lord, is it I?
Yeah, am I the one? In fact, Judas in that upper room is sitting next to him. They're dipping their food in the same bowl. He's not hiding in a corner. Which leads me to make the principle of application that I believe would be more correct.
And it's this it's possible to identify with Jesus. and not believe in them.
Somewhere along the line, Judas realized that Jesus wasn't going to come through. He wasn't going to overthrow Rome. The supremacy of Israel wasn't going to be realized.
Somewhere along the line he decided To betray the Lord. Isn't that a terrifying thought? He has heard the greatest preacher ever preach. He's heard the greatest teacher ever teach. He's watched.
God the Son performed The most amazing miracles, whether it's walking on water or raising... The dead Command the demonic world. I mean, how do you miss it? For the same reason. People miss it today.
In principle form, here it is. It's possible to be exposed to the light. and still want. The darkness. Judas will betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.
The price of a first century disabled. Slave. And with that, the list ends. in Luke's Gospel. If you pick it up in Acts The early or the later part of chapter 1, we know that the disciples convene and They know that The Lord has promised 12 thrones.
And so they, after prayer, Identify another disciple who had followed Jesus, who had seen him resurrected. Those were the two qualifications for the office of apostle. That's why we know there are no apostles today, even though men may call themselves that. And so they Selected Matthias Once again, we're We're back to someone So ordinary. being added to the original twelve.
That it might not be any surprise to you to know that we know absolutely Nothing. about Matthias. Yeah. Yeah. I read of an event that occurred many years ago where an accomplished violinist decided to experiment with his audience.
It was advertised, he'd be in concert. Playing on a rare Strativarius. worth at that time When I read this account, Right at $200,000 now The average is about 2 million. The concert hall was packed and The violinist took his place, played, it was beautiful, it was magnificent, and halfway through his itinerary. He finished a piece of music and suddenly to the shock of his audience he He snapped the neck of that violin.
and walked off stage. Of course, the audience was horrified. A moment later, the conductor addressed the crowd and said the maestro was not playing on an expensive and rare violin. There was a violin he bought at a pawn shop. this past week.
for twenty dollars. And he will now return and finish his concert on A strativarians. When he returned and played Very few people even begin to tell. The difference. reminded me of the fact that you and I are $20 violins.
But we're in the hand of the Maestro, right? And may He play the beautiful music of the gospel in and through our lives as the storyline continues. of the making of disciple. That was Stephen Davey, and this is Wisdom for the Heart, a production of Wisdom International. Learn more at wisdomonline dot org.
