Jesus’ Chosen Crew-Part 3

“And when He was entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him.”  Matthew 8:23

In the last two blogs, eight of Jesus’ disciples were named:  Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Nathaniel, Thomas, and Matthew.  The next four round out Jesus’ chosen crew who were His best friends, confidantes, and those whom He mentored, taught, and challenged as they traveled together for the three plus years that Jesus conducted His ministry in the land of Israel.

James, the son of Alphaeus, is also referred to as James the less, son of Mary (Mark 15:40).  It is believed that his mother Mary and Jesus’ mother Mary were sisters thereby making James a first cousin of Jesus.  In case you were wondering why two sisters would both be named Mary, there is a logical explanation.  Mary is the English translation for the Greek form of both Mariam and Maria.  Scholars believe that Jesus’ mother’s name was actually Mariam, and that she was the younger sister of Maria, who was married to Cleopas (John 19:25) which is the English translation for the Greek form of the Hebrew name Alphaeus.  Differences in translations from Hebrew to Greek to English can be quite confusing at times.  It is also believed that James was called “James the less” because he was younger than James, brother of John, and not to indicate an inferior or less important role in discipleship.  Nothing is recorded in scripture about his work after Jesus ascended back to the Father, however, John 21:25 tells us that Jesus did a lot of things that were not written in scripture, and I would suppose that would include His disciples.  As with some of the other disciples, his last mention is in Acts 1:13 in the Upper Room.

The next disciple was Judas, not Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, but was identified in Luke 6:16 as Judas, the brother of James, most likely James the less.  Thus, there were three sets of brothers in Jesus’ crew.  His full name is Judas Labbaeus Thaddaeus.  In John 14:15-24, Jesus spoke to His disciples telling them that He was going away, but He would send the Holy Spirit to live in them as proof that He was in the Father, that they would be in Him, and that He would be in them.  He also said that those who keep His commandments are those who love Him, and that they are loved by Him and His Father.  These are the ones to whom Jesus will manifest Himself.  Judas L. T. was curious.  He wanted to know how Jesus could manifest Himself to them but not to the world.  Jesus said that those who truly love Him will keep His commandments, and that He and the Father will abide in them.  But to those who don’t love Him, they will not be privileged to have the help and comfort of His Spirit abiding in Them.  This Judas is last mentioned as present in the Upper Room in Acts 1:13, and it is believed that he is the one who wrote the book of Jude.

Simon the Canaanite (Matthew 10:4) also had a nickname, “Simon called Zelotes”.  He belonged to a group of men who were zealots, known for their zeal for the law and their adamant opposition to Roman rule.  Simon was not actually from Canaan, an area which lay in northwestern Israel on the Mediterranean coast.  According to Unger’s Bible Dictionary, the term “Canaanite” as used here was the Greek form of the Aramaic term “qannon” which means “jealous” thus it fits in with his trait of being zealous or jealous for the law.  He was likely a man of high principles and committed to righteousness.  The last mention of him is also in Acts 1:13 as the disciples gathered in the Upper Room.

Last, and I suppose most believers would say “least” because of his betrayal of Jesus is Judas Iscariot.  Unfortunately, he is likely the most well-known of all the disciples, even above Peter or John, because of his wickedness.  It must have really grieved Jesus to know that one of His chosen few would betray Him so why did Jesus choose him?  The most obvious reason is that God’s plan for man’s redemption had to proceed.  In order for this to happen, it was necessary for someone with an evil heart to be in Jesus’ inner circle.  The Jews would require a bona fide witness in order to arrest and prosecute Jesus.  Secondly, Jesus brought Judas into the group of His closest confidants to give him opportunity to repent.  The door of forgiveness was always open for Judas, but he chose not to enter in.  Judas was the treasurer of the group.  His greed got the best of him, and he approached the chief priests offering to deliver Jesus to them for money.  They agreed, and he followed through, later identifying Jesus with a kiss.  Let’s be clear.  God did not make Judas commit such a horrible act of betrayal.  Judas had free will.  He could have repented, and God’s plan would have been accomplished through another.  Judas had given in to the sinful desires of his heart.  He later was remorseful, but instead of asking Jesus for forgiveness, he went out and hung himself.  He threw his life and his eternal life away for 30 pieces of silver.  In Acts 1:23-26, the eleven remaining disciples chose by lot a man named Matthias to be the twelfth disciple.  Nothing else is written about him.

All believers are called to be disciples and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many as we can.  We are to carry on the work of these eleven original disciples.  We are privileged to have the vast opportunities to spread the gospel that they didn’t have, but do we have the zeal that they did?  Are we willing to go the distance?