People of the Bible: Disciples Part 4: Judas, James the Younger, Jude/Thaddeus

Jesus chose 12 men to be his first disciples. They were normal people, with normal jobs, but God had a special plan for them. Jesus taught the disciples many things while on Earth. Let’s look into James the Younger, Jude/Thaddeus, and Judas Iscariot today.

The Call: Matthew 10:2-4- 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him

James the Younger:

James the Younger is a disciple that the Bible does not talk about much. Because of this, there is a lot of ambiguity about him. He is certainly a different person from James the brother of John who was in Jesus’s inner circle. Some believe that he was the brother of the disciple Matthew, but more believe that he was actually a brother of Jesus himself.

The Bible tells us that Jesus’s brothers had a hard time believing he was the Messiah. They even mocked him at times. But after the crucifixion, it became clear to James and others that Jesus was truly the son of God. Most believe James went on to pastor the church of Jerusalem and become a main pillar in the 1st-century church along with Peter and Paul. The New Testament book of James is often attributed to him.

Jude/Thaddeus:

Like James the Younger, the Bible says little about the disciple Jude. Some believe he was given the nickname Thaddeus so people would not confuse him with Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Jesus. Because there is not much strong evidence as to who exactly Jude was there is a lot of speculation around him.

Some believe he was a son of James, others believe he was a brother of James, and others believe he was another one of Jesus’s brothers. If he was one of Jesus’s brothers along with James, it is likely that they were both skeptics at first. In hindsight, it is easy to ridicule their lack of belief, but if one of our siblings claimed to be the son of God we’d probably doubt them too.

The book of Jude is attributed to this disciple and many believe after the resurrection he became a firm believer and spread the good news of Jesus to the people around him.

Judas Iscariot:

Judas is by far the most infamous of Jesus’s 12 disciples. Judas was the treasurer of the group of disciples, meaning he took care of the money. Judas would have been responsible for collecting money that the other disciples earned or were given and he would distribute that money accordingly. It is no doubt that Jesus had a close relationship with Judas as they would have talked about ministry needs and how to fulfill them. Judas was one of Jesus’s closest followers, but he betrayed Jesus.

Before they all celebrated the Passover festival, Judas had gone to the chief officials and made an agreement with them to turn Jesus over to them for 30 pieces of silver. After the Last Supper, Judas found the officials and brought them to where Jesus was. Judas told the officials that he would show them who Jesus was by kissing him on the cheek. Once he did, Jesus was taken away and eventually crucified.

Some believe Judas was trying to push Jesus into overthrowing the Roman government by putting him in a corner. But to his surprise, Jesus did not fight back. Judas had read about the Messiah that instituted a new kingdom, and Jesus will do that one day. However, that was not the day, and Jesus was killed.

Jesus knew all along that Judas would betray him. He even called Judas his friend while he was betraying him. You may ask, why would Jesus allow Judas to follow him, and even call him a friend if he knew he would betray him. Well, the same can be said for us, we turn our backs on Jesus all the time, but he loves us anyway. There is a little part of Judas in all of us, but Jesus loves us enough to call us his friend and die for our sins.

Key Takeaways:

• Jesus was doubted & betrayed

• Jesus calls us his friend

• Everyone needs Jesus

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about The Disciples Part 4 this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

People of the Bible: The Disciples Part 3: Philip, Matthew/Levi, Simon the Zealot

Jesus chose 12 men to be his first disciples. They were normal people, with normal jobs, but God had a special plan for them. Jesus taught the disciples many things while on Earth. Last week we studied John, James, and Bartholomew. Click HERE to read about these three disciples. Today, let’s look into Philip, Matthew/Levi, Simon the Zealot.

The Call: Matthew 10:2-4- 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Philip:

Philip was one of Jesus’s earliest followers. When he learned about Jesus, he told his friend Bartholomew about him so he could follow him too. We learn from Philip that it is important to tell the people around us about Jesus so they can experience him too.

There are several conversations between Jesus and Philip recorded in the Bible. Many of these are Jesus testing the disciples’ faith. A couple of these can be found in John 6:1-15 and John 14:5-14.

Besides this initial call and some conversations recorded in the Bible, we do not know much about Philip the disciple. The book of Acts talks about another Philip who is called Philip the evangelist or the deacon. Most people believe these are two separate people that often get confused for each other. What we do know is that Philip followed Jesus with the rest of the disciples for about 3 years and continued to spread the gospel after Jesus’s resurrection.

Matthew/Levi:

Matthew is another disciple that has multiple names. In some places his name is Matthew and in others his name is Levi. Most believe that Matthew is the author of the gospel of Matthew. This was one of the first written accounts of who Jesus was, and what he did. Some of the other disciples used Matthew’s written account to help spread the good news about Jesus while they were traveling.

Even though Matthew wrote a gospel, the Bible does not have much information about him. However, we do know that Matthew was a tax collector when Jesus called him to be a disciple. As a tax collector, it would have been Matthew’s job to collect taxes for the Roman government. Traditionally, tax collectors were not very well-liked in society. People questioned Jesus because he hung out with tax collectors like Matthew because they thought all tax collectors were evil sinners. Jesus turned the tide by explaining that all people are sinners and in need of a Savior.

Simon the Zealot:

Simon the Zealot is one of the disciples we know the least about. However, his name gives us quite a bit of information. One reason he is called Simon the Zealot is to differentiate him from Simon Peter. But another reason is that he was in fact a zealot. A zealot is someone who is very zealous for a cause. In Simon’s case, most people believe that he was zealous about overthrowing the Roman Empire. The promise of Jesus as Savior and Messiah would have been a welcomed idea since most believed the Messiah would establish his own kingdom (we now know that Jesus will in fact do this one day at his second coming, but many believed it would happen then).

It is important to note that Matthew and Simon the Zealot were quite different. Matthew worked for the Roman government while Simon wanted to overthrow it. This shows us that Jesus calls people from all backgrounds with all kinds of different views. Our differing views should not divide us, but our common belief in Jesus should unite us like it united the disciples.

Key Takeaways:

• Tell people about Jesus

• Jesus loves Sinners

• Jesus’s followers are different

• Everyone Needs Jesus

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about Philip, Matthew/Levi, and Simon the Zealot this Sunday, both in-person and online.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

Disciples Part 2: John, James, Bartholomew/Nathanael

Jesus chose 12 men to be his first disciples. They were normal people, with normal jobs, but God had a special plan for them. Jesus taught the disciples many things while on Earth. Last week we studied Andrew, James and John. Click HERE to read about these three disciples. Today, let’s look into John, James, and Bartholomew.

The Call: Matthew 10:2-4- 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

John:

John was another fisherman like Andrew and Peter. When John heard of Jesus, he decided to leave his father Zebedee and his job fishing to follow Jesus full-time. John along with Peter and his brother James was in Jesus’s inner circle. John witnessed many miracles and healing from Jesus as a part of being in this circle. John had a special relationship with Jesus. The Bible refers to John as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. This is not to say that Jesus did not love the other disciples, but he was extra close to John.

After Jesus ascended to heaven, he put the responsibility of ministry in his disciples’s hands. John himself had many disciples and led many people to Jesus. The fruits of his ministry have lasted long after his death because much of what he wrote is in the Bible. John wrote the gospel of John, the letters 1, 2, 3 John, and the book of Revelation.

An interesting fact about John is that he is thought to be the only disciple to die a natural death. The rest of the disciples were killed because of their faith in Jesus. John did suffer persecution though. People tried to kill him by dropping him in a pot of boiling oil but he was unharmed. He was eventually exiled to the island of Patmos where he grew old.

James:

James was the third and final person that belonged to Jesus’s inner circle. He and his brother John were nicknamed “the sons of thunder” for their zealous attitudes. This name is believed to come specifically from an event recorded in Luke 9:52-56 where James and John ask Jesus if they want them to call fire down from heaven. The brothers also asked Jesus if they could sit at his right and left hand in the kingdom of heaven, but Jesus only promised them that they would share in his suffering.

Even though James was in Jesus’s inner circle, his faith remained fairly weak until after the resurrection. Once James saw the resurrected Jesus, he fully believed that he was the son of God and this is evident by the way he spent the rest of his life. However, his faith in Jesus led to him being killed by King Herod (he was one of the first disciples to be martyred). We learn that following Jesus can be hard and we may suffer persecution but there are eternal rewards for his followers in heaven.

Bartholomew/Nathanael:

The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) call him Bartholomew, the gospel of John calls him Nathanael, but they are more than likely referring to the same person. It was normal in biblical times for people to go by more than one name.

Another disciple (Philip), told Bartholomew about Jesus. At first, Bartholomew was skeptical about Jesus being the Messiah but very soon he declared that Jesus was the son of God. This is recorded in John 1:45-49.

Besides this early account, we do not know much about Bartholomew. After Jesus’s resurrection, it is thought that he helped spread the gospel and eventually die a martyr’s death.

Key Takeaways:

• We are called to be disciples of Jesus

• Have Big Faith

• Jesus is the son of God

• Everyone Needs Jesus

Parents, 3treesKIDS will also be learning about John, James, and Bartholomew/ Nathanael this Sunday, both in-person and online. Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.