No 10

(James, Simon, Judas (Not Iscariot)

So far in our brief studies of the Disciples we have seen 2 groups of four, we will now look at the last group that comprises James, Simon, Judas (not Iscariot) and Judas Iscariot; we will look at Judas Iscariot in another study. This group is the one for which we know very little, except Judas Iscariot, because the Bible hardly speaks about them.

James: In Luke 6:14 – 16, the Bible tells us that James was the son Alphaeus (v15); that is all we know about him – his name. Oh undoubtedly, he played a role in the spreading of the Gospel but otherwise, he is totally obscure. In Mark 15:40, he is referred to as James the Less, no doubt in comparison to James the brother of John and son of Zebedee.

Simon: He is called Simon the zealot in Luke 6:15; in the gospels of Matthew (10:4) and in Mark (3:18), he is called Simon the Canaanite; this has no reference to Canaan or the village of Cana. The Zealots were a political party whose goal was to overthrow the Roman occupation. They assassinated Roman soldiers believing that only God can rule over the Jewish nation and hoped that a Messiah would come and restore the kingdom to Israel.

Judas: When John listed the Disciples’ names, he called Judas, not Iscariot because of the treachery of Judas Iscariot towards Jesus. In Matthew 10:3, he is called Lebbaeus whose surname is Thaddaeus; James was the name he was given at birth and Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus were nicknames. Thaddaeus means breast child and it almost has a sarcastic sound momma’s boy; Lebbeaus means heart child. Both names suggest that he had a tender, childlike heart. The Bible records only one instance where he spoke and this was in the Upper Room – he said to Jesus “How is it that you will manifest Yourself to us and not to the world?” John 14:22

All the Disciples were hand-picked by Jesus Christ Himself so even if the Bible does not say too much about these three particular ones, you can be sure that they accomplished what Jesus had planned for them.