Twelve
Ordinary Men: The Less, The Zealot and The One with Three Names
Pastor Mathew Magera – 3/18/18 – Sermon 278
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
In the past several weeks we
have seen how Jesus calls just about anyone from any background to be his
disciples. We’ve seen him call a loud leader like Peter, and a determined
evangelist like Andrew. We’ve seen him call a quick tempered James and a love-lacking
John. He called out Philip the skeptic and Nathanael along with his prejudice.
We can’t forget about Matthew the tax collector and Thomas the companion
seeking twin. We’ve seen how most of these men probably knew each other yet all
of them have their own unique distinctions.
The three that we hear about
today appear to be the least intimate with him, though dedicated to the message
he preached. The Gospels, aside from being narratives of Jesus’ passion and
death, are records of how Jesus trained his disciples to be the church in the
time after the resurrection. We assume a lot of teaching went on, though, only
some of the disciples are recorded to have said anything of written value.
The body of Christ has grown
by leaps and bounds over the past 2,000 years and the body is still looking for
leaders like the original twelve. The problem with people stepping up is that
they often feel reluctant to do it. We have reservations about just how
beneficial we are in God's kingdom. We feel unworthy. We don't want to mess
something up. It takes guts to risk failure, embarrassment and rejection. By
stepping up when we feel uneducated, unprepared and unworthy, we risk a lot.
Pastor, I want to help but I'm just not that outgoing and I don't think I can
do it. Pastor, I want to help but my past paints a bad picture and I don't
think I would be well received. Pastor, I want to help but I don't know enough
to be helpful.
If these have ever been your
responses to serving the church in some way, then you can relate to these three
disciples who Jesus saw value in, called them, and empowered them to do what
they may not have thought they could do.
James The Less
The first in our trinity of
disciples today is James the Less. To be honest, this doesn't sound like a real
confident name to have. He sounds more like a pithy outlaw that always gets
caught. Sadly, though, the only thing we know about this James is his name. He
does not have any individual lines in the Gospels. If he ever wrote anything,
it was lost. If he ever said anything worthwhile, it was never recorded. We
observe from him no degree of fame or success. He didn't stand out and he
didn't even have a unique name. James was already a popular name. Jesus already
had a disciple named James and that James was a pretty important guy. There was
also James the brother of Jesus, the one who is said to have written the book
of James in the New Testament.
Mark chapter 15 is where we
find James' nickname of "the less" or "the younger" or
"the smaller". It's really speculation at this point as to why he had
the nickname. He was likely younger than James the brother of John, so his
nickname may have just been in place to distinguish him from the older James.
It could have meant that he was just a shorter guy. It could also represent his
influence on the group, which as we have discovered is not very much at all.
Even other ancient history has trouble identifying him.
James the Less, therefore,
seems to represent those of us who are not very outgoing or maybe more
introverted. You may ask yourselves how someone who is shy, reserved and
introspective can be a useful disciple of Jesus. If you ever feel pressured to
take center stage, to do things you feel less than qualified to do, to move
mountains, be noticeable, popular and outgoing, look to James the Less. Why did
Jesus choose him? We aren't really told, but I'm sure James was told. He
learned from the master. He witnessed miracles. He was empowered by the Holy
Spirit. He may have been called the less, but from Christ's perspective, James
was just who he wanted to help start the Church.
There is only a little
evidence that after Easter James preached up toward Syria and Persia. Similar
scarce evidence says he was martyred either by stoning, beating or crucifixion.
To be martyred, we imagine he must've been a powerful preacher but we never
really saw this quality in him when he was just a student of Jesus.
Simon The
Zealot
Simon the Zealot, like James
the Less, also did not have any individual lines in the Gospels but his title
gives us a little insight into his past. There are four basic parties among the
Jews during the time of Jesus. The Pharisees were the religious
fundamentalists. They were very concerned about the law and seeing to it that
everybody kept it. The Sadducees were the religious liberals of the time. They
did not believe in life after death. They were also quite rich and powerful.
The Essenes are not mentioned in the Bible but they lived out in the desert and
devoted their lives to studying the Law. Lastly, the Zealots were the most
politically minded of the Jewish parties. They hated Romans and their goal was
to overthrow Roman occupation. They were literally terrorists and very violent.
Religious extremists equitable to ISIS. They interpreted the Law literally.
They believed they were doing God's work by assassinating Roman soldiers,
political leaders and anyone else who opposed them. They were waiting for a
Messiah to help them overthrow Rome and they were ready to die for what they
believed in.
In the year 6AD, ancient
history texts say the Zealots led a revolt against a Roman census tax. The
zealots believed that paying tribute to a pagan king was treason against God
and they went on a rampage of murder, plunder and destruction. But, the Romans
crushed these freedom fighters and the zealots began to operate more
selectively and secretively. Their secretive group of assassins known as
dagger-men carried curved daggers allowing them to sneak up behind a soldier, stab
them in the back, between the ribs and puncture the heart. They burned Roman
structures. They even killed fellow Jews who wanted to negotiate with Rome.
Simon was one of these. Can
you just imagine? When Jesus showed that he did not intend to overthrow Rome,
the other disciples probably looked to Simon to be the one who would betray
Jesus. Simon probably also at any given time may have wanted to kill Matthew
because Matthew had been working for Rome. Why would Jesus choose a terrorist?
Simon had fierce loyalties, passion, courage and zeal. He may have once had a
powerful enthusiasm for Israel but now his focus had shifted to Jesus.
Simon represents those of us
who have dirty past. Not just a past that the individual is aware of, but that
many others are aware of too. Simon represents those of us who may want to
serve but feel that this past disqualifies us and others know it and may
believe it too. I would have been scared of Simon if I were one of the other
disciples. But, if I were Simon, I would be scared of them too and unsure as to
why Jesus called me. For Jesus, it seems to be less about what you did in the
past but the qualities that led to your actions and how Christ can mold those
qualities to do good. Even a terrorist can be in Jesus' closest twelve.
Simon may have likely taken
the Gospel north after the resurrection as far as the British Isles. He seems
to disappear but all historical accounts say he was killed for preaching the
Gospel. In the end he, who was once ready to be killed for a political agenda,
had found a more fruitful cause for which to give his life.
Jude Thaddaeus
This last disciple,
Thaddaeus, actually has three names. Thaddaeus was more of a last name.
Labbaeus would've been his first and his other name was Judas or Jude. We can
only identify his characteristics through his name and his one line in the
Gospels. Labbaeus means "heart child" which might tell us he was a
tenderhearted kind of person. Thaddaeus means "breast child" which
may imply that he was a "mamma's boy" or that he was one of the
younger children in his family. Judas means "Jehovah leads" but with
the bad reputation of Judas Iscariot, it's challenging to find any good in that
name.
His only line comes in john
14 after the Last Supper. Jesus says, "he who has my commandments and
keeps them, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my
father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." Thaddaeus wonders
aloud just why Jesus would choose these twelve unqualified people, himself
included to manifest himself to and not to anyone else in the world. He says,
"How is it that you will manifest yourself to us and not to the
world?" It may have been the question on all of their minds too. Why would
Jesus care about this common group of guys, among whom even a betrayer is lurking?
Why? He was the savior of the world, the rightful king, and heir. The good news
was certainly for the world and the disciples knew it well but the rest of the
world was clueless. Why share himself to them and not to the world? Why ask
them to be who carries on the message? He might have been wondering, Jesus, why
aren't you taking over the world?
Jesus' answer is that he is
not going to take over the world externally but rather one heart at a time.
Jesus' answer to Thaddaeus was simply, "I will manifest myself to anyone
who loves me." This became an opportunity now. Jesus was calling the
disciples to bring Jesus to others. Why give them the message? Because now they
can share it with the world. They may not have been qualified to do it but
Jesus equipped them to do it. Thaddaeus and the others must’ve been motivated
by this as we’ve heard of each of them carrying the Gospel in many different
directions. A few years after Pentecost Thaddaeus went up into modern day
Turkey. He is known to have healed a king in that area and there are ancient
texts that talk about this. He was eventually was clubbed to death later for
his faith.
For us Thaddaeus represents
those of us who don't feel qualified. We've got love and compassion but we feel
like we don't have the necessary theology degrees to do the work that Jesus is
calling us to do. Like Thaddaeus, we may ask why God would possibly call us to
be leaders in the church when there are so many other qualified people to do
it. One thing we can remember about God is that he doesn't call those who are
equipped for ministry but rather God equips those whom he calls into ministry.
Thaddaeus seems to be one of those, among many of the other twelve, whom Jesus
equipped.
* * *
In the end, it's difficult
to find much to say about these three disciples because the Bible doesn't offer
up very much information. It really makes us wonder just what kind of people
they really were. Getting even a glimpse into the lives of these twelve
ordinary men makes us ask more questions about why Jesus would call them. This
glimpse also encourages us that even in their faults and weaknesses Jesus still
called them. Furthermore, this glimpse should make us want to invite others
into the love of Jesus too. If he could love a sinner like me, he can certainly
love someone like you. James the Less, Simon the Zealot and Thaddaeus may not
have been the most outspoken, nor had the cleanest past nor been very
qualified, but Jesus was not looking for those things that we would normally
use to qualify someone for the type of work he called them to do. This is just
another way that Jesus seems to pull a reversal on us much like the last will
be first and the first will be last. He didn’t go to the cross for those who
had their I’s dotted and their T’s crossed, he went to the cross for you. Those
who appear the most unqualified in our eyes are the ones Jesus values. He died
for those who are soft spoken. He died for those with sinful pasts and he died
for those who are not qualified to share the Gospel. Forgiveness, grace and
mercy extend to them too as they do also to you. Your introspectiveness, your
past and your qualifications are not what Jesus is looking at. You were created
to be a child of God and in the aftermath of the resurrection, Jesus looks at
you cleansed from sin and doubt and shame. Jesus looks at you as a redeemed
child of God, washed in the blood of the lamb shed on the cross and just
brewing with opportunity. Receive the call, be empowered by the Spirit, and with
renewed confidence go forth and serve. To God be the glory, now and always.
Amen.[1]