The Twelve, Part 4

We are looking at the group that was unknown. First there was Bartholomew or Nathaniel. He was a dreamer. One little window in scripture says that when he came to Jesus that Jesus said to him that He saw him sitting under a tree thinking about something. He was a big time thinker. Then there was James, the son of Alphaeus. Another word for him is James the less. This James is not mentioned on any other list in scripture other than on the list of disciples. His name means the little and small in statue. He was one of the youngest ones. Peter was one of the oldest one in the bunch and he was in his late thirties and the rest of the disciples were somewhat in their late teens and early twenties. They were young men. If you are a teacher and you are going to select students, then many times you are going to go for the age that believes all things are possible. Sometimes as you become an adult, passion, faith and vision gets put in the deep freeze. Jesus chooses those that may think that the world could be changed. Then there was Simon, the zealot. He was zealot and he was so passionate about Israel. He was a patriot and a freedom fighter and a nationalist. He was ready to fight and defend Israel at all costs. It is interesting that Jesus put him in the group with Matthew because Matthew worked for Rome and if they had lunch together they would probably beat each other up, but Jesus put them together.

Then there was a young man by the name of Thaddeus or Judas. This was the son of James not Judas Iscariot who would later betray Him. His name means breast child or momma’s boy. He was little and he was known as the quiet disciple and he never said much at all. It tells us that Jesus called them by their name and He wanted them to be with him even though they were a diverse group. Why does He want to put this company of the unknown with these other disciples? Jesus always sees the potential of everybody. No man needs to think that He has nothing to offer Jesus. Even those that have low profiles and are not big talkers and even those that do not share the limelight or center stage have something to contribute to Jesus. When a tiny snowflake falls from the sky it looks so fragile by itself but when it is combined with the billions of snowflakes -- it can halt a city, shut down air ports and stop traffic. These disciples, grouped together, were able to change the world and here we are thousands of years later doing a profile on them.

Jesus called them into relationship with him. He does not draft them, he does not beg them, he does not bribe them to come and follow but He selected them. He did not force them or ask them to volunteer because that is not the world Jesus lived in. He chose them and He is still choosing people today to do the same thing. In Matthew 28:11, Jesus says he wants us to go now and make disciples and that process of making disciples is still gong on. A Christian is someone who has accepted Christ as their savior and then has a life long journey of learning who Christ is and learning to follow Jesus and be a disciple. We follow Him until the day that we see Him face to face. That is what it means to be a disciple. It means to follow Christ until we see Him face to face.