What Jesus Sees In You

WHAT JESUS SEES IN YOU

Mark 3:18

(Antioch Baptist Church: Sunday morning, January 5th, 2024)

I want to talk to you today about a man that you probably know nothing about. In fact, I don’t know much about him myself. He is a part of a group more famous than the Beatles, but you may have never even heard his name. He did great things, but there is no detailed record of them. He helped change many lives but I can’t tell you exactly how. His name is Thaddeus and He was one of our Lord’s 12 Disciples.

Certain people and organizations are more “well known” than others, some would even be described as being famous. We have all heard of churches such as Shadow Mountain, Bellevue, First Baptist Atlanta, Grace Community, and others. We know the names of pastors such as Rogers, Stanley, Jeremiah, Macarthur, and Sproul. But what about Bro. Smith at 2nd Baptist Littletown who has been faithfully shepherding the same 40 people for the last 20 years? What about Bro. Johnson that went through Seminary and has been struggling to pay his student loans for years while pastoring a congregation of 55 and working a full-time job? Are brothers Smith & Johnson unsuccessful because they do not pastor what many would describe as a “large thriving church”. I submit to you that if they are where God has placed them, doing what God has called them to do then they are successful in God’s eyes.

One may be the owner of a multimillion-dollar corporation and be unsuccessful in God’s eyes; at the same time the janitor of that company and be right where God wants him to be. Our society is consumed with superficial measures of success; but if you look to the Word of God you will find that God does not measure success the way that man does. The people of this world may look at you as being a failure, they may consider you to be worthless or “a nobody”. Perhaps you have heard these negative comments for so long that you believe it yourself. If so, let me remind you that you are a child of God and you are special; you are greatly blessed and highly favored.

I want to examine a brief biography of this man named Thaddeus and his relationship with Jesus. In the process I pray that you will understand “What Jesus Sees In You”.

- The first thing I would like for you to understand is that:

I. PEOPLE MAY NOT KNOW YOUR NAME, BUT JESUS DOES

Thaddeus was referred to by several different names in scripture. He is called “Thaddeus” here in Mark 3:18, he is called "Lebbaeus" in Matthew 10:3, he is called “Judas brother of James” in Luke 6:16, and he is called “Judas, Not Iscariot” in John 14:22,

Oddly enough, in these references I have told you almost everything the Bible has to say about this man. As you read your New Testament you will not hear Thaddeus preach a powerful sermon. You will not see him healing someone who was sick. You will not read that he ever cast out a demon. However, I am convinced that he did all of these things. I believe this because of what is recorded in Mark 6:7-13; there we are told that:

“Jesus called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits…... So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.

Thaddeus may not have been as prominent as Peter, James, John or even an Andrew; he may not have penned a gospel or written an epistle, but the fact is that Jesus did not want him to be Peter, James, John or Andrew; Jesus wanted him to be just who he was, Thaddeus!

You may look at other preachers, teachers, singers, etc. and desire to be like them; you may long for the opportunities they have enjoyed, you may desire the talents that they have been given, you may envy the success that they have experienced. But the fact is you are not them! God has another plan for you and it is a far better plan, because it is God's plan not yours.

The world may not know your name. You may never see your name in lights or go down in the history books, but you are special in God’s eyes. Jesus knows your name and that is worth more than any notoriety you can receive from man.

- I would like to move a little further and examine the fact that:

II. PEOPLE MAY NOT REALIZE YOUR WORTH, BUT JESUS DOES