Sermon Tone Analysis
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The final group of four apostles is the least known to us except for Judas Iscariot.
This group seems to have been less intimate with Christ than the others because the gospel is virtually silent about them.
What the gospel does say was “that they were appointed to be apostles”.
Apostles we know are men who gave up everything to follow Jesus.
Peter spoke for them all when he said "See, we have left ALL to follow you" (Luke 18:28).
Paul tells us they left houses, jobs, lands, family, and friends.
The Gospels note the apostle’s weaknesses and strengths.
· We’re told about their doubt, disbelief, and confusion.
· We’re told they thought more highly of themselves than they ought to have.
· We’re told when they spoke up when they should've kept their mouths shut.
· Were told when they exhibit more confidence in their own ability and their own strength and they should.
So in all honesty were told a lot more about their shortcomings and their weaknesses than their strengths.
The gospel does not portray them as heroes.
However they become heroes in the pages of Acts after Jesus returned to Heaven and sent his Holy Spirit to empower them.
The one thing that sets these men apart from the others who called themselves disciples is their durability of faith.
You remember when we looked at Johns 6 following the feeding of the 5000; Jesus gave them a hard message.
· He told them that he was God,
· Then he told them that they would have to eat his flash and drink his blood to have eternal life.
Scripture tells us that many left him that day.
His sayings were too hard for them and this demand was too incomprehensible.
But the 12 remained.
When Jesus asked them if they wanted to leave also, Peter spoke up and said, “Where will we go?”
These 12 were going to stay with him no matter what.
James the son of Alphaeus
The ninth name in Luke's list of the apostles is James the son of Alphaeus.
The only thing Scripture tells us about this man is his name.
Now there were several men with the name James in the New Testament.
· James the son of Zebedee,
· James the son of Mary and Joseph, which would make him Jesus' half-brother.
He eventually became the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
And he is the same James who wrote the New Testament epistle of James.
· But James the gospel writer is not the same man is James the apostle.
In Mark 15:40 we learn that James the son of Alphaeus had a mother named Mary, who was a devout follower of Jesus as well.
She was an eyewitness to the crucifixion, and one of the women who came to prepare Jesus' body for burial on Easter morning.
Aside from those details, the only other thing we know about James is that he is nicknamed "James the less".
Now the Greek word for less is /mikros/.
This literally means "little".
· This can be small in stature, as in a small framed or short man,
· Or it could speak of someone who is younger in age.
James the son of Alphaeus may have been younger than James the son of Zebedee.
· More likely “little” might refer to his sphere of influence.
We know that James the son of Zebedee was an important man, he was known to the high priest, he was in Jesus inner circle.
Therefore he was better known of the two Jameses.
So possibly, to tell the difference between the two,
There would be James the son of Zebedee and /little/ James the son of Alphaeus.
We do that today, when fathers & sons have the same name.
Interestingly enough early church history doesn't say much about this man.
Legends often confuse him with James the brother of Jesus.
There is some evidence that suggests James the less took the gospel to Syria and Persia.
Even accounts of his death vary.
Some say he was stoned; the others say he was beaten to death; and others say he was crucified.
But I’m not through yet, there is some speculation about his parentage.
You'll remember that when we looked at Matthew, Matthew was also called “Levi the son of Alphaeus”.
That would mean that there's a distinct possibility that Matthew and James were brothers.
You will remember that there were 2 other sets of brothers among the 12.
Or another interesting possibility comes in the lineage of James’ mother.
I’ve already mentioned that his mother was among the women at the cross.
According to John, the three women present and were Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the wife of Clopas.
This woman is said by John (19:25) to be the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus.
If that is the case, James less would be Jesus’ first cousin.
There is no record of how James the less died.
Tradition tells us that all the apostles except John died as martyrs.
Simon the Zealot
Simon the Zealot is also called Simon the Canaanite.
This is not a reference to his hometown or the village of Cana.
It comes from a Hebrew word /quanna/ which means “to be zealous”.
Simon was at one time a member of this political party.
His name also suggests that he had a fiery, zealous temperament.
However, in Jesus day this title signified a widely feared, outlaw, political sect.
Rabbit trail: there were 4 basic political parties among the Jews at the time Jesus walked the earth.
1.
Pharisees were fastidious about the law.
They were religious fundamentalists.
2.
Sadducees were religious liberals.
They denied the supernatural~/resurrection.
They were also rich, were aristocratic, and powerful.
They ruled the temple.
3.
Essenes are not mentioned at all in scripture but church historians describe them as ascetics and celibates who lived in the desert and devoted to their lives to the study of the law.
We get the Dead Sea Scrolls from the Essenes.
4.
zealots
a. Hated the Romans.
b.
Their goal was to overthrow the Roman occupation.
c.
They advance their agenda primarily through terrorism and asked of violence.
d. Extremists in every sense.
e. Like the Pharisees they interpreted the law literally.
f.
They believed only god himself had the right to rule over the Jews.
And therefore believed that they were doing God's work by assassinating Roman soldiers, political leaders, and anyone else who oppose them.
Sounds a little like what's going on in Iraq today.
The zealots would have been waging a holy war for Judaism.
g.
The Zealots were hoping for a messiah who would
lead them into overthrowing the Romans and
restoring the kingdom of Israel to the glory it had
in Solomon’s day.
h.
They were red hot Patriots willing to die, in an
instant for what they believed in.
i. Zealots were convinced that paying tribute to a
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