SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/26/2021 9:59 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Thaddaeus
(Judas the son of James)”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
10:3c
Message of the
verse: “James
the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;”
Thaddaeus is the second apostle
named listed in the third group, and based on less reliable Greek manuscripts,
the Authorized text reads, “Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus.” Then from Luke 6:16 and also Acts 1:13 we
learn that he was also called Judas the son of James. I suppose that it is likely that Judas was
his original name and that Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus were descriptive names, kind
of like nicknames that may have been added by family or friends.
John MacArthur describes Thaddaeus’
name: “Thaddaeus comes from the Hebrew
word shad, which refers to a female
breast. The name means ‘breast child’
and was probably a common colloquialism for the youngest child in the family,
the permanent ‘baby’ of the family who was the last to be nursed by his mother.”
He then goes on to explain more
about the name “Lebbaeus” which as mentioned is from the KJV. “Although the name Lebbaeus is not found in
what are considered the superior Greek manuscripts, and is therefore not in
most modern translations, it may well have been one of this apostle’s names. It is based on the Hebrew leb (‘heart’) and means ‘heart child,’
which suggests he was known for his generosity, love, and courage.”
Let
us take a look at the only time that Thaddaeus speaks in the Scriptures and it
is from John 14:21-22 which happens on the night before our Lord was to go to
the cross to pay for our sins. “21
"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he
who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose
Myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to
Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself
to us and not to the world?’” The
highlighted portion comes from Thaddaeus, although we see the name “Judas” but
then we see it is not the Judas who would betray Jesus.
It
looks like that Thaddaeus was only thinking of outward, visible disclosure, and
so he wondered how Jesus could manifest Himself to those who love Him without
also manifesting Himself to everyone else.
It was typical of most Jews of that day, and so he was looking for
Christ to establish and earthly kingdom.
How, he wondered, could the Messiah sit on the throne of David and rule
the entire earth without manifesting Himself to His subjects? It could have been that Thaddaeus may have
also wondered why Jesus would disclose Himself to a small group of
insignificant men and not to the great religious leaders in Jerusalem, and also
the powerful political leaders in Rome.
We
see no rebuke from Jesus, for after all I think that it is fair to say that
what Thaddaeus said was something that all of the other disciples believed,
including Judas and that is why he betrayed Jesus because of his great disappointment
in understanding that Jesus would not take out the Romans and then rule on
David’s throne from Jerusalem. If he
could not have what he wanted he decided to betray Jesus. As mentioned Jesus did not rebuke him and
this gave Him opportunity to say the following in verses 23-24 “23 Jesus
answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and
My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24
“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is
not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”
MacArthur adds “Christ was not at that time establishing His earthly
kingdom, and the disclosure He was then making was of His divinity and
authority as spiritual Lord and Savior.
That disclosure can only be recognized by those who trust and love Him,
and the genuineness of such trust and love is evidenced by obedience to His
Word. Manifestation is limited to reception.”
An
example of what MacArthur said could be that of a radio or TV broadcast as it
can have a great range, actually reaching the entire globe by the use of satellites. However the programs that they have can only
be “disclosed” to those who have proper receivers. So the rest of the world has no awareness of
the broadcast, although its electronic waves completely surround them.
Henry
David Thoreau at one time said “It takes two people to speak the truth, the one
who says it and the one who hears it.” The ones who do not want to listen to
the truth of the Gospel cannot hear it no matter how clearly it is spoken to
them, but the fact remains that it is still the truth. We as believers know that Jesus Christ is God
incarnate, and yet “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him,
and the world did not know Him. He came
to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him” (John
1:10-11). We know from reading the
gospels that there were thousands upon thousands, who listened to Jesus, and
the greatest majority of them were Jews, and yet only a few had more than
passing interest in who He really was or in what He had to say. Why? “In
whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so
that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is
the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4).
Let us look quickly at another example. If someone took a page out of a hymnal and through it down onto a sidewalk (Don’t think about littering here), and different people came and looked at it, or perhaps a dog would sniff it, a bum may though it was valuable, or other people may look at it and do nothing with it. However if a believer saw it and picked it up there heart would be blessed because of the words on that page. “The content would have been the same for all those who came in contact with it, but its meaning and value could only be understood by a person receptive to its godly truth. Only those whose hearts are purified by love and who walk in obedience to God’s Word can perceive Christ’s truth, beauty, and glory. Thaddaeus was such a person.”
MacArthur
concludes “Tradition holds that Thaddaeus was specially blessed with the gift
of healing and thorough him the Lord healed many hundreds of people in
Syria. He is said to have healed the
king of that country and won him to the Lord.
The supposed conversion threw the land into such turmoil that the king’s
unbelieving nephew had Thaddaeus bludgeoned to death with a club, which became
the symbol of that apostle.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I suppose that in some ways and perhaps many
ways I am like the apostles before Jesus was resurrected from the grave, and that
is that I too have thoughts about how Jesus answers some of my prayers. I have a perceived notion of how He will
answer my prayer on a certain thing that I am praying about and then I don’t
understand when He does not answer it the way I want it answered. I must trust the Lord to answer my prayers
the way that He desires them to be answered in order to bring Him glory. An example of this could be what is happening
in Afghanistan at this time as I certainly don’t know why the Lord allowed this
but I must pray for the people there asking God to work out His perfect will
for them as I have to believe that this was all in His plans even though I don’t
know and understand those plans.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: I want to trust the Lord to answer my prayer concerning
the teaching of my Sunday school class this up coming week. May He receive gorly.
8/26/2021 11:09 AM
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