EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/4/2026
10:07 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“Judas the
son of James”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
6:16a)
Message of the verse: “Judas the son of James”
John MacArthur writes:
“While several of the apostles had two names, this Judas may have
had three. Luke gave his formal name, Judas
the son of James, while Matthew called him Thaddeus (Matt. 10:3) and,
according to some less reliable Greek manuscripts, also gave him the name
Lebbaeus. Both Thaddeus and Lebbaeus are
nicknames; Thaddeus literally means, ‘breast child,’ while Lebbaeus means ‘heart
child.’ Both could be rendered by the
contemporary term ‘momma’s boy.’ Those nicknames
may indicate that Judas was the youngest child in his family.
“Like the other apostles in this
final group, little is known about Judas.
Apart from the lists of the apostles, he made only one appearance in the
New Testament. The scene was the upper
room on the night of the Lord’s betrayal, during His farewell discourse to the
apostles. In John 14:21 Jesus told them
that He would reveal Himself to those whose obedience proved the genuineness of
their love for Him.
“The disciples were puzzled by that
statement. They expected Jesus to establish
His earthly kingdom, a belief they still clung to even after His death and
resurrection (Acts 1:6). After all,
Jesus was the Savior of the world (John 4:42), the rightful heir of all things
(Heb. 1:2), and the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16). The good news of forgiveness and salvation
through His death and resurrection was to be proclaimed to the ends of the
earth (Matt. 28:19-20).
“Judas asked the question that was
undoubtedly on the minds of the rest of the apostles: “Lord, what then has happened that You are
going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world? (John 14:22). The Lord’s answer emphasized that His kingdom
was not an external, political one (though He will one day reign over His
earthly, millennial kingdom), but a spiritual one in the hearts of those who
love and obey 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.’ (v. 23).
“Judas spent the rest of his life
extending the kingdom by preaching the truth of the gospel. Accordingly to tradition, he may have
preached in such places as Samaria, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Libya. By some accounts Judas, the gentle,
compassionate ‘Momma’s boy,’ suffered martyrdom with the fiery, passionate,
former Zealot Simon.”
Lord willing I will begin to look at
the very last apostle, Judas Iscariot, the traitor, and John MacArthur takes an
entire chapter looking at this man, and by the way it is a fairly long chapter.
7/4/2026
10:36 PM
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