More of the Names of the Twelve Apostles Matthew 10:3

Matthew the apostle shared how Jesus, “said he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray you therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.” Matthew continued, “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;”, and in chapter ten and verse three of his book, Matthew shared more of the names of the, “twelve apostles” where we read:

Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican;

James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;

The verse reads, “Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican;” Matthew began with the name, “Phillip” or “lover of horses”, “and Bartholomew” which means “son of Tolmai”; “Thomas” or “a twin”, “and Matthew” which refers to “the son of Alphaeus whose name means gift of Jehovah” “the publican” or “the renter or farmer of taxes who collected taxes or tolls and was employed by a publican or farmer general in the collection of taxes”. Matthew continued the list of men who were “sent out” by Jesus with His gospel of the Kingdom.

The verse continues, “James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;” Matthew added the word, “James” which means “supplanter” and was “the son of Alphaeus and was called the less” “of Alphaeus” which means “who was the father of James the less and whose name means changing”, “and Lebbaeus” which means “a man of heart” and was “one name of Jude who was one of the twelve”, “whose surname” or “whose hereditary name which was common to all member of his family” “was Thaddaeus” which means “large hearted and courageous”. Matthew listed “James the less” and “Labbaeus” whose family name, “Thaddaeus”, meant “courageous”.

When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see more of this select group of men who were chosen by Jesus to share His “good news” to others. Each of these men were mostly ordinary men who were commissioned by Jesus with the greatest message the world shall ever know. God desires to have a relationship with every person who will “trust in, rely upon and cling to” His Son Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord”, and when they do, He shall commission them also, no matter where they come from in life, to share His word with others. May all who read these words yield.

Next time Matthew shares the last two, “names of the twelve apostles”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.