Two More Disciples Matthew 10:4

Matthew the apostle shared how Jesus, “said 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; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;”, and in chapter ten and verse four of his book, Matthew shared two final names of the apostles, “Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot” where we read:

Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

The verse reads, “Simon the Canaanite, ...” Matthew began with the word, “Simon” whose name means “a rock or stone” “the Canaanite” which means “zealous” and was “the surname of Simon otherwise known as Simon Zelotes”. Matthew continued his list of Jesus' “apostles” with “Simon Zelotes”.

The verse continues, “... and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” Matthew added the words, “and Judas” which means “he shall be praised” “Iscariot” which means “men of Kerioth”, “who also” which means “which was the apostle who” “betrayed him” or “gave into the hands, gave over power and use or delivered to one something to keep, judge, condemn, punish, scourge, torment and put to death who was Jesus”. Matthew named “Judas Iscariot” last on this list of Jesus' disciples with the title of the one who “betrayed” Him.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see the two final “apostles” mentioned by him. “Simon Zelotes” who was from the land of Cana and was the other “Simon” among the apostles. He also mentioned, “Judas Iscariot” who turned Jesus over to the religious leaders to be judged, tortured and crucified. Jesus knew “Judas” would betray Him, and yet, He kept Him as one of His “apostles”. God Almighty desires to have a relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and though He knows many of them shall never believe or will “betray” Him, He still gave His life for their “sin” that they might have “everlasting life” with Him.

Next time Matthew shares how, “these twelve Jesus sent forth”, 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.