Judas Thaddaeus The Twelve Apostles Sermon Series Part 11 of 14

Hello and welcome to Social Media Ministries, my name is Spencer Coffman. Thank you for joining us. Today we are in the middle of a sermon series. We are on number 11 of 14. If you have not been with us, please take advantage of hitting that subscribe button, following us to get the remainder of the series. In addition, feel free to check out the playlist on our YouTube channel or also on our website, that is called The Twelve Apostles and you can get caught up on the previous sermons.

In addition, if you are a returning visitor and you have been with us all the time, thank you so much for being with us through these 11 sermons. Keep coming back, we got a few more to go. In addition, I really challenge you to try to share it with others and get them in here because I guarantee that everyone can identify with at least one of these apostles and they can apply whatever they did to their own lives and be encouraged to get out there and do more in life.

So share these messages with them, after all that is the goal of Social Media Ministries, to reach more people to bring the living Word of God, the Bible, to as many people as possible through the use of social media and also to help them understand and interpret the scriptures in the Bible.

We are doing that by going through the 12 apostles and really helping educate people on who they were and how they can use them as a great example. We have gone through several. We have talked about Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James and now we are on Judas Thaddeus.

This is one of the disciples that a lot of people miss, they forget to name him. They do not really know about him or who he was and that is really for good reason. He is only mentioned a handful of times, only like five. Judas Thaddeus also known as Jude, not to be confused though with Judas Iscariot. This Jude, he was the son of James.

Now you say, wait a minute we had two James’ in the Bible, the two apostles, James The Greater and James The Lesser. James the brother of John, James the son of Alphaeus, potentially brother of Matthew. Then we have another James, which is James the brother of Jesus. He wrote The Book of James. Now we got another James, Judas Thaddeus’ father.

We are going to go to Luke 6:16 and check out this James. If you have your Bible, please turn with me, we have got some great scriptures. If you do not or if you are doing something else, do not worry, all of these references will be written in the description. Wherever you are watching or listening you can go back, you can look them up, you can read more about them, you can really learn as much as you want to with this.

Here we go, Luke 6:16 says, ‘Judas son of James and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.’ That is what we are talking about right now, Judas son of James. Now this is not James the brother of Christ, this is not the James who are the two apostles, this is a different James, and this James we know nothing about.

This is pretty much the only time he is ever mentioned, as Judas’ father. That is it. So we do not really know anything about him according to the Bible. Of course, you can look for other texts from that time period and try to learn more about him or who he was, but this James we really do not know much about.

We know that this is a different Judas than Judas Iscariot. That is why he is called Judas son of James or Judas Thaddeus or sometimes even referred to as Jude. In Matthew and Mark this Judas was referred to as Thaddeus and that is a couple times, just twice. That is in Matthew 10:3, we are going to go there and read that verse for you. Matthew 10:3 says, ‘Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector, James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus.’ So that is Thaddeus, where you read that Thaddeus is also this Jude, this Judas Thaddeus.

Then in Mark chapter 3 verse 18 we will have another list of disciples, where we read ‘Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddeus, Simon the zealot.’ This is Thaddeus, this Thaddeus is Judas. Judas Thaddeus. Now Judas could be his first name, Thaddeus could be a second name or it could be a different translation, but that is how we point it out.

In John, in Luke, and Acts though he is referred to three times. John, Luke, Acts, three times as Judas son of James. We saw that in Luke chapter 6 verse 16. We will also find that in Acts in this list. Acts 1:13 and it says, ‘When they arrived they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. Judas son of James, was there as well.

Now if we go to John chapter 14, a lot of scriptures I know, it is a lot of scriptures, a lot of readings. But the point is going to become clear. Let’s go to John chapter 14 verse 22, it says, ‘Then Judas, not Judas Iscariot, said, but Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?’

We will come to that part later. That is a good verse that we will maybe touch on if we have some time, but it is not really related right now. It is just the point that this is a different Judas. This is Judas son of James, not Judas Iscariot. That is how he is referred to. It is also Thaddeus. Together combined Judas son of James or Judas, not Judas Iscariot or Thaddeus. In the New Testament only about five or six times, five different verses. That is it. So we do not know a lot about him. In fact, the only time we see him appear in the Bible that is not in a list is in that verse in John.

Judas was a man with a strong desire to help Christ become the ruler of the world. That is what he wanted. He wanted Christ to be the leader. They all thought Christ was going to be a leader, as in a political leader, a military leader, some type of leader that was going to deliver them from the oppression of the Romans and bring them through a period of time that they did not like.

They did not like their oppression, the rule, the government, whoever was leading their country. They did not like where the country was going, where the nation was going, and they wanted a savior to come in and fix the world, fix it, and get it going right.

That is what Judas thought of Jesus, as he wanted Jesus to be that for them and we see this in John 14:22. All the other times we see Judas or Jude is when it is in a list, so let’s go back to John 14:22.

Now this is when Jesus is promising the holy spirit to the disciples, He finishes talking to them, telling them, ‘If you love me, you are going to obey my commands and I will ask the father and he will give you a counselor. He will give you the holy spirit to be with you and he will not leave you. He will be with you and help you go through life.’

And it is just on and on about this and He is telling His disciples this is that famously frustrating passage where He says, ‘Before long you will not see me, but then you will see me and I live and you will live.’ And all of this kind of stuff. It is a frustrating section and He is telling His disciples that look I am leaving, I am going away, but I will leave you with the holy spirit who will help you through life, who will guide you and you will still have a connection to this other realm, the heavenly world.

You will be in this world, but not of this world. Right now they were connecting to the heavenly realm through being with Jesus. Jesus is saying I am leaving but I am going to leave you the holy spirit. He is like I am going to leave you a cell phone to be able to talk to us or I am going to leave you with a way. It is almost like a two-way cell phone. He is going to leave you with the holy spirit that is going to guide you all the time, that is going to tell you exactly what to do, that is going to speak to you, that is going to give you power through the holy spirit.

He is saying whoever follows my commands, whoever obeys them is proof that you love me and if you love me then you also love my father and my father will love you and they will reveal themselves to you. So you will see God in Jesus. Now that does not mean you will literally see them before you, but you will see them working in and around your life.

Then Judas, he says wait a minute, wait a minute Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world? Because Jesus is promising the holy spirit only to those disciples, right now just to them and Judas is like why only us? Why only us and not the world?

This is a portion of the Bible where people get vastly confused and they take it to mean something else. They say, see Jesus even was saying that He only chose those 12 and that the rest of us are doomed to hell. But that is incorrect. Jesus then says if anyone loves me he will obey my teaching, my father will love him. He will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own. They belong to the father who sent me.

What does that mean? It means that we all have a chance. It is not just the 12. Judas is saying why only us and Jesus is saying, no you missed the point. Everyone, anyone who loves me, will obey my commands, and my father will love them and make them one. It says right here, these were right here, He will come to him and make our home with him. So that means if you love Jesus and you obey the commands, the Father will come to you and make His home with you. That means one day you will go to heaven and you will live with God and with Jesus.

Anyone, not just people who are chosen. Remember everyone is called. We can step into the calling by living the calling, by getting up and leaving things behind and following Jesus, we step into our calling. We have to invite Jesus into our life. We need to live for Him. Accept that He died for us, forgives us of our sins. Live for Jesus and that is what Jesus is saying. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, loves me. So you show your love to Jesus by obeying His commands and by doing that. By listening to what He says, by accepting Him as your savior, then you have a place in heaven.

These are not Jesus’ words but the father’s words, the father’s words and you will receive the holy spirit. ‘All of this I have spoken while still with you. But the counselor, the holy spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.’ The holy spirit will be there helping you to obey Jesus, giving you discernment, giving you spiritual gifts, giving you guidance in this world.

If you follow Jesus and you love Jesus and you have Him in your life, in your heart, you have accepted that He is the way to heaven, then you will have a place in heaven and the Father will make His home with you. Judas is saying why do you intend to show yourself to us and not the world and Jesus is saying I am showing myself directly to you, you are getting more because you have accepted me because you have accepted who I am, but I am showing myself to the world as well.

In Revelation, it says He stands at the door and knocks. He is showing himself to the world and whether or not you decide to step into that calling and to listen to that call is up to you. The disciples made that choice, so they have more. They are further along, they made the choice. Jesus showed Himself to them and said, follow me.

We have gone over this in other sermons, about these disciples, when He called the sons of Zebedee He said follow me. They left their nets, they left their boat, they left their father and the servants, and followed Jesus. When He called Simon Peter, leave your nets, follow me. He followed Him. When He called Peter’s brother Andrew who was a disciple of John the Baptist beforehand. Andrew brought Peter. When He called Philip, Philip went and got Nathaniel.

They all made a choice. Jesus showed themselves to Him and then they made a choice to follow Him. They stepped into the calling. He called Matthew. Matthew got up from his tax booth, left everything, all the money and everything just sitting there, left it all, and followed Jesus. They got up, stepped into the calling. They had to take the step into the calling and they became part of the chosen, part of God’s chosen people.

You can do the same. God is calling you and that is what this is saying. If anyone, it does not say if a few people or those who do what Jesus says, if anyone loves me. You gotta love Jesus, accept Him in your heart as your Lord and savior and you will have a place in heaven. He says we will come to him and we make our home with Him. That means the father and the son, Jesus, and God, you will have a home with Them. You are chosen. You just need to accept it. You are being called. Jesus is calling you. You need to step into the calling.

Judas was saying why are you only showing yourself to us and not the world? Jesus is saying I am here for the world, everyone. I showed myself to you. You responded to the calling, now you are gonna get more, immeasurably more I will give to you. You just have to accept it, you need to step into it. God will continue to give you more.

Judas was someone who did not quite see the big picture, he even asked Jesus why to us and not the world. He is still concerned about the world, this earth. He had a strong desire to have Christ be the ruler of the world, the promised redeemer. The one they were waiting for to deliver them from the government.

But Jesus came to save the world, not in the world, but to get us to a different world, a heavenly Kingdom, a heavenly realm. That is what Jesus is saying. He is not of this world but we are all in this world. We are not of this world, if you are a Christian you are not of this world. We are in a different world.

Judas was kind of missing this. He was thinking that our job was to conquer the world and Jesus is saying, no our job is to live in the world and get more people into the heavenly Kingdom, the heavenly world. He did not quite understand that.

Jesus is going to be a great king in heaven, the King of kings, the Lord of lords in a heavenly Kingdom because this earth has fallen, this earth is lost, we are not of this earth, we are of a heavenly Kingdom and our king is up there and it is our job to get more people into the heavenly Kingdom.

Judas was still a great disciple though. He followed Jesus, he lived for Jesus, he asked questions, he learned. He was a man who dedicated his life to Christ. In the end, he traveled to Odessa and he was likely crucified there. Crucified. The crucifixion process as you hopefully know was not an easy one. You were beaten, flogged with whips, and these whips were long strands of leather with like nails through them or bone through them or sharp objects like razor blades.

Being whipped with leather, leather strands with razor blades in them, so by the time you were done, 40 lashes, you probably had no skin left on your back. Your muscles were probably not even on your back, your spine might have even been broken and separated in parts. Because a bone or a razor or some shard or a nail got stuck between your vertebrae and when they ripped it off your spine could have become dislodged and the cartilage between your spine might have been removed.

It was not just your back, it was from literally the neck all the way down to your knees. You probably did not have a butt anymore either and some of you may laugh at that, but this is a serious thing. You would have lost all of this and for crucifixion and if they did it to men, males, there is a good chance that you would lose your man parts too. I mean this is serious. A lot of people even bled out during the lashes and they did not even make it all the way.

But those that did it were the expert whippers or expert lashings. They gave just enough to keep the person alive through the process, but when they were new or learning they might have gone a little too far and accidentally killed the person, or maybe one of the whip pieces wrapped around their neck and ripped an artery or pulled their throat out or something and they died. They bled out or it hit an artery, a femoral artery in the leg and they bled out or wrapped under their armpit and ripped the artery under their armpit and they bled out.

This is serious business. Crucifixion was not nice. Excruciating pain, that is just the first step. Then they have to carry a cross, that is rough wood. They already have a raw back. Now you will be filled with splinters and slivers. Then they have to go get hung on that thing and their whole backside would be filled with even more splinters and slivers and they would all become infected quickly. The cross probably gained tons of weight because of all the blood that soaked into the wood from that individual. I mean this is a brutal brutal process.

Judas was crucified. Now we do not know what type of cross. If it was a regular cross, if he was upside down, if it was an X cross, anything like that, tied to it, nailed to it, we do not know. The point is, he was an excellent disciple. He followed Jesus all the way to the very end and you can do that. But Judas became hung up on what he knew and could understand, kind of like Thomas who was an empiricist, who had to see it to believe it. Judas, he did not really need to see it to believe it. But he could only believe what he understood.

If something was out of his reach, that was it. He had no expansion on the thought. He could not quite grasp that Jesus was in a heavenly Kingdom. He thought Jesus was supposed to be an earthly king and so when Christ died he would have been very confused. But he persevered through that confusion and had a desire to know more about Jesus and to study and to learn.

He figured it out. That hey, we are of a heavenly Kingdom. We have the holy spirit here that can help us and we need to use it and bring more people to the Kingdom. You got to learn like he did. Do not get hung up on only what you can understand, take those leaps of faith and get further. Take it to the heavenly realm and understand more.

Open your mind and consider the fact that Jesus can always be teaching you something that you may not know. Take it to the heavenly realm. Jesus is always trying to expand your horizons and teach you more, show you more. Do not put a limit on God. That is what Judas was doing. He was limiting God to earth.

When you ask God or you pray or you do stuff or you want to save 10 people, do not limit it. You want to save a million people, even a million may not be enough. God can do immeasurably more and that is what He wants. That is what He wants to do. That is what He was telling Judas and Judas, he was kind of limited. He limited God but later he figured it out and he traveled around saving people all over the world. You can do the same.

Let’s pray. Lord Jesus thank you for the lessons that you give us and teach us through Judas Thaddeus. We know that he was a great disciple and a great man. Lord, I pray that those out there who are watching and listening, that they would understand this, that they would see that wow this guy was really committed and devoted to you and that they need to commit their lives to you Jesus.

That they need to get out there, get up and step into their calling, and live their lives for you. That they need to accept you and love you and obey your commands and live each and every day living for you. That they would open their minds, expand their hearts, and start to understand and see it and believe more.

That they would increase their faith immeasurably more and that you would provide immeasurably more for them and show them more. Reveal yourself to them so that they would see immeasurably more and that they would continue to walk and grow and step in their calling in faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

We have got another disciple to do next week, so I hope you come back. We are going to talk about Simon the zealot. It is a great lesson, so come back next week. God bless.