The apostle Thomas was duly called by our Lord to the apostleship, and he is duly mentioned in the various apostolic lists. Of his birthplace or parents we are not informed hi scripture; but tradition says he was born at Antioch. All that we know of Mm with certainty is related by John. But though our knowledge of Thomas be thus limited, there is no character among the apostles more distinctly marked than his. In fact, his name has become, both in the Church and in the world, a synonym for doubting and unbelieving. It is said of a famous artist, when asked to produce a portrait of the apostle Thomas, that he placed a rule in his hand for the due measuring of evidence and argument. His mind was thoughtful, meditative, slow to believe. He looked at all the difficulties of a question, and inclined to take the dark side of things. But we will glance for a moment at the portrait which the pen of inspiration has drawn of him in the three following passages.
1. In John 11 his true character distinctly appears. He evidently viewed the proposed journey of our Lord into Judea with the darkest forebodings. “Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow-disciples, Let us also go that we may die with him.” In place of believing that Lazarus would be raised from the dead, he feared that both the Lord and His disciples would meet their own death in Judea. He could see nothing arising from such a journey but complete disaster. Nevertheless, he does not seek to hinder the Lord from going, like the other disciples. This too, is characteristic. He had deep affection for the Lord, and such was his devotedness that though the journey should cost all of them their lives, he was willing to go.
2. The second time referred to, was the Last Supper. (John 14) Our Lord had been speaking of going away, and of the home he would prepare for them in heaven; and that He would come again and receive them unto Himself, so that where He was they should be also. “And whither I go ye know,” He added, “and the way ye know.” But to our apostle’s mind, these beautiful promises only awakened dark thoughts of the unseen, unknown future. “Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” Evidently he was eager to go, and earnest in his inquiries, but he wanted to be sure of the way before taking the first step. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me.” So long as the eye is fixed on Christ, we never make a false step. It is the single eye that receives the light of heaven, and sheds its radiance over the whole path.
3. The third time was after the resurrection. (John 20) He was absent when the Lord appeared the first time to the disciples. When they told him that they had seen the Lord, he obstinately refused to believe what they said. From what he says, we may fairly gather, that he had seen the Lord on the cross, and that the overwhelming sight had produced a deep impression on his mind. “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” The following Lord’s day, when the disciples were assembled, Jesus appeared, and stood in the midst of them—His own place as the center of the assembly. He again saluted them in the same words of peace— “O Peace be unto you.” But He at once turned to Thomas, as if he had been the main object of His appearing that day. “Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believing.” The effect on Thomas was immediate, all his doubts were removed, and in true orthodox faith he exclaimed “My Lord and my God.” “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Some have thought that the faith of Thomas in this instance rises far above all the other disciples, and that nothing higher in testimony ever dropped from apostolic lips. This opinion, though a common one, cannot be founded on the general context. Christ, in reply to Thomas, pronounces those more blessed who saw not, and yet believed. It can scarcely be called even christian faith, as our Lord evidently hints. Christian faith is believing in Him whom we have not seen—walking by faith, not by sight.
Thomas, we have no doubt, represents the slow, unbelieving mind of the Jews in the last days, who will believe when they see. (Zech. 12) He was not present at the first gathering of the saints after the resurrection. The reason why we are not told. But who can estimate the blessing that may be lost because of absence from the sanctioned meetings of the saints? He lost the blessed revelations of Christ as to relationship. “My Father, and your Father; my God, and your God.” His faith is not connected with the position of sonship. “He has not the communications of the efficacy of the Lord’s work,” as one has said, “and of the relationship with his Father into which Jesus brings His own, the Church. He has peace, perhaps, but he has missed all the revelation of the Church’s position. How many souls—saved souls, even—are there in these two conditions.”
The future apostolic labors of Thomas, and the end of his life, are so filled with traditions or legends, that we know nothing certainly. Some say he labored in India and some in Persia. His martyrdom, it is said, was occasioned by a lance, and is still commemorated by the Latin Church on December 21, by the Greek Church on October 6, and by the Indians on July 1.
James—the son of Alpheus. The identification of the Jameses, the Marys, and the Lord’s brethren, has long been a difficult point with critics. This would not be the place even to refer to their theories and arguments. But after looking at different sides of the question, we still believe that our apostle is the James who was a principal man in the Church at Jerusalem—who is the author of “The General Epistle of James”—who is also called the Lord’s brother, and surnamed “the just,” and “the less,” probably because he was low in stature. Identification of persons is extremely difficult in such histories, from the habit, so common among the Jews, of calling near relations, brothers and sisters, and from nearly all of them having two or more names.
In the four lists of the apostles, James holds the same place. He heads the third class. They appear to be in fours. Peter heads the first, Philip the second, and James the third. Very little is known of James until after the resurrection. From what Paul says in 1 Cor. 15:7, it is evident that the Lord, before His ascension, honored James with a personal interview. This was before the day of Pentecost, and may have been for the special encouragement, guidance, and strengthening of the apostle. We will now notice the principal passages, from which we gain our knowledge of James.
In the first chapter of the Acts, we find him with the others, waiting for the promise of the Father, the gift of the Holy Ghost. After this we lose sight of him, until he is visited by Paul (Gal. 1:18, 19), which would be about the year A.D. 39. Now we find him equal with Peter as an apostle. He was at this time the overseer of the Church at Jerusalem, and on a level with the very chiefest apostles. The place he held in Peter’s estimation, appears from the fact, that when he was delivered from prison, he desires that information of his escape may be sent to “James and to the brethren.” Acts 12:17.
In A.D. 50, we find him in the apostolic council, where he seems to deliver the judgment of the assembly. “Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God.” (Acts 15) None of the other apostles speak in this manner. It would appear that he had risen greatly hi apostolic position and authority. About the year 51, when Paul paid another visit to Jerusalem, he recognizes James as one of the “pillars” of the Church, and places his name before both Cephas and John. (Gal. 2:9.) Again, about the year 58, Paul paid a special visit to James, in the presence of all the elders. “And the day following Paul went in with us to James; and all the elders were present.” (Acts 21:18.) It is easily seen from these few notices, that James was held in the very highest esteem by the other apostles, and that he filled a most important position in the Church at Jerusalem. His attachment to Judaism was deep and earnest, and his advancement in Christianity appears to have been slow and gradual. He was a perfect contrast to Paul; Peter forms a link between them.
The martyrdom of James is placed at about 62, close upon thirty years after Pentecost. The testimony of antiquity is universal, as to his distinguished piety and sanctity. His humility, too, appears great, though he was the Lord’s brother, or near relation, he styles himself the servant of Jesus Christ, and does not so much as give himself the title of an apostle. For the reputation of his holy and righteous life, he was universally styled, “James the Just.” And as he conformed to Jewish customs with a measure of regularity, he was by no means so offensive hi the eyes of his unbelieving countrymen, as the apostle of the Gentiles. But notwithstanding the high opinion that was entertained of his character, his life was prematurely ended by martyrdom.
For an account of the life, character, and death of James, we are chiefly indebted to Hegesippus, a Christian of Jewish origin, who lived in the middle of the second century. He is generally received as a credible historian. His narrative of the martyrdom of James is given fully, and in his own words, in Smith’s “Dictionary of the Bible.” We can only give it in substance.
As many of the rulers and people of the Jews became believers in Jesus, through the labors of James, the scribes and Pharisees were greatly stirred up against him. The whole of the people, they said, will believe in Christ. Therefore they came together to James, and said, “We pray thee, stop the people, for they have gone astray after Jesus as though he were the Christ. We pray thee to persuade all that come to the passover concerning Jesus. Persuade the people not to go astray about Jesus, for the whole people, and all of us, give heed unto thee. Stand, therefore, on a pinnacle of the temple that thou mayest be visible, and that thy words may be heard by all the people; for all the tribes and even the Gentiles are come together for the passover.” But in place of saying what he was told, he proclaimed with a loud voice in the ears of all the people that Jesus was the true Messiah—that he firmly believed in Him, and that Jesus was now Μ heaven at God’s right hand, and that He would come again in power and great glory. Many were convinced through the preaching of James and gave glory to God, crying, “Hosannah to the Son of David.”
When the scribes and Pharisees heard this, they said to each other, “We have done wrong in bringing forward such a witness to Jesus; let us go up and throw him down, that the people may be terrified and not believe in him.” And they cried out, saying, Even James the Just has gone astray, and they threw Mm down. But as he was not killed with the fall, they began to stone him. Then one of them who was a fuller, took the club with which he pressed the clothes, and brought it down on the head of James. Thus the apostle died, and, like the proto-martyr Stephen, he died praying for them in a kneeling posture. It was almost immediately after this that Vespasian commenced the siege of Jerusalem, and the Roman army turned the whole scene into desolation, blood, and ruin.
Simon Zelotes—also called “Simon the Canaanite.” He seems to be a different person to Simon, the brother of James. We have no account of him in the gospel history. He is duly named in the Gospels and in the Acts, and then disappears from the sacred page.
It is generally supposed, that before his call to be an apostle, he belonged to a sect among the Jews called “ The Zealots.” They were conspicuous for their fierce advocacy of the Mosaic ritual. They looked upon themselves as the successors of Phinehas, who, in zeal for the honor of God, slew Zimri and Cozbi. (Num. 25) In pretending to follow the zeal of the priest of old, they assumed to themselves the right of putting to death a blasphemer, an adulterer, or any notorious offender, without the ordinary formalities of the law. They maintained that God had made an everlasting covenant with Phinehas, and with his seed after him, “because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for Israel.” These high sounding claims and pretensions deceived both rulers and people for a time. Besides, their fury and zeal for the law of Moses, and for the deliverance of the people from the Roman yoke, gave them favor in the eyes of all the nation. But, as must ever be the case under similar circumstances, their zeal soon degenerated into all manner of licentiousness and wild extravagance. They became the pests of every class of society.
Under a pretended zeal for the honor of God, they charged whom they would with being guilty of blasphemy, or of some other grievous sin, and immediately slew them and seized their property. Josephus tells us that they faded not to accuse some of the “prime nobility,” and when they had succeeded in turning everything into confusion, they, meantime, “fished in the troubled waters.” He bewails them as the great plagues of the nation. Attempts were made at different times to suppress the society, but it does not appear that they were ever much reduced until, with the unbelieving nation, they were swept away in the fatal siege.
Simon is frequently styled “Simon the Zealot,” and is supposed to have belonged to this troublesome faction. There may have been true and sincere men among them, but good and bad alike passed under the odious name of “Zealots.” Nothing is certainly known of the future labors of our apostle. Some say that, after traveling for a while in the East, he turned to the West, and penetrated as far as Britain, where he preached, wrought miracles, endured many trials, and at last suffered martyrdom.
Judas—the brother of James. This apostle is also called Jude, Thaddeus, and Lebbaeus. These different names have different shades of meaning, but the examination of such niceties come not within the range of our “Short Papers.” Judas was the son of Alpheus, and one of our Lord’s kindred, as we read in Matt. 13:55, “Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?”
When, or how, he was called to the apostleship we are not informed; and there is scarcely any mention of him hi the New Testament, except in the different catalogs of the twelve apostles. His name only occurs once in the gospel narrative, and that is when he asks the following question, “Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” (John 14:22.) It is quite evident from this question, that he was still entertaining, like his fellow-disciples, the idea of a temporal kingdom, or the manifestation of Christ’s power, on the earth, such as the world could perceive. But they understood not yet the dignity of their own Messiah. They were strangers to the greatness of His power, the glory of His Person, and the spirituality of His kingdom. His subjects are delivered, not only from this present evil world, but from the power of Satan, and from the realm of death and the grave. “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” (Col. 1:13.) The answer of Christ to the question of Judas is all-important. He speaks of the blessings of obedience. The truly obedient disciple shall surely know the sweetness of fellowship with the Father and the Son, in the light and power of the Holy Ghost. “It is not here a question of the love of God in sovereign grace to a sinner, but of the Father’s dealings with His children. Therefore it is in the path of obedience that the manifestation of the Father’s love and the love of Christ are found.” Ver. 23-20.
But we must bear in mind, when remarking on the questions or sayings of the apostles, that the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. The thoughts, feelings, and expectations of the apostles after that event, were altogether changed. Hence we find our apostle, like his brother James, styling himself, “Jude the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” He neither calls himself an apostle, nor the Lord’s brother. This was true humility, and founded on a true sense of the altered relations between them and the exalted Lord. On the day of Pentecost it was proclaimed, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Nothing is certainly known of the later history of our apostle. Some say that he first preached in Judea and Galilee, then through Samaria, into Idumea, and to the cities of Arabia. But towards the end of his course, Persia was the field of his labors, and the scene of his martyrdom.
From 1 Cor. 9:5, it may be fairly inferred that he was one of the married apostles. “Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?” There is a tradition about two of his grandsons, which is both interesting and apparently true. It has been handed down by Eusebius from Hegesippus, a converted Jew. Domitian the Emperor, having heard that there were some of the line of David, and kindred of Christ, still alive, moved with jealousy, ordered them to be seized and brought to Borne. Two grandsons of Jude were brought before him. They frankly confessed that they were of the line of David, and kindred of Christ. He asked them about their possessions and estates. They told him they had but a few acres of land, out of the fruits of which they paid him tribute and maintained themselves. Their hands were examined, and were found rough and callous with labor. He then inquired of them concerning the kingdom of Christ, and when and where it would come. To this they replied, that it was a heavenly and spiritual, not a temporal kingdom; and that it would not be manifested till the end of the world. The Emperor, being satisfied that they were poor men and harmless, dismissed them unbound, and ceased from his general persecution of the Church. When they returned to Palestine, they were received by the Church with great affection, as being nearly allied to the Lord, and as having nobly confessed His name—His kingdom, power, and glory.
Matthias—the apostle elected to fill the place of the traitor Judas. He was not an apostle of the first election—immediately called and chosen by the Lord Himself. It is more than probable that he was one of the seventy disciples, and had been a constant attendant upon the Lord Jesus, during the whole course of His ministry. This was a necessary qualification, as declared by Peter, of one who was to be a witness of the resurrection. So far as we know, the name of Matthias occurs in no other place in the New Testament.
According to some ancient traditions, he preached the gospel and suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia; others believe that it was rather in Cappadocia. Thus the great founders of the Church were allowed to pass away from earth to heaven without a reliable pen to chronicle their labors—their last days—their last sayings, or even the resting place of the body. But all are chronicled in heaven, and will be held in everlasting remembrance. How marvelous are the ways of God, and how unlike they are to the ways of men!
The manner of this apostle’s election was by lot—an ancient Jewish custom. The lots were put into the urn, Matthias’ name was drawn out, and thereby he was the divinely chosen apostle. “And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen.....And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” The solemn mode of casting lots was regarded as a way of referring the decision to God. “And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat”—“The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.” (Lev. 16:8; Pro. 16:33.) The apostles, it will be remembered, had not yet received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The lot was never repeated after the day of Pentecost.