Tag: Biblical Characters

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Centurion (1)

Centurion

A centurion, a leader of one hundred soldiers in the Roman army, comes to Jesus for help. “My servant can’t move,” he says, “and is in great agony.” The centurion doesn’t ask Jesus to heal his servant.

Jesus asks him pointedly, “Do you want me to come and heal him?”

We expect the Centurion to answer just as directly and say, “Yes!” But he doesn’t. Instead he says, “I’m not worthy for you to enter my house.”

Then he launches into an explanation about what he expects. “I’m a man under authority and who has authority. I tell my men what to do, and they do it.” By implication the Centurion sees Jesus as having spiritual authority, able to just say the word and to heal the servant.

The Centurion’s faith amazes Jesus, a faith greater than anyone he has met among his own people. Jesus then launches into a teaching about who’s in and who’s out in the kingdom of heaven. It’s not what anyone anticipates, but Jesus seldom says or does what people expect.

After teaching about authority, faith, and salvation, Jesus turns to the centurion. “Go home. What you believed for has happened.”

The servant is healed right then.

Later, after Jesus dies and rises from the dead, he gives his disciples all authority to overcome the power of the enemy—the same authority he used to heal the centurion’s servant.

When Jesus gives his disciples all authority, how do we understand that? Do we have that authority today?

[Discover more about the centurion in Matthew 8:5–13 and Luke 7:1–10. Read about Jesus giving his disciples his authority in Luke 10:19.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Nathanael

Nathanael

We’ve covered thirteen of Jesus’s twelve disciples. Though not listed as one of the twelve, there is another follower of Jesus and a disciple. His name is Nathanael. 

When Jesus invites Philip to “follow me,” Philip goes and finds his good buddy, Nathanael.

“We found the one the prophets wrote about,” Philip says. “His name is Jesus. He’s from Nazareth.”

“Nazareth!” Nathanael scoffs. “There’s nothing good there.”

“Come and check it out,” Philip says. And they head off to find Jesus.

As they approach, Jesus says, “Now here’s a true and honest Israelite.”

“How can you possibly know me?” Nathanael asks.

“I saw you standing under the fig tree, before Philip came to tell you about me,” Jesus says.

Nathanael’s in awe. “Rabbi,” he says, “surely you’re the son of God, our king.”

I imagine Jesus smiling as he replies. “You believe in me simply because I saw you under the fig tree? You’ll see much more than that. Later, you’ll see heaven open. Angels will descend and ascend from the Son of Man.”

Nathanael follows Jesus and believes in him. Jesus promises that Nathanael will see amazing things. For this to happen, Nathanael will need to stick around. Though Nathanael may not be one of the twelve disciples, as Philip is, Nathanael is a follower of Jesus and witness to what he does.

How often do we wish we had a higher standing in church or ministry? Do we let that disappointment discourage us? Or do we push it aside and press on?

[Discover more about Nathanael in John 1:43–51.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Judas (1) Iscariot

Judas Iscariot

Last on our list of twelve disciples is the notorious one. His name is Judas, often called Judas Iscariot. His father is Simon (7) Iscariot. 

We know Judas for his betrayal of Jesus. Some passages in the Bible call him a traitor. That’s a more fitting term. He agrees to turn on Jesus and help the religious authorities arrest him. He does this for thirty pieces of silver. Money matters more to him than loyalty.

Judas also serves as treasurer for Team Jesus. And he is a dishonest one, often skimming funds from the community purse for his personal use. Though he sometimes pretends to care about the needs of the poor, his motives are selfish.

This is because each time they give money to the poor, the balance in their fund drops, making it harder for Judas to steal from what is left.

Later, when Jesus eats the Passover meal with his disciples, he says that one of them will turn him in. When they wonder who, Jesus says it’s the one he’ll give the bread to. He dips the bread into something and hands it to Judas.

Then Jesus tells Judas to “go do it quickly.” The disciples miss this and assume Jesus is telling Judas to give money to the poor. Instead Judas leaves to lead the mob to arrest Jesus.

After Jesus is executed, grief overcomes Judas from the results of his actions. He hangs himself in remorse.

Had Judas not killed himself, might Jesus have offered mercy and restored him into right relationship with the group just like he did for Peter?

We serve a God who offers second chances, but do we forget that? Do we ever take God’s second chances for granted?

[Discover more about Judas in Matthew 10:2–4, Matthew 27:1–10, John 12:4–6, and John 13:18–30.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Thaddaeus and Judas (3) the Son of James (4)

Thaddaeus and Judas

Next we’ll consider two more disciples in tandem. They’re Thaddaeus and Judas, the son of James. What makes them unique is that they didn’t make all four of the lists of disciples. Instead, they’re each referred to twice—not four times like Bartholomew, James, Simon, and the rest of the group.

Matthew and Mark both mention Thaddaeus as one of the twelve disciples. However, Luke omits Thaddaeus in both his books (Luke and Acts). Instead he includes Judas, the son of James, who Matthew and Mark both omit.

Why the difference?

We’re left to wonder why the Bible has this discrepancy. It could be that Mark got it wrong and Matthew copied him. (Some Bible scholars believe the book of Mark was written first, and Matthew based his on it.)

Or it could be that Luke got the names wrong when he researched and wrote about Jesus and the early church.

Another possibility is that Thaddaeus starts out as a disciple but then leaves, with Judas, son of James, taking over. 

A third explanation is that twelve isn’t a literal number but figurative. It could be there are twelve disciples, perhaps thirteen, or maybe even more.

A fourth option is that Jesus’s band of twelve is a dynamic group with people coming and going. Therefore, the roster changes over time.

Regardless, the Bible says that both Thaddaeus and Judas, son of James, are disciples. Let’s celebrate them as such.

How do we react when our name is omitted from a list of people serving Jesus or someone else’s name is inserted for the work we did?

[Discover more about Thaddaeus in Matthew 10:3 and Mark 3:18. Read about Judas the Son of James in Luke 6:16, and Acts 1:13.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Bartholomew, James (2), and Simon (2)

Bartholomew

For the next three disciples, we’ll cover them together. You’ll see why in a bit. They are Bartholomew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot. 

These three disciples only appear four times in the Bible. Each time they’re in a roster of the twelve disciples. Aside from being listed as one of the Twelve, they do nothing noteworthy that Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John feel they need to share—at least not explicitly.

However, right after Matthew shares the names of the twelve disciples, Jesus sends all twelve out on mission trips. He instructs them to tell other Jews that the kingdom of heaven is near.

As they do this, they are to heal sick people, resurrect the dead, remove people’s leprosy, and cast out demons. Whether we understand demon possession as a spiritual condition or as first century man’s understanding of mental illness doesn’t matter.

What does matter is that the disciples deal with it.

It’s one thing to tell other people about Jesus, but to also heal them is even more mind-boggling. Yet Jesus has prepared them to do both or he wouldn’t have sent them. They know his message. And through his power they supernaturally heal people.

This applies to all twelve disciples, including Bartholomew, James, and Simon. 

They preach, and they heal.

Though the things this trio does—either good or bad—aren’t detailed in the Bible, they do help advance Jesus’s kingdom.

Will we be faithful to God’s call even if we don’t receive recognition for the work we do?

[Discover more about Bartholomew, James Son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot in Matthew 10:2–4, Mark 3:16–20, Luke 6:14–16, and Acts 1:13.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Matthew (Levi)

Matthew Levi

Matthew is seventh on our list of Jesus’s disciples, though he may be one of the earlier ones that Jesus calls. Mark and Luke both refer to him as Levi, the fifth person in the Bible with that name, Levi (5).

The one thing we know about Matthew is that he collects taxes. Often when the Bible mentions tax collectors it’s part of the phrase “tax collectors and sinners.”

Though this doesn’t imply that being a tax collector is a sinful job, it makes it clear that people don’t think much of tax collectors. Nor do the Pharisees—a group of religious devotees who pursue righteous behavior with legalistic fervor.

(Note that Jesus often criticizes Pharisees for not seeing what God’s doing.)

Jesus, while making a point that the people society looks down upon will have their place in heaven—ahead of the religious elite—uses the phrase “tax collectors and prostitutes.”

That’s another disparaging pairing of two less-than-honorable professions. Last, in one of Jesus’s parables, he lumps tax collectors in with thieves, evil people, and adulterers.

Matthew’s occupation certainly carries a stigma. From a human standpoint we wouldn’t want someone like Matthew on our team, but Jesus has a different perspective. He wants someone like Matthew on his squad. Jesus invites Matthew to be part of his posse. 

When Jesus invites Matthew to “follow me,” Matthew does so right away.

Then Jesus parties with Matthew and his friends—other tax collectors and “sinners.” The religious leaders, of course, criticize Jesus for who he’s hanging out with. But these people are exactly who Jesus wants to be with.

By making Matthew part of his team he gives us a fresh perspective of who’s in and who’s out in his kingdom. Most people believe that Matthew later wrote a biography of Jesus, which we call the book of Matthew.

We all have a past. Do we let our past define us or do we accept God’s mercy and move into something greater?

[Discover more about Matthew, also called Levi, in Matthew 9:9–13, Mark 2:13–17, and Luke 5:27–32. Read verses about tax collectors in Matthew 21:31–32 and Luke 7:34.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Thomas (Didymus)

Thomas

The sixth of Jesus’s disciples is Thomas, also known as Didymus. Though Matthew, Mark, and Luke only mention Thomas once, and that’s in their list of Jesus’s disciples, John gives us more insight into his character. John shares three stories about Thomas. 

First, as Jesus wraps up his time on earth, before his execution, he tells his disciples what to expect. After encouraging them to believe in God and in him, he says that Papa’s house has many rooms.

“I’ll go there and get ready for you. Then I’ll come back and get you, so we can hang out.” Then Jesus adds, “You know the way there.”

Thomas is confused and reacts as I imagine I would. He wants more info. “We don’t know where you’re going, so how can we know how to get there?”

Jesus responds with a familiar passage. “I’m the way, the truth, and the life. To get to Papa, you must go through me.” Frankly this explanation wouldn’t have helped me too much. We don’t know if Thomas gets it or not, but he says nothing more.

The second story is what we most know about Thomas. It’s the source of the phrase doubting Thomas. 

When Jesus rises from the dead and first appears to his disciples, Thomas isn’t there. When his buddies insist Jesus is alive, Thomas doesn’t believe them. He demands proof. That sounds reasonable.

Third, a week later, the disciples hunker behind locked doors, and Jesus appears in the room. He goes to Thomas and shows him the nail scars in his hand. He encourages Thomas to touch his side where the soldier’s spear impaled him. “Stop doubting,” Jesus says, “and believe.”

Thomas does. “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus blesses Thomas because he sees and believes. But we’re even more blessed because we haven’t seen and believe anyway.

How should we deal with the struggle of faith versus doubt?

[Discover more about Thomas in John 14:3–7, John 20:24–29, and John 21:1–3.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: Philip (1)

Philip

The day after Jesus calls Peter and Andrew to follow him, Jesus sees Philip and tells him to “follow me.” Then Philip goes and finds his buddy, Nathanael, and tells him about Jesus. 

The next time we see Philip is at the miracle feeding of 5,000 men (plus women and children), and then he’s in the story about the Greeks who want to see Jesus. We already covered these when we talked about Andrew.

Later Jesus says, “I’m the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to Papa except through me. If you know me, you know my father.”

To this Philip replies, “Show us the father, and that’ll be good enough.”

Jesus scolds Philip. “After all this time, you still don’t know me? If you see me, you’ve seen Papa.” 

Philip may wish he hadn’t opened his mouth. His words just proved that he doesn’t know Jesus as well as he thought he did. Ouch!

How well do we know Jesus? What would be Jesus’s answer to that question?

[Discover more about Philp in John 1:43–46, John 6:5–7, John 12:20–22, and John 14:6–11.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People:John (2), the Disciple

John the disciple

The fourth of Jesus’s disciples that we’ll cover is John (not to be confused with John the Baptist). John the disciple is the younger brother of James and is part of Jesus’s inner circle, along with Peter and James. 

However, John may have an even higher standing. Though John never mentions himself by name in his biography of Jesus, five times he refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.

Consider that Jesus has many disciples and even more followers. He picks twelve of them to be the disciples and three of them to be in his inner circle, but John surpasses them all. He’s the disciple Jesus loves.

Later, in the book of Acts, we see John in tandem with Peter telling others about Jesus, healing people, and getting arrested as a result. When they’re released from jail, they visit the believers in Samaria and lay hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit.

After that we don’t hear much more about John in the Bible’s narrative, but he does write a lot. During the writing of his last book, Revelation, he’s exiled on the island of Patmos.

John contributes much to the New Testament of the Bible. Only Paul and Luke write more. John pens one of the four biographies about Jesus in the Bible.

It’s called the Gospel of John or John for short. Many people cite this biography of Jesus as their favorite for its poetic language and unique content.

John also writes three letters, called 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. His fifth book is an epic vision of the future, called Revelation. Together these five books make up about 20 percent of the content in the New Testament.

We may want to do amazing things for Jesus just like John, but are we willing to suffer exile like he did?

[Discover more about John in John 21:20–24, Acts 4:1–22, Acts 8:14–17, and Revelation 1:9. Explore the five books of the Bible that John wrote: John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Revelation.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.

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Biblical People

Biblical People: James (1)

James

Just like Peter and Andrew, James and his brother, John, are disciples of Jesus. Since the Bible usually lists James first and John second, we can assume James is older. Peter, James, and John make up Jesus’s inner circle. 

Mark records an interesting nickname that Jesus gives the brothers. He calls them “the Sons of Thunder.” This suggests the boys might be loud when they talk, perhaps like their dad. 

Though once James and John ask Jesus if they can call down fire from heaven to destroy a Samaritan village who rejected them—Jesus says, “No”—the Bible doesn’t give any other examples of brazen behavior by the boys. Yet calling them the Sons of Thunder suggests otherwise.

This might be a family characteristic, too, because James’s mom does something bold for her boys. She goes to Jesus and asks him to honor her sons by letting them sit on Jesus’s right and left when he rules his kingdom. Again, Jesus says, “No.”

Like Andrew, whom the Bible usually mentions along with brother Peter, the same occurs for James, who’s usually paired with brother John. Even though James is part of Jesus’s inner circle, he doesn’t seem to play a vital role in Jesus’s ministry or in the early church.

In the book of Acts, we read that King Herod (2) arrests some of Jesus’s followers to harass them. This includes James, whom Herod executes. James becomes an early martyr of the church (after Stephen).

Though Jesus selects James to be his disciple and includes him in his inner circle of confidants, it seems James doesn’t live up to the promise Jesus sees in him—or perhaps his premature death keeps him from reaching his potential.

We each have potential to serve God and help others. Do we live up to what God sees in us or fall short? Are we doing all we can today, in case we’re not around tomorrow?

[Discover more about James in Matthew 20:20–24, Mark 3:17, Luke 9:52–55, and Acts 12:1–2.]

Read more about other biblical characters in The Friends and Foes of Jesus, now available in e-book, paperback, and hardcover.

A lifelong student of the Bible, Peter DeHaan, PhD, wrote the 1,000-page website ABibleADay.com to encourage people to explore the Bible. His main blog and many books urge Christians to push past the status quo and reconsider how they practice their faith in every area of their lives.