Where Did The Apsotles Go? Part One

Where Did
the Apostles Go?
Part One
A “Lessons-To-Go” Scripture Study
by Mark S. Pavlin
Part One is concerned with all of the
Apostles except for Andrew and Peter; they
are the subjects of Part Two of “Where Did
the Apostles Go” available on
LinkedIn/Slideshare.

Where Did
the Apostles Go?
Part One
Lesson 1 - Prologue

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them
authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every
disease and sickness. - Mt. 10:1

The most important followers of Jesus were called “apostles”. There
were 12 of them. Jesus chose them himself, or “called” them. They
followed Him around Judea. Jesus taught them more than He taught
others. He ate His last meal with them. One betrayed Him.

After His death, resurrect-
tion and ascension, they
received the Holy Spirit at
Pentecost. Thereafter
they went out boldly into
all the world preaching
the new faith, doing
miracles in the name of
Jesus, and just before
their deaths (all but one a
martyr), appointing
bishops to succeed them
in leading the rapidly
growing Christian Church.
So goes the standard
account, repeated often
by Christian commentary.

But it is true? Of what can we be reasonably certain is historical
and what is pious conjecture? Do extra-biblical accounts of their
exploits provide us with more solid information about them? Did
they really die martyrs? Where? How? Where are they buried?
And what does this all mean for our life and faith today?
REALLY
^

- Mt. 10:1-2
“twelve apostles”
Jesus called his twelve disciples (mathetas) to him and gave them
authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and
sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles....
Gospels

- Mt. 10:1-2
“twelve apostles”
Jesus called his twelve disciples (mathetas) to him and gave them
authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and
sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles....
Gospels
This is the only occurance of
the exact phrase “twelve
apostles” in the Gospels.
There is only one other use in
the entire NT (in Rev. 21:14);
the phrase “the twelve” is
much more common:
6 x in Mt.
10 x in Mk.
7 x in Lk.
4 x in Jn.
1 x in Paul

Lk. 6:12-14
Called or Chosen?
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and
spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called
his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also
designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter)....

Lk. 6:12-14
Called or Choosen?
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and
spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called
his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also
designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter)...
“Disciple” means “student”, as of a rabbi (in this context,
anyone who learns from Jesus). The text is clear that
there were more than 12 followers of Jesus at that time.
“Apostle” means “one who is sent”, for example, as a
messenger. The text is opaque as to why Jesus chose 12
and why he chose those particular individuals.

- Rom. 16:6-8
“Apostle” can refer to others
Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and
Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are
outstanding among the apostles and were in Christ before I was.
Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord.
To Paul, all his co-workers were “apostles”. Even in modern usage,
prominent missionaries are often called apostles, a practice which
stems from the Latin equivalent of apostle, i.e. missio, the source
of the English word missionary.
For example, St. Patrick (373–463) was the "Apostle of Ireland",
and St. Boniface (680–755) was the "Apostle to the Germans".
Even in Luke’s Gospel, two passages (following slide) show essen-
tial equivalence between “the twelve” and many other disciples.

After this the Lord appointed
seventy-two others and sent them
two by two ahead of him to every
town and place he was about to go.
He told them, “....Do not take a
purse or bag or sandals; and do not
greet anyone on the road. When
you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace
to this house.’ If someone who
promotes peace is there, your
peace will rest on them... Stay
there, eating and drinking whatever
they give you, for the worker
deserves his wages. Do not move
from house to house.
When you enter a town and are
welcomed, eat what is offered to
you. Heal the sick who are there
and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God
has come near to you.’
- Lk. 10: 1-8
Jesus called the Twelve to-
gether and gave them power
and authority to drive out all
demons and to cure diseases,
and he sent them out to
proclaim the kingdom of God
and to heal the sick. He told
them: “Take nothing for the
journey—no staff, no bag, no
bread, no money, no extra shirt.
Whatever house you enter, stay
there until you leave that town.
If people do not welcome you,
leave their town and shake the
dust off your feet as a testi-
mony against them.” So they set
out and went from village to
village, proclaiming the good
news and healing people
everywhere. - Lk. 9: 1-6

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain
where Jesus had told them to go.
When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven
and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you.”
- Mt. 28 16-20
“Great” Evangelical assignment
This textural evidence suggests ambiguity in the tradition
received by the Gospel writers; that there was little difference
at first between apostle and disciple.

- Acts 1:13-18
Who are apostles?
The apostles returned to Jerusalem... Peter, John, James and
Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James
son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
They joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (who
numbered about 120).. “Brothers and sisters... it is necessary to
choose someone who has been with us the whole time the Lord
Jesus was living among us... someone must become a witness
with us of his resurrection (to replace Judas).”

- Acts 1:13-18
Who are apostles?
The apostles returned to Jerusalem... Peter, John, James and
Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James
son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.
They joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women
and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (who
numbered about 120).. “Brothers and sisters... it is necessary to
choose someone who has been with us the whole time the Lord
Jesus was living among us... someone must become a witness
with us of his resurrection (to replace Judas).”
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Why do the apostles feel it is necessary
to “replace” Judas?
Can it even be done?
It wasn’t an elected position!
Why does the account in Acts make a point of
this “election” when the very existence of
the nascent Church is highly uncertain?

- Acts 1:19-26
So they nominated two:
Joseph Barsabbas (known
as Justus) and Matthias.
Then they prayed... “Show
us which of these two you
have chosen to take over
this apostolic ministry,
which Judas left to go
where he belongs.” Then
they cast lots. The lot fell to
Matthias, so he was added
to the eleven apostles.
What did Matthias receive (authority? blessing? debit card?)
as a consequence of his “election” that Joseph did not?

Mark Matt. Luke Acts John Non-canonical
EpistleSimon (= Peter = Cephas)
No
List
(Nathanael)
No use of
“apostle” only
of “disciple”
Andrew
James
John
Philip
Thomas
Bartholomew
Matthew
James, son of Alphaeus Nathanael
Thaddaeus Judas, son of James Cephas
Simon the Cananaen Simon the Zealot
Judas Iscariot
Matthias

For what I {Paul} received I passed on to you as of
first importance:
That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
That he was buried,
That he was raised on the 3rd day according to the Scriptures,
And that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the
brothers and sisters at the same time...
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last
of all he appeared to me also.... - 1Cor. 15:3-8
Always wished that I’d be an apostle
The text in italics, held by scholars to be a earlier creedal state-
ment repeated here by Paul, is evidence that there were in fact 12
special disciples before Paul - but, note, not called “apostles”.

Always wished that I’d be an apostle
In other passages, Paul insists on calling himself an apostle.
Are the 500 people who saw Jesus also entitled to call themselves
“apostles”?
Paul seems to say that Peter is not one of “the Twelve”. It could be
he meant “...and then to the rest of the Twelve”
James here is not the brother of John the Apostle but the brother
of Jesus. Paul seems to lump him with “all the apostles”.
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted
with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the
other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. - Gal. 1:18-19
This passage identifies him to be the head of the Jerusalem
church. But how could he be in authority over “the 12”?

- Mk. 8:15-18
Knew that I would make it if I tried
“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the
Pharisees and that of Herod.”
They discussed this with one another, saying “It is because we have
no bread.”
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking
about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your
hearts hardened? You have eyes but fail to see, ears but fail to hear.
They {passed through Galilee} and came to Capernaum. There {Jesus}
asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” They kept
quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the
greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve to him and said,
“Anyone who wants to be first must be last, and be the servant of all.”
- Mk. 9:33-35

- Mk. 8:15-18
Knew that I would make it if I tried
“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the
Pharisees and that of Herod.”
They discussed this with one another, saying “It is because we have
no bread.”
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking
about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your
hearts hardened? You have eyes but fail to see, ears but fail to hear.
They {passed through Galilee} and came to Capernaum. There {Jesus}
asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” They kept
quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the
greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve to him and said,
“Anyone who wants to be first must be last, and be the servant of all.”
- Mk. 9:33-35
The Gospels’ portrayal of the apostles is less than
flattering. They are chronically unable to grasp Jesus’
teachings. Even Peter, after blurting out that Jesus is “the
Messiah, the son of God” is rebuked by Jesus with the
shocking command “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mt. 16:23).
Most infamous are Peter’s denial, Thomas’
doubt and Judas’ betrayal.
Given (by Jesus) a final exam to pass to become an apostle,
we can be sure that this sorry bunch would have flunked!

After all of the “hype” over the Twelve in the Gospels and given
their early success when Jesus sent them out on mission to
preach and heal...
... is it not strange that there is scant indication in Acts (or any
account of the earliest period of Church formation and growth)
that the Apostles, other than Peter, played an important role?
After the resurrection, the Twelve all but disappear from sight.
Others “step up”, e.g. Deacons like Stephen, the first martyr, and
Philip (not the Apostle) who converts the Ethiopian eunuch.
In Paul’s ministry, many others play a vital evangelical role (e.g.
Apollos, Priscilla and Aquila, Timothy).
Then when I retired I can...
what... write a gospel?

- Acts 12:1-3
Past Their Prime?
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who
belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.
He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the
sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the
Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also.
The apostles feel it is necessary to replace Judas Iscariot
after his death (with Matthias) but there is no report in
Acts that the Apostles hastened in the same manner to
replace James.
Why? What happened to the Apostles?

What Happened to the Apostles?
And after a last speech at the
“Council in Jerusalem” of Acts 15,
brought on by the missionary work
of Paul and Barnabas and pre-
sided over by the non-
apostle James, even Peter
does not appear again, let
alone the other Apostles.
From then on “The Acts of
the Apostles” is entirely “The
Acts of Paul”.

What Happened to the Apostles?
And after a last speech at the
“Council in Jerusalem” of Acts 15,
brought on by the missionary work
of Paul and Barnabas and pre-
sided over by the non-
apostle James, even Peter
does not appear again, let
alone the other Apostles.
From then on “The Acts of
the Apostles” is entirely “The
Acts of Paul”.Keep a sharp eye out and a critical mind open as
we examine Scripture and Legend to find out
WHAT HAPPENED to each of the 12+1 apostles.

Where Did
the Apostles Go?
Part One
Lesson 2
Thomas

Into all the world
When Portuguese merchants sailed around the tip of Africa and finally
landed in India in 1498, they
were astonished to be met
by Christians.
And the churches in India were
not new arrivals- they said that
they had a very long history.
They claimed that they were
the spiritual descendants of
converts of the Apostle
Thomas.

Where Did The Apsotles Go? Part One

How did Thomas Get There?
According to Indian Christian traditions, the Apostle sailed to India
in 52 AD arriving in what is now the Indian state of Kerala, preached
the Gospel widely, and planted seven churches.
As with early Christianity in the Roman Empire, he probably made
converts largely among Jews who arrived in India around 562 BC,
after the destruction of the First Temple.
Many of these Jews presumably spoke Aramaic as did Thomas,
who, of course, was also Jewish.
Eusebius of Caesarea reported that Pantaenus, the head of a Christian
school in Alexandria (Egypt), went to India during the reign of the
Emperor Commodus (ca. 180 AD) and found Christians already living
in India using a version (probably in Syriac) of the Gospel of Matthew.

According to the Acts of Thomas, Thomas was reluctant to accept
a mission of any kind. Jesus appeared to him in a vision and said,
“Fear not, Thomas. Go to India and proclaim the Word, for my
grace shall be with you.” But the Apostle still resisted, so the Lord
arranged for him to be sold as a slave to an Indian merchant....
Thomas was commanded to build a palace for a king. The
Apostle did build a mansion, but it was a spiritual palace in
heaven since he distributed the royal building funds to the
poor. In this way he instructed the king in the life of Christ.

And he came to the mountain, to the place where he was to be
killed. He then spoke to those that held him, “Brethren, I am come
to my departure out of the body. Let not then the eyes of your heart
be blinded, nor your ears be made deaf. Believe on the God whom I
preach... walk in all your liberty, and in the glory that is toward men,
and the life that is toward God.
And the blessed Thomas kneeled down, and stretched forth his
hands unto heaven, and {prayed}, “My Lord and my God, and hope
and redeemer and leader and guide in all countries, be thou with all
them that serve thee, and guide me this day as I come unto
thee....And when he had thus prayed he said unto the soldiers:
Come, carry out the command of him that sent you.
- Acts of Thomas, 166-169
The martyrdom of Thomas

The Martyrdom of St. Thomas
Peter Paul Rubens
There is some irony in this
mode of execution – as one
particular spear thrust is
famously associated with him.
And the four came and
pierced him with their
spears, and he fell down
and died.
And all the brethren
wept.
And they brought fair
linen and buried him in
a royal sepulcher
wherein kings were laid.

A modest chapel
serves as a memorial
to the event atop St.
Thomas Mount

The Basilica
of St. Thomas,
Chennai, India
The spearhead alleged to
have killed him is on display
but his remains are not there

Into all the world
Still today, when Christians constitute 2.3% of the population (ca. 28 million
people), most Indian Christians live along the southwestern, Malabar, coast,
and in or near the southeastern city of Chennai. Most belong to either a
branch of Christianity called Syrian
(Assyrian) or Roman Catholic.
Syriac Christianity encompasses the
multiple Churches of Eastern
Christianity whose services feature
liturgical use of ancient Syriac, a
dialect of Middle Aramaic that
emerged in Edessa (in what is now
southeastern Turkey) in the early 1st
century AD. Tradition in Edessa honors
Thomas as the "Apostle of India“ and
resulted in several hymns dating to
the 8th and 9th centuries.

Why?
seeing he accomplished so much for
the church, why disparage
him as
“doubting” Thomas?
“St. Thomas”, Pierre Le Gros (1705-11)
installed in the Archbasilica of St. John
Lateran, Rome, Italy

You have a point,
Thomas. But let’s
dig deeper be-
fore we let you
off the hook.
All I’m saying is we don’t call
Peter “Denying three times
Peter” or Mark “Ran away naked
Mark.” So why should I be
saddled with this lousy title?

Thomas in the New Testament
 Thomas is on the lists of each synoptic Gospel: Mt.10:3; Mark
3:18; Luke 6; and also in Acts (1:13)...
 ...but these accounts do not record that he did anything or say
anything as an individual, just as one of the Twelve
 It is the Gospel of John that tells us about Thomas the human
being, a person of faith and of incredulity
 When Jesus announced His intention of returning to Judea to
visit Lazarus...(John 11:16, slide to follow).
 When Jesus prepares them for his death (John 14:5 slide to follow).
 When the other Apostles announced Christ's Resurrection to
him...(John 20:25 slide to follow);
 When eight days later he made his act of faith, drawing down the
rebuke of Jesus...(John 20:29 slide to follow).

...Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her
sister Martha... the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love
is sick.”....
{Jesus told his disciples} “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am
going there to wake him up.”
His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” They
thought he meant natural sleep.
So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead... let us go to him.”
Then Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we
may die with him.”
- Jn. 11:1-16
Thomas in the NT: bravado?

{Jesus spoke to His disciples} “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You
believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many
rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there
to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you
to be with me that you also may be where I am.
You know the way to the place where I am going.”
Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so
how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life....
- Jn. 14:1-6
Thomas in the NT: a blockhead?

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples
were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side...
Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am
sending you.”
Now Thomas... was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the
other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and
put my finger where the nails were, and put (shove) my hand into
his side, I will not believe.” - Jn. 20:19-26
Thomas in the NT: bluster?

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples
were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders,
Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
After he said this, he showed them his hands and side...
Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am
sending you.”
Now Thomas... was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the
other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and
put my finger where the nails were, and put (shove) my hand into
his side, I will not believe.” - Jn. 20:19-26
Thomas in the NT: bluster?
Thomas is skeptical, all bluster- even belligerent. Is
he jealous of the others? His request to “thrust” his
hand into the Lord’s side is evocative and irreverent.
Wait a sec. Why does Jesus still have a gaping
wound– isn’t his Risen body whole?
Surely our wounds and sicknesses will be healed
when we rise? Wouldn’t Jesus he whole again?
And those nail marks? How can Thomas know Jesus
had them? And where else does it say Jesus was
nailed to the cross (usually people were tied)?

Where there is doubt...
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was
with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
Then he said to Thomas,
“Put your finger here; see
my hands. Reach out your
hand and put it into
my side...”

Confusion to Confession
Then Jesus told him,
“Because you have
seen me, you have
believed; blessed are
those who have not
seen and yet have
believed.”
Jesus to Thomas:
“Stop doubting and
believe.”
Thomas to Jesus:
“My Lord and my
God!”

There is faith
Countless paintings and other artistic renderings of this scene clearly
show Thomas rudely probing Jesus’ side or hands but the text does
not sanction that imagining – Thomas’ immediate (and memorable
and inspirational) response was a profession of faith not an
impertinent action.
Surely the author of John intended Jesus’ mild rebuke to be for all
John’s readership, since they, too, could not see the Risen Lord and
must believe without physical touching.
The focus on wounds is surely the author’s way of emphasizing a
bodily resurrection.
The text goes on: Jesus performed many other signs in the presence
of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are
written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of
God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Who was Thomas’ brother?
The name Thomas is from the Aramaic Toma (equivalent in Hebrew,
Teom) meaning "twin" and comes to English from the Greek: Θωμᾶς.
An equivalent for “twin” in Greek is Δίδυμος (Didymus).
This Greek equivalent is curiously prominent in the Gospel of John,
appearing in no other place in the NT. Of the 4 passages in which
Thomas appears, the author emphasizes in 3 of them that Thomas
has this alternate name, for example, Jn. 20:24:
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the
Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
Why?
There is no recorded use by 1st century Palestinian Jews of the term.
The author of the Gospel of John, writing in the late 1st century in
Greek, wanted to be sure his readers knew who Thomas really was,
the brother of someone important. But who was his brother?

You don’t really want to be called “twin”
In times past, twins were considered somehow the result of sorcery, or
Divine disfavor, especially identical twins.
The older brother of a
pair of first-borns
would inherit the
family estate, so the
(very slightly) younger
son would get saddled
with the somewhat
disreputable
sobriquet, “twin”.
Identical twin brothers Robert and Michael Bryan, the most successful pro doubles tennis players of
all time. Mike is the elder by two minutes. The Bryans have won multiple Olympic medals, including
gold (2012) and more games, matches, and tournaments than any other men's pairing.

Why the emphasis on “twin”?
One can then see why words like “doubt” and “double” are distantly
related to each other through the Latin “dubitare” and “duo”.
Those who are “double-minded” are berated in the Epistle of James:
Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands,
you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.– Ja. 4:8
Early Syrian traditions give Thomas’ full name as Judas Thomas.
So, was “twin” just a nickname to keep him apart from other Judas’s
(Judas bother of James, Judas Barsabbas, etc.) especially Judas Iscariot?
The previous cartoon notwithstanding, apostolic nicknames are applied
to Simon (= Peter = “rock”) and others (James Lesser, “Son of Thunder”)
Another tradition identifies his brother as the Apostle Judas (or Jude),
but the Acts list clearly sets them apart.

Why the emphasis on “twin”?
Most intriguing is the possibility that Thomas’ brother was Jesus.
This is not so strange as it may sound since the NT indicates that
Jesus had four brothers at least (Mk. 6:2-3):
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked....What are
these remarkable miracles he is performing?... Isn’t this Mary’s
son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and
Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?”
One of them, James, became the first leader
of the Jerusalem Church (see Acts 12:17, 21:18
& Gal. 2:9).
Stranger still, of course, is it for us to think that
Thomas was the twin brother of Jesus!
Or maybe Thomas just resembled him and this
earned him an affectionate nickname?

Did Thomas record the words of Jesus?
"These are the hidden words that
the living Jesus spoke and
Didymus Judas Thomas wrote
them down."

Some texts were not included in the NT Canon
In Dec. 1945, two men digging for fertilizer in a cave not far from Luxor in
central Egypt, found, sealed into clay jars, a collection of scrolls, probably
buried in the late 4th century after a pastoral letter from Alexandria’s
Bishop, Athanasius all but fixed the canon
of Christian scripture, thus putting non-
canonical texts in danger of destruction.

The Gospel of Thomas
(2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds.
When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled,
he will be astonished, and he will rule over the all.“
(3) Jesus said, "The old man will not hesitate to ask a small child seven
days old about the place of life, and he will live. For many who are first
will become last, and they will become one and the same."
One of those long-buried scrolls is a Coptic-language document con-
sisting of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus (without any narrative).
Intriguingly, almost half of these sayings resemble those found in the
canonical Gospels.
Scholars speculate that the other sayings were added by Gnostic
Christians, probably in Syria, where Thomas lived before journeying to
India and where his teachings were long remembered.

150 years after his martyrdom in India, Thomas’ remains and the
greater portion of his relics were sent by an Indian ruler back to
Syria, to the city of Edessa.
By the 4th century, Edessa was already a destination for Christian
pilgrims as witnessed by the travel writings of a Sister Egeria she
addressed to her home community of nuns.
Where is Thomas laid to rest?
We arrived at Edessa in the Name of Christ our God, and we straight
away repaired to the church and memorial of St. Thomas.
There we made prayers and did those things that were customary in
the holy places; we read also some things concerning the Saint himself.
The church there is very great, very beautiful and of new construction,
well worthy to be the house of God, and as there was much that I
desired to see, it was necessary for me to make a 3 days' stay there.

Control of Christian holy sites passed to Muslim rulers in the 7th
century, including the martyrium of Thomas.
It was destroyed in 1144 but the relics were kept safe; most were
transported to the Greek island of Chios.
Then (in 1258) most were stolen
(so it is told!) and taken to Italy
except his skull, which ended up
(how it is not told) on the island
made famous by the NT book
of Revelation, Patmos (right).
And that’s how the remains of
the Apostle to India came to their
final rest in the land long before
his arrival made holy by the bones of Saints Peter and Paul, in...
Where is Thomas laid to rest?

.... the Cathedral of St. Thomas, Ortona, Italy

The altar reliquary of
St. Thomas the Apostle

The relics miraculously survived the vicious
8-day Battle of Ortona, fought by Canadian
soldiers in Dec. 1943. The cathedral was
blown up because its dome gave the
Germans a view of Allied movements on
the Adriatic Sea. Monks secured the relics
from Nazi looting by hiding them inside the
bell tower; it was the only part of the
church intact after fighting stopped.

Thomas the Apostle – Take Home
 Yes, he doubted that God raised Jesus to life (which of
Jesus’ followers did think he would before he did?)
 But he also gave us a most memorable statement of faith
 And he journeyed farther than any other apostle to
preach the Good News and plant churches
 He is remembered with reverence by millions of Christians
to this day in all branches- Orthodox, Eastern, and Roman.
 We will never know who his older brother was, but...
 ...all of us are, in a very real sense, like Thomas, a “twin”
of Jesus Christ when we live with the Holy Spirit in-
dwelling and follow our Lord and our God.

Where Did
the Apostles Go?
Part One
Lesson 3
Matthew & Philip

The Calling of Saint Matthew (1600) was for its creator,
Caravaggio (1571–1610), his first public commission and
won him recognition as “the most famous painter in
Rome”. His life thereafter was a tragic mess (brawls,
duels, prison, a murder and an early death).

Two things about St. Matthew probably
come into your mind:
(1) He was a tax collector before Jesus called
him to be an Apostle
(2) He later wrote one of the four Gospels;
that is, he became an Evangelist.
The first of these things is recorded in the
NT; the second is not.
Matthew the Apostle

Matthew, a collector of tolls, customs and duties
As Jesus went on from there, he
saw a man named Matthew sitting
at the tax collector’s booth.
“Follow me,” he told him, and
Matthew got up and followed him.
While Jesus was having dinner at
Matthew’s house, many tax
collectors and sinners came and
ate with him and his disciples.
- Mt. 9:9-10
There are only six
occurrences of the
name “Matthew” in the
NT, four in lists of the
Apostles. Here (right)
are the only two others.
Unlike with Thomas,
then, the NT provides
no words spoken by this
Apostle, no hint of his
character or faith, other
than simply that he “got
up and followed”.

Taxation in Palestine was first set up under Ptolemaic rule (~ 300 BC) as a system of
government-contracted “tax-farmers” who purchased the right to collect taxes. The
agent paid the state in advance the sum to be levied. This continued until the
Romans took over and introduced publicani, Roman agents who directly collected
taxes for Rome. Julius Caesar returned to the tax-farming system in 44 BC.
Later division of the region brought differences in tax collection in different
regions. The ethnarch Archelaus and the tetrarch Herod Antipas had their own
arrangements. Direct taxes were not farmed out in Judea. It seems as though the
Sanhedrin, under the supervision of the procurator, was responsible for the
collection of taxes and their payment to Rome.
In Jesus’ day, then, the perception of tax-collectors as agents of Rome and traitors
may have differed from Galilee to Judea. In Galilee payment of taxes and tolls could
not be construed as direct support of Gentiles in the same way as were taxes paid
to the Roman officials in Judea.
Scholars generally draw a distinction between direct and indirect taxes, and
between taxes and customs (or tolls). The latter were “minor taxes, sales taxes,
customs taxes, taxes on transport. It is generally thought that Matthew was this
type of Galilean “customs” tax-farmer.
Collecting taxes, tolls and duties

As Jesus went on from
there, he saw a man
named Matthew
sitting at the tax
collector’s booth.
“Follow me,” he told
him, and Matthew got
up and followed him.
While Jesus was having
dinner at Matthew’s
house, many tax
collectors and sinners
came and ate with him
and his disciples.
- Mt. 9:9-10
As {Jesus} walked
along, he saw Levi son
of Alphaeus sitting at
the tax collector’s
booth.
“Follow me,” Jesus told
him, and Levi got up
and followed him.
While Jesus was having
dinner at Levi’s house,
many tax collectors
and sinners were
eating with him and his
disciples, for there
were many who
followed him.
- Mk. 2:13-17
Jesus went out
and saw a tax collector
by the name of Levi
sitting at his tax
booth.
“Follow me,” Jesus said
to him, and Levi got
up, left everything and
followed him.
Then Levi held a great
banquet for Jesus at
his house, and a large
crowd of tax collectors
and others were eating
with them.
- Lk. 5:27-28
Matthew or Levi?

MattLevi, a collector of tolls and duties
Some think Levi is another of Matthew’s
names, one Hebrew, one Greek.
But Matthew is a Hebrew name = ‫ָהּו‬‫י‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִּ‫ת‬ ַ‫מ‬
Mattityahu "Gift of Yahweh”
Also possible – Matthew is from the tribe of
Levi and so he might be “Matthew the
Levite” in full and then “Levi” for short.
If so, Mark is inconsistent because when he
lists the Apostles, he lists Matthew and does
not mention a person named Levi.

The traditional view of the Evangelists

Mark: The Winged Lion
Symbolizes: the Resurrection.
Mark opens his gospel with the
mission of John the Baptist, ‘the
voice of one crying in the
wilderness’ whose cry was like
the roar of the lion, also one
who lived in the wilderness.
Mark see Jesus as Christ, a king,
as the lion is traditionally seen
as the powerful king of animals.
Jesus, too, is powerful as shown
by his power over death.
Mark is said to
have been the
scribe of Peter,
hence his
knowledge of
the life, works,
and sayings of
Jesus.

Luke: The Winged Ox
Symbolizes: The Passion.
he form of the ox, the beast of
strength, service and sacrifice,
sets forth the sacred office of
Christ the High Priest and, at
the same time, himself the
sacrificial offering, the
atonement for sin by blood,
stressed in Luke’s gospel.
Luke is said
to have been
the scribe of
St. Paul, and
through Paul
established
contacts
with other
early church
leaders to
learn all he
knew of the
life of Jesus.

John: The Eagle
Symbolizes: the Ascension
The eagle is allotted to St. John because, as
the eagle soars towards heaven, John, the
sacred writer, soars in spirit up to the heaven
of heavens to bring back to earth revelation of
sublime and awesome things of God in Christ.
John, we learn in the Gospels, was
given charge by Jesus on the cross to care for
Mary, his mother, and so, from her, gather
many intimate stories of his life not recorded
by the other evangelists.

Matthew: The Winged Man
Symbolizes: The Incarnation
Matthew begins his Gospel with the human
generation of Christ and so is seen as “down to
earth”. He dwells more than the other writers on
the human nature of Jesus, his earthly works, and
his fulfilment of OT prophecy then upon his
divinity.
Matthew is said to have been paired with...?
There is no traditional pairing – Since Matthew
the Evangelist is said to be Matthew the Apostle,
he needs no “inside” information source.

“Matthew collected the sayings (logia) [of the Lord] in the Hebraic
dialect (Aramaic) and each one interpreted them as he was able.”
Papias (fragment, ca. 130 AD)
Why the attribution?
The account of the calling of the tax-collector by Jesus in the Gospel
of Matthew names him as “Matthew” the other accounts as “Levi”.
Matthew the Apostle would write in Aramaic since it was his native
language. That he could write at all is not inconsistent with his
being a tax collector. If he did write the Gospel in Aramaic, the work
must have been translated later into the Greek text we have today
and the older text lost.
Pro

“Matthew collected the sayings (logia) [of the Lord] in the Hebraic
dialect (Aramaic) and each one interpreted them as he was able.”
Papias (fragment, ca. 130 AD)
Why the attribution?
The account of the calling of the tax-collector by Jesus in the Gospel
of Matthew names him as “Matthew” the other accounts as “Levi”.
But our Greek text (according to scholars) does not have the “feel” of
a translation. And, of course, it is not just a collection of sayings but a
reasonably coherent narrative. And nowhere in the text does the
author claim to have been an eyewitness to the events narrated.
Scholars conclude that what Papias referred to was not a Gospel. If
Matthew wrote another work, it is has not survived the ages.
Con

The character of Matthew the Evangelist
Be that as it may...
The skills, character and viewpoint of the author of the Gospel of
Matthew shine through the text we know so well.
 He was skilled in writing – in Greek - but he is also at home in Jewish
culture and is well-versed in OT Scripture
 Best guess: he was a Greek-speaking Diaspora Jewish Christian, like
St. Paul, educated, OK with Gentiles converts, possibly a Pharisee but
in conflict with the rabbinical form of Judaism that arose after the
destruction of the Temple
 He sees the life, mission, and death of Jesus as intimately connected
to Jewish prophecy: “thus was fulfilled” occurs 14 times in his Gospel
 He sees Jesus as Messiah, so the future of a renewed Israel is all
about Jesus leading all people to form an apocalyptic Kingdom of
heaven under God the Father.

Matthew is
said to have
preached in
Ethiopia,
where he was
martyred.
In 954, his
remains were
moved from
his tomb
there to
Salerno, Italy.

Matthew the Apostle – Take Home
 He has become synonymous with the writer of
the Gospel of Matthew, so why not just “so with
the flow” and just take one for the other.
 Matthew, then, is due our respect and honor, not
as an Apostle per se (because we know nothing
about his work as a preacher)...
 ...but as the “one who was sent” as a writer so
that all of us today can know Christ and - every
day - get up from what we are doing to answer
the call of Jesus.

Philip the Apostle
St. Philip, by Peter Paul Rubens
(1611), Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain
 The Synoptic Gospels make no
mention of Philip outside the lists
(once each) of the 12.
 The Gospel of John gives us insight
into his personality in four places:
Chap. 1, 6, 12, & 14
 The NT Acts of the Apostles
includes him in the list of the 12 in
Chap. 1 but after that, nothing
 ...there is, however, a lot about
another Philip, designated “the
Evangelist, one of the Seven”

The Call of Philip
Jesus decided to go to Galilee. Finding
Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was
from the town of Bethsaida.
Philip found Nathanael and told him,
“We have found the one Moses wrote
about in the Law, and about whom
the prophets also wrote—Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
“Nazareth! Can anything good come
from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
- Jn. 1:44-46

The Call of Philip
Like a lot of passages in John, this passage
is puzzling.
Why the curious echo in the passage
(Jesus “finds” Philip / Philip “finds” Jesus.
There is no explanation for what either
means – was Jesus searching for Philip?
Was Philip searching for the Messiah?
And why is Philip making the public
announcement of the Messiahship of
Jesus not Peter (as is famously the case
in the Synoptic Gospels)?
And who is Nathanael?

 “Philip” in Greek means “lover of horses” (phil + ‘ippos)
 One of four Apostles with a Greek name (the others are
Peter, Andrew, Thaddeus)
 But it is unlikely he was Greek – if as John reports he was
from Bethsaida, he was as Jewish as Jesus; his native
language would have been Aramaic
 Palestinian Jews of Jesus time had been immersed in
Greek culture for over 300 years since the conquests of
Alexander the Great....
 ...whose father was named “Philip”
 Philip was probably, like his friends Peter and Andrew, a
fisherman, and probably, like the other Apostles, illiterate
and never owned a horse!
What’s in the name “Philip”?

Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee and a great
crowd of people followed him...Then Jesus went up on a
mountainside and sat down with his disciples.... {He} looked up
and saw a great crowd {and} said to Philip, “Where shall we buy
bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him,
for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Philip fails the test

Philip fails the test
Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages
to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” - Jn. 6:1-7
Philip is no more able to appreciate the abilities of Jesus than the
other Apostles and the author of John emphasizes this failure by
his editorial comment about a “test”.
But why? Did he want to pick on Philip for some reason? Or was it
just “author’s choice” - he had to have one of them speak up and
he made it be Philip for no other reason?

Philip the intermediary
Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship
at the festival. They came to Philip... with a request.
“Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip, in turn, told Jesus.
- Jn. 12: 20-22
It is unclear who the foreigners were (“God-fearers”?), why they
wanted to see Jesus (not “talk to” Jesus?), and why they didn’t
approach Jesus directly.
As noted above, it is unlikely that Philip could act as an inter-
preter or that they thought he was Greek.
Whatever, the text is even more confusing when Jesus does not
address the Greeks – instead, he delivers a lengthy speech with-
out any reference to them, as if the author just wanted to “set
the stage” for Jesus (not an uncommon literary device in John).

Philip receives a gentle rebuke
Jesus {said}, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my
Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father; that will be enough for us.”
Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have
been among you...? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?... Don’t you believe that I
am in the Father and the Father is in me? - Jn. 14: 6-8
What happened to the Philip of Chap. 1 who found the Messiah?
Maybe John’s Jesus is beyond him (and John’s readers?). Does this
passage really tell us anything about Philip or is he just the
author’s designated spokesperson again?

So....
What do we know about Philip’s
character from the Gospels?
+ From the Synoptics.... Nothing.
+ From John..... Hard to say.
He does play a part and appears to
have more “access” to Jesus than
some of the other Apostles.
+ But he does not show any more
insight (after a good start).
+ From Acts and Epistles...nothing.

We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we
greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day.
Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of
Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried
daughters who prophesied. - Acts 21:7-9
Deacon Philip is active / Apostle Philip is absent
...when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews
complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being
overlooked in the distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered the
disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the
ministry of the word of God to wait on tables... {so} choose seven from
among you... We will turn this responsibility over to them... They chose
Stephen, also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas....
- Acts 6:1-6

Missionary (?) and Evangelist (?)
 Letter from Peter to Philip, one of the texts in the Nag Hammadi
Library (dated to the end of the 2nd century)
 Philip undertakes a missionary journey shortly after the
Resurrection of Jesus
 In this letter, Peter asks Philip to rejoin the other apostles
who had gathered at the Mount of Olives for the Ascension.
 The Gospel of Philip, another text in the Nag Hammadi collection
(dating uncertain, probably early 3rd century)
 5 sacraments (Baptism, anointing, Eucharist, salvation and
bridal chamber)
 Emphasis on those who understand and those who do not,
those with true knowledge and those without
 Pretty strange and clearly Gnostic

...or Martyr (?)
Acts of Philip (early 4th century) recounts the preaching & miracles
of Philip with Bartholomew in Greece and Syria, then in Phrygia
(S. E. Turkey) where he was martyred in the city of Hierapolis.
 Through a miraculous healing Philip converted the wife of
the proconsul of the city which enraged the official.
 He had Philip and Bartholomew tortured, then crucified.
 Philip preached from the cross, persuading the people to
release Bartholomew.
 He insisted, however, that they not release him, and so he
died there.

Filippino Lippi, Strozzi Chapel,
Santa Maria Novella, Florence

Bascilica Santi Apostoli, Rome
[Church of the Holy Apostles] where
Philip’s relics are preserved
after Pope John III
requested them in
570 AD from Christians
of Hierapolis

Philip the Apostle – Take Home
 No information from the Synoptic Gospels, Acts, or
Epistles, but relatively active and vocal in John
 With caution, can speculate he was a fisherman and
friend of Peter and Andrew (and Nathanael)
 He may have had a closer relationship with Jesus than
some of the other Apostles
 Confused in early Christian tradition (and still today)
with the deacon Philip (the Evangelist)
 Purported to have preached in Greece, Syria and (what
is today) eastern Turkey
 Died a martyr there (crucified upside-down) but his
relics are (purportedly) preserved in Rome.

Where Did
the Apostles Go?
Part One
Lesson 4
James the Greater & James
the Lesser

 Doubtful Thomas made a great
profession of faith; was missionary
to India; Gospel (all sayings) is
intriguing but likely Gnostic.
 Toll collector Matthew followed
Jesus when he called; is credited
with writing a canonical Gospel.
 A fishing buddy of Simon and
Andrew, Philip might have done
important missionary work in
Greece, Syria and Turkey but
certainly did not write his gospel.
 This lesson: Jameses “the Greater”
and “the Lesser”.
To Recap
The names of the 12 apostles:
1. Simon (Peter)
2. Andrew, his brother
3. James (Zebedee)
4. John, his brother
5. Philip
6. Bartholomew
7. Thomas (twin)
8. Matthew (toll collector)
9. James (Alphaeus)
10. Thaddaeus
11. Simon (Zealot)
12. Judas (Iscariot)
- from Mt. 10:2-4
The names of the 12 apostles:
1. Simon (Peter)
2. Andrew, his brother
3. James (Zebedee)
4. John, his brother
5. Philip
6. Bartholomew
7. Thomas (twin)
8. Matthew (toll collector)
9. James (Alphaeus)
10. Thaddaeus
11. Simon (Zealot)
12. Judas (Iscariot)
- from Mt. 10:2-4

Two Apostles are “James”
Search (NIV) returns 38 “hits” for the
word “james”
...the twelve {Jesus} appointed: Simon
(who he gave the name Peter), James,
son of Zebedee, and his brother John
(whom he gave the name “Boanerges”,
meaning “sons of thunder”), Andrew,
Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus,
Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot.
- Mk. 3:16-18
Our English translations
give the name as
“James” but the actual
Greek is Ἰάκωβον =
“Jacob”, a very popular
Jewish name indeed.
In Mark, Jesus gives
James and John
Zebedee a special
nickname (of affection
or status?), “thunder”.

Simple- just two Jameses, right?
1. Apostle James (Zebedee), brother of John
2. Apostle James (Alphaeus)
{Jesus} began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were amazed.
“Where did this man get these things?”
they asked. “What’s this wisdom that
has been given him? What are these
remarkable miracles he is performing?
Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s
son and the brother of James, Joseph,
Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here
with us?” - Mk. 6:2-4
James, a servant of
God and of the Lord
Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes
scattered among
the nations:
Greetings. – Jam. 1:1

Maybe four Jameses
When the centurion, who stood before
Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely
this man was the Son of God!” Some
women were watching from a distance.
Among them were Mary Magdalene,
Mary the mother of James the younger
and of Joseph, and Salome.
- Mk. 15:39-40
1. Apostle James (Zebedee), brother of John (“the Greater”)
3. James, the brother of Jesus
4. James, the author of the NT Book of James
Jude, a servant of
Jesus Christ and a
brother of James, to
those who have been
called, who are loved
in God the Father and
kept for Jesus Christ.
– Jude 1:1

How about 6 Jameses?
5. James the Younger (or “Lesser”, of status)
6. James, the brother of the author of the NT Book of Jude
Jesus went out... and spent the night praying to God. When
morning came, he called his disciples and chose twelve of
them, whom he designated apostles: Simon (named Peter),
his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew,
Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was
called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot.
-Lk. 6:12-16

Seven??
5. James the Younger (or “Lesser”, of status)
6. James, the brother of the author of the NT Book of Jude
7. James the father of Judas the Apostle (not Iscariot)
Which of these Jameses do you think are the
same James? Why?

James (Zebadee) was among the first
Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God...
....he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for
they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said. At once they left
their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his
brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.... {Jesus} called them, and
they left their father in the boat... and followed him. - Mk. 1:15-20

James Z. is in with the “In Group”
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives
opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and
Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when
will these things happen? And what will be
the sign that they are all about to be
fulfilled?” - Mk. 13:2-4
In Mark, James is one of a
small number of Apostles
(4) especially close to
Jesus. They speak as one.
Matthew reduces the “in
group” to 3 - Peter, James
and John.
James stays with the “in
group” (Andrew is out).
Matthew even puts
James ahead of John
After six days Jesus took with him Peter,
James and John the brother of James, and
led them up a high mountain by themselves.
There he was transfigured before them.
– Mt. 17:1-3
People {said to Jairus}, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher
anymore?” Jesus told {Jairus}, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” He did not
let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.
- Mk. 5:36-37

The martyrdom of James Z.
It was about this time that King Herod (Agrippa I) arrested some who
belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James,
the brother of John, put to death with the sword. - Acts 12:1
When he saw that this met with
approval... he proceeded to
seize Peter also.... {there
follows an account of Peter’s
angelic release from prison}.
Peter motioned with his hand
for them to be quiet.... “Tell
James and the other brothers
and sisters about this,” he said,
and then he left for another
place. - Acts 12:2-17

The influence of James “The Greater”
Most likely, then, James
preached after the Lord's
ascension for about 15
years in Jerusalem.
We do not know why he
was executed.
There is, after this, no
mention of James the
Greater in the NT and no
writings attributed to him.
But that does not mean he
is neglected in the post-NT
period.

Christians in Spain insist that he evangelized
there but the earliest known reference to
this is only in the later part of the 7th century.

He was buried at Jerusalem, but according to Spanish tradition, his
body was “translated” to Compostela, Galacia (far NW Spain) where
his shrine, a massive cathedral, Santiago de Compostela, became one
of the great pilgrimage goals.
In Iberia “Jacob” became "Iago", which prefixed with "Sant" became
"Santiago“ (the name of the capital of Chile); "Tiago" became
“Diego" (hence the CA city of San Diego); In French, it became
"Jacques“ (which is not “Jack” in English, which comes from “John”
which is “Jean” in French).

237,886 pilgrims completed the final
100 km (walking) or 200 km (cycling) to
Santiago de Compostela in 2014.

Providing rest & refreshment
to pilgrims is an important
business in Galicia

At the end of El Camino:
the Cathedral of St. James

The Second of the two Jameses
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority...
... Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James (Zebedee), his
brother John; Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (tax collector),
James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon (Zealot) and Judas
(Iscariot, who betrayed him).
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions:
• “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the
Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.
• As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has
come near.’
• Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, and
drive out demons.
Freely you have received; freely give. - Mt. 10:1-8

James Alphaeus
• All 4 lists of the Apostles (3 in the
Gospels, 1 in Acts) use the tag “son of
Alphaeus” to distinguish the second
from the first James.
• There no tradition regarding the death
of James the Apostle, son of Alphaeus
specifically. More on this later.
• James Alphaeus may be “James the
Lesser/Younger”; his mother, “Mary the
wife of Clopas” was at Jesus’ crucifixion
according to the Gospel of John (19:25).
• Not to be confused with the Cleopas of
Lk. 24:18 (whom the risen Lord en-
countered on the road to Emmaus)

Was James Son of Alphaeus the Son of Mary?
Mary, mother of James the Less and Joseph, wife of Alphaeus was
the sister of Mary the mother of the Lord, whom John names of
Cleophas, either from her father or from the family of the clan, or
for some other reason.
Papias of Hierapolis (70–163 AD), in the surviving fragments of
his work Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord, states that the
Mary who is the mother of James the Lesser/Younger, is the wife
of Alphaeus and the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus:
That would make the Apostle (James Alphaeus = James the
Lesser/Younger) the cousin of Jesus. But it also means you have to
accept that one Mary was another Mary’s sister.

Was James Alphaeus Matthew’s brother?
Jesus went out by the lake and a crowd came to him.... As he
walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax
collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him. Levi got up and
followed him.
While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax
collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples,
for there were many who followed him. - Mk. 13-15
Consider that Mark’s not-Matthew tax collector, Levi, of is also the
“son of Alphaeus”
If the apostle James was the brother of Levi (who is said to be the
same person as St. Matthew) that would explain why Jesus
seemed to know him and then call him.

James = James = James
 Jerome the great Christian scholar and Bible translator, con-
cluded that James Alphaeus is not just the same person as James
the Lesser/Younger, but also the same person as James, "the
brother of the Lord".
 Given the fact that the Semitic word for brother is also used for
other close relatives, James the brother of Jesus = son of
Alpheus was considered to be the cousin of Jesus.
“James, called the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just,
the son of Joseph by another wife, as some think, but, as
appears to me, the son of Mary sister of the mother our
Lord, Mary of Cleophas that John makes mention in his
book”. (his gospel)

James,
brother to
Our Lord, is
much more
important
to early
Christianity
than James
Alphaeus
whether he
was the
same
person or
not is
probably
not
important

Was James Alphaeus the brother of Jesus?
“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary,
and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
- Mk. 6:3 = Mt. 13:55
After that, {Jesus} appeared to more than five hundred of the
brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still
living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to
James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to
me (Paul) also. - 1Cor. 15:5-8
Jesus went around in Galilee.... And when the Jewish Festival
of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave
Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see
the works you do.... show yourself to the world.” For even his
own brothers did not believe in him. -Jn. 7:1-5

James the brother of Jesus
According to Eusebius, James was
named a bishop of Jerusalem by
the apostles: "James, the brother
of the Lord, to whom the
episcopal seat at Jerusalem had
been entrusted by the apostles".
Jerome wrote the same: "James...
after our Lord's passion.. ordained
by the apostles bishop of
Jerusalem..." and that James
"ruled the church of Jerusalem
thirty years".
The non-canonical Gospel of
Thomas confirms that Jesus
(after his resurrection) names
James as a leader of his
disciples: "The disciples said to
Jesus, 'We know that you will
depart from us. Who will be our
leader?' Jesus said to them,
“Where you are, you are to go
to James the Just, for whose
sake heaven and earth came
into existence”.

James the brother of Jesus
“The apostles and elders met to consider this question {must
Gentiles be circumcised to become Christians}. After much
discussion, Peter addressed them: “Brothers... They listened
to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God
had done among the Gentiles... When they finished, James
spoke up. “Brothers,” he said, “listen to me...It is my judgment
that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are
turning to God..... - Acts 15:6-21
After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem.... When we
arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers and sisters received us
warmly. Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the
elders were present. Paul greeted them and reported in detail
what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.
- Acts 21:16-19

James, the Lord's brother, succeeded to the government of the
Church, in conjunction with the apostles. He has been called “the
Just” by all from the days of the Lord down to the present time.
Many bore the name of “James”; but this one was holy from his
mother's womb. He drank no wine or other intoxicating liquor, nor
did he eat meat; no razor came upon his head; he did not anoint
himself with oil, nor bathe. He did not wear any woolen garment,
but fine linen only.
He went often to the temple. He could be found kneeling, begging
forgiveness for the people, so much so that the skin of his knees
became horny like that of a camel's by reason of his constantly
bending the knee in adoration to God and begging forgiveness for
the people.
James was holy (says Hegesippus 110-180 AD)

Attestation outside Scripture
James is identified as the brother of Jesus
by none other than Josephus in his history
Jewish Antiquities
{Ananus} had now a proper opportunity
{to display his authority and so he}
assembled the Sanhedrin of judges and
brought before them the brother of Christ
whose name was James and some
others...he delivered them to be stoned”

And they began to stone him... but he turned, and kneeled down, and
said: "I beseech Thee, Lord God our Father, forgive them; for they know
not what they do.“ And, while they were thus stoning him to death, one
of the priests... began to cry aloud, saying: "Cease, what do ye? The just
man is praying for us."
James was a martyr (ca. 62 AD)
But one among them, one of
the fullers, took the staff
which he used to wring out
the garments he dyed, and
hurled it at the head of the
just man. And so he suffered
martyrdom. They buried him
on the spot, and the pillar
erected to his memory is still
there close by the temple.

The Feast Day of Saint James the Lesser
In the RC Church, the feast day of Philip the Apostle, along with that
of James the Lesser (= James the Just), was traditionally observed
on May 1, the anniversary of The Church of the Twelve Apostles
dedicated to them
both in Rome (later
moved to May 3rd).
He is, appropriately,
the patron saint
of hat makers.

A last word from James, the brother of Jesus
I, James, the one who wrote this history in Jerusalem,
when a commotion arose when Herod died, withdrew
myself to the wilderness until the commotion in Jerusalem
ceased, glorifying the Lord God who had given me the gift
and the wisdom to write this history.
And grace shall be with them that fear our Lord Jesus
Christ, to whom be glory to ages of ages.
- closing verse of the Infancy Gospel of James.

Gospel of James, step-brother of Jesus
The Gospel of James, also known as the Infancy Gospel of
James (Protoevangelium), probably written about AD 145,
expands the infancy stories that are contained in the canonical
Gospels and presents a narrative concerning the birth and
upbringing of Mary herself.
It is the oldest extant source that asserts the “ever” virginity of
Mary and the source of the legend that Joseph was an elderly
widower when he married her.
No less an authority than Origen of Alexandria in the early 3rd
century, says that this text, is like that of the Gospel of Peter, i.e.
of recent appearance and dubious veracity.

Where Did
the Apostles Go?
Part One
Lesson 5
Judas & Matthias

Judas Iscariot is almost always the traitor
We get the barest glimpse of the man himself

Judas Iscariot, Apostle (if not saint)
 Judas was a common name in that era,
and there are several other Judases
mentioned in the NT
 The tag “Iscariot” might refer to his
father (Jn. 13) or to Kerioth, a region or
town in Judea and helps keep straight
which Judas is which (as with James).
 Was 1 of 12 close disciples of Jesus,
chosen by Jesus himself
 He followed Jesus, learned what he
taught, and proclaimed the good news
as well, likely, as did the others
 He was (??) the common purse keeper
for the group but they probably had little
money; more likely the women who
followed Jesus took care of them.

Mt. 10: 4 ... and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Mt. 26:14 ...one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests
Mk. 3:19 ...and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Mk. 14:10 ...Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief
priests to betray Jesus to them.
Lk. 6:16 ...and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Lk. 22: 3 ....Then Satan entered Judas, Iscariot, one of the Twelve...
Jn. 6:71 ...{Jesus} meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who
though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.
Jn. 12: 4 ....But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later
to betray him...
Jn. 13: 2 ....the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon
Iscariot, to betray Jesus.
Relentless and redundant
“Iscariot” 22 times, 21 times as betrayer or in act of betrayal

Questions
(1) If Jesus knew long before he betrayed him,
why did Jesus call Judas to be an Apostle?
(2) Why did Judas betray Jesus? Was he greedy
and did it for the money”? Impatient and was
trying to force Jesus to act in rebellion?
(3) Did the Jewish leaders need someone to
betray Jesus? Even Jesus says they could have
arrested him anytime (Mk. 14:49)
(4) Was Judas any worse than doubting Thomas
or denying Peter? Or the other Apostles, all of
whom fled when Jesus was arrested (Mk. 14:50)

Jesus predicts his betrayal
When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the
Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of
you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other,
“Surely you don’t mean me, Lord?”
Jesus replied, “... The Son of Man will go just as it is written about
him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be
better for him if he had not been born.”
Judas, who would betray him, said, “Surely you don’t mean me,
Rabbi?”
Jesus answered, “You have said so.”
- Mt. 26: 21-25 = Mk. 14:17-21 (Lk. 22:21-23 short version)

John tells it more dramatically
After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified,
“Truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of
them he meant.
The disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Peter
motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”
Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of
bread when I have dipped it in the dish.”
Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son
of Simon Iscariot.
- Jn. 13:21-30

As soon as
Judas took the
bread, Satan
entered him.
Jesus told him,
“What you are
about to do,
do quickly.”
... As soon as
Judas had
taken the
bread, he
went out.

The city of Jerusalem
was protected (some-
what) from attack by
two natural “moats”,
the Kidron Valley
on the east and the
Valley of Hinnom
on the west and
south, where it
meets and merges
with the Kidron
Valley.

When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed
the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his
disciples went into it. Judas knew the place, because
Jesus had often met there with his disciples.

So Judas came to the garden,
guiding a detachment of
soldiers and officials from
the chief priests and the
Pharisees carrying torches,
lanterns and weapons.
Jesus, knowing what was
going to happen to him,
went out and asked them,
“Who is it you want?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they
replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said.

Josiah... desecrated Topheth, in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one
could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek.
- 2Ki. 23:10
The Valley of Hinnom

Judah did evil in my eyes, declares the Lord... They
built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben
Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters.
So beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when people will no longer call it Topheth or the
Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter;
they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no
more room. Their carcasses will become food for the
birds and the wild animals... - Jer. 23:30-33

In Hebrew the Valley of the Son of Hinnom is Gei Ben-Hinnom or simply Gei-
Hinnom, taken into Greek as “Gehenna,” The valley’s other name, Topheth,
means “inferno”. It’s past and the fact that it was used until Jesus’ day as the
place to burn trash, helped build its image as a hell, a
zone of torment.

 The word does not occur in the OT
 English “hell”s is from Old English (ca. 700 AD, world of the dead)
cognates in Old Frisian helle, hille, Old Saxon hellja, Middle Dutch
helle, and Old German helle
 The word translated “hell” occurs 12 times in the NT
 In Greek, it is “Gehenna”
What the “hell”?
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter
life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes
out. And if your foot... cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled
than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye... pluck it
out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to
have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where “‘the worms that eat them
do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ (Is. 66:24) - Mk. 9:42-48

... the chief priests and the elders... made plans to have Jesus executed.
They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate the
governor.
When Judas, who had betrayed him,
saw that Jesus was condemned, he
was seized with remorse and re-
turned the 30 pieces of silver to the
chief priests and the elders.
“I have sinned,” he said, “for I
have betrayed innocent blood.”
- Mt. 27:1-4
Did Judas repent?

“So what?” they replied. “That’s
your responsibility.” So Judas threw
the money into the temple and left.
Then he went away and
hanged himself.
The chief priests picked up the coins
and said, “It is against the law to put
this into the treasury, since it is
blood money.”
They decided to buy the potter’s
field as a burial place for foreigners.
That is why it is called the
Field of Blood. - Mt. 27:5-8
How did Judas die?
With the payment he
received for his wickedness,
Judas bought a field;
there he fell headlong, his
body burst open and all his
intestines spilled out.
Everyone in Jerusalem heard
about this, so they called that
field in their language
Akeldama, that is,
Field of Blood.
- Acts 1:17-19
These explanations of the name are pretty weak and unpersuasive

The field “in their language” (Aramaic), haqel dema, or Akeldama,
or “Field of Blood”, is located in the Valley of Hinnom, synonymous
with hell, the fitting place for Judas to die according to Acts.
Earth in this area is a rich clay and was formerly used by potters.
For this reason the field was known as the Potter's Field.
The clay had a strong red color, which explains, perhaps, the
association of the name with blood.
There are many burial caves near the Greek
Orthodox monastery of St. Onuphrius.

The LORD God said: “Shepherd the flock marked for slaughter.... So I
took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I
shepherded the flock...
The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, “I will not
be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those
who are left eat one another’s flesh.”
Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I
had made with all the nations. It was revoked on that day... I told them,
“If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid
me thirty pieces of silver.
And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the handsome price
at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw
them to the potter at the house of the LORD.
Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the family bond
between Judah and Israel. - Ze. 11: 4-14
Is Judas’ story influenced by Zechariah?

Take home thoughts on Judas
(1) The accounts in Scripture are heavy-handed in
regards his betrayal of Jesus leading us to
speculate on what is at the core.
(2) Our questions remain unanswered. Judas was
called by Jesus, followed Jesus and learned of
Jesus. Why did he betray Jesus?
(3) This, though the Jewish leaders did not really
need someone to point out the popular
charismatic Rabbi. Anyone on the street would.
(4) Judas was no worse the other fickle Apostles,
all of whom fled when Jesus was arrested. And
Scripture tells us Judas had remorse.

The call luck of the draw of Matthias
St. Matthias by Peter Paul Reubens
(1611) Museo del Prado, Madrid
They nominated two men: Joseph
called Barsabbas and Matthias. Then
they prayed, “Lord, you know
everyone’s heart. Show us which of
these two you have chosen to take
over this apostolic ministry, which
Judas left to go where he belongs.”
Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to
Matthias so he was added to the
eleven apostles. - Acts 1:15-24
Peter stood up among the believers. “It is necessary
to choose one of the men with us the whole time
the Lord Jesus was among us, from John’s baptism
to the time when Jesus was taken up from us, {to}
become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

 There is no mention of a Matthias among the lists of disciples
or followers of Jesus in the three synoptic gospels,
 According to Acts, he had been with Jesus from his baptism by
John until his Ascension.
 Matthias was present with the other apostles at Pentecost.
 No further information about Matthias is in the canonical NT.
 His name is variable: the Syriac version of Eusebius calls him
throughout "Tolmai", not to be confused with the apostle
Bartholomew (which means son of Tolmai)
 Clement of Alexandria refers once to Zacchaeus in a way
which could be read as suggesting that some identified him
with Matthias.
 Others equate him with Barnabas or Nathanael
Who was Matthias?

Greek tradition holds that Matthias planted churches in Cappadocia
and on the coasts of the Caspian Sea, and lived near the port Issus.
He preached in Judaea, then in the region of Colchis (in modern-day
Georgia) and was there stoned to death.
The Coptic Acts of Andrew and Matthias places his activity similarly in
"the city of the cannibals" in Aethiopia. A marker placed in the ruins of
the Roman fortress at Gonio (in the modern Georgian region of Adjara)
claims that Matthias is buried at that site.
Matthias preached the Gospel to barbarians and meat-eaters
in the interior of Ethiopia, where the sea harbor of Hyssus is, at
the mouth of the river Phasis. He died at Sebastopolis, and was
buried there, near the Temple of the Sun.
Alternatively, another tradition maintains that Matthias was stoned
at Jerusalem by the Jews, and then beheaded.
Hippolytus of Rome wrote that Matthias died of old age in Jerusalem.

Matthias’ remains are interred
in the Abbey of St. Matthias,
Trier, Germany, the only tomb of
an apostle north of the Alps.

Matthias – Take Home
 Matthias was not chosen by Jesus to be an Apostle but
instead by his peers as a replacement for Judas
 While he is known for that one thing, there is no clear
explanation for the felt need of the Apostles to replace
Judas (if 12 was a such an important symbolic number, then
why were other Apostles not replaced when they died?).
 Nothing is known about him with any level of certainty
other than he was a faithful disciple of Jesus who was held
in high esteem by the group.
 He may have preached in what is modern-day Turkey, he
may have been a martyr, and his remains may now lie at
rest in Germany.

Where Did
the Apostles Go?
Part One
Lesson 7
Jude (Thaddeus)

 Thomas: Doubted then professed faith; missionary to India; apocryphal
gospel of sayings
 Matthew: left his toll booth when called and followed Jesus; Gospel
written in his name
 Philip: speaks in John; not the Deacon of Acts; maybe missionary to Syria,
Phrygia
 James Zebedee: brother is John; very close to Jesus; first apostle to suffer
martyrdom; patron saint of Spain
 James Alphaeus: Seven Jameses make his ID difficult, may have been
“The Lesser”, or the brother of Matthew or even of Jesus
 Judas: condemned as betrayer but simplistic story of a greedy villain
obscures many questions; no known tomb
 Bartholomew: Maybe the same person as Nathanael; skin became the
canvas of Michelangelo's face in the Last Judgment
 Matthias: Only apostle not called by Jesus, one of two worthy men
nominated to replace Judas, selected by lot; nothing known about him.
Review

Both Jude and Judas are
translations of the name
Ὶούδας in the NT Greek which
in turn is a Greek variant of
the old Hebrew name
“Judah” (Y'hudah) common
among Jews at the time, the
name of one of the twelve
tribes of Israel, a son of
Jacob.
Judas son of James, Apostle, is St. Jude

 ”Thaddaeus” is on Mt. & Mk.
lists of Apostles only
 Luke and Acts both replace
him with “Judas son of James”
 Nothing further in the Epistles
 Tradition / harmonizing con-
cluded that Thaddeus = Jude
 Plausible as "Thaddeus" could
be a nickname (means “heart”)
 Practice developed to refer to
“Judas of James” as “Jude” to
avoid confusion with Iscariot
 Some scholars reject all this as
unsupported speculation
Matthew 10:3
Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas
and Matthew the tax collector;
James son of Alphaeus, and
Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot...
Mark 3:18
Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot...
Luke 14:17
Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James son of Alphaeus,
Simon called the Zealot, Judas
son of James...
Thaddaeus = Jude son of James?

Who is Judas?
Brother of Jesus
“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and
aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
- Mt. 13:55 = Mk. 6:3
At the last supper close to Jesus
... one who loves me will be loved by my Father and I too will love
them....” Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do
you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus
replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching...
– Jn. 14:21-23
Revolutionary
Theudas appeared... men rallied to him. He was killed, his followers
dispersed... After him, Judas the Galilean appeared ...led a band of
people in revolt. He too was killed, his followers scattered.
- Acts 5:36-38

How many Judases are there?
...the apostles and elders, with the church, decided to choose some of
their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas.
They chose Judas Barsabbas (not Thaddaeus ) and Silas, leaders among
the believers.... they sent the following letter...The apostles and elders,
your brothers, to the Gentile believers in Antioch... -Acts 15:21-24
...Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of
mouth what we are writing. -Acts 15:27
The people... were glad for its encouraging message. Judas and Silas,
who themselves were prophets, (not apostles) said much to encourage
and strengthen the believers. After some time there, they were sent
off by the believers with a blessing... - Acts 15:31-32
5 mentions of a Judas in 9 NT passages, one clearly not a disciple. Add
the “Jude” mentioned at the start of the epistle of Jude [“.. servant of
Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called...”]
and you have at most five (5); more likely three (3) separate Judes.

Jude the Obscure Apostle
The 14th-century writer Callistus makes Jude the bridegroom at the
wedding at Cana.
The legend reports that St. Jude was born into a Jewish family in
Paneas, a town in Galilee later rebuilt by the Romans and renamed
Caesarea Philippi.
According to the legend, Jude’s father was Clopas and his mother
was Mary, cousin
of Mary, the
mother of Jesus.
Tradition holds that
Jude preached in
Judea, Samaria,
Syria, Mesopotamia
and Libya.

One tradition holds that Jude and Apostle Bartholomew brought
Christianity to Armenia, and are therefore venerated as a patron
of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Linked to this tradition is the Saint
Thaddeus Monastery in northern Iran,
built in what was then Armenia.
Jude reportedly suffered martyrdom
(clubbed to death) about 65 AD in
Beirut (Roman province of Syria)
together with Apostle Simon the Zealot.
This is the only report of two apostles
dying together.
St. Jude on mission

 The Basilica of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse, the “Pink City” and
capital of south-central France
 Former abbey church of the Abbey of St. Sernin (or Saturnin}
 Built between 1080 and 1120 on the site of a previous
basilica of the 4th century...
 ... which contained the body of St. Sernin, the first bishop of
Toulouse (ca. 250)
 The largest remaining Romanesque building in the world
 Noted for the quality and quantity of Romanesque sculpture
 UNESCO World Heritage Sites as of 1998.
Where is Saint Jude Thaddaeus buried?

The crypt of the Basilica of Saint-Sernin

St. Jude is the patron of lost things, lost causes
Consider the case of Amos Jacob Kairouz ...
Born one of 10 children (Jan. 6, 1912) of Lebanese immigrant parents
in Deerfield, MI. He was raised a Maronite Catholic, moved to OH and
attended a Catholic high school, then the University of Toledo.
He received the sacrament of confirmation from the bishop of Toledo,
Samuel Stritch who was a Tennessee native and this man’s lifelong
spiritual advisor (hold that thought).
He married Rose Marie Cassaniti (in 1936), a marriage lasting 55 years.
But Amos struggled to support his wife (baby on the way) on a meager
and erratic income– there was, after all, a Depression going on.
At one point, so the story goes, he put his last $7 in a Sunday collection
plate and prayed to St. Judas Thaddaeus to help him make a decent
living to support his family (3 children in time).

St. Jude comes through
 About a week later, Amos Jacob Kairouz, using the stage
name Danny Thomas...
 ...obtained an acting gig that paid 10 times what he had put
in the offering plate.
 From then on Danny Thomas held in his heart a promise to
St. Jude Thaddeus that if he became a success he would one
day build him a shrine.
 Maybe even a hospital.
 In 1957, he founded the American Lebanese Syrian
Associated Charities to raise funds to fulfill that promise.
 When he turned 50, in 1962, the vow became a reality...
 ...and Bishop Samuel told him where he should built it- in
Memphis, Tennessee.

No child should die at dawn
And so St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
was founded by entertainer Danny Thomas
with help from 2 close friends, Lemuel Diggs
and Anthony Abraham, on the premise that
"no child should die in the dawn of life".

 Although it was named after a Christian saint, the hospital is not
affiliated with any religious organization.
 Discoveries at St. Jude’s have completely changed how doctors treat
children with cancer and other catastrophic illnesses.
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No child is a “lost cause”

Summary
 On apostolic lists in two Synoptic
gospels as “Thaddaeus”, in Luke
and Acts as “Judas of James”
 “Thaddaeus” could be a nickname
 One further bit in John about Jude
 He might have preached Palestine,
Syria, Mesopotamia and Libya,
possibly in Armenia
 Might have been clubbed to death
alongside Simon the Zealot
 Patron of lost things and lost
causes.

Women
were
apostles
too! One
example is
St. Brigid
of Kildare

Brigid of Kildare, apostle to the Celts
Brigid (Irish: Naomh Bríd; Latin: Brigida; c. 451 – 525) is one of Ireland's
three patron saints (with Saints Patrick and Columba). Stories tell of her
life and adventures as a religious sister, founder of several monasteries,
and abbess, especially of
the Convent of Kildare,
(“of the oak”) which
came to be revered.
Her feast day of Feb. 1
was originally a pagan
festival called Imbolc,
which marked the
beginning of spring.

St. Brigid’s Day, much like our secular
Groundhog’s Day, reminds us that
Spring is coming with its fine
weather a reminder of the
new life we have in Christ.
Because Spring in Ireland
brought new life and
new growth to farms,
potatoes and butter
were served on the
Eve of St. Brigid’s Day
and all of the family
made special crosses in
her honor.
Families then prayed together
for the blessing of fertility and health
of the household, animals, and land.

St. Brigid’s Cross - woven from straw, rushes, reeds, grass, hay, wood,
goose quills, wire and fabric - is still a common feature in the
doorways of many Irish homes.
Whatever material was used, it was
hung with the recitation of a prayer to
welcome the saint into the home.
Traditional designs were diamond,
interlaced or wheel-shaped and could
have two, three or four arms.
It was common to give a St. Brigid’s
Cross as a gift to those with a new
home and to newlyweds,
His Holiness the Dalai Lama being
presented with a St. Brigid Cross
on visit to Kildare April 2011.

Around AD 480 Brigid founded the
monastery at Kildare on the site of
an older pagan shrine to a Celtic
goddess with an initial group of
seven companions.
Because of her extensive work as
an “apostle”, she is credited today
with being the first to organize any
communal consecrated religious
life for women in Ireland.
She also founded a monastic
institution for men and invited a
holy hermit from nearby
Newbridge, named Conleth, to
help her as its pastor. This is why,
for centuries, Kildare was ruled by
a double line of abbot-bishops and
of abbesses.

Brigid once asked the King of Leinster for the land where she stood
because it was the perfect spot for a convent, beside a forest and a
lake. The king laughed at her and refused.
Brigid prayed to God, asking Him to soften the king's heart. Then she
said to the King, “Will you give me as much land as my cloak will
cover? Hoping to get rid of her, he agreed.
She told four of her Sisters to take the corners of the cloak, face the
four points of the compass, and run. As they did, the cloth grew to
keep up with them! The cloak soon covered many acres of land.
The king, at first astonished, then frightened, cried out, "Oh, Brigid!
Your cloak will soon cover my entire kingdom! Call your maidens back.
I will grant you the land you need.“
The king gave her the land and became a Christian too, began a
program to help the poor, and ordered construction of monastery
buildings.

Church built in 1225 on the site of the original monastery.

Brigid's small oratory
at Kildare became a
center of religion and
learning and develop-
ed into a cathedral city.
The Abbess of Kildare
was regarded as
superior general of
the monasteries in
Ireland.

group of women inspired by the person of Jesus and of Brigid of Kildare.
There is mystery in what holds us together, expressed in shared faith,
symbols, stories and experiences. We engage with the issues of our time,
stand in solidarity with the oppressed, and seek to build a more inclusive
community. We follow the ancient Order of St. Brigid of Kildare {but}
were established by Bishop Delany on St. Brigid’s Day in 1807.
Solas Bhride is a
Christian Spiritual-
ity center welcom-
ing people of all
faiths and of no
faith. Our vision is
to unfold the
legacy of St. Brigid
and its relevance
for our time. We
are Brigidine
Sisters, a diverse

Solas Bhride Center has self-contained Hermitages available for those
who desire a limited time of reflection, rest, silence and prayer.
Each Hermitage is equipped with kitchen/living room, wood stove,
bedroom, and shower. They comfort, privacy and peace in the quiet and
secure countryside on the outskirts of the historic town of Kildare.
Guests may wish to walk the labyrinth in the Center grounds or walk to St.
Brigid’s Cathedral and St. Brigid’s Parish Church, or make use of Center
facilities, especially the Brigid Room, Prayer Room and Library.

Where Did
the Apostles Go?
Part One
Lesson 8
JOHN son of Zebedee &
SIMON the Zealous

 Fisherman; father is Zebedee, mother is
Salome, brother is James
 Nickname is “Son of Thunder”
 Was one of 3 “inner circle” of Jesus but
was the disciple Jesus loved best
 Took care of Mary after Jesus died
 Wrote Gospel
 Wrote three short epistles
 Wrote Book of Revelation
 Was not a martyr; died at advanced
age in exile on the Isle of Patmos
Right???
What you think you know about John the Apostle

But what is
actually in
Scripture
about John?

What really is in the NT about John the Apostle
 On all 4 lists of the apostles but lists are in
different order (age? Or importance?)
 In Mk. = 3rd after James;
in Mt., Lk. = 4th after James;
in Acts = 2nd before James
 Not explicitly named in The Gospel of John
 One of 3 in Jesus’ “inner circle” - at
Transfiguration (Mt. 17, Mk. 9, Lk. 9) &
raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mk. 5, Lk. 8)
 In the garden of Gethsemene the night
Jesus was arrested (Mk. 14)
 Made preparations (with Peter) for the
Last Supper (Lk. 22)

“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name
and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
...Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead,
who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him but people
there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you
want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” But Jesus
turned and rebuked them. - Lk.9: 49-55
Only speaks once/twice with brother James
What can we conclude from these two verses, one of them the only
time we have something spoken by John alone? He is intemperate,
possibly the reason he earned the nickname “thunder” (as in “loud,
noisy, disruptive”). What is striking is that the only times we hear him
speak he is rebuked by Jesus!

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,”
they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
“Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.”
“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the
cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?”
“We can,” they answered.
Jesus replied, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized as I am
baptized. But to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These
places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”....
Jesus called {the apostles) and said, “.... whoever wants to become
great among you must be your servant. Whoever wants to be first
must be slave of all. Even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mk. 10:35-45
John (& James) comes across as... what? Ambitious? Thoughtless?
Tactless? Again we are startled - John is rebuked for a third time by Jesus
and even becomes the focus of a lesson in servanthood and humility!

Time out! (You say.)
This is not the Apostle I had in mind! What’s up?

The “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (μαθητὴς ὃν ἠγάπα ὁ Ἰησοῦς,) or
the “beloved disciple” is referred to 6 times in the Gospel of John but
nowhere else in the NT, and not until the Last Supper! “TDWJL”...
 Is this disciple who, while reclining beside Jesus at the Last Supper,
asks Jesus who it is that will betray him. [Jn 13:23-25]
 Is appointed by Jesus at the crucifixion to care for his mother by
saying, "Here is your mother.“ [Jn 19:26-27]
 Is the first to reach Jesus’ tomb (Peter is the first to enter) after
Mary Magdalene discovers that the tomb is empty tomb. [Jn 20:1-10]
 In John 21, the last chapter of the Gospel of John, the “beloved
disciple” is one of seven fishermen involved in the miraculous catch
of 153 fish. [Jn 21:1-25]
Was John “the disciple whom Jesus loved”?

Who was at the cross?
Matthew 27
Many women
were there,
watching from a
distance. They
had followed
Jesus from Galilee
to care for his
needs. Among
them were:
-Mary Magdalene,
-Mary the mother
of James and
Joseph, and
-the mother of
Zebedee’s sons.
Mark 15
Some women
were watching
from a distance. In
Galilee these
women had
followed him and
cared for his
needs. Among
them were:
-Mary Magdalene,
-Mary the mother
of James, lesser
and Joseph, and
-Salome.
Luke 23
When all the
people... saw
what took place,
they beat their
breasts and went
away. But all
those who knew
him, including
the women who
had followed him
from Galilee,
stood at a
distance,
watching these
things.
John 19
Near the cross stood
his mother, his
mother’s sister, Mary
the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his
mother there, and
the disciple whom he
loved standing
nearby, he said to her,
“Woman, here is your
son,” and to the
disciple, “Here is your
mother.” From then
on, this disciple took
her into his home.

Following this catch of 153
fish, Jesus hints to Peter
how Peter will die, Peter
sees TDWJL following them
and asks, "What about
him?" Jesus answers, "If I
want him to remain until I
come, what is that to you?
You follow Me!“ [21:20-23]
The next verse, the
penultimate one in John,
states that the very book
itself is based on the
written testimony of
TDWJL. [21:24]
Was John “the disciple whom Jesus loved”?
This is the disciple who testifies to these
things and who wrote them down. We
know that his testimony is true.

We don’t know.
It is possible that he represents the church, the faithful community
that followed Jesus – today that would be us!
Most Christians are taught that TDWJL is John the Apostle and will
not be persuaded to think otherwise even though the NT itself does
not say this is so. Just as we think Matthew the tax collector wrote
a Gospel and Jude wrote an Epistle, we regard it as “axiomatic” that
the Apostle John was TDWJL, wrote the Gospel of John and died of
old age on the Island of Patmos after writing Revelation.
So....was John the Apostle
John’s “the disciple Jesus loved”?
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom
and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of
Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud
voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write.... Rev. 1:9-11

John (the Apostle?) is Peter’s companion in Acts
One day Peter and John
were going up to the
temple at the time of
prayer—at three in the
afternoon.
Now a man who was
lame from birth was
being carried to the
temple gate called
Beautiful, where he was
put every day to beg
from those going into
the temple courts.
When he saw Peter and
John about to enter, he
asked them for money.

Peter looked straight at
him, as did John.
Peter said, “Look!” The
man gave them his
attention expecting to get
something from them.
Then Peter said, “Silver or
gold I do not have, but
what I do have I give you.
In the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, walk.”
Taking him by the hand,
he helped him up. The
man’s feet and ankles
became strong. He
jumped to his feet and
began to walk....
The {Jewish
officials} came up to
Peter and John
while they were
speaking to the
people... greatly
disturbed because
the apostles were
teaching the
people... They
seized Peter and
John... they put
them in jail until the
next day. But many
who heard the
message believed.
-Acts 3 & 4

When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the
word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria.
When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers that they might
receive the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit had not yet come on any of
them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then Peter and John placed their hands on them,
and they received the Holy Spirit. - Acts 8:14-17
John is not men-
tioned apart
from Peter and
does not appear
again in Acts.
Why this curious
pairing in each of
these accounts?

Tradition tells that John returned to Ephesus as an old man after being
released from exile on Patmos and died there about 98 AD. The
community marked his tomb with a church, later a stately basilica.
The history of the church and its tomb is poorly documented over the
years of back-and-forth Moslem conquest and Christian recovery.
No one knows
when the church
was reduced to a
ruin and who/what
did the deed. No
one knows what
happened to John’s
remains.

What did John write?
“John is known as the author
of the Gospel of John and four
other books in the NT- three
epistles and the Book of Revelation.
The authorship of the gospel is
credited to the "disciple whom
Jesus loved,“... however, the true
authorship has been debated since
200 AD. In his Ecclesiastical History,
Eusebius states that the 1John and
the Gospel of John are agreed upon
as John's. Eusebius continues to
state the 2nd and 3rd epistles of John
are not John the Apostle’s”
- Catholic Online
Most likely the core of John goes back to
the Apostle’s teaching but was written
after his death then edited further by
literate Greek members of the community
he founded in Ephesus.

 On all of the lists of Apostles, with
brother James
 Comes across in the Synoptic
gospels as a hot-head
 One of three (with Peter and James)
of Jesus’ inner circle; may have been
“the disciple Jesus loved”
 Was prominent in the very early
“Jesus movement”
 Tradition: he did not die a martyr,
but lived long, cared for Mary
 But hard to say what happened to
him – “John” like James and Judas
was such a common name!
 Tomb is in ruined Ephesus basilica
but is empty.
John: Summary

 11th on the lists of Mk. & Mt., just before Judas
Iscariot; called “Cananaean” in these gospels
 Lk. lists him 10th (Jude is 11th) and labels him
“the Zealot” (Grk. zelotes)
 Probably “Cananaean” is a mistranslation into
Greek of Aramaic “qan’ana” meaning “zealous”
as in strictly keeping to Torah
 Possibly Mark did this deliberately to avoid
associating Jesus with the Zealot Movement
which did not exist until after Jesus; it aided
the Jewish revolt that led to great destruction
 Not to be confused with a brother of Jesus
Simon (not Peter), the obscure apostle

What happened to “Zealous” Simon?
o Is associated with Jude the Apostle as an evangelizing team;
they share a feast day- Oct. 28
o Tradition tells us that after evangelizing in Egypt, Simon joined
Jude in Persia and Armenia or in Lebanon where both were
martyred in AD 65;
o Another tradition states that he traveled in Africa and the
Middle East and Ethiopian Christians say that he was crucified in
Samaria; he may have been the Bishop of Jerusalem.
o Another, that he was martyred in Persia, another that he was
martyred in Iberia (Spain), still another that he died peacefully
at Edessa;
o Another tradition says he visited Britain, possibly Glastonbury, and
was martyred in what is modern-day Lincolnshire.

Simon, simply
In art, Simon has the identifying
attribute of a saw (one way he died).
He is (maybe) buried with St. Jude
(Thaddaeus) either in St. Sernin’s
Basilica, Toulouse, France, and/or in
St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
Simon Zealot, briefly:
Nothing in the NT about him; even
the legendary material is sparse, late
and not in agreement.

Where Did
the Apostles Go?
End
Part One
Part Two concludes “Where Did the
Apostle Go?” with a careful study of
the lives and deaths of the Apostles
and brothers Andrew and Peter.

Where Did The Apsotles Go? Part One

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Where Did The Apsotles Go? Part One