,

The Lives of
the Twelve Apostles
SifftonPeter
We know more about Peter than
we do any of the other of the
. original Twelve Apostles. He ran a
successful fishing business with his
brother. They lived first in
Bethsaida and then in Capemaum.
His original name was Simon ben
jonas, butjesus re-named him,
Peter, meaning rock Peter had a
struggle with being stedfast and
stable in his faith in Christ. He
would sometimes sway from one
position to its opposite. "He turned
from trust to doubt, Mt. 14:28,30;
from open
profeSSion of
Jesus as the
Christ, to
rebuking that
very Christ,
Mt. 16:16,22;
from a
vehement
declaration of
loyalty to base
denial, Mat.
26:33-35,
69-75; from
'by no means
shalt thou
wash my feet
ever,' to 'not
my feet only but also my hands and
head,' jn. n8,9, --- Nevenheless,
by the grace and power of the Lord
this changeable Simon was
transformed into a true Peter. "-
Hendriksen. Besides writing I arid II
Peter, he was probably Mark's
source of information for his Gospel;
hence the reason for the early
church referring to Mark as "Peter's
interpreter."
Peter's house in Capemaum was
the headquaners of jesus' Gallilean
ministry. He always heads the lists
of apostles, and was probably the
spokesman for the Twelve. With
James and John, Peter formed an
inner circle ofthree around Jesus,
who alone was allowed to
accompany jesus into the house for
the raising ofJairus's daughter from
the dead, to the Transfiguration and
to share in the agony of the Garden
of Gethsernane. Peter was beaten for
preaching the gospel, walked on the
water, identified jesus as "the Christ
the Son of the living God," and
played a major role in the book of
Acts in the evangelization of the
Jews and then of the Gentiles. He
was entrusted with the arrangement
for the Last Supper. When Judas
betrayed jesus and the soldiers
arrested Him, Peter tried to defend
Him with his sword; but after the
arrest, he played the part of a
coward, when he denied jesus three
times with bl asphemy, being
intimidated by the question of a
young girl.
Peter played such an important
role in the early church that, besides
the information on him in the New
Testament, five documents from the
early centuries of the church are in
existence on the life and ministry of
Peter: (1). "The Proclamation of
Peter," probably Egyptian in origin
in the second century; (2). "The
Apocalypse of Peter" from the
second century; (3). "The Gospel of
Peter" also from the same period and
pOSSibly of Syrian origin; (4). "The
Acts of peter", from Asia in the
4 l' THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon l' December, 1996
,
second century; and (5). "The
History of Peter and Paul" .
circulating in the t!)ird century.
The turning point in Peter's life
was the appearance of Jesus to him
after His resurrection, and jesus'
threefold question and commission
to him to "feed My sheep." From
the Day of Pen tee OS! on Peter was a
great preacher in the Church, facing
without fear persecution and
punishment for the cause of Christ,
and doing so with courage and
humility. Remember his great
sermon to Cornelius the centurion at
Caesarea: "I most certainly
understand that God is not one tD show
partiality, but in every nation the man
who fears Him
and does what is
right is welcome
tD Him. The
word which He.
sent to the sons
of Israel,
preaching peace
through Jesus
Christ (He is
Lord a!
all)---you
, yourselves know
the thing which
took place
throughout all
Judea, starting
from Galilee,
after the baptism which John
proclaimed. You knowo!Jesus of
Nazareth, how God anointed Him with
the Holy Spirit and power, and how He
went about doing good, and healing all
who were oppressed by the devil; for
God was with Him. And w< are
witnesses of all the things He did both
in the land of the Jews and in
Jerusalem. And they also put Him to
death by hanging Him on a cross. God
raised Him up on the third day, and
granted that He should become Visible,
not to all the people, but to witnesses
who were chosen beforehand by God,
that is, to us, who ate and drank with
Him after He arose from the dead.
And He ordered us to preach to the
people, and solemnly to testify that this
is the One who has been appointed by
God as Judge oj the living and the decuL
OJ Him all the prophets bear witness
that through His name everyone who
believes in Him has received Jorgiveness
of sins".- Acts 10:34-43
Tradition dates the death of
Peter, and of Paul as approximately
A.D. 64, 4uring the persecution of
Christians by Nero Caesar, when he
was crucified upside down.
Eusibius relates that Peter's wife was
crucified before Peter and that Peter,
compelled to watch, encouraged her
with the words, "Remember the
Lord." Peter's behaVior led his jailor
to Christ. Peter requested to be .
crucified upside down because
Adam fell down from grace
headlong, as it were, and only the
sovereign grace of God and the
omnipotent rule of Christ can and
will tum life ba.ck around in its
proper order.
Andrew
Andrew was the protokletos, i.e.,
"the first to be called" an apostle.
He was Peter's brother, and shared
in a prosperous fishing business
with him. Their home was a house
directly outside the synagogue in
Capemaum, which has been marked
by a shrine for cenrnries. Andrew
was present on the Mouth of Olives
with Peter,James and John, when
Jesus foretold the destruction.of the
temple, Mark 13:4. He was also in
the Upper Room just before
Pentecost, Acts l.
Andrew was probably a diSCiple
of John the Baptist,]n. 1:35-39, who
. introduced him to Jesus. After
coming to Christ, the next day
Andrew brought his brother Peter to
Christ. At the feeding of the five
thousand, Andrew brings to Jesus a
small boy with a picnic of five barley
loaves and two small fish. And just
before the Passover festival in
Jerusalem at the triumphant entry of
Jesus into Jerusalem on the Sunday
before His cruCifixion and
resurrection, Andrew and Philip
bring to Jesus some Greeks who
wanted to see Him. "Andrew once
again seems to have been the willing
witness and missionary, introdUcing
first his own brother, Peter, then the
boy with the loaves and flshes, and
finally a Gentile delegation to Jesus.
--- Compared with his bombastic
brother, Andrew emerges as a
sensitive and approachable man
who always had time and patience
to listen to inquiries, even from
children and foreigners. He was a
selfless and considerate man, who
did not resent the leadership of his
brother. -- Although himself a Jew,
he enabled Greeks to meet Jesus and
he has been called the first 'home
missionary' as well as the first
'foreign' missionary of the Christian
Church." - Ronald Brownrigg, THE
TWELVE APOSTLES, (london,
Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1974),
pg.46f.
Eusebius, the great church
historian of the third century, agrees
with the early tradition that Andrew
missionary endeavors took him to
Scythia, Le., "the wild steppelands
beyond the Carpathians and the
Caucasus, that is, the territory to the
north-east of the Roman Empire,
which is today part of SOUtll
Russia--beyond the Danube and
north of the Black Sea. "- Brownrigg,
pg. 47. The Scythians were
unciVilized barbarians, and
according to Josephus, "little
different from wild beasts." It is
interesting that Peter's first epistle
was to towns bordering on Scythia
to the south of the Black Sea .
The story of Andrew's
martyrdom in Greece exists in
several ancient texts. He was IU'st
beaten and then crucified on a cross
in the shape of an X. His hands and
feet were tied to the cross not
nailed. so that his deatll would be
long and torturous with the hope
that he would be eaten alive by
dogs.
Tradition and legend link
Andrew witll Scotland. In the
seventh centmya monk named
Regulus, went through a box of
bones and relics of Andrew in
Constantinople, where Andrew's
coffin was transferred in the fourth
century. He took some of these
bones with him on his westward
journey to the coast of Fife, (now in
Scotland), where he conVinced
Nechtan, the newly converted king
of the Piets, that these bones were
really the relics of Andrew the
Apostle. Regulus became the first
Bishop at 51. Andrews Church, and
the ruins of this magnificent church
can still be seen in the most ancient
university town of Scotland.
The Picts and the English were at
war in those days. The night before
the battle Andrew was supposed to .
have visited Hungus, another king
of the Picts, to promise him victory
in battle. "'On the follOwing day,'
Wlites William Barclay of Glasgow,
'a shining cross was seen in the sky
straight above the aIDlY of the Picts,
not unlike the same cross that the
apostle died on. The cross vanished
never out of the sky till the Victory
succeeded to the Picts. The Picts
advanced to the battle with the cry,
St. Andrew, our patron, be our
guide! They utterly defeated the
English who had been terrified
seeing the cross shine with awful
beams in the sky.' Since about 750,
Andrew has been the patron saint of
the Scots and his white cross on a
sky-blue background has been their
standard."- Brownrigg, pg. 56. This
"St. Andrew's cross" is the X on the
Confederate Battle Flag! '
Supposedly Andrew spoke these
words at his crucifixion: "Hail,
precious cross! You have been
consecrated by the body of my Lord,
and adorned with His limbs as rich
jewels. I come to you exulting and
glad. Receive me with joy into
your arms, 0 good cross, you have
received beauty from our Lord's
limbs. -- Receive me into your
December, 1996 , 'I:HE COUNSEL pf CbalcedpD , 5
arms; take me up from among men,
and present me to my Master, that '
He who redeemed me on you may
receive me by you." -Brownrigg,pg.
49f.
James Ben Zebedee
James and his brother, John,
were also in the fishing business.
Because of their fiery personalities
they were nicknamed "Boanerges,"
i.e., "sons of thunder." They were
sons of Zebedee. James was thefitst
apostle to die a: martyr's deam, Acts
12:2, While John was probably the "
last apostle to die.
These fishermen aniong the
Twelve were not poor, simple;
illiterate, 'rUstic peasants. They were
successful bUSiness men, from
families of substance, status, skill
and education.
James and John had a close
family tie with Jesus and John the
Baptist. "The mothers of James and
John, and of Jesus, were the two
sisters Salome and Mary, daughters
of Joachim and Anna. That made
them first cousins oUesus and
relatives of John the Baptist, Jesus'
cousin. The significance of family
relationship in Jewish thinking and .
its inlluence on the foundation and
progress of the (:hristi,an movement
has not yet been fully grasped. The
fact that the first leader of the
Christian Church in Jerusalem was
not one of the ap,,!stles, not even
Peter himself, but Jaroes the brother
of the Lord is a reroarkable
indication of what a fllmily affair the
beginning of Christianity was."-
Brownrigg,-pg. 89
Jes\lS had to rebuke James and
his brother for their violent teropers,
their .arrogance and
narrow-mindedness on occasion,
but, nevertheless, they, along with
Peter, formed a close inner circle of
intimates around Jesus.
About fifteen years after being
called an apostle, James was
executed by Herod Agrippa I,
shortly before' Agrippa himself i ' .
died--"About that time Heroil the king
laid violent hands upon some who '
belonged to the church. He killed
james the brother of johnwith the
sword; and when he saw that it pleased
, the jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter
also," Acts 12:1-3.
Iii Eusebius' ECCLESIASTICAL -
HISTORY we are told thai when '
Jaroes was on trial, the ,soldier who
led hiro to the court; was so mbved
by his firm corifessioll of faith, that
he iroroediately convened to Christ '
After the trial, both James and the
newly converted soldier were led
away to their deaths, being
beheaded at the same time.
Another tradition says thaUaines
traveled to the northwest coast of
Spain to preach the gospel.
Jqhn Ben Zebedee
While James had the shottest
apostolic ministry, his brother,John,
probably had the longest. He is
called in the New Testaroent,
disCiple whom Jesus loved," In.
13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7,20. He'
wrote the Gospel oUohn, I,II.ill
John and Revelation. ,.He also played,
a key role in the advance of the . .
recorded in the,book of Acts,
shanngin Peter's preaching
ministry, and by the .
civil government with the '
encouragement of the jewish leaders
for doing so,
"The term, 'the disciple Jesus .
loved' is used only by the qf
the Ft)urth Gospel and on only four
occa.ions, all during qr following .
the Passion of Jesus. The firs(
occasion is in the upper room on the
night of Last'Supper; the second
is at Calvary--When Jesus saW his'
mother,' and the disciple whom He
loved standing near, he said to hiS
mother, 'Woman, behold your s6n:
Then He said to the diSCiple, 'Behold
your mother: The third occasion'
was on Easter morning,. after Mary
Magdalene finds Jesus' tomb emptY.
. She,ran with thereport.to, Peter and
6 '" THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon' f Deceinber, 1996
the other disciple;' ilie one whom '
JeSus loved; So Peler' andjobIl ran
back rothe eropty tdihb, saw the
linen dothes lYiIlg on the ground.
Peter Was the fusrto lo6k into the
toinb; Then,the"other disciple, whb
reached the toi:nb first,' alSo wenrm;
and hesa", .. :rhe
final spme time,!ater
on the ,Lake .of Galilee after, a '
fruitless night of fisrung,with Peter
and others.l'Jld bring the
boat the tisenJe.us .
say., Cast the,net 01\ the right side.
They .clo as He said".'!Ad caught so
many Ush that eyen bring
them all in . . A.t that 'rooment that .
disciple whom jesus 10'{ed ""lid to
Peter: is tjle Lorfl!
The second-centuty.scholars, ' .
Papilis and IreIllieus, believed that
John liVed t 6 be over ninety years of
age, living well into thHeign of
Trajanb Rome.' Tniditioll tells us
that John cared for Mary the mother
of]esus until her death.
Other early scholars, like Tenullian
and Jefarne, insisted thatj,,1ui Went
to Ronie, where he
survived bemg thrown into a "
cauldron of boiling oil and befug ,;
forced to dru;k'k cup of hemlock
poisOn. Itefiaeus arid Eusebius tell
us that Jolm' was 'exiled on the ishmd
of Panubs, and la(et werit to
Ephesu5to pteoi'ch.
. : ', '_C" ' .:
Ephes\ls t1n,e ."enter of pagan
worship in Asi;l,
goddess, Diana . .)t was a great ;
commercial and religious center,fu)).
of "professio?al religionists' and of
immoral It' waS i city of .
magic and necroirtartcy apd .
superstition. The'stOlY goesthataF"
the dedicatioii-feast of the ' .' . ,
idol-tehtpleiriihe dty :-ivhile ..
everyone waS
J olul lnbiack' '111d weht to .
the temple. The seiZed him
." . ! . "I . . _,' , , - 1. , . ' f. .
antI tned to kill him, but he rebuked
'. - . ". $"' ,.' .
them, saying, "You "remad td}ay
hands bIl'me, a man who serVeS the
one tI'ueG6d."" s6' he on a
platfonrt "hd
to them right in the middle of their
celebration: "Men of Ephesus,
You ... have remained to this day
unchanged towards the true
religion, and are being corrupted by
your ancient rituals. How many
miracles and cures of diseases have
you seen performed through me?
And yet you are blinded in your
heans, and canllot recover your
Sight. What is it then, men of
Ephesus? I have ventured' to come
up now into this very idol-temple of
yours, I will convict you of being
utterly godless and dead through
human reasoning. See, here I stand.
You all say that you have Anemis as
your goddess; so pray in her name
and I, and I alone, may die; or if you
cannot do this, then I alone will call
upon my own God and because of
your unbelief I will put you all to
death.'
"And wben John was saying this,
all of a s\:ldden the altar of Artemis
split into many pieces, and all the
offerings laid up in the temple
suddenly fell to the floor.., and so
were mor.e than seven images; and
half the temple fell down, so that the
priest was killed at one stroke as the
roof came down. Then the
assembled Ephesians cried out,
There is but one God, the God of
John! ' Nld the people rising from
the ground went running and threw
down the rest of the temple, crying'
out, The God of john is the only
God we know; from now on we
worship Him, since He has had
mercy on us.'''- Brownrigg, pg. 118f.
His linal prayer and death has
been described simply in an ancient
document entitled, "The Acts of
john": "'And grant me to finish my
way to Thee preserved from .violence
and insult, receiving what Thou has
promised to them that live purely
and love Thee alone.' And having
sealed himself in every part,
standing thus, he said, 'Be Thou .
with me, Lord Jesus Chlist'; and he
lay down in the trench where he had
spread out his clothes; and he said
to us, 'Peace be with you, my
brethren,' and gave up his spirit
rejoicing."-Brownrigg, pg. 122.
Philip
The names of Philip and
Bartholomew are linked in the New
Testamem, yet we do not know
much at all about them. jolm's
Gospel describes several incidents
involving them both, from which we
can come to some estimate of their
characters and personalities. Philip
lived in Bethsaida for a time. As
soon as he responded to jesus' call
to discipleship, he brought
Nathaniel (Bartholomew) to Jesus
with the words: We have found
Him of whom Moses in the law and
also the prophets wrote, Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph, jn.
1:45. In fact he, like Andrew, was
always bringing people to jesus, jn.
12:21,22; 6:5,7; 14:8,9. The New
Testament not only identifies Philip
as "the apostle," it also calls him "the
deacon" and "the evangelist." As
other of the apostles, Philip was
probably a diSciple of John the
Baptist, because Jesus called him
from the crowds on the banks of the
jordan River where John was
baptiZing.
Philip is mentioned in
connection with jesus' feeding of the
live thousand. He appears to have
been the one responsible for the .
arrangements and the provisions for
the meal. He was staggered at the
idea of feeding such a crowd, when
Jesus suggested buying bread for all
of them.
DuringJesus' final visit to
jerusalem before His death, some
Greeks had come for the Passover.
They approached Philip and asked:
Sir, we wish to see jesus. Philip and '
Andrew brought them to jesus. The
apostle, john, records Philip's words
in the Upper Room at the Last
Supper. After Jesus reassures His
disciples that wherever He is they
will be also, and promising them: I
am the way, and the truth, and the
. !ife; no one comes to the Father but
by me. If you had known me, you
would have known my Father also;
henceforth you know Him and have
seen Him, Philip asks, Lord, show
us the Father, and we shall be
satisfied. Jesus answers Philip:
Have I been with you so long, and
yet you do not know me, Philip? He
who has seen me has seen the
Father. .. he who loves me will be
loved by my Father, and I will love
him and manifest myself to him,
john 14.
. Philip is mentioned in Acts 6, 8,
and 21, first as one of the deacons
called to distribute daily charity to
the Hellenistic widows in Jerusalem,
second as a successful evangelist in
Samaria and Caesarea, 8: 12f. He
was a man of good repute, full of the
Spirit and wisdom. In Acts 8 Philip
is sent to the chariot of the chief
treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia on
his way from jerusalem to Gaza.
The eunuch was reading the book of
Isaiah, which he could not fully
understand until Philip became
expounding it to him, telling him
the good news ofJesus. The eunuch
believes injesus and Philip baptizes
him.
Some fourth century documents
link the ministries of Philip and
Bartholomew in Hierapolis. They
also speak of Philip's preaching in
Athens, and of his martyrdom.
Bartholomew (Nathaniel)
Nathaniel and Bartholomew fon.n
the personal name and the
patronymic naine, (I.e., a name
derived from one's father), of the
same man. Nathaniel means in
Hebrew "God has given," and
Bartholomew comes from the Greek
form of the Aramaic "Son of
Ptolemy, (Tolmai)." However,
jerome suggested that Bartholomew
might be descended from Talmai,
rather tban Tolmai, who was king of
Geshur, mentioned in II Samuel 3;3.
This Talmai bad a daughter who
married King David and became the
December, 1996 't THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon '\' 7
mother of Absalom. If Jerome is
correct, then one 'of the tWelve had a
royal pedigree One thousand years
old, and was a descendant of King
DaVid.
The story of Nathaniel's
conversion to Christ is a fasCinating
one. It is recorded inJohn
1:43-51-- <The next day He purposed
to go forth into Galilee, and He found
Philip, andJesus said to him, 'Follow
Me.' Now Philip was from Bethsaida,
of the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip
found Nathaniel and said to him, We
have found Him of Whom Moses in the
Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus'
of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' And
Nathanael said to him, 'Can any good
thing come out of Nazareth?' Philip
said to him, 'Come' and see.' Jesus saw
Nathanael coming to Him, and said of
him, 'Behold, an Israelite indeed, in
whom is no guile!' Nathanael said to
Him, 'How do You know me?' Jesus
answered and said to him, 'Before
Philip called you, when you were under
the fig tree, I saw you' Nathanael
answered Himj 'Rabbi, You'are the Son
of God; You are the King of Israel.'
Jesus answered and said to him,
'Because I said to you that [ saw you
under the fig tree, do you believe? You
shall see greater things than. these. '
And He said to him, 'Truly, truly,.r say
to you, you shall see. the heavens
opened, and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of
Man."
When Philip runs up to .
Nathanael to tell him about jesus,
apparently Nathanael, as waS the
custom of many orthodox Jew" was
sitting'under the family fig tree to be
quiet, to meditate and to pray. He
was alone with hiS thoughts, .
probably thinking abo!;t what he
had recently 'read in the Bible about
the patriarch jacob , and his dream
about 'jacob's ladder," and what it
all meant. When Nathanael comes
to jesus, jesus speaks of him as ifhe
kIii:w him intimately, although they
had never met. This stunned
Nathanael, who askedJeSUs how he
knew him so well. Jesus' answered
that He knew him and saw him
before Philip did, while he was
meditating under his fig tree.
Nathanael knew that no one else
was present with him there, and that
jesus knowledge of him there had to
be diVine omniscience, so he
confesses Him as the Son of God.
ThenJesus goes on to recount what
Nathanael was thinking about under
the fig tree, i.e. , Jacob's ladder,
telling him that He is the' fulfillment
of that dream. He is the ladder from
God to man.
Many traditionS exist about
Bartholomew (Nathaniel). One says
that he went to Greece and preached
with Philip. Another says that he
went as far as India to preach the
gospel. And the third says that he
was martyred in Armenia. Eusebius
the church historian and jerome the
scholar both believed there was
sufficient eVidence to show that
Bartholomew did preach the gospel
in India. In the second century
when a missionary by the name of
Pantaenus was sent to India to
preach, he found there a copy of the
Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew,
which he says was left there by
Bartholomew, who preceded him in
the preaching of the gospel to the
Indians .. It would appear that
Bartholomew founded a Christian
Church in India, and some sources
say that he translated the gospel of .
Matthew into Indian. In fact, one
document tells us that Bartholomew
was' beheaded for Christ in India.
The Venerable Bede. eighth-cen.tury
historian, makes the following note:
"The Natal Day of St. Bartholomew
the Apostle who, preaching the
gospel of Christ in India, was flayed
alive and being beheaded by order
of King Astriagis completed
martyrdom."- Brownrigg, pg. 137.
Matthew (Levi)
We spent several Sundays
studying Matthew or LeVi, ' the
tax-c011i:ctot, in our eXpo$itlonbf
8 THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon" December, 1996
Luke 5:27-32. He was a despised
tax-collectOr, cooperating with the
Roman tyrants for a profit, making
him an outcast among theJews who
hated the oppression of Rome; After
leaving everything to follow Christ,
he threw a great banquet so that his
lost friends could see Jesus and
hopefully be brought to faith in Him
through His preaching.
Matthew's name and the of
james, the of Alphaeus, occur
together in the four lists of the.
apostles in the N.T. In fact, Mark
and Luke refer to him as leVi, the
son of Alphileus, which meauSthat
he was the of]ames, the Son
of Alphaeus. The Gospel of
Matthew changes the name leVi to
Matthew in his list. But little is
known' of these brothers, although a
great deal may be inferred from
Matthew's, and probably from
james', occupation of tax-collector.
Tax-collectors were wealthy people,
but were loathed as outcasts for
cooperating with the occupation and
tyrannical power of Rome fot their
own financial gain. They were
despised by the Jewish commumty. '
The jews grouped them "with
murderers and robbers, excluding
them from giVing judgment or even
eVidence in court and ., ;
excommunicatiIig them from pUblic
worship .... "- BroWIirigg, jig.H3.
lind yet Jesus identified himself with
these and other people considered
outcasts and the lowest of the low .
by the Jewish leaders, sayilig "Truly I
say to you, the tax-Collectors and the
harlots go into the Kingdom of God
before you.' .
Eusebius, in his
ECCLESlASnCAL HIStORY, tells
of an early tradition according to
which wrote 'his Gospel in
Hebrew and began his ministry
among his fellow Jews. Thereafter
Eusebius says he traveled to Ethiopia
to preach. While Clement of
Alexandria Sa}'s Matthew died a
natural death, thejewish Talmud
gives an account of his " .
condemnation and death at the
hands of the Jewish Sanhedrin.
Another source relates that he died a
martyr's death in some far-off land
of cannibals, after a series of
hair-raising adventures.
The legend of his martyrdom is a
fascinating one. It is found in "The
Acts of Matthew" quoted by
Brownrigg, pg. 157f--King
Phu1banus of the city of Myrna, "the
city of man-eaters," his wife
Phulbana, and their son Phulbanos
with his wife, Erba, were all
demon-possessed. Matthew was
preaching in this evil and danger9us
city. He came to the city gate and
met with the king, his wife and his
son. The demons within them
screamed out and threatened
Matthew that they would rouse the
king against him. But Matthew
preached to them and cast oUt the
demons. He baptized the queen and
the rest of the fanti1y, and although
the king was pleased at first, but
later, when his wife and his family
refused to leave Matthew, out of
apparent jealousy, the king resolved
to bum him.
The king had Matthew brought
from the church to the palace, where
"they pinned him hand and foot to
the earth and covered him with
papyrus soaked in dolphin oil, and
poured brimstone, asphalt and pitch
on him, and heaped up tow and
wood. And the fire turned to dew,
and all the people praised Go.d.
Much c h r c o ~ l from the royal baths
was brought, and the twelve gods of
goldand silver were set round the
fire. The fire blazed up, and the
king said: 'Where is now your
magic?' But all the fire flew out
about the idols and melted
them--whose weight was 1000
talents of gold. --- The fire burned
up many; soldiers, and then look the
form of a dragon and chased the
king to the palace, and curled round
so that he could not go in and made
him come back to Matthew, crying
for help. Matthew rebuked the fire
with prayer, and gave up the
ghosl."- Brownrigg, pg. 157.
Thomas
"Both despondency and devotion
marked this man. He was ever
afraid that he might lose his beloved
Master. He expected evil, and it was
hard for him to believe good tidings
when they were brought to hil)1. Yet
when the risen Savior in all His
tender, condescending love, revealed
Himself to him, it was he who
exclaimed, My Lord and my God,
In. 11:16; 14:5; 20:24f; 21:2."-
Hendriksen
The Gospel of John refers to him
on four occasions as Thomas, who is
called Didymus, In. 11: 16; 20:24;
21:2. Furthermore, John mentions
four occasions where the presence of
Thomas is significant to the Gospel
story, and from which passages we
can learn a great deal about Thomas'
character.
The First Occasion. When Jesus
heard of the serious illness of his
dear friend, Lazarus, and decided to
travel all the way back to Bethany to
see him, Thomas was frightened,
because he knew that Bethany was
only two miles from Jerusalem; and
there was great danger awaiting
Jesus in Jerusalem. But fearful and
pessimistic that he was, Thomas was
also a man ofloyalty to Christ and of
courage for he said to the other
diSciples: Let us also go, that we may
die with him.
The Second Occasion. In the
Upper Room at the Last Supper on
the Thursday evening just before
Jesus' crucifIXion, Jesus was
preparing His apostles for His
comiug death, saying to them: "And
when I go and prepare a place for you,
[ will come again and tal", you to
myself, that where I am you may be
also. And you know the way where 1
am going," John 14:3-4. Thomas at
once interrupted him, Lord, we do
not know where you are going; how
can we know the way,Jn. 14:5. "It
was not as though the others knew
any more than Thomas, bW he was
not the sort to let his master get
away with something that he,
Thomas, did not understand. No
doubt Christians should be thankful
for TIlDmas' question, which evoked
such an answer--Jesus said to him, '[
am the way, and the truth, and the life;
no One Comes to the Father but by Me.'-
In. 14:6"- Brownligg, pg. 178.
The Third Occasion. This took
place once again in the Upper
Room, but after the resurrection of
Jesus. Thomas had not been with
the others on the evening of the day
Jesus was raised from the dead,
when the risen Jesus carrie to them.
When they reported to Thomas
what had happened, Thomas found
it vety difficult to believe them, he
was grieving so over the death of
Jesus. His reply to them was "Unless
I see in his hands the p'int of his nails,
and place my finger in the mark of the
nails, and place my hand in his side, I
will not believe," In. 20:25.
One week later all the diSCiples
were together again in the Upper
Room and this time Thomas was
present. Although the doors were
barred for fear of the Jewish
authorities, Jesus appeared in the
room. Jesus called Thomas over to
touch his scars, exhorting him do
not be faithless, but believing. "In
that moment Thomas must have
seen both the body on the cross,
hanging by hands and feet, the side
opened by the soldier's spear, AND
his living friend and master. As
these two figures fused together, so
Thomas leapt the gap between the
loyalty to a friend and an adOring
fai th in that friend as God Himself.
His doubts disappeared and he
identified his friend as both My Lord
and my God!
The Fourth Occasion. Thomas
was among the seven disCiples who
went fishing in the Lake of Galilee
after the resurrection ofJesus. At
December, 1996 t THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon t 9
dawn Jesus met them on the shore,
after they had landed a miraculous
catch of fish. "Thomas is mentioned
only second to Simon Peler in this
final post,resurrection story of Jesus.
He expressed no doubts this time
but was by now a highly respected
and integrated member of the
company."- Brownrigg,pg, 178.
But why is Thomas referred to by
John as thomas who is called
Didymus? The word, "Didymus," is
not surname
l
-but a' Greek
translation of the Hebrew,
"Thomas." Both names mean
"twin." Apparently. his real name is
unkPown, bUt 'among the Jews he
was called "Thomas" and among the
Christians he was called'
"Didymus." Both names are
nickPames with the same meaning
in different languages, although both
names were also used very early as
surnames.
Ancient Syriac documents and
Edessan legends give thomas the
surname "Judas the Twin." If they
are correct, then who was 'his "twin"
brother? "The reference to Judas as
'the twin' would imply that the other
'twin' was the more important of the
two. "On the face oEit, this could
only have been one of the more
important of the twelve apostles, but
they would,seem to be all excluded.
With brothers of Bethsaida, the ,sons
of Zebedee and the sons of
Alphaeus, the name of Judas is not
mentioned; nor, could it have been
Nathaniel Bartholomew, for he
already had asingle.patronymic (son
ofTalmai)."-Brownrigg, .pg. 180.
So then, who, was the more
important
"The Syriac Acts of Thomas give
a surprising answer, it relates a
similarity between Jesus and '
Thomas both in their physical
appearance and in their ministry,
thus linking the Edessan Christians
with their founder Judas Thomas
with Judas, the "brother" of JeSus,
whQ may have been the author of
the Epistle of Jude. Whereas, we
kPow for certain Jesus and Thomas
were not literally twins, for that
would contradict the Biblical
doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ.
However, perhaps there was a
"twin-like Similarity" between Jesus
and Thomas because they were
brothers, which is perfectly possible
since the Bible, as over agaihSt
Romanism, doeS not teach the
perpetual chastity of Mary, who had
other children, with Joseph, after the
virgin birth of Jesus. In medieval
times Thomas was described as
, simillimus sal.Jatori, because he was
"likest our Savior," either physically
or spiritually. Therefore it is
possible to accept the brotherhood
or similarity but not his natal '
twinship with Jesus. "Judas"
Thomas can then be identified with
the Judas mentioned by Mark and
Matthew: Is not this the carpenter's
son? Is not his mother called Mary?
Are not his brothers James and
Joseph and Simon and Judas? And
, ate not all his sisters with us? Mat.
, l3:5Si.
Concerning the travels of
Thomas, there are two traditions.
Origin of Alexandria quoted by,
Eusebius of Caesarea, relates the '
story that Thomas sent to Parthia
and to Edessa in Persia
Mesopotamia, between the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers. A second
tradition takes Thomas all the way
to south India'preaching the gospel.
"Isidore of Seville, at the tum of '
, the sixth century, says 'This Thomas
preached the Gospel of Christ to the
Parthians, the Medes, the Persians,
, the Hercanians and the
Bactrians---and to the lndians of the
oriental region and penetrating the
innermost regions, Sealing his
preaching by his passion, he died
transfixed with a lance at Calamina,
a city of India, and there was buried,
with honor."'- Brownrigg .. pg. 188.
Third century documents exist
which reveal that Thomas was used
10 f THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 'December, 1996
to convert several kings and queens
in India. Arrilenia ,convertedby'
Gregory th"" muminator in the third
century. claims to have received the
gospel from Bartholbni.ew and
Thomas.
"There are in face three traditions
linking Thomas with three different
parts of India: with the Punjab On
the upper reaches of the Indus in the
, northwest, with the Coromandal .
coast and the cities of Madras and
Mylapot e in the east, and finally
with the Kenda (Malabar) coast on'
the southwest.. .. This last tradition
is not based on any early'
documentary evidence put upon the
strong oral family traditions handed
down to succeeding generatiohS of
the 'St. Thom:'s Christiatls: as they
, call' themselves to this day."-
Brownrigg, pg. 194. (The gothic
cathedral ofSt. Thomas in the
suburbs of Madras. India, enshrines
the traditional tomb of the Apostle
Thoma;;.)
"When the Portuguese landed (in
India) in the they
recorded the traditions and customs
of the Christians, whom they follnd .
south of Goa Both Christians 'and
Hindus. toldM tne preaching of ...
Thomas, who had converted
of the' thomasis',sald
to have established Christian
I comrilUnities in' different
localities ir,t Mah'bar.:'- Brownrigg,
pg.194: . . ' .
"The memory of the apostle is
still kept alive in the minds of the St.
Thomas Christians by their
traditional songs, recording the
explOits of their founder: ... while
the martiage songs---sungby
Hindus at Christian feasts and
martiageS---extol the coming;
teaching and martyrdom of .
Thomas." - Brownrigg, pg. 194.
(TO BE CONTINUED)