Taking the wise men and Joseph as my cue, last Thursday I made a survey of all 89 chapters of the gospels. I was looking for people who were mentioned only briefly, only once, or only in passing. Has it ever occurred to you that some of those people were actually quite important? There are lessons contained in those brief accounts, which might be a blessing to us. The notes of my survey completely covered an 8½ by 11 sheet of paper – three columns long. I didn’t count them all, but there were at least 75 individuals, although some were listed more than once, because they were found in more than one gospel. After that survey, I began to whittle the number down using a couple of different criteria.
This afternoon, let me run through my remaining list, just mentioning some of the ways that they might be a blessing to us, if we took time to fully analyze them.
And then there is Joseph. Yes, we have him coming up again, when Jesus was left behind in Jerusalem a few years later, but after that, we never hear from him again. Someone asked me a couple weeks ago about what happened to this man, and I had to admit that I didn’t even know of any traditions about him. After a little research, I learned a couple of things, but really there isn’t very much. One Catholic man suggested that since the Bible says that Joseph was righteous, he must have been translated without dying. Superstitious foolishness. Someone else says that we should never argue from a position of silence. Since the Bible doesn’t say that he died, then we must assume that he didn’t die before Christ did. But that too is a bit ridiculous, or the Lord’s words to John about Mary would have been out of place. Joseph appears to have died when the Lord was a teenager, and certainly before His ministry began. But how very important Joseph was, particularly in this chapter. Joseph protected Mary and her reputation, believing her testimony about the angel and honoring her. Then it was Joseph who lead the family into Egypt for protection, and lead them back, but to Nazareth. A very important lesson for all of us is that God protected the child Christ, but it was through a human instrument, of whom we hear next-to-nothing once his job was done. Don’t fret or fume just because you never become the marquee player. Even if your role in the glorification of the Lord is small, it may be absolutely critical in some way. And as I said last week, your little cup of cold water will not be forgotten by the Lord.
Going on, throughout the gospels there are dozens and dozens of people whom the Lord healed and blessed. Most of them are mentioned only in the context of that miracle, but they are still recorded in the Word of God for us to read and to remember for ever. Can we say that the people whom Christ healed, He also saved? I can’t say that with assurance. But I can certainly say that every miraculous healing is an illustration, or type, of salvation. That leper, servant, crippled man, child, blind man, demoniac and dead boy, all picture you and me. And even though we are never mentioned again, that gift of the Lord’s saving grace cannot be undone. If I had to choose, I’d much rather be welcome in Heaven, than to be named and famous on earth.
One very special healing took place in the family of Peter, as described in Matthew 8 and elsewhere. Peter’s mother-in-law was very sick. “And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, he saw his wife’s mother laid, and sick of a fever. And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.” You are all familiar with the books of Matthew, Mark and Luke, so tell me this woman’s name. I can’t tell you either, but I can tell you that she served the Lord for a few days. Our name, or our history, is not really important to anyone but ourselves and immediate loved ones. But of course the Lord knew that lady’s name. What the Bible considered important is the fact that she did things to be a blessing to Christ. That is our job as well.
Matthew 20 and other scriptures speak about the mother of James and John, Zebedees’ wife. In this case the woman is mentioned, but the lesson is negative rather than positive. Like most mothers, she was jealous for her children, and perhaps seeing the boldness of Peter, she wanted to guarantee that her two boys, were rewarded more than the rest of the disciples. Remember that Peter, James and John were old friends, and had probably grown up together. I wonder if Zebedee and the father of Peter were friends or perhaps rivals. Could that have had something to do with this mother’s request. The Lord firmly, but politely, put down the woman’s request. Here is someone who is mentioned only once in the Bible, but we are not left with a good taste. Is that the sort of image that we will leave in this world – a Christian full of jealousy and selfishness?
Barabbas is a truly interesting character, and we’ll spend time on him, when we get to Matthew 27. He was the man whom Pilate released in lieu of the Lord Jesus. In other words, Christ took the place of Barabbas on the cross. Now isn’t there a gospel illustration in that story. We don’t know what happened to that man. Did he go back to his crimes and his sin? Or did he recognize the grace of the Lord; was he converted; did he begin to serve God? The Lord Jesus Christ was my substitutionary sacrifice, and my soul has been delivered from death. Now, will I fade off into oblivion without ever being heard from again? Or will I make my life mean something for the glory of the Lord?
Two other men were crucified with Christ on that special Passover Day. One appears to have been born again, while the other appears to have died a lost man. Neither was named, and we never hear references to either of them again. Are there stories which could be told of them, and will we meet one or both of them in Glory? What lessons should be learned from them?
Mark also tells us about the Lord’s final church service in the Temple. “And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.” What was this woman’s name? Who can tell me the details about her background and history? We may not know much, but this one thing we know – Christ Jesus commended her for what she did. And I think that we can say that no matter how small our act of service might be, it will not go unrecognized by God.
Then there were Simon and Anna. What can we say about them, which the scripture hasn’t already said? “And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity; And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” Would you have been in the temple on the day that the Lord Jesus first appeared there?
In Luke 7 we have two contrasting unnamed characters. “And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.”
What was the name of the one leper out of the ten who returned to praise the Lord? I can’t say we never hear from that man again, but we can’t say for sure that the Scriptures speak of him. But the man did the right thing by giving praise to God. We don’t need to be in the spot-light in order to glorify the One who is in the spot-light.
Who was the man who gave his colt to the disciples for Christ Jesus to ride into Jerusalem? I would like to say that he was a disciple, but I have no proof of that. Yet he did his part in providing for the Saviour and in fulfilling a prophecy about the Lord. Did he get his colt back? We aren’t told, but we might assume so. Was he the same man who provided the upper room for the Lord to use that week? What was that person’s name, if it wasn’t the same man? Both acts were almost insignificant, and yet important as far as the Lord was concerned. Their names are not important, and what happened to them later is known by only one – Jehovah. What are you doing for Christ?
John 9 is filled with the healing of an unnamed blind man, and the controversy which grew out of it. After his healing the man boldly defended the Lord before the Pharisees. He was condemned and forbidden to reenter the temple, but the Lord found him again and explained that He was the Son of God. “And he said, Lord, I believe, and He worshipped him.” As far as I know we never hear from this man again in the pages of the Word of God. But I’m reasonably sure that we’ll shake his hand in Heaven and rejoice together in the grace of God.
And whatever happened to the man who lost his ear to Peter’s sword? He would likely have bled to death if the Lord Jesus hadn’t quickly stepped in to heal him. But miracles are not an end in themselves, and they cannot, in themselves, produce saving faith. Did that man harden his heart against the Lord and hate the disciple who tried to kill him, or did he melt under the Lord’s grace and learn to love and serve Christ alongside Peter? There have been thousands of sinners who have stumbled over the sins of the saints. Some of them have eventually been won to Christ, but sadly, the majority have not. What is the story of this man’s life? And how many people have we caused to stumble?
John tells us that at the crucifixion, some of the soldiers who drove the nails, later gambled for possession of the Saviour’s clothing. Imagine the winner taking that seamless robe home to his wife, ordering her to wash it for him. And then at the next important non-military gathering, there he was wearing the former robe of Christ. What became of that man? What became of that robe? Jesus’ sandals? That seamless robe was not the same as the Lord’s seamless robe of righteousness. But after the resurrection, and after hearing his military co-workers gossip, when that man looked at the Lord’s clothes was his heart lifted up toward Heaven?
And finally, what about Joseph of Aramathea? For some time prior to the Crucifixion the man had been a secret disciple of Christ. But he had come out of the closet and helped to bury the body. What became of him? Did he become a public defender of the name of the Lord? Was he expelled from the Temple and from the government?
We have quite a variety of people who are mentioned only once or twice in God’s word, but some of them were quite important in their moment, and others were significantly blessed. What is the likelihood that we will not be named among them?