The Fisherman by Larry Huntsperger Page B

stood a few feet away. I looked over at him, saw the amazement and insecurity in his eyes, and in a rare moment of selfless compassion reached out and placed my hand on his shoulder. That was the first time I ever saw him smile. He took a step closer to the group and said, “I can’t believe this! I can’t believe he chose me .” Silent tears were streaming down his cheeks.
    The next two men named by the Master brought with them a greater history with Jesus than that of all the rest of us put together. They were Jesus’ cousins, James, whom we called James the Less because he was a full head shorter than anyone else in the group, and his younger brother, Judas, or Thaddaeus as he preferred to be called to avoid confusion with the other Judas in the group. These two men had grown up with the Master, knowing him more as their older brother than as their cousin. With the exception of his mother, Mary, of course, James and Thaddaeus were the first and only members of Jesus’ immediate family to follow him prior to his resurrection from the dead.
    They were a great addition to the group. James was the most energetic, impish little fellow I’d ever known. His practical jokes and quick wit kept the rest of us forever on guard.
    And his brother, Thaddaeus, brought with him a remarkable spirit of trust and obedient submission to Jesus. He was the youngest in the group, not yet out of his teens, having known the Master his entire life as his oldest and certainly most significant cousin. I don’t know when he first began to view Jesus as more than just a good man, but I have often thought they must have shared experiences throughout his childhood that made it easier for him to follow now.
    The tenth name Jesus called will affect you differently than it affected those of us who were there that day. “Judas Iscariot, I would also like you to join me.”
    Perhaps it is impossible for you to hear his name now without feeling a sense of revulsion. You know he is the one who would one day sell out the Master for a handful of coins. In your mind you might even picture the crowd sitting on that grassy hillside, wincing in disgust when his name was called. You could not be further from the truth.
    Judas was the one disciple chosen by the Master who seemed “right” to all of us there that day. He was a likable, congenial young man, well known in our community and highly respected. He brought to the group a sharp mind, initiative, and an uncanny business sense. In the weeks ahead, as friends and followers of Jesus contributed money to help meet our needs, Judas was the unanimous choice for group treasurer. He had listened closely to the Master’s teachings during the previous several months and brought with him an unshakable confidence in both the right and the ability of Jesus to lead the nation of Israel to greatness. He seemed to possess no reservations about linking his own personal future to the future of this miracle worker from Galilee.
    The selection process was completed with Jesus’ call for Thomas and Simon the Zealot to join the group.
    It is difficult to imagine a more diverse collection of personalities than the ones standing next to Jesus that day. Whereas James the Less was a bouncing, bubbly, enthusiastic explosion of life, Thomas was serious and introspective, almost to the point of being morbid. He was a quiet, logical, brooding thinker who seldom spoke except to point out why some idea was impractical or why some scheme was destined to fail. His loyalty to the Master was undeniable, but his obsession with the negative in every situation made him a difficult comrade for me to relate to.
    The Master’s mosaic of contrasts was completed with Matthew’s opposite in Simon the Zealot. While Matthew spent his former life in cahoots with the Roman enemy, Simon had invested his efforts in a frantic fight to free our nation from all Gentile oppression. Prior to his union with