12 Who Changed the World - Jude Thaddaeus

Chapter Eleven 

Jude Thaddaeus

 Jesus said to the apostles, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth… you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” And Jude said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” 

John 14:15–22 

The apostle, Jude Thaddaeus, has always been something of an enigma for lack of tangible information in the Bible before he became one of Christ’s chosen disciples. Some reports indicate that he was born in a village called Paneas, which was later renamed Caesarea Philippi. He may have been a fisherman or a farmer. What is reasonably assumed about his heritage is that he was the son or brother of James (Luke 6:13). But for the most part, Jude Thaddaeus carried on his apostolic duties without much fanfare or notoriety prior to the Ascension. 

Jude was probably best known as the apostle with three names: Judas, Thaddaeus, and Lebbaeus. Thaddaeus comes from the Aramaic term “Theudus,” which means breast, chest, or heart. Lebbaeus may derive from the Hebrew noun “leb” which means the heart. Both are terms of endearment and were probably given to him as a young boy by someone who cared deeply for him. Judas (or Jude), which means praise or giver of joy, was his given name, and was one of the most common male names among Jews of Bible times. There are two other prominent figures in the Bible who share this name: Judas Iscariot; and Jude, the “brother” of Jesus, who was likely the author of the Epistle of Jude. 

In Acts 1:13, he is again known as Judas, son of James, possibly to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, the traitor. That is specifically noted in John 14:22, when Jude posed his earnest question to his Savior. 

As noted, Jude Thaddaeus was the son of James, but much uncertainty exists regarding which James was his father, as there were several prominent men named James in the Bible. It is not likely that he was the son of fellow apostle, James, son of Alphaeus, because this James was also called “James the Less,” which may have denoted him to be a younger man, making him closer in age to Jude. If a family tree and historical literature are any indication, then James the Less would have been Jude’s older brother. And since their mother, Mary, was the blood sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, they would have been first cousins of Jesus. Jude’s mother was the Mary who stood at the foot of the Cross and then anointed Jesus’ body after His death. 

In another, less likely scenario, it was assumed that Jude Thaddaeus was the son of James of Zebedee (or “James the Great”), who was also a beloved apostle of Christ. If this were the correct assumption, then Jude would have been the grandson of Zebedee and Salome. Salome was reportedly another sister of Jesus’ mother, Mary, and this would have ultimately made Jude Thaddaeus a more distant cousin of Jesus. 

 Relics of the apostle with three names can reportedly be found in three cities—Rome, Rheims, and Toulouse, France. —Legend 

 Granted, it is mostly conjecture, but whether or not he was a relative of Jesus, Jude must have been honored to be a part of His circle of apostles—the chosen few who would know Him intimately and personally, learning from Him so that they could march into history as those who would spread His gospel—those who would carry on the Shaliach tradition. 

The permanent office of Apostleship is the cloak of headship in the church, which eleven of the closest disciples later received when the Spirit anointed the church on Pentecost. 

As in Matthew 10:2, the twelve, including Iscariot, are referred to in the Gospels as “Apostles” when they were sent out two-by-two to preach and heal, thus tasting briefly the calling they would soon be given. 

It is understandable that none of the twelve, and certainly none of the other numerous disciples, even remotely had a grasp on the future. To be sure, they were humbled afterward. Paul called himself the chief of sinners and wondered that he, of all people, would be called to preach to the Gentiles. 

 Jude traveled and preached in Judea, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, Lybia, and especially Armenia, which, in the third century, grew into the first Christian nation. —Legend 

 As for Jude’s calling, he was chosen by Christ for reasons not known to us. He guided him in ways not revealed to us. And Jude Thaddaeus was a paradigm of His abounding grace. But no matter how little is actually known about him, Jude Thaddaeus is recorded in perpetual history for the only question attributed to him in the entire Bible. In that question, one can hear the overtures of a Shaliach calling. Jesus’ response to Jude’s question was one of seed comfort—words that the apostles would soon recall and never forget in times of fear and persecution. 

Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to Him and make Our home with Him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. 

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:23–27). 

Jude Thaddaeus joined eleven others on a wonderful journey that could have taken him anywhere, but he needed to know that the rest of creation would know Jesus. Even at the risk of losing everything, including his life, he was concerned about the people of the world hearing the message of the gospel. In that question, Jude seemed to be asking for his own role in the Great Commission to begin. And in that question, he seemed to know that he would be one of the twelve who would change the world. His tenderness and perhaps youthful idealism motivated him to want the world to know Jesus, but he knew little to nothing of the gospel at this point. 

This little drama between Jude, who would be sent, and Jesus, who was sent and now sends, overtures well with the Shaliach principle—the One who is sent is as the one who sends. He does God’s work. He speaks on God’s behalf. And the Christian world is indebted to Jude Thaddaeus for his apostolic role in Christian ministry. 

 Jude was ordered executed by the Armenian King Sanatrouk, the son of Abgar’s sister, for baptizing his daughter into Christ. —Legend 

 Jude’s bold question—perhaps his only words in the Bible unless he was also the author of the Epistle of Jude—was answered by the Lord with encouragement for faithful followers who love Him (John 14:23, 24). But it was also answered providentially through Jude’s later missionary work in Mesopotamia and Armenia. It is important to note that, in the third century, Armenia became the first heathen nation to officially declare itself Christian. 

Saint Jude is the patron of hopeless and impossible causes, and there are tales of cures and acts of grace bestowed upon people who turn to St. Jude. It will never be known whether these are miracles or coincidences. However, it is known that St. Jude is the symbol and crucible of hope for many Christians. Were it not for hope, the human heart would break. Hope is one of the great spiritual virtues. It is remembering what God has already done in history and what God has promised to do in the future. Hope is the realization that the love of God has permanently affected humankind—that the whole of creation will eventually be lifted up to God. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). 

Jude, likely the youngest of the twelve, asks the seminal question of the prenatal church and, according to Eusebius, was probably the first to complete a personal mission to carry Christ’s healing and Baptism to others outside of the lost sheep of Israel. The historian quite fervently believed the accounts he uncovered in the Edessa (now Sanliurfa, in modern Turkey) archives and retold in his first book of church history of the healing and baptism of its King Abgar. 

The fame of Jesus’ miracles and healing work must have spread to Asia Minor. The suffering Abgar sent emissaries with a letter to entreat Jesus to come to him. Eusebius apparently held the letter and its response from Jesus in his hand. Little, if any, historical authentication is given to the now absent documents. The account states that the Lord blessed Abgar for believing in Him though he had not seen Him. Jesus then promised to send one of His disciples to bring healing and life to Abgar and his household after He had finished His work and returned to the One who had sent Him. Legend has it that it was Jude Thaddeus who was sent and performed all that was promised. The King was converted and then commanded a great assembly of the people and nobles to hear Jude’s preaching. 

Other apostles also labored for the advancement of the gospel in eastern Asia Minor and Persia after Jude had apparently opened the first doors. Jude is believed to have been martyred expanding his work in present-day northern Iran and buried near Tabriz. 

But if the legend which Eusebius recorded about the letter and healing of King Abgar of Edessa is even remotely true, it means that Jude answered his own question on a mission to heathens, which the Lord Himself may have commissioned before His death. The poetic justice of it is remarkable and very much like the humor of our God. 

The Name of Jude Thaddaeus 

Jude Thaddaeus was probably called Jude, rather than Judah or Judas, out of special care to protect him from confusion with the traitor. The name Judah is a confession of praise to God. Thaddaeus means “breast” or “heart,” and Lebbaeus means “man of heart.” The names ring true in the praiseworthy longings and deeds of Jude and the absence of any recorded rebuke of him from Jesus. They infer an unhesitating faithfulness lived out of a noble heart. 

Apostolic Symbols and Patronages of Jude Thaddaeus 

Jude is symbolized as a fisherman or a bearded man holding an oar, a boat or boat hook, a club, an axe, or a book. 

His patronage is linked to: 

Ω Impossible and hopeless causes 

Ω Desperate situations 

Ω Hospital workers and hospitals 

Ω Diocese of Saint Petersburg, FL 

Memorials 

28 October (Western church) 

19 June (Eastern church) 

Where to Find Jude Thaddaeus in the Bible 

Ω Mark 3:18                One of the twelve apostles 

Ω Matthew 10:3          Surnamed Thaddaeus 

Ω Luke 6:13, 16          One of Christ’s apostles 

Ω John 14:22               Asks Jesus a question 

Ω Acts 1:13                 Son of James

Morris A. Inch, 12 Who Changed the World: The Lives and Legends of the Disciples (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 2003), 121.

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