One of he least known of the apostles of Jesus was Thaddaeus, often referred to as ‘Judas (not Iscariot)’. Some scholars assume that after Iscariot’s betrayal of Christ, the other “Judas” needed to use another name, and that is Thaddaeus. Thaddaeus speaks only one line in the Bible, but it comes at a pivotal moment in Jesus’ life on earth. At the Last Supper, Jesus gave rich and lasting information to the twelve about himself and and his Father. He told the disciples about his own leaving, and the coming of the Holy Spirit. He told them that they, the disciples, would know and understand true things that the “world” would reject, and that they would find themselves much at odds with the “world” They would still have access to him, Jesus, but the “world” would not. (John 14:21-24)

Jesus did not frame his answer about “the world” in an attitude of foreboding or warning against evil. Instead, his words were in personal terms of himself and his Father’s very character of love: Thaddaeus said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If a man 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.” (John 14:22-23) Jesus expressed the deepest need of the disciples on the night that he would be arrested: the need of himself in their lives. In his answer he placed his entire ministry in front of them. “If a man loves me, he will be united both with me, who you know, and my Father, who is our God Himself.”( paraphrase). It would be too much to fathom if it were not for Jesus’ humanity, about to be tested to the extreme on the cross.

Thaddaeus, like all the disciples, was waiting for a leader to establish God’s people as an independent nation again, fulfilling so any prophesies and hopes based on Israel’s history with their God: A star shall come out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel. (Numbers 24:17) It must have been nearly impossible for the disciples to believe that there could be something even better than the triumphs of their nations’ past, but Jesus knew that they had acquired a love for him that would grow and be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Jesus prayed, I pray also for those who will believe in me, through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in me, and I am in you. (John 17:20) Jesus’ words to his Father were spoken literally of you and of me.

The Armenian Christian Church traces its origin to the ministry of Thaddaeus.

Love in Him,

Prue