Jude

Who was Jude (Thaddeus)?
Notes by Thomas Madron

Thaddeus, also called Jude or Lebbaeus, was one of the original Twelve Apostles. He is distinguished in John 14:22 as "not Iscariot" to avoid identification with the betrayer of Jesus, Judas Iscariot. Listed in Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13 as "Judas of James," some Biblical versions (e.g., Revised Standard and New English) interpret this designation to mean "son of James" (i.e., probably the Apostle St. James, son of Alphaeus), while others (e.g., Authorized and Douay) call him "brother of James." Judas is more probably identified with Thaddeus (Lebbaeus) in Mark 3:18 and Matt. 10:3 and less probably with Jesus' "brother" Judas (Mark 6:3, Matt. 13:55), although it should be added that several of Jesus' original Apostles were related both to one another and likely, as cousins, to Jesus himself. He may actually have been the son of Cleophas, who died a martyr, and Mary who stood at the foot of the Cross, and who anointed Christ's body after death. If Thaddeus was, in fact, the brother of James the Lesser, who was a nephew of Mary and Joseph, he was a blood relative of Jesus Christ, and was reported to look a lot like him.

The various names of Thaddeus are not surprising. Before the Crucifixion, there would be a need to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot among the apostles , and after the Crucifixion there would be an additional reason for being emphatic about the distinction. He is also often identified as the reputed author of the canonical (New Testament) Letter of Jude that warns against the licentious and blasphemous heretics.

After Jesus' ascension, Judas' history is unknown. Like the Apostle St. Simon, he seems to have come from the Zealots, the Jewish nationalistic party prior to AD 70. Legends first appearing in the 4th century credit Simon and Judas with missionary work and martyrdom in Persia (noted in the apocryphal Passion of Simon and Jude). Thus, since the 8th century, the Western Church has commemorated them together on October 28. The Greek Orthodox Church, however, distinguishes Judas from Thaddeus, celebrating Judas, brother of the Lord, on June 19, and Thaddeus the Apostle on August 21.

Thaddeus, or St. Jude, is sometimes called the saint of "desperate or impossible cases." Catholics pray to him when things seem hopeless. The devotion to Judas (Jude) as patron of desperate causes began in France and Germany in the late 18th century. His patronage of lost or impossible causes traditionally derives from confusion by many early Christians between Jude and Judas; not understanding the difference between the names, they never prayed for Jude's help, and devotion to him became something of a lost cause.

Tradition suggests that Thaddeus was beaten to death with a club, then beheaded post-mortem in 1st century Persia.

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