There are a number of good reasons why we should take the time to carefully study the Bible, rather than just to read it. Reading it is just allowing our eyes to pass over the words, with the intent of getting the gist of what is being said. That works for a novel and even an article on a website or in a magazine; but those don’t have the depth of information that is included in the passages of the Bible. A simple read-through of the Bible will cause one to skip over a lot of information. While Bible stories can be read and a basic understanding gleaned from them, there will even be details lost in the stories that a more careful study will reveal. When it comes to more complex things to understand, like the books of prophecy, the reader will be lost.
One of the challenges that we encounter in studying the Bible is the use of names. Many names, especially in the Old Testament, are strange to us and difficult to understand. But even simple names, like Mary, can become complicated, because multiple characters might have the same name. In the case of the name Mary, found in the gospels, we find Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the sister of Lazarus and Martha.
Mary is not the only name we find used in reference to more than one key person in the New Testament, we find the same thing happening with the name James, where we also have three different people named James. Two of those were disciples, and are differentiated by referring to them as James the Greater and James the Less. This doesn’t refer to one being more important than the other, but rather that James the Greater was older and possibly taller than James the Less. James the Greater was the brother of the Apostle John.
But there’s a third James that appears rather suddenly in the early part of the book of Acts, as a leader in the church. He is neither James the Greater or James the Less, but rather, James the half-brother of Jesus. Although we see no evidence in scripture of any of Jesus’ family members following Him, during His earthly ministry; apparently, they did so more than we see. James would not have been accepted by the 12 apostles, had he not been a close follower of Jesus.
This brings us to Jude or Judas. It might be easy to make the mistake of thinking that there was only one Judas counted amongst the disciples of Jesus, but John’s Gospel makes it clear that this was not the case.
Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” – John 14:22
This question was asked during one of Jesus’ many private times with His disciples. We know this, in part, by the types of things He was discussing with them. The message that Jesus preached or taught in public was considerably different than that which He taught in private, as He gave much deeper truths to His disciples, than He did in public discourse. But even without that, we see that this was a private time because Judas was not the only one to interrupt Jesus with questions, both Thomas (verse 5 and Phillip (verse 8) did so as well.
It is clear that this Judas was close enough to Jesus, that he felt no restraint in interrupting Jesus with a question, as would someone who was not as close to Him. This particular question was prompted by what Jesus had said in the previous verse about manifesting Himself to those who keep His commandments.
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.” – John 14:21
At a minimum, what we gain from this verse, is the knowledge that there were more than one Judas included in Jesus’ inner circle of disciples. But what was different about them?
Let’s Start with Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot is best known as the disciple who betrayed Jesus, selling him to the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver. To put this in context, those 30 pieces of silver were each worth 4 drachmas, with the drachma being a days’ pay for a skilled laborer. So, 30 pieces of silver was a princely sum, worth about four month’s wages.
We do not know exactly why Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, although it has been suggested that he did so in an effort to force Jesus to tip His hand, taking up the throne of David. The common interpretation of prophecy in the time of Jesus had the Jews looking for a political Messiah to overthrow the Roman rule over Judea, not a spiritual one. If this was Judas’ motivation, it was one shared at least in part by the other disciples, who asked Him about it after his resurrection.
Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this tie restore the kingdom to Israel?” – Acts 1:6
Yet this understanding is not without fault, as it is known that Judas Iscariot, in his role as the treasurer for Jesus’ ministry, was stealing from the common money purse. Were Jesus to be arrested and perhaps killed, Judas would lose that source of added income. This is revealed to us, interestingly enough, through Judas Iscariot complaining about Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, pouring fragrant oil on Jesus’ feet and wiping them with her hair. The contrast merely shows how deeply the sin of greed was embedded in Judas’ heart.
But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, 5 “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” 6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.” – John 12:4-6
Before anyone gets the idea that Judas Iscariot pulled the wool over Jesus’ eyes, fooling Him into thinking that he was a true disciple, Jesus Himself called out Judas Iscariot as the one who would betray Him at the Last Supper. This was not done openly, in a way that the other disciples recognized what He was saying; but was done in a way to make it clear to us that He knew what was in Iscariot’s heart and what he would do in betraying Jesus. Jesus even said to Judas “What you are about to do, do quickly” (John 13:26-28).
We must remember that Jesus came to Earth for the purpose of dying as the sacrifice for our sins. His betrayal at the hands of Judas Iscariot was a pre-planned, necessary part of the work of our salvation. It didn’t happen by accident and it wasn’t Satan winning out over Jesus. Although the devil did prompt Judas Iscariot (John 13:2), that wasn’t without God’s knowledge.
What About the “Other” Judas?
We actually know much less about the other Judas than we do about Judas Iscariot, mostly because the Bible says very little about him. What little that is said is made even more confusing by the fact that he is called by several different names. His full name was apparently Judas Thaddeus, but we find him referred to as Judas, Jude, Thaddeus, and Lebbaeus. However, all of these are the same person, who was one of Jesus’ disciples.
This idea that there isn’t much said about him in the Gospels isn’t really all that surprising. We know the most about Peter, James (the Greater) and John, because they were the closest to Jesus. Little is said about several of the disciples, with James the Less receiving the least amount of press. This does not in any way diminish his ministry or calling though, it just makes it more private. The writers of the Gospels were not in the PR business, trying to further the “careers” of their fellow disciples.
We don’t know when or how this Judas was called by Jesus, just that he was called early on. His name is listed amongst the disciples in Luke 6:16, as well as in Acts 14:22. He is related to Jesus, through his mother, as his mother and Mary were cousins. This may be how he met Jesus and was called; but the Bible doesn’t confirm this to us. He was also the brother of James the Less.
While this Judas, or Thaddeus, is only mentioned a few times in the Scriptures, it is believed that he traveled extensively after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ministering in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Libya, as well as the ancient city of Beirut. All this would have happened within the span of less than 30 years, as he supposedly returned to Jerusalem in 62AD to take part in the election of his brother Simeon as Bishop of Jerusalem.
There is some confusion and disagreement amongst scholars as to whether this Judas or Jude the half-brother of Jesus was the author of the book of Jude. Both are very real possibilities, with neither having preference over the other. In either case, it is reported that Thaddeus wrote an Epistle to the churches in the east, specifically focused towards the Jewish converts.
According to church tradition, Thaddeus founded the church in Edessa, where he was eventually crucified as a martyr, although some accounts say that he was martyred in the city of Berytus. His bones were supposedly brought to Rome, where they are interned in St Peter’s Basilica.
Even though we know little about this Judas and his ministry, we should not discount the value or importance of his ministry in any way. There is much that happened in the Early Church, of which we have little knowledge. The Book of Acts, which we would expect to record the work of the original apostles, concentrates mostly upon the ministry of Paul and how he brought the gospel message to the gentiles. This is not surprising, as it was written by his traveling companion, Luke. But it would be nice to have something similar about each of the other apostles.
Jesus would not have chosen Thaddeus as a disciple, if there was not a place and a ministry for him to fulfill. As with many other things not told to us in the Bible, we must accept the fact that it has not been made known to us as nothing more or less than the Holy Spirit deciding that such knowledge is not necessary for our own conversion to Christ and our growth as Christian believers.
On the other hand, looking at the list of nations where Thaddeus traveled and ministered, there have been many thousands of lives which were touched by him, either directly or indirectly. There’s no way to estimate how many people have been saved throughout history, due to the ministry of Thaddeus. How many years later would the gospel message have reached those nations, had he not followed the leading of the Holy Spirit to go there and minister?
God has had countless men and women, like Thaddeus, throughout history, who have done His work in the world, both in Old and New Testament times. Largely unsung heroes, they have received their reward in heaven, for the work they completed here on Earth. Those who are focused on receiving their reward here on Earth, often miss out on receiving it; nor do they succeed in receiving the reward they seek, when and if they make it to heaven. Seeking the praise of man is dangerous, and can impede our ability to receive any praise from God.