Apostle 1st century

Apostle Jude the Brother of the Lord

Also known as Jude · Thaddeus · Lebbaeus · Judas not Iscariot

A kinsman of the Lord, son of Joseph the Betrothed, and one of the Twelve, who wrote the catholic epistle bearing his name and preached the Gospel through Judea, Syria, and Mesopotamia, suffering martyrdom near Mount Ararat.

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June 19

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The Holy, Glorious, and All-Laudable Apostle Jude, the Brother of the Lord

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Jude, the Brother of the Lord, was one of the Twelve Apostles, commemorated by the Orthodox Church on June 19. The synaxarion accounts him a kinsman of Christ as a son of Joseph the Betrothed by an earlier marriage, and thus a brother of the Apostle James the Brother of the Lord, the first bishop of Jerusalem. He is to be carefully distinguished from Judas Iscariot the betrayer; the Gospels themselves take care to mark him out, and by tradition he came to be called Jude or Thaddaeus rather than Judas to avoid confusion with the traitor.

He is known under several names. In the apostolic lists he appears as 'Judas of James' (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13), and he is also called Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus; the Orthodox tradition further records the name Levi for him. The Orthodox synaxarion identifies this apostle with the Thaddaeus named among the Twelve, presenting Jude, Thaddaeus, and Lebbaeus as one and the same person. Modern scholarship is divided over whether these names denote a single apostle, and the Eastern tradition itself distinguishes him from Thaddaeus (Addai) of the Seventy, a separate disciple associated with the mission to Edessa.

To Jude is traditionally attributed the catholic Epistle of Jude, a single chapter that stands among the general epistles of the New Testament. In its opening the author names himself 'a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,' identifying himself by his kinship rather than by apostolic office. The Orthodox tradition relates that Jude did not at first believe in Christ, coming to faith and to his apostolic labors after the Lord's Resurrection and Ascension.

After Pentecost the apostle preached the Gospel widely. The synaxarion relates that he proclaimed Christ through Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Armenia, and tradition associates him also with Edessa and the region of Beirut. While preaching in the country around Mount Ararat he was seized by pagans and put to death, by tradition crucified and shot through with arrows. He is reckoned among the company of the Twelve commemorated together in the Synaxis of the Holy Apostles.

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Names and Identity

The apostle is named in the Gospels and the Book of Acts in ways that the tradition has long sought to harmonize. He appears as 'Judas of James' in the lists of the Twelve given by Luke and Acts, while the Gospels of Matthew and Mark name a Thaddaeus (also rendered Lebbaeus) in the corresponding place. The Orthodox synaxarion treats these as designations of one apostle, so that Jude, Thaddaeus, Lebbaeus, and (in the Eastern tradition) Levi are read as names of the same man.

This harmonizing identification is the traditional one and is presented here as the synaxarion presents it; it is not a point of unanimous agreement. Some scholars hold the names to belong to distinct figures. The Eastern Church is careful, however, to distinguish this apostle of the Twelve from Thaddaeus of the Seventy, also called Addai, who is associated with the early evangelization of Edessa and whom Orthodox tradition reckons a separate person even where earlier sources blur the two.

Kinship with the Lord

Jude is called a 'brother of the Lord' in the sense the Orthodox tradition gives that phrase: not a son of the Virgin Mary, but a son of Joseph the Betrothed from a marriage before his betrothal to the Theotokos. By this reckoning he is a brother of James the Brother of the Lord, first bishop of Jerusalem, and a kinsman of Christ. The tradition relates that he did not believe in Christ at the first, a note the synaxarion preserves without softening.

His self-description in the Epistle of Jude as 'brother of James' accords with this kinship, naming the more prominent James rather than asserting his own standing among the apostles.

The Epistle of Jude

The brief Epistle of Jude, a single chapter of twenty-five verses, is traditionally ascribed to the apostle and numbered among the catholic, or general, epistles of the New Testament, standing next to last before the Book of Revelation. Its author opens by naming himself 'a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James.'

The letter exhorts its readers to contend for the faith against false teachers, marshaling examples of divine judgment from sacred history. It is notable for citing the Book of Enoch and for alluding to a contention between the Archangel Michael and Satan over the body of Moses. The epistle's place in the canon was disputed in some quarters of the early Church but was secured by the late second century.

Apostolic Labors and Martyrdom

Following the Lord's Ascension and the descent of the Holy Spirit, Jude carried the Gospel through a wide territory. The synaxarion names Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Idumea, Syria, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Armenia among the lands of his preaching, and the wider tradition links him with Edessa and with the region of Beirut.

The Orthodox tradition relates that, while preaching in the country around Mount Ararat, the apostle was captured by pagans and put to death, being crucified and shot with arrows. Other traditions concerning the apostle's death exist outside the Orthodox synaxarion, including an Armenian account of martyrdom under King Sanatruk and a Western account placing his death near Beirut together with the Apostle Simon the Zealot; these are noted as variants of the tradition of his end.

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The Epistle of Jude — A single-chapter catholic epistle of the New Testament, traditionally ascribed to the apostle, exhorting the faithful to contend for the faith against false teachers.

Notes

Of the Twelve; not Judas Iscariot. Identified with the Apostle Thaddeus.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints