When God created the world, on the fourth day He made a greater light to rule the day and a lesser light to rule the night—and He made the stars also. (Gen. 1:16)
In so doing, the Creator of the universe set in place a principle that seems to govern all of life on this planet: namely, that there are greater lights and there are lesser lights, each in their place, each fulfilling God’s ordained purpose for their being.
This is true in the natural world, it seems, and it is true in other realms also. There is the Lion and there is the lamb; the first chair and the other chairs; the captain and the corporal; the supervisor and the supervised.
John the Baptist knew this in the spiritual world. He spake of himself as the one sent to bear witness of the Light, the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. John was merely a lesser light. John had to decrease and Jesus had to increase, the Baptizer announced.
In the apostolic corps, there were greater lights and there were lesser lights. James, Peter, John, and Andrew were lesser lights compared to the greater Light, Jesus; yet they were brighter lights than some of the other apostles.
Thaddaeus, also known as Lebbaeus and identified as “Judas, not Iscariot”—and also as “Judas (Jude) the brother of James”—was a lesser light. He hardly appears in the pages of the New Testament. But, as is true of the other apostles, his name will be forever engraved on one of the 12 foundations of the New Jerusalem, the eternal heavenly city of God.
Thaddaeus was unknown but not unfaithful. He followed Jesus in the beginning and never betrayed his Lord, Master, Messiah. He was with Jesus to the end and, after the end, gathering in the room where 120 of His followers waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit and the genesis of the Church that Jesus had promised the apostles He would found. (Acts 1:13)
Thaddaeus exemplified the first and foremost requirement of a steward, that of faithfulness. (I Cor. 4:3) So, he never became well known; in fact, most people would struggle to come up with his name when attempting to name all of the 12 apostles. He was, at best, faithful over a “few things.” (Matt. 25:23) He was never famous, but he was ever faithful. Jesus, in His letter to the church in Smyrna (Rev. 2:10) did not command the Smyrna saints to be “successful,” or “influential,” or “accepted,” or “diverse,” or “powerful,” or “wealthy.” But He promised them a crown of life if they would be faithful unto death.
Thaddaeus might well have echoed those now-famous words of the apostle “born out of due time” who, in the face of certain death, said: “I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith.” (II Tim. 4:6,7) Tradition records that Thaddaeus was clubbed to death, joining all the other apostles, except John, in the ranks of the martyrs.
Thaddaeus, on one occasion recorded in John’s gospel, seemed to have been unclear: “Judas, saith unto Him, not Iscariot, Lord how is it that Thou wilt manifest Thyself unto us and not unto the world?” Jesus answered, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” (John 14:22,23) So, this apostle may have appeared to be unclear at times, but he was never accused of being uncertain. He was ready to leave that Upper Room and follow Him to the garden—and on to Golgotha.
Thaddaeus may have been undistinguished, but he will never be forgotten. As has been mentioned, his name will be on one of the 12 foundations of the New Jerusalem. Most of our Lord’s followers—then and now—will forever be “undistinguished.” But none of His faithful followers will ever be forgotten: “God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which ye have showed toward His name.” (Hebrews 6:10)
Thaddaeus—aka Lebbaeus and Judas, not Iscariot—was unpaid, but like His faithful servants throughout all ages, neither he nor they will be unrewarded. Peter, spokesman for the 12 on one occasion, reminded Jesus that “we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore?” (Matt. 19:27) Jesus replied with words that must have plowed through the thick aura around Peter’s heart: “Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Matt. 19:27)
Thaddaeus, finally, on the way to Calvary, appeared to have been unsettled, but he proved not to be untrue. Like every other apostle, Thaddaeus forsook Jesus momentarily. (Mark 14:50) But like the women at the cross, the apostles came back to “watch Him there.” Most of us have, at one time or another, forsaken Him in a weak moment in some way. Maybe by just clamming up when we should have spoken up. But Solomon gives us hope: “A righteous man falls seven times, and riseth up again.” (Provs. 24:16) And, Thaddaeus rose up again and was with Him to the end.
“And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” (Matt. 19:29)
YOU and GOD 