Judas Thaddeus was a disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ. Referred to Judas by Luke,[1] he was identified by Matthew as Thaddeus ('the Courageous").[2] This was the "Judas, not Iscariot" mentioned by John. This indicates steps were made not to confuse this apostle with Judas Iscariot, who had betrayed Jesus.
He may have been the brother of James the Less, or his son. He and James may have also been brothers of Matthew, and were likely present at the banquet of sinners at Matthew's house. Thaddeus was the last of three to ask Jesus a question at the Last Supper. He asked him why he would show himself to the disciples and not to the rest of the world.
Later, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and miraculously healed the king of Edessa in modern-day Turkey, but was martyred there a short time after.