Thaddeus and the legend of Abgar

[ABOVE: Bell tower and northern facade of Saint Thaddeus Monastery—Andrehmarouti / [CC BY-SA 4.0] Wikimedia]

Not much is known about the life of the apostle Thaddeus, also called Jude (see pp. 11–13), but early church historian Eusebius wrote down traditional accounts of his life and of the other apostles in his Church History (c. 313). In this narrative Thaddeus preaches the gospel to Prince Abgar of Edessa (modern-day Turkey). Eastern Orthodox, Syrian, and Armenian traditions celebrate Abgar as a saint.

Then Abgar asked Thaddeus if he were in truth a disciple of Jesus the Son of God, who had written saying, “I will send you one of my disciples, who will heal you and give you life.”

Thaddeus replied, “Because you believed strongly in him that sent me, therefore I have been sent to you. Furthermore, if you believe in him, the petitions of your heart shall be granted to you.”

And Abgar said to him, “I believed in him so strongly that I wished to take an army to destroy those Jews who crucified him, but I decided against it because of the Romans’ dominion.”

Thaddeus responded, “Our Lord fulfilled the will of his Father, and having fulfilled that will, he has been taken up to his Father.”

Then Abgar said, “I believe in him and his Father.”

So Thaddeus said to Abgar, “Therefore in his name, I place my hand upon you.” And when he had done so, immediately Abgar was healed of his disease and suffering.

And Abgar marveled that, as he had heard concerning Jesus, so he received indeed through his disciple Thaddeus, who healed him without medicines or herbs. . . .

THADDEUS GIVES THE GOSPEL

And afterward, Abgar said, “O Thaddeus, you do these things by the power of God, and we marvel. But in addition to these things, I pray you to inform me about the coming of Jesus—how he was born; and in regard to his power, by what power he performed those deeds of which I have heard.”

Thaddeus replied, “At this time, I will keep silent because I have been sent to proclaim the word publicly. So tomorrow assemble all your citizens for me, and I will preach in their presence and sow among them the word of God concerning Jesus, his birth, his mission, and his purpose for which he was sent by the Father.

“And I will preach concerning the power of his works and the mysteries he proclaimed in the world . . . and concerning his new preaching. Furthermore, I will preach about his humiliation, how he humbled himself, demeaning his divinity, was crucified and died. He descended into Hades and broke the bars which had not been broken from eternity, and he raised the dead; for he descended alone but rose with many, and thus he ascended to his Father.”

Therefore Abgar commanded his citizens to assemble early in the morning to hear Thaddeus’s preaching, and afterward he commanded gold and silver to be given to him. But Thaddeus refused to take it, saying, “If we have forsaken that which was our own, how shall we take that which is another’s?”