Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?”
– John 14:22
Information can be an extraordinarily valuable commodity. Withholding it can cause decisions to be poorly made and judgments wrongly rendered. Sometimes the advantages of withholding information are clear. At other times it makes no sense at all. The disciples of Jesus seem to be suffering from the “no sense at all” scenario.
Judas, a.k.a. Thaddeus, has been tracking the conversation in the Upper Room. It is obvious now that Jesus is about to depart from them, although the disciples have not yet connected the dots of where he is going. Thad has now picked up on another curious element. Jesus said to them, “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me” (v. 19). Jesus follows it with another comment about disclosing himself to the ones who have and keep his commandments (v. 21). Something about this sounds backward to Thaddeus. Why? Because disclosure needs to happen to those who do not yet have the necessary information. Declaring things to people who already know seems rather redundant.
Over the previous three years, masses of people from Galilee to Judea and beyond had witnessed remarkable things at the hands of Jesus. They had heard teaching with a power unlike any other. But of all the witnesses throughout the land, that inner circle of friends who were in the room with Jesus that night had witnessed the most, and they had come to a pivotal conclusion: Jesus IS the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). Their eyes had seen and ears heard more than enough to establish their faith. Their Messiah had come, and was walking right in their midst. For the people of Israel, this is good news! They had been waiting for generations for the day when this news could joyfully be proclaimed. Why not let the people know?
The confusion expressed by Judas Thaddeus is understandable. As we have seen previously, the confusion stems from the fact that Jesus is up to something different than the disciples think he is. They think he has come to restore the nation of Israel to their glory days. In actuality, Jesus’ mission is of a more profound nature. He is on a salvation mission, but this mission at the core is spiritual in nature. And in order to complete the mission, Jesus would have to be rejected by his people rather than affirmed by them. Only by suffering rejection and ultimately a brutal death would the redemptive plan of God be accomplished. Only then, after his death and resurrection, would Jesus be calling for full disclosure.
But that begs the question: who is going to make this full disclosure? Who is going to tell the story? The answer is obvious. The story will be told by those who have known him personally and experienced the power of his life, i.e. the apostles. When the time would come, they would be able to give witness to the life of Jesus, the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the good news that Jesus offers to the world. They would have a story to tell to the nations, and it would be a story too good to leave untold.
Judas Thaddeus felt the urgency for people to know about Jesus. By God’s grace, may that urgency be contagious for our generation.
See you back in the Upper Room.
The Winding Path 