Jude 1-7
The book of Jude is tucked away towards the end of the NT, and therefore, it doesn’t get a lot of attention today. Given the shortness of the book, it is easy to miss when turning pages. In most Bibles, it spans only two pages at the most. It is easy for pages to get stuck together, so you go from 3 John right to Revelation.
Another reason it is often overlooked is that it has some strange things in it, and a lot of times, it is just easier not to address what is going on. We will look at these, but not to try to figure out what happened. Instead, we will look at the principle Jude is trying to get across with the story. That is what truly matters.
A third reason the book of Jude is ignored is that we don’t know much about the author. Who was Jude? The truth is, we don’t really know. He identifies himself as “brother of James”. Most assume that this is the same James who wrote the book of James and who was the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
This makes sense because there is no other James known enough to simply use this as an identifier. Jude wanted people to listen to him, so he needed someone well-known enough to mention. This leads to a question. If this is indeed the James he is speaking of, and if James was indeed the brother of Jesus, why not simply say this is Jude, brother of Jesus?
Here is what I think: First, James doesn’t do that. James says, “a servant of Jesus Christ,” and Jude follows suit. Second, this title, “servant of Jesus Christ,” is greater than that of a physical brother. Jude had no say in being Jesus’ brother, but he does have a say in being a follower and servant of Jesus. By using “servant of Jesus Christ,” Jude is aligning himself with the people he is writing to.
Jude is, therefore, likely the younger brother of Jesus and James, but otherwise we don’t know anything about him. We don’t know what role he played in the church. He doesn’t seem to be one of the official apostles (v17), but if we use Paul’s definition of apostle, “one who saw the resurrected Jesus,” then Jude is surely an apostle. It is, of course, possible that Jude did not see the resurrected Jesus and only came to believe later. We simply do not know, and it does not really matter. We have his letter as part of holy Scripture, and therefore it is just as important and authoritative as anything else in the Bible.
There is some speculation that Jude was a companion of Peter. This letter and both of Peter’s letters have some of the same themes and ideas. This is certainly possible, but we are not told this one way or the other so it is just speculation. Being that there are similar themes, we may focus on other aspects and just touch briefly where they overlap.
Jude goes on to address this letter to those who are called loved by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. This doesn’t seem to be a letter to any specific church, but rather a general letter for all believers. There are two interesting phrases here. First, the people in the church are called loved by God. Second, they are kept for Jesus Christ. The point being that those called loved or beloved are kept secure through Jesus Christ.
Jude ends his introduction with, “May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” Love is a key topic for Jude, and we can see that love sandwiches everything else. We are called loved by God, and Jude wishes love to be multiplied.
Verse 3 begins here with “Dear friends,” but it is really the word for “beloved.” This ties the body of the letter back to the introduction. Jude is writing to those who are loved by God. This does not mean that those outside of the church are not loved by God, but just that those who have accepted servant status to Jesus are in a different kind of love relationship with God.
Jude says that he was eager to write about salvation, but finds it necessary to write about contending for the faith. I find this interesting because it shows us that God intends His word to be applicable to specific situations. Writing about salvation would have been a great letter, but there is a pressing need that requires attention. Jude demonstrates here that he is indeed a servant of Jesus Christ. He could have written whatever he wanted, but he is open to being used by God and submits his will to God’s will.
It is necessary to write about contenting for the faith, both because it was needed in that time, and because God desired Jude to write about it. The word “contend” speaks of athletic battles, military battles, and intellectual arguments in Greek literature. Jude’s point is not that Christians should arm up and fight military battles, but that there is a spiritual battle happening all around us that we need to be aware of. The idea of our Christian life being like an athletic competition is spoken of by Paul, as well as holding intellectual arguments.
The key there is intellectual. We do nobody any favors when we speak unintelligibly about Biblical matters. Simply saying this is what the Bible says and ignoring everything else is not the definition of intellectual arguments. We need to take the time to study, research, pray, and know what we are arguing for or against.
Much like Peter, Jude is thinking here of those who have come into the church under false pretenses and are trying to lead God’s beloved away from Jesus. These people have been designated for judgement long ago. Again, just like Peter, Jude is making the point that we as believers don’t have to pass judgment on them, that has been done a long time ago. Our job is simply to contend with them so more people do not fall victim. This is where intelligent arguments are critical.
In verses 5-7, Jude is going to give three examples of past sin that God judged. Two of these three we saw in Peter. The one different one is the mention of the Exodus. Pay close attention to who saved the people out of Egypt. Jude does not use the generic “god” but is specific that Jesus saved the people out of Egypt.
There is a lot of false teaching today that the early church did not equate Jesus with God and that thinking came about later. Here we see Jude specifically attributing a divine act that has been historically attributed to Yahweh. The early church clearly understood that Jesus was God.
But notice it is not just Jesus who saves the people out of Egypt but also Jesus who later destroyed those who did not believe. We are meant to understand that in each of these three examples it is Jesus who executes judgment.
The angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling is a reference to Gen 6 where the sons of God came down and had relations with the daughters of Eve and produced a hybrid divine/human abomination to God.
The purpose in these three examples is to remind the people in Jude’s day, and us today, that Jesus is going to judge the world. Those who are found in Him are going to experience what the Israelites did when they were saved out of Egypt. Those who rebel, or are found outside of Jesus, will face the destruction, eternal chains in darkness, and the punishment of eternal fire.
Here is where we need to resist the temptation to read too much into things. Are the unfaithful/unregenerate destroyed, kept chained up in darkness, or experiencing eternal fire. Those three things are contradictory of each other. The last two speak of those who have not been destroyed and fire diminishes darkness. What does this eternal state look like?
It doesn’t matter. Jude’s point is that Jesus is going to judge those He needs to judge and there is going to be some form of eternal unpleasantness that goes along with it. Jude wants those who are called loved by God to not experience this. They way to avoid this is to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once and for all.
Next week, Jude will turn his attention to the present day (from his point of view) apostasy that is afflicting the church.