Jude: Contend For the Faith

Part One: Who’s Jude?

I cannot think of or hear “Jude” without thinking of “Hey Jude,” a Beatles song that was new in 1968. I hardly know the lyrics. I know the tune because the pep band and the University of Iowa played it at every home basketball game in the 1969-1970 season. That season was so memorable because the team was the first one in the conference to go undefeated in the Big Ten, going 14-0. Very pleasant and rewarding memories are associated with that season and song. (Except for a frustrating loss in the NCAA tournament to the team that finally lost to UCLA in the overall champship. Sigh.

But this Jude is totally different. But I think that we will have some very pleasant memories when we have finished this study. We will focus on the first two verses for this lesson.

1 Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.

As I began this study I was astounded at the depth of meaning that was packed into these 25 short verses. As you probably have realized by now, I love to find hidden nuances in the Scripture. I do not often find them myself, but I love to ferret out those of the “real scholars.” One of the first is about the identity of the author.

I. Identity of the Author

Many of us have probably read or heard that Jude was the half brother of Jesus, but he did not claim this distinction. We find this in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. The townspeople were marveling or complaining about Jesus’ teaching.

(Matthew) Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?

(Mark)  Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him.

I. A. Which Jude?

There were other guys named Jude, or Judas, but this does not seem to be one of them. The primary one who comes to mind did not write any books, so we can ignore that possibility. The other Jude was also known as Thaddeus. Judas Thaddaeus became known as Jude after early translators of the New Testament from Greek into English sought to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot and subsequently abbreviated his forename.

One other reason for choosing Jesus brother as opposed to the disciple/apostle Jude is found in the text. Verse 17 when he appeals to the believers to beware of false teachers. (Oops, I gave away part of the story.) He said, 

“But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,....”

He referred to Apostolic authority to warn them about being aware of heresy. But he did not invoke his own credentials as the basis for this caution. And he did not identify himself as one of those apostles. But, going further, neither did he refer to what may have been “familial authority.”

I. B. Why not “Brother of Jesus?”

Jude, the brother of Jesus did not identify himself as the brother of Jesus and I have often heard that this was because of his humility. That is not necessarily wrong, but may be too shallow an interpretation. One other reason for the omission may have been because Jude’s readers would have known his identity. He called them “beloved” as we saw in v. 17 above. This could allow us to infer that they were well acquainted with, and attached to him. Therefore, he saw no reason to be repetitive. 

A final explanation for his omission of his relationship with Jesus was that when the book was written, which we will discuss in the section on “Date.” some in the society had begun to develop a “cult” about the “holy family.” Jude did not want to encourage nor perpetuate that fallacy. That might also be why he did not use the “familial authority” we mentioned above.

For our purposes, we can conclude that this was Jesus’ brother and that what he says is worthy of our attention. It is an important message and one that has been repeated throughout the ages, from the Old Testament right up until today. Read on.

I. C. Servant of Jesus

This could be another reason for failing to identify himself as Jesus’ brother. He might not have wanted to imply that he was someone special. He was just a slave. And the term that he used here is doulos. Exodus 21:5-6 prescribes what was to happen when a person was put into slavery or servanthood to pay off a debt. If the now-free servant chose to stay with his “old master” he could declare that, and a hole was bored in his ear, indicating that he was a voluntary slave for life. That is the term that Paul used and Jude does the same here. We could make a whole lesson out of that.

II. Date of the Book

For this consideration, we have no Scriptural authority. We can exclude the faulty claim that this should not be in the canon, because it was included in the earliest copies of the New Testament that we have, along with affirmations of its canonicity by early church fathers. But the date is variously given as somewhere from AD 60 to the mid-'80s. Some commentaries have him written before the second epistle written by Peter, and some have it following Peter. They have similar language. 2 Peter 2:17 “These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.” and verse 13. “...wild waves of the sea, casting up their own shame like foam; wandering stars, for whom the black darkness has been reserved forever.” (We will put this into context later.)

I read four commentaries on this and two said that Peter was copying Jude and the other two said the opposite. One reason for accepting the later date for Jude was that Peter was warning about apostasy “to come,” and Jude was speaking as it it were already present. This is not overly compelling, because, as mentioned earlier, false prophets or false shepherds was a constant problem from OT times until now. Either one of the statements could apply today. Just watch out for false prophets. 

A second consideration would be that if Jude had written after AD 70 when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed, he would have mentioned it in the comments on God’s judgments on unbelief. Nothing like that appears. The exact date that it was written is relatively unimportant as there are more important things to come. Let’s go. Period. There are more important things to come. Let’s go.

III. Interesting Characteristics of the Book

I will introduce another piece of Jim History here. I have a degree in Chemistry and one of the instruments that I especially enjoyed working with was able to identify different substances and parts of molecules by signature printout on graph paper. It could identify where hydrogen atoms were attached to the larger molecule by a pattern of three peaks. It looks something like i l i, only without the dots on the top of the i’s and connected to look like mountains. It was two smaller outside peaks surrounding the taller, center peak. It is called a triplet. Whenever we saw that, we knew something about this molecule: it had two hydrogens attached to the carbon chain. That is probably enough chemistry for today.

Jude seemed to have a penchant for “triplets.” Many of his comments or descriptions come in threes. We can spiritualize this by claiming that it is reflective of the Trinity, but I doubt that this would be accurate. That does not rule out the fact that the Person of God is three-fold, and we can see a lot of His characteristics in threes. We will look for them as we progress through the book. I will try to mark them with an asterisk (*) to remind us.

As we go through these 25 verses we will be struck with how this use of a three-fold adjective, or other descriptors, helps us to understand the meaning that Jude is presenting. So let’s get going.

IV. Salutation v. 1

I could not let this high-class musical allusion pass. This is like the famous Hee Haw! salutation: “Sall Ute`!” Well, maybe not exactly. They had it in nearly every program, and we find it here. 

We read it earlier. It begins in the traditional way that letters were written then. Just check Peter, 2 and 3 John, all of Paul’s epistles, and even Revelation. (1 John and Hebrews do not, and that may be because their purpose and intention was as doctrinal treatises, rather than letters.) But we find that Jude identifies himself first and then addresses his audience. We have already discussed the author and date so will begin with the audience.

This was addressed to “the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ....”* Notice our first triplet. It is not a good practice to rush through these things just as we should not skip over the genealogies found at various places in the Scripture record.  

IV. A. “The called”

Although this may be a taboo topic for some, the doctrine of calling is rich and meaningful. We find that term often throughout the Bible. Whether we use called or chosen it is a wonderful teaching. (Romans 1:6; 8:28; 1 Corinthians 1:24; Revelation 17:14 are just a few in the NT.)

Maybe a better way to say it, is “chosen.” God chose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Judah, and many others down the line. David’s oldest was not “chosen” to continue the line to the Messiah. And in the New Testament, we find the chosen people. There are 113 uses of “chosen” in the NASB, and even those involving people still show the same idea. Jesus was “chosen” as declared at the baptism by John. Jesus chose His disciples. Paul was chosen. All believers are chosen. We are all, the “called.” What a blessing and privilege.

IV. B. Beloved in God the Father

Or we could say loved by God the Father, Our Father, from our previous lessons. Since God is love, it is His nature to love. And He loves all men. I did not even try to look up the times that is stated in the Bible. We are called by the Holy Spirit, and loved by the Father. You can guess the final step in this trilogy: Of course, it has to do with the Son. We did not ascribe Jude’s triplet usage to the Trinity, but it still shows up.

IV. C. Kept for Jesus Christ

We can also say, “Kept by Jesus Christ.” The Holy Spirit called us. And whoever He calls, comes. That is because the Father draws him. John 6:44. “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him....”

So we are called and drawn to Christ. Will He let any of those the Father gave Him get lost? John 6:37-39

Everything (Or everyone) that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day.

 And to top it off, in John 17:6 we read Jesus summary of His ministry.

“I have revealed Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have followed Your word.

...12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name, which You have given Me; and I guarded them, and not one of them perished except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

What a magnificent trilogy: Called, Loved, and Kept. I will take it. And we are only starting.

V. Greetings! V. 2

I had a friend in graduate school and when he met someone that he had not seen in a while, the exclamation was, “Greetings!” And he was genuinely glad to see everyone he encountered. Greetings, Phil, if you are watching or reading this. 

Jude, likewise, had a somewhat standard salutation. (But that title was already used.)

May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.*

Did you see it? Here is another triplet. This is the third or fourth. Verse 1 started it with name, servant, and brother.* We did not identify that then, but can see it now. Jude’s greeting likewise is three-fold. It mirrors, but varies slightly, from Paul’s greeting. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1 and every book we know was written by him. We are not sure who wrote Hebrews, but it, like 1 John, was not a letter, per se. It was a doctrinal treatise.) Jude added love.

V. A. Mercy

Paul used “grace,” while Jude uses “mercy.” Grace can be defined as getting something that we do not deserve, while mercy is not getting something that we do deserve. Forgiveness is involved in both of them. Reflect back to the Lord’s Prayer. “...forgive us our debts (or trespasses) as we forgive our debtors, ones who have trespassed against us.” As we noted in our study, debts and trespasses are not sins against God, but offenses against our fellow men and women. Jude here is talking about mercy in that we are not charged with the debt associated with sinning against God. 

God is a merciful God. Here are just a few references.

Numbers 14:18 “The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in mercy....”

Nehemiah 9:17 “You are a God of forgiveness, Gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and                abounding in mercy....”

Psalm 36:5 “Your mercy, Lord, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”

Psalm 44:26 “Rise up, be our help, And redeem us because of Your mercy.”

Psalm 86:5 “For You, Lord, are...abundant in mercy to all who call upon You.”

Psalm 100:5 “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting....” 

Psalm 107:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His mercy is everlasting.” There are many more like this. And we have to add a couple from the New Testament.

Ephesians 2:4 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.”

Titus 3:5 “He saved us..., in accordance with His mercy....”

1 Peter 1:3 “...God...according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again....”

What a resume! And this is only a sampling. Psalms alone has many more than we listed. Jude invokes the mercy of God on his readers. And we will find out why in the next session. Be patient.

V. B. Peace

Once we have experienced God’s mercy in our lives, we can be at peace. In fact, without mercy, peace is an illusive dream. Illusive and unattainable. Isaiah 57:20 describes the state of someone who  has rejected God’s offer, and is thus outside of, or without peace. or without peace.

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

The final assessment is delivered in Isaiah 57:21.

“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”

We saw that the way to escape our predicament is by His mercy. (1 Peter 1:3) When Jude wishes us peace, it is predicated upon our acceptance of God’s mercy, His freely proffered mercy. We cannot help but offer that to everyone we encounter. This mercy is undeserved, and we must recognize that without our cooperation, by faith, we cannot experience peace. And the final leg of the three-legged stool is love.

V. C. Love

Realize that God’s love is the source of His mercy, and the subsequent peace we experience when we accept forgiveness offered in mercy. That is not only a triplet, it is self-sustaining and self-producing. But, God’s love does not end with the gift. It merely opens the door for us to experience more of  His love, as Jude says, “multiplied.” If we thought His love was amazing when He saved us, we are overwhelmed with it after we are in relationship with Him. Most newlyweds feel like their love is extreme and abounding. But, I know of many married couples whose love after 30, 40, 6o years and more outstrips what it was originally.  In a similar way, the puppy love of our first infatuation or crush pales in comparison to the love that leads to marriage.

And, back to our math lessons, God’s love is infinite. Do not forget: God’s love does not become greater the more we know or love Him. What changes, is my ability to realize, understand, and appropriate His love. (Hey, I slipped in a triplet of my own.) God does not love me more at any time or less at any time. What changes is my willingness and openness to receive it. Jude's wish is not for God to increase His love toward us. But for us to be able to understand and luxuriate in it.

Doesn’t that make you love Him more? Our love, unlike His, can ebb and flow. I want to increase it, and, as I do, I am confident that I will realize more of His love. 

With that, to chew on, Jude says more next time.