Jude

The book of Jude is widely attributed to Jude, the brother of Jesus Christ. Together with James, his other brother, they were known to travel in ministry for the sake of the gospel of the Kingdom (see 1 Corinthians 9:5).

It’s interesting to note that Jude and James could have been among Jesus’ brothers who hadn’t believed his message in the early days of his ministry (see John 7:5). Maybe this contributed to Jesus’ statement: ‘Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honour’ (Mark 6:4).

However, by the time of the writing of the letter, dated around AD 65, Jude describes himself as a servant of Jesus Christ.

Holding firm to the Faith

Jude opens his letter with a call to the people of God to ‘contend for the faith’ that has been entrusted to them.  The Greek word ‘agonizomai’ that is used here for ‘contend’ was used to describe athletes competing for a prize. He warns against false teachers who seek to pervert and manipulate the integrity and purity of the Gospel.  These false teachers were taking ‘license’ with the truth of the gospel and denying the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.  This denial of the truth has to be fought against and Jude exhorts the people of God to take up this call.

Learning from the Past

Jude uses three examples from the Old Testament to show how we must hold firm to our faith and not turn to disobedience and unbelief.  He reminds us that status by itself and past record or history is no guarantee of salvation. He uses the examples of the Israelites coming out Egypt, angels falling in disobedience, and the plight of Sodom and Gomorrah to illustrate this point.

Correcting False Teaching

Jude then goes on to make some quite serious and powerful statements against dreamers and those who propose false teaching. He refers to them as those who ‘reject authority’. The right view and attitude towards authority is the cornerstone and foundation of any correct teaching. Jude warns that those who reject authority can be likened to some dismal examples from the Old Testament - Cain who killed his brother Abel, Balaam who led Israel astray for personal gain, and the rebel Korah who rejected God’s authority exercised through Moses.

Jude goes on to criticise these false teachers attendance at ‘love feasts’ and the way that they only feed themselves.  The love feast that Jude refers to was a community meal that took place around the celebration of the covenant meal. It was a meal that showed unity, covenant love and the life of Christ in God’s people. The attendance of false teachers at these gatherings went against what the Holy Spirit was doing in the life of the early church in establishing a covenant community.

In verse 12, Jude describes these teachers as ‘without fruit and uprooted – twice dead’.  We see here that without good foundations and the fruit of the Kingdom being seen in our lives – we are dead, twice over!  Jude uses a prophecy from the apocryphal book of Enoch in verse 14-15 to further illustrate the judgement to come upon these false teachers. Jude is not alone in drawing upon non-biblical texts to illustrate points inspired by the Holy Spirit. Paul does this a number of times in his writings, e.g. Titus 1:12, 2 Timothy 3:8

Faithful to the Apostolic Commission

Against the backdrop of false teaching and error coming into the early church, Jude encourages the people of God to remember and persevere in what the apostles had taught and foretold.  The call of the letter to not only ‘contend for the faith’ but to also ‘build yourselves up in your most holy faith’ is the true antidote to false teaching when combined with Jude’s call to ‘pray in the Holy Spirit’ (v.20.)

Jude encourages the readers of the letter to reach out with mercy to those who doubt and to snatch others from the fire, a picture of reaching out to those who are currently under judgement. Jude exhorts his dear friends to be faithful to the revelation of the Kingdom that they have received from the apostles, and to reach out to those who don’t yet know the salvation of Jesus Christ.

Jude ends the letter with a superb ‘doxology’.  A doxology is an expression of praise to God. With all the warnings and rebukes for false teachers, he assures the people that God is able to keep them from falling and will present them in his presence with great joy and without fault. What a wonderful and eternal promise for the people of God to hold onto as they live out their lives for the praise of God’s glory and splendour.

Conclusion

The short letter written by Jude has some relevant and challenging points for us in our time and generation as we live out Kingdom lives for the glory of Jesus.  Jude brings a call to the people of God to stand up for the unique revelation, lordship and gospel of Jesus Christ in the following ways:

  • He exposes the danger, the fruitlessness and the final destiny of false teachers (vv.5-16)
  • He urges God’s people to go on growing in their Christian faith and its expression (vv.20-21)
  • He reassures them of God’s sure purposes (v.24)
  • He calls them to lose no opportunity of evangelism (vv.22-23)

This background was written by Gavin White who is an elder at King’s Church, Manchester

You can visit his blog at www.gavinwhite.org.uk