An Introduction to Jude

Scripture Reading

Jude 1–4 NIV84

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ: 2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance. 3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

Introduction

The Christian faith is Gospel centered.

When a preacher takes up the word of God and seeks to present the truth of the glorious revelation of God in Scripture, the Gospel must be central to what he proclaims.

The message of the Gospel is centered on the cross.

But we must recognise that Christian doctrine, and what we believe as Christians goes beyond just the cross, and what took place there for our deliverance, as great a subject as that is. And although we always should live Gospel-centered lives, and preach Christ-centered messages, there is much in terms of the doctrines of the faith that we need to grow in and mature in as Christians.

Jude writes this letter to Christians who are facing the threat of false teachers coming into their midst, and he finds it necessary to caution them concerning these false teachers, to urge them to stand firm in Christian doctrine, and also to encourage them as this threat of false teachers exists.

In verse 3 of this letter (only a chapter long) Jude writes...

Jude 3 NIV84

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.

As we come to study this short letter in the New Testament, my hope is that we as a church would be spurred on and encouraged to contend for the faith in the midst of much false teaching that has proliferated the church. This letter from Jude is just as important for us today as the church as it was in the day that it was written.

And so today we begin our study in this letter. This morning, I want to simply introduce the letter in terms of its author and recipients, just so that we can get ourselves into the picture of what was happening.

Firstly, then, let us consider...

1. The Author of the Letter (v.1a)

The letter opens in the typical manner of such letters, and that is by indicating who the author of the letter is. There are at least three things that we can see from the way in which the author introduces himself.

1.1. A Man Named Judas

The first thing that we find concerning the author of this letter is his name. In our English translation, his name is given as “Jude”.

In the original Greek, however, the name of the author of the letter is “Judas”. In other words the author of this letter shares precisely the same name as the man that betrayed Jesus and handed him over to be crucified.

In that day, the name Judas was a very common name, and many people would have been named Judas.

Jesus had two disciples that bore this name. In listing the names of the disciples, Luke records in Luke 6:16 that two of these disciples of Jesus were...

Luke 6:16 NIV84

16 Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

In Acts 5:37, there was a man also named Judas the Galilean, who had led a revolt and ended up being killed.

In Acts 15, there is a man in the church called Judas who was also a prophet, and who was sent out by the church along with Silas to go with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch. He was known as Barsabbas (Acts 15:22).

So there were a number of men named Judas that are recorded for us in the Scriptures, and obviously there were many others that were not recorded.

The reason that our English translations rather use the name “Jude” when translating is probably because they want to avoid the connection to Judas Iscariot. But the name itself is the same.

So we see that this author’s name is Judas. The most probable explanation for his name being translated as Jude in the English is in order to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, who had betrayed Jesus.

But in order to provide further clarity in which Jude in particular is writing this letter, he gives some further detail for his readers.

1.2. A Brother of James

We see also in verse 1 that Jude identifies himself as being a brother of James.

What is interesting here is that he doesn’t say specifically which James is being referred to. James itself was a very common name in that day.

There was the Apostle James, whose brother was John. They were the sons of Zebedee. That Particular James was put to death with the sword by Herod (we read that in Acts 12:2).

There was James, the son of Alpheus, who was also an Apostle (Mat 10:3).

But clearly, James was well-known, and it was sufficient in Judes mind that if he connected himself to this well-known James, that his readers would know specifically who he was.

With that information, it becomes evident, or at the very least highly likely that the Jude that wrote this letter was a brother of Jesus Christ himself.

You will recall the account of Jesus going into his home-town of Nazareth, and as he tries to preach there and perform miracles, the crowds there did not want to accept him, because he was well-known to them.

Matthew 13:54–55 NIV84

54 Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

In that list of names, we find that there are two brothers, who are both referred to as brothers of Jesus himself, who are named James, and Judas.

And so it was this very brother of Jesus, also a brother of James, who writes this letter, but links himself to James in order to identify who he is in particular.

What is interesting to note is that this man Jude was not a believer during the time of Jesus’ ministry. In John 7, we find an account of Jesus’ brothers treating him scornfully...

John 7:2–5 NIV84

2 But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

So these very brothers of Jesus did not believe in Jesus in terms of who he claimed to be. In fact, they thought that he was probably not of sound mind. In Mark 3, we read...

Mark 3:20–21 NIV84

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

Just further on in the same chapter we read...

Mark 3:31–35 NIV84

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” 33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

And so, Jesus’ family had not always been believers, and his brothers had not always been followers of him, but this changed, at least following his crucifixion and resurrection. In Acts, we read...

Acts 1:14 NIV84

14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

What a wonderful truth to consider that these very brothers, including James and Jude, who previously had not believed in him, have had their own eyes opened to see Jesus as the true Messiah, and now followers of him.

The Apostle Paul then speaks of the brothers of Jesus even becoming traveling missionaries:

1 Corinthians 9:5 NIV84

5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?

So, this hopefully gives us a better picture of who this man Jude was. He was initially an unbeliever, a brother of Jesus, and a brother of James, as he identifies himself here. But he is a person who has come to recogise who the true Messiah is, Jesus. And he has become a minister of the Gospel. He at least knows enough about the church, and about the Gospel itself, and about doctrinal faithfulness, to find it necessary by the guiding of the Holy Spirit to write this very letter to the believers in order to both encourage them and warn them about false teachers.

1.3. A servant of Jesus Christ

Finally, in terms of who this author of the letter was, note that he introduces himself as a “servant of Jesus Christ.”

Now, we may wonder why he introduces himself as the brother of James, but not as the brother of Jesus! The most plausible and probable reason for this is that he doesn’t want to emphasize his privilege of having a brotherly relationship with Jesus Christ. His emphasis is not on the fact that he is a brother to Christ, but rather that he is a servant of Jesus Christ.

And this leads us to consider the word that he does use to introduce himself in relation to Christ. In the English translations, it reads that he is a servant of Jesus Christ. In the Greek, there are two different words that are often translated into English as servant. The first word is “Diakonos” from which we get our English word Deacon (which refers to a servant in the church). But Jude doesn’t use that word in his letter. Rather, he uses the Greek word “Doulos” which more literally is translated as “slave” in the English. Some English versions use the term “bond-servant”.

The word “Doulos” in its day referred to someone that was subservient to and controlled by another person. It wasn’t merely a servant in the sense that you served someone, but were doing so of your own free will, and could change the situation at any time. Rather, it referred to a slave in the sense of belonging to a master, and thus serving that master.

Here is the word that Jude, a brother and former unbeliever, used when he referred to Himself. He knew Jesus as his Lord and Master. Jude’s life was given over to service of this Lord.

That said, this was no burdensome position to be in, but rather it was a position of great honour to be able to call Christ Lord, and to submit to the Lordship of this master. It was a name that Peter, Paul and James used for themselves in their letters.

This is what we all are as children of God, saved through Christ. We are slaves of Jesus Christ. We are His servants, bought at a great price, and commissioned by Him in the world to serve Him and to be witnesses for Him in this world.

We must ask ourselves, do we see this as a great privilege and honour in our own lives? Do we count ourselves as slaved to Jesus Christ, and see this as our key identity? We may be workers doing various things in the world, but first and foremost, we must see ourselves as slaves of Jesus Christ, doing all that we do to the glory of our Lord and Master, Jesus.

2. The Recipients of the Letter (v.1b)

Having considered who it is that has written this letter, we must now turn our attention to the recipients of the letter, and who particularly it is that Jude wishes to address as he writes this letter.

Before we look more closely at the way Jude addresses them, I think it will be helpful to recognise two preliminary general points regarding his intended recipients.

Firstly, (and most obviously) he writes to believers. The message that Jude writes is actually very relevant to all believers through all of time.

Secondly, it was most likely that he was writing to Jewish Christians - Jews that had trusted in Christ and were now identified as Christians. The reason that I say this is because of the various references that Jude uses that would have been familiar to Jews, but not familiar to Gentiles, and he makes these references without explaining them.

Just one example, he speaks in verse 11 about false teachers taking the way of Cain; and rushing for profit into Balaam’s error; and being destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. These are all references to Israelite history that they would have been familiar with, but Gentiles would not have been familiar with these.

And so this, simply to say, that Jude most likely was writing to a Jewish Christian community. That said, we have no indication or clue really to the precise location of this community, or if in fact he intended the letter to be sent to various Jewish Christian communities.

With those general points having been touched on, what is of great significance is the manner in which Jude addresses these Christians in the opening of his letter. As he opens his letter, he brings much encouragement and hope by drawing their attention to who they are in Christ Jesus, and just how certain their identity in Christ is.

Let us consider the three ways in which Jude describes these believers.

2.1. They are called by God

Firstly, he says that they are called by God.

In the original Greek, “called by God” comes at the end of the sentence, and stands as the focal point and key identifier of this triad that Jude uses. The fact that they are “loved by God” and “kept by Christ” point to and support the key point, and that is that they are “called by God.” This is why our English translations put this at the beginning.

As we consider Jude’s use of this phrase, we must recognize and understand the very special nature of this call, and thus the comfort it brings to the believer. In the New Testament, particularly in the letters that Paul wrote, we find much attention given to this call of God.

It speaks of a decision of the will of God to make a particular people His own. Jude is referring to these believers as those who have had God’s love set upon them in a particular manner, and are thus a part of His chosen people.

Paul used this word to describe himself as an Apostle. In Romans 1:1, he opens his letter to the Romans by writing:

Romans 1:1 NIV84

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—

In 1 Corinthians 1:1, he writes...

1 Corinthians 1:1 NIV84

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

We know how God called Paul, a person who was actively opposed to God, and bent on destroying the church. God confronted him in his active rebellion and gave him a peculiar call. God said to him that he was going to be His own instrument and His chosen instrument to carry forth the Gospel, and suffer for the sake of the Gospel.

Well, as Jude writes, he reminds these believers that they are chosen by God.

The Apostle Peter put this beautifully in ...

1 Peter 2:9 NIV84

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

And so too, with these recipients, they were those who were peculiarly called by God, and were His people.

We must not lose sight of the fact that as God’s people, they were not only called to be a people called by His name, but rather they were called to a particular function and task, as those who are called by His name. And that is, as we’ve read in 1 Peter 2:9, to declare the praises of God. It was to proclaim God’s name. It was to proclaim the truth of the Gospel.

Why would this have been so encouraging to these Christians? The context of Jude’s letter is the proliferation of these false teachers that, firstly, are destined for destruction due to their own false teachings, and secondly, were leading many people astray from Christ. Within that context, Jude’s words here would have provided assurance. They were called by God to be His own.

Further to this...

2.2. They are loved by God

The second point that we see is that they are loved by God.

What an encouragement to the believers to know that the love of God has been placed upon them in such a special way. The very reason that they have been called was because of the love of God.

Colossians 3:12 speaks about God’s people who are “holy and dearly loved.”

In the Scriptures, we read of the love that God has for His beloved Son.

Matthew 3:17 NIV84

17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Ephesians 1:6 NIV84

6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

This same love that the Father has set upon His Son is now set upon His children that He has called. He loves them deeply!

In John 15:9, Jesus said to His disciples:

John 15:9 NIV84

9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

And in John 17:23, as Jesus prayed his beautiful prayer for His disciples, he prayed:

John 17:23 NIV84

23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Here again is an encouragement to these believers who are going to be called by Jude to contend for the faith, and to hold to sound doctrine and teaching, and not be led astray by false teachers who have destruction coming their way.

2.3. They are kept by Christ

Finally, in terms of the way in which Jude addresses them, is that he refers to them as those who are kept by Christ.

Again, this points to the fact that they are Called by God. But they are not called by God only to be left to their own strength and hopefully to endure. Rather, they are kept by Christ.

The phrase that is used here refers to the fact that these believers are guarded or preserved by Christ Himself. Christ Himself will lose none of those that the Father has given to Him to be called by His name.

Again, in the prayer of Jesus for His disciples, Jesus prayed in John 17:12:

John 17:12 NIV84

12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

The only disciple that was not kept was the one that was doomed to destruction according to the Scriptures. Christ kept His disciples. And in the same way that He kept the 11 disciples, Jude says that he will keep these disciples. None of them will be lost.

At the end of this very letter, Jude will confirm this by speaking of Christ as “Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy!”

Jude is here writing to believers who may take great encouragement that they are chosen by God, they are loved by God, and they will be kept by Jesus Christ, and this until the return of the Saviour.

As we look to verse 2, notice that Jude gives his salutation, or His greeting to these believers. And this greeting forms...

3. The Prayer for God’s Grace (v.2)

As Jude writes with these encouraging descriptors of the believers, he then goes on to give a greeting which was typical of letters written in that day. However, we must not skip over this greeting as a mere formality. Again, the way in which Jude outlines his prayer for these believers is significant, and would have been a great encouragement to them.

3.1. A Prayer for God’s Mercy

Firstly, there is a prayer for mercy. This is not a typical prayer for the opening of the New Testament letters. There are very few occasions - in four occasions in total in the introductions to the New Testament Epistles (letters) that you will find a prayer for the mercy of God: 1 Tim 1:2, 2 Tim 1:1, 2 John 3, and then in this letter. What is notable about the uses of this prayer for the mercy of God is that on each occasion that it is used, it is against a background of false teaching.

In the context of the letter of Jude, his prayer that they would know the mercy of God in abundance is fitting given the concern that he has for false teachers that would seek to lead people astray.

The reality is that every day in the life of a believer, there is a need for the mercy of God. God’s mercy is not only needed for regeneration, it’s not only needed when considering the holy justice of God against the sinfulness of man, but it is needed by us in order to sustain us and keep us in our walk with him.

For these readers, Jude is giving a reminder and a confirmation that God bestows mercy on those who do not deserve it, and they may thus be of good courage, and may be unafraid, even in the context of a false teachers infiltrating the church, and even leading some people away from the Gospel truths. Jude’s encouragement is that God will continue to have mercy on His people.

3.2. A Prayer for God’s Peace

Jude also prays that they would know God’s peace in these circumstances. They are not to give way to fear, but rather are to know an experiential knowledge of the peace of God in their lives.

When we are confronted with threats to our physical well-being, and even more so when we are confronted with threats to our spiritual well-being, it can often give rise to fear and concern in our lives. We may become anxious. But Jude extends this prayer for the peace of God to be with the believers in abundance.

To be sure, we are never to have a sense of complacency in our lives, and a false sense of peace when we are living outside of the will of God, and even in direct contradiction to His ways. But as those are called by God, and as we live our lives with the hope-filled truths of the Gospel, we are called to have this great peace about our lives as we live in fellowship with God. When we are seeking and desiring a close walk with God and to stand firm in His ways, and when we pursue that diligently in our lives, we may be greatly encouraged by the fact that God will grant us peace as we trust in Him.

Jude prays that these believers would know the peace of God in abundance. So too, we may be those who know the peace of God in abundance, irrespective of the threats around us.

3.3. A Prayer for God’s Love

Finally, Jude prays that these believers would know the love of God in abundance. Let us recall that Jude has already stated very clearly that these believers are the beloved of God. They are loved by God. There is no question about that.

But what Jude prays here is that these Christians would truly know and understand - in other words, that they would experience - the love of God. That they would live their lives in a confidence that they are loved by God, and that they would thus be assured that God is with them and directing their lives, and that they would live with joy in this truth.

Friends, we are not called to merely know about God’s love, but to know God’s love. And I would encourage us as a church - one of the great ways that our fellow-believers can know the love of God for them, is when we as their brothers and sisters express love towards one another through fellowship, or in a time such as this, through messages and phone calls of encouragement to one another.

Jude prays that this love of God would be known, would be experienced in abundance. A wonderful prayer for these Christians in their situation.

Application / Conclusion

As we consider this basic introduction to Jude’s letter, I’d like to close by just applying these wonderful truths to our own context and to us as a church.

A.1. Recognise The Presence of False Teachers

False teachers are an ever-present reality. Even in our own day, as I watch the landscape of teachers and pastors, and what they’re teaching, there is a slide that is often discernible.

False teachers abounded in Jude’s day. They abound in our day. They are many. Let us not be deceived into thinking that every person who mentions the name of Christ truly serves Christ.

A.2. Recognise Your Identity by God’s Grace

By God’s grace, if you are in Christ, you have been called by God. God’s love has been set upon you, and you will be kept by Christ until the day that you will be united finally with Christ.

But that calling by God is not merely to sit back, relax and enjoy the benefits of knowing God without the responsibilities of being one chosen by Him.

In this very letter, Jude will call the readers to contend for the faith. We as believers are called to contend for the faith. We have a responsibility to know Christ more. We have a responsibility to work out Gospel truths in our lives. We have a responsibility to diligently pursue these things.

I want to call each and every believer to take seriously the responsibility that is ours as God’s people.

A.3. Know the Outworking of God’s Grace

We have great responsibility, we have a profound identity in Christ. As we seek to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, let us remember, let us know in a very real way, the amazing grace of God for daily living. May we know God’s mercies that are new every morning. May we be filled with a peace that surpasses all comprehension as we trust in God and His character. And may we know and experience the love of God, so that we overflow with and thus demonstrate that love of God to others. And may we thank and praise God as the one who will richly supply us with these graces in each day of our lives.

To His praise and glory.

Amen.