Jude Series: Introduction Part 1

The epistle of Jude is one of the shortest books in the Bible since the Greek text of this epistle consists of only 464 Greek words according to NA28, which translates into only twenty-five verses.

Though some serious questions about the authenticity of the epistle of Jude were raised by some in the Syrian wing of the church, the letter was widely accepted in the West and in Alexandria.

Furthermore, it also appears in the Muratorian Canon and Clement of Alexandria also wrote a commentary on this tiny letter.

Athanasius accepted it by listing it in his “Festal Letter” for Easter in 367 A.D. and it was also included as one of the canonical books by the Council of Carthage in 397 A.D.

The Muratorian canon listed all the books of the Bible except for 1 John, 1 and 2 Peter, Hebrews, and James around A.D. 180 (Hannah, Notes, 2.5).

Irenaeus, as bishop of Lyon, mentions all of the books except Jude, 2 Peter, James, Philemon, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation.

The Muratorian Canon asserts that the epistle of Jude was accepted in the Catholic Church.

For Eusebius, the homologoumena, the writings acknowledged as Scripture by the church of his day, included the four Gospels, Acts, fourteen letters of Paul (including Hebrews), 1 Peter, 1 John and perhaps Revelation.

The term antilegomena was used to identify those writings whose inspiration and canonicity were disputed (ἀντιλεγόμενος, “spoken against”), as opposed to those that were accepted by all (i.e., homologoumena).

In the New Testament, these books were Hebrews, 2 Peter, James, Jude, 2 and 3 John, and Revelation.

Therefore, the epistle of Jude with some objections in various places was eventually accepted and recognized by the church throughout the Roman Empire by the late third and early fourth centuries as being inspired by God.

As we pointed out the Muratorian Canon recognized it as inspired as well as Eusebius and Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria and Origen.

Those who doubted did so because of Jude’s use of pseudepigraphic material.

However, these doubts dissipated, and the letter was eventually universally accepted as canonical.

Jude is written according to the pattern of letter writing found in the ancient world during the first century called the “epistle.”

The epistle is among the oldest forms of communication.

In fact, the epistle is among the oldest and most abundantly preserved types of texts that we have today from the ancient world.

Jude follows the correct chronological order of a first century letter’s introduction.

First, the author identifies himself first in verse 1 and then identifies the recipient of the letter in this same verse.

Then, in verses 3-23, we have the body of the letter followed by the closing doxology in verses 24-25.

Following the form of a first century A.D. epistle, the epistle of Jude begins with an opening which identifies the author and the recipients of this letter in verse 1 and a greeting in verse 2.

The body of the letter begins in verses 3-4 with verse 3 identifying the purpose of the letter and verse 4 identifying the problem which prompted this purpose, which we noted briefly in our introduction.

The problem Jude was dealing with was the Zealots or Sicarii who were Jewish revolutionaries who were stridently opposing Roman rule in Judaea and were attempting to persuade all Jews including the Jewish Christian community in Judaea to follow in their rebellion against Rome.

In Jude 3, Jude exhorts the recipients of this letter to contend for the Christian faith or that body of doctrine taught by Jesus and His apostles and considered orthodoxy by the church.

Then, in verse 4, Jude warns the recipients of the letter that these Zealots have infiltrated their meetings and were teaching to rebel against the Roman civil authorities and living ungodly lives.

Verses 5-19 assert that these Zealots will be judged.

In verses 5-7, Jude reminds the recipients of the letter by presenting three examples in Old Testament of God judging those who habitually practice ungodliness.

The first of these examples is the apostate believers of the Exodus generation in verse 5.

The second example appears in verse 6 and speaks of the fallen angels of Genesis 6:1-4 who are identified in this passage as “the sons of God.”

In this passage, they are described as having sex with unregenerate women during the Antediluvian.

They were judged by God with the flood during the days of Noah.

The third example is presented in verse 7 and speaks of God judging the unregenerate citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Then, verses 8-10 describe these Zealots as those who reject angelic authority.

In these verses, Jude asserts that unlike the elect angel Michael who did not slander Satan when arguing over the body of Moses after his death.

In verse 11, Jude pronounces judgment about these Zealots.

In this verse, he describes them as following the example Cain and the greed of Balaam and that they will perish as those in Korah’s rebellion against Moses.

Jude goes on to describe these Zealots in verses 12-13.

In verses 14-16, Jude describes the Second Advent of Jesus Christ when He will at that time judge every unregenerate human being on planet earth.

The implication is that the Zealots or Sicarii will also be judged by Jesus Christ just like those who will be judged by the Lord at His Second Advent for rebelling against under the leadership of the Antichrist.

Therefore, Jude 5-16 makes clear that these Zealots are unregenerate since Christ only judges the unregenerate at His Second Advent.

The closing of the body of the epistle of Jude appears in verses 17-19.

In these verses, Jude reminds the recipients of the apostles’ teaching that in the end time, there will be unregenerate people who will be scoffers and driven by their own sinful desires who are divisive and deceived by Satan’s cosmic world system.

Then, in verses 20-23, Jude exhorts the recipients of the letter to build themselves up spiritually by means of their most holy faith and by praying by means of the Holy Spirit so that they maintain themselves in the practice of the love of God while anticipating the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ which brings eternal life.

Also, in these verses, Jude commands the recipients to have mercy with those in the Christian community who are wavering with regards to the Christian faith and also to save the unregenerate in their periphery from eternal condemnation by communicating the gospel to them.

Lastly, verses 24-25 contain the closing of the letter, which contains a doxology.

The epistle of Jude has a chiastic structure, which indicates that verses 8-16 of this epistle are the focal point of this letter.

These verses describe the Zealots, and their rebellion against Rome and ungodly conduct, which Jude wants the recipients of this letter to avoid and reject.

“Chiasmus” is the use of inverted parallelism of form or of content which moves toward and away from a strategic central component and explicitly states what the inverted parallelism only implied.

The chiastic structure of the epistle of Jude:

A Greeting (verses 1-2) B Purpose (verses 3-4) C Reminder of God Judging Ungodly Behavior (verses 5-7) D Description of the Zealots and Their Judgment (verses 8-16) C Reminder to the Recipients to Practice Godliness (verses 17-19) B Exhortation to Practice Godliness (verses 20-23) A Closing and Doxology (verses 24-25)

The chiastic structure of this letter would indicate that the recipients of this letter must continue to adhere to the apostolic teaching communicated to them by Jude since the Lord Jesus Christ at His Second Advent will judge these Zealots who were unjustifiably rebelling against the Roman civil authorities in Judaea.