Jude Series: Jude 21b-The Recipients of Jude Were to Anticipate the Manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Compassion

Jude 19 These people are divisive, who are worldly by nature because they do not possess within themselves the Spirit. 20 However, each and every one of you beloved by making it your habit of building yourselves up by means of your most holy faith, by making it your habit of occupying yourselves with praying by means of the omnipotence of the Holy Spirit, 21 make it your top priority of keeping yourselves in the state of loving God because of God’s love for you and continue doing so by anticipating for the benefit of yourselves the manifestation of the compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ for the purpose of experiencing eternal life. (Lecturer’s translation)

Now, as we noted, the third and final means by which the recipients of the epistle of Jude were to obey the command in Jude 21 to make it their top priority of keeping themselves in the state of loving God because of God’s love for them and continue doing so appears in Jude 21.

It asserts that they were to obey this command and continue doing so by anticipating for the benefit of themselves the manifestation of the compassion of Lord Jesus Christ for the purpose of experiencing eternal life.

The noun eleos(ἒλεος), “compassion” depicts a heartfelt response by the Lord Jesus Christ who has something to give the recipients of this epistle who have a need, which in this context is giving them a resurrection body at the rapture of the church.

Therefore, the word means “compassion” rather than “mercy” since the latter has the connotation of withholding judgment whereas the former depicts a desire to fulfill a need.

This word also contains the figure of metonymy which means that the Lord’s compassion is put for the manifestation of it.

The Lord’s compassion will manifest itself at the rapture of the church because at that time He will give to each member of His body, i.e., the church age believer their resurrection body, which will complete their sanctification and salvation.

The verb prosdechomai (προσδέχομαι), “by anticipating for the benefit of yourselves” speaks of anticipating the resurrection of the church to take place when each and every church age believer will receive their resurrection body from the Lord Jesus Christ.

The rapture we noted will manifest His compassion for the recipients of this epistle and all church age believers.

Like the previous two participles in Jude 20-21, the participle conjugation of this verb also functions as a nominative of simple apposition.

This indicates that this verb is serving to identify for the recipients of the letter what they are required to do in contrast to these unregenerate Jewish Zealots who were infiltrating their meetings.

They were to keep or maintain themselves in the state or condition of loving God because of His love for them by anticipating the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ, which again will be manifested at the rapture of the church when each and every church age believer will receive from Him their resurrection bodies.

Like the two previous participles in Jude 20-21, the participle form of this verb is also functioning as a participle of means.

This indicates that the recipients of this epistle were to obey the command to keep themselves in the state of loving God because of His love for them “by means of” existing in the state of anticipating for the benefit of themselves the manifestation of the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church.

This participle can also be interpreted as a temporal participle which would mean that in relation to its controlling verb, this participle conjugation of this verb prosdechomai answers the question, “when?”

Therefore, it would be expressing the idea ofbuilding oneself up by one’s most holy faith, and by praying by the Holy Spirit “while’ anticipating the manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ’s compassion for the purpose of experiencing eternal life.

The NET Bible interprets this participle in this manner.

However, to be labeled a temporal participle, the interpreter must determine that the primary element of the author is temporal and that it does not have a more specific semantic value.

Therefore, I interpret the participle conjugation of this verb prosdechomai (προσδέχομαι) as not functioning as a temporal participle since it has a more specific semantic value.

Namely, it is expressing another means by which the recipients of this epistle were to keep themselves in the state of loving God because of His love for them.

In other words, they were to keep themselves in the state of loving God because of His love for them and continue doing so by anticipating the rapture of the church.

Similarly, in 1 John 3:1-3, the apostle John taught the Christian community that by anticipating the rapture they would continue to experience their sanctification.

By continuing to obey the command to love one another, the recipients of the epistle of Jude would in fact continue to experience fellowship with God as well as their sanctification.

In Jude 21, the middle voice of the verb prosdechomai (προσδέχομαι), “by anticipating for the benefit of yourselves” is an indirect middle.

This type of middle voice is focusing attention on the Christian community in Judaea acting in their own interests by anticipating the manifestation of the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ at the rapture of the church.

This act is in their own interests since it benefits them spiritually to do so since it will cause them to experience their sanctification which results in rewards at the Bema Seat Evaluation of the church which is subsequent to the rapture of the church (cf. 1 John 3:1-3).

In 1 John 3:1-3, the apostle John teaches something very similar to what Jude teaches in this last participial clause in Jude 21.

In these verses, John teaches that the guarantee of a resurrection body, which the child of God will receive at the rapture or resurrection of the church is to motivate the believer to live holy and godly lives on planet earth.

1 John 3:1 I solemnly charge each one of you to carefully consider what kind of love the Father has exercised toward each of us, namely each one of us have been effectually called to be God’s children. Indeed, every one of us are existing in this state. For this reason, the world never at any time recognizes any of us: because it never recognized Him. 2 Beloved, each and every one of us are God’s children. However, what state each of us will be caused to exist in, has not yet been revealed. Each one of us possess the conviction that whenever this state has been revealed (to us), we will be caused to exist in the same identical state as Him because for the benefit of each of us, we will see Him as He is presently existing. 3 Correspondingly, each one of us who does at any time possess this confident expectation because of Him, does purify himself just as He Himself is pure. (Lecturer’s translation)

1 John 3:2-3 teaches that prophecy purifies the believer.

Specifically, it teaches that the conviction regarding the prophecy of the rapture motivates them to experience their sanctification.

So not only is the confident expectation of the Lord’s return at the rapture a source of comfort and encouragement to the believer, but also it is a very definite incentive for holy living.

Roy Zuck writes “Knowing that the Lord may come at any moment influences believers to lead lives pleasing to the Lord. Immediately after referring to the ‘blessed hope’ Paul referred to the Lord’s desire ‘to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good’ (Titus 2:14). As believers look forward to the new heaven and the new earth, they should ‘make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him’ (2 Peter 3:14). John affirmed that when Christ ‘appears, we shall be like Him,’ and then he added, ‘Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure’ (1 John 3:2–3).”[1]

[1] Campbell, D. K. (1991). Foreword. In C. Bubeck Sr. (Ed.), Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth (pp. 229–230). Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook.