A Study of the Letter of Jude
JUDE v. 1-3
Teaching Lesson 2
May 16, 2012
The Book of Jude… how many of you have read it? How many of you have ever studied it?
1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.
Have you ever had news you needed to share with someone and may have felt uncomfortable about it and may even have struggled with how you were going to approach how you would share it?
Jude had wanted to send a letter of encouragement to the believers but he discovered that there were more pressing matters and he had news/a word that he was being led of the Holy Spirit to share… but it was not what he had WANTED to say… But I want us to look tonight at these first 3 verses and let’s dig in and see what God has to say…
1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
Jude is listed at the writer or author of this letter. He lists himself as the author and also the brother of James. Now the “James” mentioned here was almost certainly the brother of Jesus. … and if he is brothers to Jesus’ brother… then he is brothers with Jesus!
Another indication we can see here about the author is that he offers this one introduction and nothing more… it is as if he is well known by the readers… also suggesting that he had a good reputation with the readers as well.
When we examine the other uses of ‘Jude’ within the NT and early Christianity, it is clear that no other candidate fits the authorship of this letter…
There was a disciple named Jude who is introduced as Jude of James, but this does not refer to Jude the brother of James but would have referred to Jude the SON of James… so this makes the Apostle Jude a very UNLIKELY candidate for authorship of this letter!
Another clue to distance ourselves from the Apostle Jude would be the fact that this author does NOT introduce himself as an Apostle… which would have been extremely important for him to do so as it carried with it great authority within the early church… so because it is NOT mentioned, it is presumed that the Apostle Jude is NOT the author of this letter!
There is a Jude found in Acts 15 Judas Barsabbas however there is no indication that he was the brother of James who is so very prominent in the book of Acts.
Some may argue FOR Judas Barsabbas because the term ‘brother’ could also mean ‘co-worker’ in Christ and not be a reference to familial relationships…
However, the term used does not denote any ministry position within the church but instead points toward a genealogical relationship… his earthly brother!
Others who advocate a later authorship date and cite a bishop in Jerusalem in the 3rd century as author but there is little or no evidence for this theory.
Unfortunately our knowledge and information about Jude is a bit scarce, but it is believed that the writer of this letter was one of the 4 half-brothers of Jesus found in Matt 13:55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?
and Mark 6:3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?
Jude is a shortened version of Judas…Jude was NOT believed to be a believer when Jesus was here… Mark 3:21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
He more than likely became a believer after the resurrection. We find in Acts 1:14 where Scripture tell us They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
We also can see in 1 Cor 9:5 that the brothers of Jesus became basically itinerant evangelists or missionaries after His resurrection: 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 (Peter)?
This would explain his addressing this church in such an authoritative manner… like he had been there, and had taught them, and they respected him!
So we can establish Jude, the brother of James is also the brother of Jesus. The James mentioned here is believed to be the James of the Jerusalem church… a strong presence and leader within the early church! This would be the same James addressing Paul in Gal 2 and Acts 15 at the Jerusalem Council.
Now as for the question of WHO Jude was writing this letter TO… there are some difficult questions we must look at…
There is really very little evidence on WHO Jude was addressing and most presumptions are based on other circumstantial evidence.
Because of its relationship and almost identical wording to 2 Peter many believe it was written to either the same group OR a similar group as 2 Peter.
Most believe it was directed at a group of Jewish believers, mainly because of his allusion to some Jewish apocalyptic writings from the Apocrypha… we will deal with that a little later!
Jude was addressing believers… those who those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ
These believers were those who had experienced the life changing presence of Christ…and had been radically changed!
Jude’s words here are a source of encouragement to the believers who are suffering now because of strife within the church… Jude is writing to them about an issue that supposedly has affected their fellowship so much so that he changed the reason for his letter…
His words here are a bit of salve to the bitter wounds of Christian conflict or discord within the church. He stresses that they have been ‘called’… the implication here is that they are called by God… invited into the ministry by God Himself, through His Son, Jesus!
They had experienced this change and now were struggling and some were doubting… but Jude wants to reassure them that what God had started… HE WOULD COMPLETE!
He tells them that they are CALLED… meaning that God considered them useful to the kingdom. They were included in God’s kingdom work…
He tells them that the are LOVED by God… revealing the special nature of these people. Loved and called to serve the Master of all things… it brings about a comfort and peace that God has a hand in our lives and we are not out here on our own!
Finally we have Jude saying that they are ‘kept in Christ Jesus’ which is yet another confirmation for these believers! The Savior they professed is promised as the ONE who is their anchor and the binding presence that holds the church together…
SO we know that Jude was the brother of Jesus and James… that James and Jude did not follow Jesus in His earthly ministry, but they both came to salvation AFTER the resurrection.
We also know that Jude was dealing with people he obviously knew or had some sort of relationship with… and that these people knew Jesus and were a group of believers who had been working FOR the kingdom, but were now beginning to struggle because of some issues within the church itself…
2Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
Jude goes on here in v.2 to encourage these believers. To this point we do NOT know what Jude is responding to, but we do know that he is laying out a blanket of encouragement BEFORE he launches into his letter…
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance he says…
Mercy used here is the Greek word Ele-oss which reveals a kindness or good will towards the miserable and the afflicted, joined with a desire to help them.
Here the tone is seeking God’s mercy upon this group of believers who are struggling… mercy upon them to help them through such a difficult and tragic time.
Peace used here is the Greek word eh-ray-nay which basically means of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is…
Mercy is help… Peace is comfort… but Jude also calls for love and he uses the Greek word agape for love. This is a love that is unconditional and loves simply because that is its nature! Agape love needs nothing in return but it loves out of its character!
Jude was crying out that he wanted them to know a peace that could only come from God and to experience the gracious mercy that only God could bring. He also wants to experience God’s love! This agape love is truly only able to be given by God… as we all have our own agenda, but God can love unconditionally!
And this is the love he is praying that the believers who read his letter would experience… and he prayed that they would experience it in great measure… or IN ABUNDANCE!
This is a great source of encouragement for these believers…
3Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.
IN this verse the entire PURPOSE of this letter is revealed…as Jude explains why he wrote it! Basically he wrote it so that these BELOVED Christians whom God loved so dearly… that they would strive for this God who loved them so dearly!
In this 1st phrase we can see a ‘change of plans’ happening in Jude’s writing. He says, ‘…although I WAS very eager to write to you about the salvation we share…’ His plan was to write a letter of encouragement and doctrinal training about the salvation they shared and presumably how to share that salvation with those around them…
BUT… his plans changed…because of a situation he felt he MUST address! The next phrase tells us that he was COMPELLED to write this letter as he did… the Greek word used here for ‘compelled’ is anon-kay which basically reveals or reflects a danger, or distress that is being addressed. It reflects a sense of duty… or obligation that must be met!
He felt he had NO choice but to write this letter… It is comparable to Jeremiah when he stated that he HAD to preach… it was like fire in his bones… he could NOT stop! Jude HAD to write this letter… he could NOT allow this to go any further without addressing this issue!
What is the issue? We will be getting into that more next week, but he gives us a clue at the end of v.3 when he says, ‘…urge you to contend for the faith…’
Contending for the faith is translated from the Greek expression that means to fight for… to battle for… something!
The implication here is that there is a force seeking to take down the ‘…faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people…’ There were those in this church or fellowship that were attacking the very faith that had been entrusted to them to spread and tell others about!
Not much is known from this verse about just what contention is being brought against the church at this point, but Jude goes onto share that these people basically have NO love in them… and love as we know is the center of all things Christian!
The believers are called on by Jude to enter the battle… to step into the arena of the fight and begin to take on these who wish to attack and destroy the message of the Gospel. This challenge is not one that is foreign to God’s people… We see this challenge given by God to Joshua in Joshua 1 when He tells Joshua to ‘be strong and courageous’… here the same implication is being put forth…
Jude is calling on these believers to STEP UP and take responsibility for contending for the faith of Christ! Take your battle stations… war is not coming… war is already HERE!
Next week we will look at v.4 and forward to see just what these people were battling against! But when we look at this letter we can see that there is MUCH in common with us in this letter!
We are God’s called and chosen people, called out by God in through His grace and mercy we have rec’d salvation… we are loved by God and kept saved BY Jesus! But we TOO live in a world where evil is coming against the church!
We TOO are called by Jude and by God’s word to contend for the faith! To join in the battle… to be ready to step up! Are you ready to step up today… to step up and take on the battle plan God has laid forth for you?
Jude encourages these believers in that God loves them and Jesus has got their back… and these words are just as encouraging today and mean the same thing.
Let us pray that we will be of the same ‘metal’ as these believers and that when we are called… we are ready to step up to God’s calling for us!
