JUDE – A BOND-SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST AND BROTHER OF JAMES - Jude 1 v 1-2
MESSAGES IN JUDE – MESSAGE 1. Jude 1 v 1-2
Jude 1 v 1 “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ. Jude 1 v 2 May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.”
This amazing, small letter was written by Jude, who says three things about himself, the first being his name. The second is that he is a servant or bond servant of Jesus Christ. Simply stated, he is the Lord’s servant. Now when you write important letters, it is customary you use the authority that lies in you. For example if the Minister for Immigration wrote to someone, it would come with the letterhead of the Minister of Immigration, not just any man in a department. Authority is the key to acceptance. Well, what authority did Jude claim? Well, it is simply put – a bondservant of Jesus Christ.
What was the greatest authority held by the writers of the New Testament that made their writing credible? It was their apostleship, and that is why you have Paul often introducing his letters as “an apostle of Jesus Christ”. You could have no greater authority. Yet, not all the New Testament books were written by apostles. In fact, only two of the four Gospels were written by apostles. One was written by a doctor and historian, and one was written by a cousin of Barnabas.
Too many people who write, are self-seeking and want praise and glory. They don’t write as servants of the Lord. They write to see how many books can be sold. If Jude wanted to be self-seeking, instead of stating he was “a servant of the Jesus Christ”, he would have written, “a brother of Jesus Christ”. That would have given him the greatest authority of all, for no one knew the Lord longer than Jude and James. The third thing he says about himself is that he is a brother of James. This is the James who wrote the book in our bibles after Hebrews.
What is grace? Grace is what brings an underserving sinner into the forgiveness and love of God. Grace is the greatest work of the Holy Spirit that converts a man because God’s love is extended to him. Let us look at how this applies to Jude. We need to trace the path of God’s dealings with him. Let us look at this passage – {{Mark 6 v 1 “He went out from there, and He came into His home town and His disciples followed Him. Mark 6 v 2 When the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue and the many listeners were astonished saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Mark 6 v 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” and they took offence at Him. Mark 6 v 4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his home town and among his own relatives and in his own household,”}}
Although some say that the 4 brothers mentioned in verse 3 are actually the sons of Mary and Cleophas (Mary’s sister), using the word “brothers” in the widest sense of “cousins”, I just can’t take that stand. They are the half brothers of the Lord. We note this passage carefully in Matthew - Matthew 1 v 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” Matt 1 v 24 Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, Matt 1 v 25 and kept her a virgin UNTIL she gave birth to a Son and he called His name Jesus. (It is unfortunate that the NIV has omitted the word “virgin”). After that, normal relations occurred between Joseph and Mary as in a married couple. It is a lie to believe the Roman Catholic teaching that the blessed virgin Mary was ever an eternal virgin, a perpetual virgin. Mark 6 v 3 clearly names 4 sons and says that there were sisters also. It was a pretty big family. In verse 25, the word “until” completely dismisses a perpetual virgin idea. Unless there were relationships it was never a marriage. Plain and simple.
Now, just to digress a little, there is an amazing Old Testament verse that speaks of Mary and her children, a verse that forever crushes the Romanish myth of Mary being a perpetual virgin. Did you know that? Psalm 69 is a Messianic psalm, and along with Psalm 22, it details the events and sufferings of Calvary, all very prophetic in nature. (A Messianic Psalm speaks of Jesus Christ). Here are three verses from that psalm – {{Psalm 69 v 7 “because for Your sake I have borne reproach. Dishonour has covered my face. Psa 69 v 8 I have become estranged from my brothers and an alien to MY mother’s sons. Psa 69 v 9 Zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.”}}
Look at verse 8. It says the Lord was estranged from His brothers, and this psalm details the cross, so at that time, his brothers were spiritually estranged. That means they were not with Him in understanding His sufferings. They were not saved, or they were separated. Then the verse continues, that the Lord on the cross, was an alien to His OWN mother’s sons. Just consider that. For about 30 years in fact, his brothers were estranged in the spiritual sense. They related to Jesus in the ways brothers do, but never entered into the eternal life that comes through faith in God. There are those who say the word “brothers” refers to His disciples, and they were estranged from Him on Calvary, but there is no getting around the second part of being an alien to His own mother’s sons.
What would it be like growing up in Mary and Joseph’s family? Well Joseph died some time after the birth of the last child, some time before the Lord’s ministry began. Jesus was the eldest child and therefore the One the other kids looked to and knew about, and He looked over them as the eldest would do. What did those kids know about the Lord? Well they knew he was never in trouble and he was special. Even blind Freddie would know there was a special gift the whole family realised when Jesus was 11, and spoke in the Temple to all the teachers and amazed them, and Freddie was not one of their kids! They saw a spotless, righteous child grow into a spotless, righteous man.
How much light does it take for a person to believe? How strong must the power of God be to cause people to believe? In Revelation, in the Tribulation, even when the rocks and judgements are falling on the earth, they still will not believe. Hardened hearts shut out the gospel and squash any prompting of the Holy Spirit. Men want to continue in darkness because they flee from the light. Darkness becomes their home, and sadly, it will be their eternal home. Would it be possible to grow up in Joseph and Mary’s family with the Lord Jesus Christ, and still be an unbeliever?
The answer is, “Yes”, for we read {{John 7 v 2 “Now a feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was at hand. John 7 v 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea that Your disciples also may behold Your works which You are doing, John 7 v 4 for no one does anything in secret, when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world,” John 7 v 5 for not even His brothers were believing in Him.”}} Jude, and his other 3 brothers were not believers. They were not saved. They were rejecting all they saw and knew, when they grew up. So many Christian parents are saddened by the rejection of the gospel by their own children. The kids refuse to come to the Lord. Even in Mary’s family they did the same thing.
THEN a change occurs. Something has happened. The Lord said, “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, a glorious change happened. The Holy Spirit laid His hand on the brothers of Jesus and they were converted. We read {{Acts 1 v 12 “Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away, Acts 1 v 13 and when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. Acts 1 v 14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”}} Here were the brothers of the Lord, fellowshipping in the upper room with Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James (11 of them). Wow, what a change. If anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation.
Jude had turned from the kingdom of darkness and entered the kingdom of light, entered into the salvation that is in Christ Jesus (his half brother). All 4 brothers had come to salvation through the miraculous death and resurrection of Christ. Growing up in a Christian family does not grant you automatic right to salvation. If it did not work for the family of Joseph and Mary and their 4 boys who were raised with the Lord Jesus, then it won’t work for you. We all need to be born again, the exact truth Nicodemus had to realise, and we know he was converted because he came along with Joseph of Arimathea to bury the Lord’s body. The scriptures say nothing more about two of these brothers – Joses and Simon – apart from the verses already.
Look back now to Jude verse 1. Jude makes mention of his brother James. This is James who grew up in Mary’s family, alongside the Lord, and was an unbeliever, but was converted through Calvary. This is the James who was well known in Christian circles for he was one of the foremost men in the Jerusalem church. He began his own letter this way – {{James 1 v 1 “James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, greetings.”}} Do you see the similarity with Jude. The first verse is James’s introduction. The writer is James, but he does not add, as he might have done, “the brother of the Lord.” (just like Jude did not). It would have identified his person at once, and being the Lord’s brother, he had a perfect right to call himself thus, but he did not. His humility shines forth in this omission. Others called him by that title, but he avoided it. He is no more than a “servant of God” in his own eyes, and he served God as “servant of the Lord Jesus Christ,” a godly believing Jew. He writes to the twelve tribes in the dispersion of like faith. Greetings only are sent from James, and in this respect it is like the Apostolic document which was issued by the council in Jerusalem in Acts 15 v 1- 41 over which James presided. I spoke on this James once in the past and pointed out that he was known as “camel knees” due to his frequent praying on his knees. Imagine what it was like in prayer speaking to the very Lord he had grown up with, and interacted with for nearly 30 years in the flesh!
(a). In verse 1, Jude states three matters relating to all Christians, for his letter is not to a church but to every believer. His first point (to those who are the called), is that all who are saved are “the called” and this is just so fundamental. You are not a Christian by accident. You have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, by the Father; then you have been called by God to respond to His choosing of you. That response is called being saved; being converted; turning from darkness to light; being born again; being made the sons and daughters of the living God. {{Matthew 22 v 14 “Many are called but few are chosen.” 2 Thessalonians 2 v 13 “We should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning, for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.”}}
(b). The second great matter, “beloved in God the Father” draws our attention to the love of God that sought us, and to the Father who loves us. We are the beloved of the Father. It is the Father who sent the Son into the world that we might be redeemed and gathered to the Father. We are His beloved ones as Paul also wrote to the Thessalonians – {{1Thessalonians 1 v 4 “knowing brethren, beloved by God, His choice of you.”}} If I am a young believer in the faith, when one is facing the persecution of the world, and the hatred of men, animated by hatred against the Lord and those that are the Lord's - what a comfort it is to know that I am beloved "in God the Father." This is the way the apostle Paul addressed the Thessalonians as a company, the only one that he ever addressed in this way. They were experiencing persecution, not in a gradual way as most of the other assemblies had done, but from the very start, from their conversion. We know the apostle himself had to flee because of the persecution that had set in there. In their letters, both John and Peter use this word “beloved” very frequently in talking to the saints they are writing to.
(c). The third great matter addressed in the first verse is “and kept for Jesus Christ”. This is wonderful. We are the beloved of the Father, His precious saints, but we are also kept for Jesus Christ, meaning, we are reserved for Him as a pure and precious young woman is preserved for her husband. Indeed, that is a fitting analogy because the Church universal is being kept and purified for her Bridegroom, and He comes for His Bride in the Rapture which must be close. 7 years later He comes with His Bride at the Second Coming, and presents her to the world when He comes to claim all the kingdoms of the world and to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. “Kept for Jesus Christ” means we are His crown and glory, His Prize from the Battle of Calvary, His spotless and priceless Pearl He will lift from the world. We are sanctified by the Holy Spirit in order that we might be presented to Christ. The Christian life is not a game, or one of our time allocations, or a part time occupation, a hobby, or a Sunday indulgence. It must be the be all and end all of all our life. I am convinced that with the Lord, it is all or nothing.
We come to verse 2 where it says, “May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.” Jude has used triplets in the first 2 verses of his letter. You have a threefold description of the author in verse 1. You have a threefold designation of the readers in verse 1. You have a threefold description of Christian graces in verse 2. Had this been Paul, God would have prompted him to have used “grace and peace”, the catch phrase of Paul. Jude uses mercy, peace and love.
Often writers use what has touched them the most. In Paul’s case, it was the grace of God that saved such a sinner as he was, and gave him peace. Now when we come to Jude, on his mind is the mercy of God. God is merciful, and it was Jude’s brother, the Lord Jesus, who lived under the same roof as he did, but Jude did not believe. God’s mercy persisted with him for all those years. Then God reached out to him and saved him. If you were a merciless judge you’d conclude that Jude had his opportunity more than any other man, because he grew up with Jesus, and he had not responded in all that time, so he should be condemned. Ahh, but not God! His mercy prevailed, and was extended even to Jude. Now the writer wants that mercy to be known to all his readers.
The next in this triplet is peace. An unconverted person has no peace with God. When mercy has gained its prize, then peace follows, binding up the soul – firstly, - peace with God, because the wall of hostility has been broken, and the battle is over; then, the peace of God, that floods the soul. It is this last aspect to which Jude refers. Then he gives one more, that of love. It is love that characterises the relationship among Christians because the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts, and we love one another because God first loved us. Love is not some wishy-washy sentimentality, but the self-giving attitude God had, that embraces another. We have a great responsibility to each other, and a care for one another.
Jude did not simply list these three Christian graces but he added something. He prays that they might be multiplied to the readers. He desires multiplied mercy, multiplied peace, and multiplied love. May his prayer be answered in our own fellowship. In verse 2 of his second letter, Peter used this expression – {{2 Peter 1:2 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”}} Have you ever considered that God not only wants to bless you, but wants to do it more abundantly? His mercy, peace and love is overflowing. May we all enter into that. Amen.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
