v.1(a) – “Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James”
The epistle of Jude is considered to be the most neglected book in the New Testament,[1] yet it’s a letter that packs quite the punch. Don Carson describes the book as “brief, but dense” – there are layers upon layers of theology found in this short epistle, and hopefully we will be able to explore some of them. One of my teachers once complained that my writing was too concise for my own good (one of the better complaints that my teachers had about me!), and while I wouldn’t quite say the same for Jude, there are many statements that Jude makes in this letter that I would have loved for him to have really delved much deeper into!
The Author
“Hey, Jude!” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist…)
As with the epistle itself, we will start with a look at its author.
Jude can also be translated as Judas (Greek) or Judah (Hebrew), and was a very common name in the first century A.D. (and earlier) as we can see from the many Judas’ named in the Bible from that time.
Jude describes himself as “a bondservant of Jesus” and “a brother of James”. It is widely accepted that this Jude is a brother to the James who is a brother to Jesus, thus making Jude a brother of Jesus also. We can find this Jude mentioned in Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55.
It should be noted that there are theologians who dispute this (as with anything biblical), but their main argument is built upon the fact that Jude doesn’t identify himself as such, and they would assume that if he really was Jesus' brother then he would. In fact, we find James beginning his letter in the very same way as Jude, and it’s very important to notice the humility that’s found in this. They are (physical, blood) brothers of Jesus and they are Apostles, yet they identify themselves with even the lowliest of the Christian church – bondservants.
There is also another reason that Jude would describe himself in this manner. By now the Lord Jesus had revealed aspects of His glorious Person that had been kept hidden before, and now who Jesus was had become more easily and fully understood through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. To name himself as a bondservant of Jesus, and not as His brother, was in the line with the much higher view of Jesus that Christians now widely possessed. Jude might also have made the effort to identify himself as the brother of James if he was writing to the Jerusalem church that James oversaw, or perhaps because James had been a much more prominent figure in the early church than Jude (through his role in Jerusalem), although these are nothing more than guesses.
The Epistle of Jude’s canonicity was accepted throughout the early church, as can be seen in the writings of Polycarp (116), Origen (185-250), Tertullian (190) and onwards, and the epistle can even be found being alluded to in the non-canonical writings the Epistle of Barnabus (130) and the Shepherd of Hermas (140).
The date of composition would most likely be A.D. 65-70, after the composition of 2 Peter and before the destruction of Jerusalem.[2] The intended audience of the letter is unknown, although the Church of Jerusalem is one theory that has been put forward. There are numerous references to the Pentateuch in the letter, although interestingly no distinction is made between Jews and Gentiles, so we can deduce at least that this was written for the benefit of the church in general.
Duelling With Jude
“Hey, Jude! Don’t make it bad…” (Sorry again. Resistance is futile!)
As part of the introduction it may also be beneficial to take a very quick look at the general content of this letter. Jude reveals in verse 3 that he had actually wanted to write a letter filled with positive encouragement, but instead has found himself compelled to deal with the negativity of warning the church against the false teachers and false teaching that was, alarmingly, sneaking into the church.
What is amazing about this is that it was even happening at the time when the church had the authority of Apostles live and in their midst! Paul had to battle this numerous times, Peter did too, and now Jude feels under total compulsion to focus on this issue specifically. Instead of being able to focus all their efforts on positively lighting the fires of gospel proclamation, the Apostles were constantly being drawn into the fight of having to extinguish the fires of falsehood.
This shows that the false teaching of false teachers has been a threat to the church from its beginning and sadly it continues to do so today. That is just one of the things that makes this letter so relevant to us still. We can be reminded here of Jesus’ parable, how it is when the servants are asleep that the enemies enter in and sow their wicked weeds (Matthew 13:25).
Jude explains that these false teachers are secretive (v.4), selfish (v.12), sinful (v.16), sensual (v.19) and seductive (v.16), and the seriousness of this issue is emphasised by the air of eschatological judgement that hovers over the whole letter (this is also something that makes this letter particularly fascinating and intriguing).
The Epistle of Jude isn’t all negative, however. We root out the weeds to maximise the flourishing of the flowers. Jude’s conclusion to his letter is brief but glorious, and well worth waiting for.
John Calvin was once recorded as saying that, “A pastor needs two voices: one for gathering the sheep and the other for driving away wolves and thieves.” The difficulty of holding these two things in tension correctly is quite apparent, but in Jude we have, by God’s great wisdom recorded for us in Scripture, one example of what exactly this entails.