sixtysixbooks

Author: Joel A Moroney

You can print this as a PDF :)

For a long time, I didn’t know what to do with the book of Jude. There were two reasons for that.

Firstly, I was never sure who wrote it and what made them so special as to be included in the Bible. Secondly, it features some pretty freaky stuff and references some books that we don’t consider to be part of the Bible. 

But the more time I’ve spent with Jude, the more I come to appreciate it. There’s an important message within these verses. And the more I think about it, Jude is really the hipster indie kid of the Bible. And that makes me happy. 

Who wrote Jude?

Verse 1 says the letter is written by a guy called “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.” Jude is a name that is short for Judas, just like Matt is short for Matthew, Sam is short for Samantha, and Jack is short for John (don’t ask me how that last one works – I’m just as confused as you are). You can imagine that Judas wasn’t exactly a popular name amongst 1st century Christians. It would be like calling yourself Adolf in Germany just after WWII. So the writer goes by the name Jude. 

There is a mention of a guy named Judas who has a brother named James. That’s in Mark 6:3. “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?” The carpenter being talked about here is Jesus. And it talks about Jesus’ brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and… Judas. So that makes the guy who wrote the book of Jude Jesus’ little brother. Jude has grown up to be an important leader in the early church, but doesn’t want to make too big a deal out of being Jesus’ brother, because he doesn’t want that fact to get in the way of the important message he has to say.

Who was it written for?

We don’t know exactly who Jude is writing to, but we do know they are a group of Christians who are struggling with false teaching. Because of the specific nature of their problems, it’s most likely one particular church he’s writing to, rather than a whole stack.

Why was Jude written?

The reason the book of Jude was written was because the church was struggling with false teachers. “For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign Lord.” (v4) Teachers are entering the church who are teaching two things: that because of God’s grace we can live however we want without worrying about right and wrong (hedonism) and that Jesus is not really God. 

Jude calls these men “dangerous dreamers” (v8) which is a reference back to Deuteronomy 13:1-3, which says “If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a miraculous sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder of which he has spoken takes place, and he says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.” These men are leading people away from God and are therefore dangerous.

Because of these false teachers, Jude wants the church to be sure of their faith and to check what these teachers are saying carefully. 

What’s it all about?

Before we go too far, what’s the deal with the strange references? There’s the archangel Michael and Moses (v9) and references to the book of Enoch (v14). I can’t find any of this in my Bible! But that doesn’t mean you should be afraid. When I’m preaching, I’ll often quote from movies or music to illustrate my point. That’s what Jude is doing here – referencing books that aren’t considered Scripture, but still valuable as illustrations.

Jude is concerned for the salvation of these Christians. That’s what he wanted to write to these guys about (v3). And he is concerned that these false teachers are putting their salvation at risk. Because God treats sin seriously. Jude reminds them of how God destroyed those who didn’t believe after the exodus (v5), how he punished rebellious angels (v6), and how he brought judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (v7). If these Christians keep listening to the false teachers, they could be in danger.

What’s so dangerous about their teaching? They “pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings.” (v8) What that means is that, firstly, they do whatever they want and don’t care how their greed and their actions affect other people (v12,16). Secondly, they don’t care about the Scriptures. They’re not interested in accepting God’s Word as their authority. 

In response, Jude encourages the church to stay strong. To build each other up and to stay faithful (v20-21). But also to be gentle with those who are struggling with this false teaching (v22-23). Look after them and bring them back to God’s Word without being a jerk about it.

Reading Plan.

If you’re like me and have a short attention span, then Jude is a great book. Because it’s so short (only 25 verses), you can knock it over in one sitting. 

Pay particular attention to v24-25. These are great words that Christians have been sharing with each other for centuries. Memorise them and use them to encourage your mates.

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—  to the only God our Saviour be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.