Introduction to Jude

Having just studied the apostle Peter's urgent warnings about the false teachers infiltrating the early Church, it seems appropriate to me that we visit Jude's teaching on the same subject. These early New Testament pastors were deeply concerned about this issue, and it hasn't gone away. Therefore, we modern Christians need to be aware of the danger lurking, as well. These wolves are often obvious to the Bible student, but not always. Some of them can be quite subtle and quite attractive to those who admire their style of delivery. LWD

THE BOOK OF JUDE

Fight! Contend! Do battle! When apostasy arises, when false teachers emerge, when the truth of God is attacked, it is time to fight for the faith. Only believers who are spiritually “in shape” can answer the summons. At the beginning of his letter, Jude focuses on the believers’ common salvation, but then feels compelled to challenge them to contend for the faith. The danger is real. False teachers have crept into the church, turning God’s grace into unbounded license to do as they please. Jude reminds such men of God’s past dealings with unbelieving Israel, disobedient angels, and wicked Sodom and Gomorrah. In the face of such danger, Christians should not be caught off guard. The challenge is great, but so is the God who is able to keep them from stumbling. The Greek title Iouda, “Of Jude, ” comes from the name Ioudas which appears in verse 1. This name, which can be translated “Jude” or “Judas, ” was popular in the first centurybecause of Judas Maccabaeus (died 160 B.C.), a leader of the Jewish resistance against Syria during the Maccabean revolt.

THE AUTHOR OF JUDE

 In spite of its limited subject matter and size, Jude was accepted as authentic and quoted by early church fathers. There may be some older allusions, but undisputed references to this epistle appear in the last quarter of the second century. It was included in the Muratorian Canon (c. A.D. 170) and accepted as part of Scripture by early leaders, such as Tertullian and Origen. Nevertheless, doubts arose concerning the place of Jude in the canon because of its use of the Apocrypha. It was a disputed book in some parts of the church, but it eventually won universal recognition. The author identifies himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (v. 1). This designation, combined with the reference in verse 17 to the apostles, makes it unlikely that this is the apostle Jude, called “Judas the son of James” in Luke 6:16 and in Acts 1:13. This leaves the traditional view that Jude was one of the Lord’s brothers, called Judas in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 (see “The Author of James”). His older brother James (note his position on the two lists) was the famous leader of the Jerusalem church (Acts15:13–21) and author of the epistle that bears his name. Like his brothers, Jude did not believe in Jesus before the Resurrection (John 7:1–9; Acts 1:14). The only other biblical allusion to him is in 1 Corinthians 9:5 where it is recorded that “the brothers of the Lord” took their wives along on their missionary journeys (the Judas of Acts 15:22, 32 may be another reference to him). Extrabiblical tradition adds nothing to our limited knowledge of Jude.

THE TIME OF JUDE

 Jude’s general address does not mark out any particular circle of readers, and there are no geographical restrictions. Nevertheless, he probably had in mind a specific region that was being troubled by false teachers. There is not enough information in the epistle to settle the question of whether his readers were predominately Jewish or Gentile Christians (there is probably a mixture of both). In any case, the progress of the faith in their region was threatened by a number of apostates who rejected Christ in practice and principle. These proud libertines were especially dangerous because of their deceptive flattery (v. 16) and infiltration of Christian meetings (v. 12). They perverted the grace of God (v. 4) and caused divisions in the church (v. 19).

Jude’s description of these heretics is reminiscent of that found in 2 Peter and leads to the issue of the relationship between the two epistles (see “The Author of 2 Peter”). The strong similarity between 2 Peter 2:1–3:4 and Jude 4–18 can hardly be coincidental, but the equally obvious differences rule out the possibility that one is a mere copy of the other. It is also doubtful that both authors independently drew from an unknown third source, so the two remaining options are that Peter used Jude or Jude used Peter. Both views have their advocates, and a number of arguments have been raised in support of either side. But two arguments for the priority of 2 Peter are so strong that they tip the scales in favor of this position: (1) A comparison of the two books shows that 2 Peter anticipates the future rise of apostate teachers (2 Pet. 2:1, 2; 3:3) while Jude records the historical fulfillment of Peter’s words (Jude 4, 11, 12, 17, 18); (2) Jude directly quotes 2 Peter 3:3 and acknowledges it as a quotation from the apostles (cf. 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1). Because of the silence of the New Testament and tradition concerning Jude’s later years, we cannot know where this epistle was written. Nor is there any way to be certain of its date. Assuming the priority of 2 Peter (A.D. 64–66), the probable range is A.D. 66–80. (Jude’s silence concerning the destruction of Jerusalem does not prove that he wrote this letter before A.D. 70.)

Nelson, Thomas (2006-04-11). Open Bible, NKJV (Kindle Locations 123903-123918). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition