This is the fourth lesson in a series of lessons on the book of Jude. In this lesson I do an exposition of Jude 1:1.
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Transcript:
Thanks for visiting Bible Mountain. This is the fourth lesson in a series of lessons on the book of Jude. In this lesson I’m going to start a verse by verse exposition of the book of Jude, starting in Jude chapter one, verse one.
In the first lesson in this series I talked about why Jude was written and why it’s in the Bible. Basically, Jude recognized there were people who had crept into the church and who were distorting grace and denying Jesus. He wrote to address those issues.
I have divided Jude into five sections. The first section is the introduction, which is the first four verses. The second section is verses five through seven which reminds us that Jesus is a judge. The third section is verses eight through 16 in which Jude stated the problem that he was addressing. The fourth section is verses 17 through 23 in which Jude stated how Christians should respond to what he was writing about. The last section is the conclusion which is verses 24 and 25.
In this lesson I’m going to start at verse one which is the beginning of the introduction. In the introduction we learn about the author, the recipient, and the purpose or the reason this was written. In verse one we’ll look at the author and the recipients.
Jude 1:1
Jude,
a slave of Jesus Christ
and brother of James,
to those called,
loved by God the Father,
and having been kept for Jesus Christ.
We see here that Jude wrote the letter. It was written to those called. There are two lines that describe Jude and two lines that describe those called or those to whom this letter was written.
Let’s investigate Jude. In the New Testament, you’ll find the name Jude, the name Judas, and the name Judah. They are all from the same Greek word. So Jude, Judas, and Judah are interchangeable. Let’s look at some usages of this name throughout the New Testament.
Matt. 13:55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Jesus had a brother whose name was Judas.
Luke 6:14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew; 15 and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot; 16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
Out of the 12 disciples of Jesus, two of them were named Judas.
Let’s look at Acts 5:37. The context of this is that the Jewish leaders were meeting trying to decide what to do with the followers of Jesus. Gamaliel said the following:
Acts 5:37 “After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered.
Gamaliel was referring to some other individuals in Jewish history who had risen up and gained a following. Gamaliel was saying that Jesus and his followers were going to be just like this Judas of Galilee. This is another example of a person named Judas who appears in the New Testament.
Acts 9:11 is a command to Ananias.
Acts 9:11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying,
This is another individual in the New Testament who was named Judas.
Acts 15:22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas — Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren,
In the early church there was a man called Judas Barsabbas. He was a follower of Jesus. He was sent with Paul and Barnabas to go to Antioch.
Those are the individuals throughout the New Testament who were named Judas.
Jude 1:1
Jude,
a slave of Jesus Christ
and brother of James,
to those called,
loved by God the Father,
and having been kept for Jesus Christ.
We see in Jude 1:1 that the particular Jude who wrote the book of Jude was a brother of James. That connects to Matthew 13:55.
Matt. 13:55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
This tells us the man who wrote the book of Jude was a brother of Jesus.
Jude 1:1
Jude,
a slave of Jesus Christ
and brother of James,
to those called,
loved by God the Father,
and having been kept for Jesus Christ.
Next, Jude started to describe himself. He started off by describing himself as a slave. It’s interesting that he did not say that he was a brother of Jesus. Instead, he called himself a slave of Jesus. The Greek word that was used there is the word doulos. Let’s look at some examples of the word doulos throughout the New Testament.
Rom. 6:16 Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey,
Attached to the concept of doulos is someone who obeys.
1Cor. 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.
The word slaves is a translation of the Greek word doulos. We see a contrast between being a slave and being free. Being a slave was the opposite of being free.
Phil. 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
This referred to Jesus. We see that Jesus emptied Himself and took the form of a bond-servant, the form of a slave, the form of a doulos. Notice that conected to the concept of a slave or a bond-servant or a doulos is the concept of emptying Himself or lowering Himself.
Let’s look at other examples in the New Testament where people called themselves a slave or a servant of Jesus.
Rom. 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus,
James 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
2Pet. 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
Rev. 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
Jude also called himself a slave of Jesus. That is a concept that was used throughout the New Testament. Many of the New Testament writers called themselves slaves of Jesus. They thought of Christians as being slaves of Jesus.
Let’s think about why this is important. In the 21st century, in American Christianity, we don’t talk about this concept very much. We don’t talk about the fact that we are slaves and servants of Jesus. Instead, there’s a tendency for Christians to think of Jesus as being a best friend or being our buddy, somebody we hang out with. That’s not correct. The concept throughout the New Testament is that we are slaves and servants of Jesus. We are less than Jesus. We are lower than Jesus. We are here to serve Him.
Now let’s talk about the word Christ. Jude didn’t merely write that he was a slave of Jesus. He wrote that he was a slave of Jesus Christ. The word Christ and the word Messiah are interchangeable. Christ is a Greek word. Messiah is a Hebrew word. They both mean the same thing. Let’s look at some verses throughout the New Testament where this concept is used and explained.
Matt. 2:4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
This is a reference to Herod. When the wise men came seeking Jesus, Herod gathered the chief priests and scribes and asked where the Messiah was going to be born. This tells us that at the time Jesus was born, there was a concept within Judaism that a Messiah was coming. They were expecting a messiah to come and deliver them, free them, and save them.
Luke 2:26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
There was a righteous man named Simeon in Jerusalem and the Holy Spirit had told him that he would not die before he saw the Christ. Again, this tells us that within Judaism, at the time Jesus was born, there was this concept of a Messiah who was coming.
Luke 3:15 Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ,
The context of this is that John the Baptist had started his ministry. The people were wondering if he was the Christ. This also tells us that within Judaism they had this expectation that there was going to be a Messiah who was going to come at some point in time.
Mark 8:29 And He continued by questioning them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter *answered and *said to Him, “You are the Christ.”
Here we see that Peter recognized that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the person that the Jews were expecting to come.
Let’s look at some other verses in the New Testament where it was stated explicitly that Jesus is the Christ.
Rom. 1:1a Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus,
James 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
1Pet. 1:1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
Jude 1:1a Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ
Jude clearly wrote that Jesus is the Christ for whom the Jewish people had been looking.
Jude 1:1
Jude,
a slave of Jesus Christ
and brother of James,
to those called,
loved by God the Father,
and having been kept for Jesus Christ.
Jude also described himself as a brother of James. We know that James was a brother of Jesus. That means that Jude was a brother of Jesus. Again, it’s interesting that Jude did not state himself that he was the brother of Jesus. He communicated that in a roundabout way. Perhaps this is an indication of Jude’s humility. He was not bragging about the fact that he was a brother of Jesus.
Let’s look at a few verses that tell us about the brothers of Jesus.
Matt. 13:55 “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Jesus had at least four brothers. We were given their names.
John 2:12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.
Here we see that the brothers of Jesus and his mother were traveling with Jesus and His disciples.
John 7:3 Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing.
The brothers of Jesus encouraged Jesus to go into Judea so that His disciples could see His miracles.
Then we have the following interesting verse.
John 7:5 For not even His brothers were believing in Him.
Jesus was performing a lot of miracles, doing a lot of teaching, and had a band of disciples. He had a lot of followers. Amidst all of that, His brothers were not believing in Him.
Acts 1:14 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.
This was after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The brothers of Jesus had come around and were with this group of people who were followers of Jesus.
That’s some background on the brothers of Jesus. We learn from this that Jude, who wrote the letter of Jude, was one of the brothers of Jesus. Even though at one point he was not believing in Jesus, after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, Jude started believing in Jesus.
Jude mentioned James. This is the James who was a brother of Jesus.
Gal. 1:18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
This indicates to us that James, the brother of Jesus, became a rather prominent figure within Christianity and the early church.
Jude 1:1
Jude,
a slave of Jesus Christ
and brother of James,
to those called,
loved by God the Father,
and having been kept for Jesus Christ.
The letter of Jude was written by Jude and it was written to those called. Let’s talk about this concept of being called.
Rom. 1:7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
What we see here is the concept that people who are saints were called to be saints. There’s a bit of a passiveness to that.
Rom. 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
Again, we see this concept that Christians were called to be followers of Jesus Christ.
1Cor. 1:2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:
This is another example stating that saints were called to be saints.
Jude wrote his letter to those called. Again, the concept of being called includes some passivity. This ties into the concept of predestination and election.
Jude 1:1
Jude,
a slave of Jesus Christ
and brother of James,
to those called,
loved by God the Father,
and having been kept for Jesus Christ.
Jude wrote that those who are called are loved by God the Father. Let’s look at the concept of love.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
The word love is one of the concepts that has been greatly distorted in 21st century Christianity. In 21st century Christianity we think of love as being an emotion. We think of it as being romance. What we see in this verse is that God loved the world. He demonstrated that love by giving His only begotten Son. Giving a son is not an emotion. That’s not romance. That is self-sacrifice. That is a very different concept of love compared to how most Christians in the 21st century think of love.
Heb. 12:6 FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
When the Lord loves someone, He disciplines them. That’s not romantic. It’s not an emotion. There’s a harshness to that.
1John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God’s love for us caused Him to send His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That’s not romance. It’s not an emotion. It’s self-sacrifice. It is enduring something difficult to demonstrate and express love.
When Jude wrote about those called being loved by God, he was not referring to an emotion or romance. He was referring to a self-sacrificial love.
Jude 1:1
Jude,
a slave of Jesus Christ
and brother of James,
to those called,
loved by God the Father,
and having been kept for Jesus Christ.
Jude also wrote that God is the Father. This is a concept that’s repeated many times throughout the New Testament.
Rom. 1:7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
1Pet. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Jude 1:1
Jude,
a slave of Jesus Christ
and brother of James,
to those called,
loved by God the Father,
and having been kept for Jesus Christ.
Jude wrote that those who are called have been kept for Jesus Christ. Let’s think about the concept of being kept.
John 2:10 and *said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Here we see that the concept of kept is the idea of holding something in reserve, or holding something back.
John 17:15 “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.
Here the idea of keep or kept is to protect somebody from something bad, in this case the evil one.
Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.
Peter was kept in prison which meant he was not free to leave. He was held there against his will.
2Cor. 11:9b and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
Paul willingly kept himself, reserved himself, and held himself back. He refrained from being a burden to anyone else.
Jude 1:6 And angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day,
There were angels who did not keep themselves in their own domain. Because of that, Jesus kept or held the angels in eternal bonds.
Jude wrote that those called have been kept for Jesus Christ. The idea of being kept for Jesus Christ is that we are held back for Jesus. Part of that is the idea that our purpose is to serve Jesus Christ. If we’re kept for Jesus, that means we’re held back so that we can serve Jesus.
Jude 1:1
Jude,
a slave of Jesus Christ
and brother of James,
to those called,
loved by God the Father,
and having been kept for Jesus Christ.
Jude wrote that those called have been kept for Jesus Christ. We saw earlier that Jude described himself as a slave of Jesus Christ. There are similarities to being a slave of Jesus Christ and being kept for Jesus Christ.
As I mentioned earlier, this is a concept that is not very popular in American Christianity in the 21st century. We do not like to think of ourselves as slaves of Jesus. This is a concept we don’t talk about very much.
However, the New Testament does talk about it. The New Testament talks about it a lot. As Christians, we are slaves of Jesus. We have been kept for Jesus Christ. We are here to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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