Verse 1
“Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:”
The first thing we will look at is who Jude was.
The name ‘Jude’ in the Greek is Judas. So here we have a book about apostasy whose writer’s name is associated with a traitor. The name Judas was a very common name at that time, there are four or five mentioned in the New Testament.
So who was this Jude? Well we see that he states that he is the brother of James, this helps us. It is believed that this James was the head of the church in Jerusalem, he was the only James in New Testament times that would be recognised without qualification. He was the brother of Jesus (Gal 1;19), therefore Jude was a brother of Jesus, actually it is thought that he was a half brother. (Mark 6;3) It was only after the resurrection that Jesus’ brothers believed that he was the Son of God
John 7;5, tells us “For neither did his brethren believe in him.”
And Acts 1;13,14 “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”
The word ‘servant’ used here is ‘doulous’ in the Greek, meaning bondservant. A definition of this would be ‘To completely and absolutely assign all personal rights over to the authority and will of another person’
Jude could have made claim to his relationship to Jesus, his brother, but instead was humble enough to see himself as having only one aim in life, to be at the disposal of Jesus for His service.
This verse also tells us something of what it means to be a Christian.
i A Christian is called by the Holy Spirit
ii A Christian is sanctified by God the Father
iii A Christian is kept by Christ
i The Greek word for call is ‘Kalein’ and has three uses.
a) It is a word for summoning a person to office or duty or responsibility.
b) It is a word summoning a person to a feast or festival, an invitation to a happy event.
c) It is used to summon a person to court so that he stands in front of a judge and give an explanation.
ii A Christian is sanctified by God. God the Father cleanses us from our sins, then we are set apart for His service and He consecrates us for His use. He is the one that purifies the ‘Old Man’
ii A Christian is kept by Christ. He promises never to leave us or forsake us, He intercedes for us to the Father. We are never alone, He walks with us and cares for us, He guides us and helps us along life’s path. Like our mother or father looks after us and cares for us, they provide us with all our needs.
Verse 2
“Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.”
In this greeting by Jude, it is noticeable that he does not use the word ‘grace’, which is used in practically all of the other New Testament letters. He is using the word ‘mercy’ instead, which is a result of God’s grace unto us.
Mercy can be defined as “Not getting something that we deserve” - Suits the message more than Grace.
Peace refers to the confidence that we have that God is present with us, no matter what life throws at us. How can we have peace? Romans 5;1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
No peace for the wicked Isaiah 57;21 “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked”
The whole idea is to “Worry about nothing, pray about everything, give thanks for anything” (Phil4;6,7)
Love - the Greek word used here is ‘Agape’ a love that is unbounded and complete
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