Jude

 Good morning all! Welcome back. I hope you had a great weekend. It was a fun and busy weekend here. Joseph continues to keep us busy! He loves being outside, so we do what we can while out there! He really loves spending time with our dog, Finn. They play together all the time!

This morning we read Jude, then the next several weeks is in the Gospel Matthew.

I have never read Jude, so this is all new for me. It is only the one chapter. It is the last book in the Christian Bible before Revelation. Not much is known about Jude. He is the brother of "James the Just", a well-known member of the church. James is a brother of Jesus, so this would make Jude also Jesus' brother. There is some surrounding controversy though (for both James and Jude) as many theologians want to keep Mary a virgin, so there was no way Jesus could have had siblings!

It is the shortest book in the Bible (25 verses) and its inclusion in the Bible has been disputed, primarily because of length and the unknown identity of the author. 

The letter was written likely between 70 and 90 AD as an encyclical letter (i.e. not for one particular person or church, but to be spread throughout the congregations). The primary focus is the punishment of evil people. The composition in the original Greek show that the author was very well educated and very fluent in Greek- unusual for the time period.

As I mentioned, this is my first experience with Jude- so I am interested to see what he has to say!

Jude begins his letter with a brief introduction.The name "Jude" is translated to Judas, but most English translators of the Greek texts use Jude to avoid confusion with Judas Iscariot. Jude, along with Jesus' other siblings, probably didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah until his resurrection. I wonder what it was like living as a brother or sister to Jesus?! Although Jude was a brother to Christ, he refer.s to himself as servant- an interesting word use. Jude is specifically writing to Christians, people called by God. I like his closing statement, "Mercy, peace, and love be yours richly." (Some translations say multiplied). The three weren't enough to have in "regular doses", Jude wishes them to be multiplied in the lives of Christians.

The beginning of the actual letter makes it look like Jude didn't want to write this letter. He was going to talk about salvation, but something else came up that needed to be addressed. The letter is more like a sermon, preaching about practices and doctrine that puts the theology of Chris in jeopardy. I have had a few sermons like that...saying something that wasn't popular and wondering how the congregation would take it. My nerves are usually quite hyped up before I preach anyway, but then when I knew I was going to talk about something unpopular, I was really super nervous! I know how Jude is feeling! That's the leading of the Holy Spirit!

Jude's talking point for this letter is protection of the faith (v 3). Something must be going on that is drawing people away from Christ, and Jude feels it is necessary to remind people of the struggle and the fight that must happen to keep faith strong. You can sense the passion and love Jude has for this gift of faith. 

Jude points out that some people have "secretly entered" the group (v 4); some translations say "crept in unnoticed." That's the dangerous part the people trying to disrupt the church are unnoticed. Chuck Spurgeon, well known theologian, wrote about this line saying, "Satan knows that one devil inside the church can do more damage than thousands of devils standing outside her." I am sure we all have examples of these people that creep in and try to tear apart something from the inside- the church isn't the only place this happens! Their judgement will be certain, and the truth will win eventually, but we must be vigilant and aware of these evil do-ers. They knew grace and mercy, but they used that idea as a way to be lewd and corrupt.

Jude then lists some reminders for the people:

• God delivered the Hebrews from Egypt (v 5)- followed by punishment for the non-believers. God provided escape from their captives, food (manna) and water through their journey, safety crossing the Red Sea, they heard God's voice at Mount Sinai...but even after all that, they fell back to their old ways and went with unbelief.
• The angels who did not keep their place (v 6)- some controversy here as to exactly what Jude means. There are two cases of angels sinning (Isaiah 14:12-14 and Revelation 12:4). There is also mention of the "sons of God) in Genesis 6:1-2. When Jude mentions "left their proper home" it is usually a reference to infidelity in marriage (sexual sin). Because these angels did not keep their proper place , they are kept in darkness in chains.Freedom comes from obedience.
• Sodom and Gomorrah (v 7) are the two cities that represent all of the sexual sins. We know what happened to those cities!

Jude connects "these people" that are infiltrating the church with the examples he gave just prior. he point he is making is that hey will be punished as the evil ones were. They are impure, they reject God's authority (translation- they want to be in authority) and speak against the angels (some translation say dignitaries- likely meaning the apostles). They seem to be just bad people that want to ruin and destroy the church. Jude brings up the example of Michael the archangel who wouldn't even judge the devil (another of God's angels) guilty. Even Michael, with the power to do that, said it was God who judges. Jude's reference to "the body of Moses" is quite obscure and there are several different ideas about what he was talking about. The most common thought is that the devil wanted Moses's body to be used as an idol for worship so that the Israel people would be led astray. Others believe that the devil wanted Moses' body so that he could desecrate it in front of the people of Israel. The point being that the devil was against God- just like "these people" but even Michael wouldn't judge him guilty. 

"But these people..." are just like the devil- trying to usurp God's authority, reject God, and talk evil. They have a natural intelligence (reference to dumb animals- animals know how to survive, they can be intellectually smart) but are lacking a spiritual intelligence (as the beasts).

More examples of how corrupt "these certain men" are

• They are like Cain- lack of faith in God, Cain ultimately murdered Abel. Cain represents the sins of Israel
• Balaam- (Numbers 22-25, 31)- God suggested that Balaam not follow a certain contingency of King Balak, but they offered riches and women, so Balaam went with them. Balaam represents greed in the Hebrew scriptures.
• Korah- (Numbers 16) resented the authority and power God gave Moses and Aaron- Korah was swallowed up by the earth and his followers were also destroyed. Korah represents the rejection of God's authority.  

Jude continues his description of "these certain people". As you read the various descriptions of these people, are you reminded of people in your life that have these characteristics?

The writings of Enoch (v 14) were not canonized, yet they are important texts for the Hebrew people. It is common belief that Enoch's writings were preserved by Noah and were read up until the time of Christ- however there were some false testimonies of Christ, and so they were not canonized! The point here is that Enoch warned of "these certain people" so we shouldn't be surprised that they will try to destroy the church. 

We are reminded in the closing statements (v 20) that we are different from these certain people.  We are in support of God and Christ. We promote love and peace and grace and recognize the mercy of God. Jude tells us to keep an inward focus (vv 20-21) and to not attack or go after these people- that's what they want. They want to show a downfall with the Christian religion. If we stayed focused on our spirituality and our faith then we are doing what God desires of us. God will take care of them- as God has done for the last several hundreds of thousands of years!

We are to also be cognizant and aware of people on the edge of faith and show them compassion and love (vv 22- 23). An outward view of things shows that we are not totally wrapped up in ourselves. 

The closing lines (vv 24-25) are a beautiful doxology to God. These lines are reminders of God's care for us, God's presence in our lives, and our destiny. The last 23 lines of this letter looked like gloom and doom and the cruelty and hate of the world, but in these closing lines, Jude reminds us of the power and grace of God and that salvation is available to all who follow Christ. If we stay connected to God, we cannot fall or falter. I may use these lines as a benediction for this coming week's message!

Jude is a book full of warning, but it closes with a supreme confidence in God. As we look at our world and the hate and fear and war and turmoil we face, may we also remember these closing words of Jude.

We begin Matthew tomorrow. This Gospel will take us about 6 weeks. I will hopefully post an introduction to Matthew later today (and also respond to your comments from the last few days!).

Enjoy the beautiful day we are being blessed with.

Shalom+
Pastor Paul