Discovering Jude

Background Information

Jude wrote this letter from an undisclosed location.

The author of this letter identifies himself as Jude, further describing himself as both a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James (1:1). Both Matthew and Mark’s gospels give prior evidence of this brother relationship between James and Judas, but also identifying them as half-brothers to Jesus Christ. According to Mark, he – like James – was not a follower of Christ before the resurrection (Mark 3:21, 31; John 7:3-8), but became a believer sometime between the resurrection and ascension, according to Luke (Acts 1:14). In addition, Paul indicates that Jude eventually became a traveling missionary of some sort (1 Cor 9:5).

Some may suggest that the author was Judas Thaddaeus (Lebbaeus), who was also a brother (or son) of a man named James. Who this particular James was is unclear, and if this were the Judas who wrote this letter, he would have identified himself as an apostle of Christ rather than a bondservant. In fact, the writer of this letter seems to make clear that he was not an apostle (1:17).  There are at least five other men named Jude (Judas) in the NT besides these two, but these are even more obscure and not serious possibilities to be author of this letter.

He wrote to unidentified believers.

All we know about the audience, location, and timing of this letter is that it was written to people whom he called “beloved” and “the saints” (1:3). These would have been believers who knew him and respected his ministry, perhaps in the churches he had served. The book bears a strong resemblance to 2 Peter, so it is likely that he wrote this letter sometime after Peter had written his second letter.

The theme of this book is “Contend for the Faith.”

It seems that in writing this letter, Jude had a twofold purpose. First, he wanted to call out the false teachers who had entered into the churches, but he also wanted to encourage believers to stand firm in their faith and defense of the truth.

By identifying false teachers, Jude desired to reveal that they are far more dangerous and insidious than they appeared to be, since false teachers often seem much more appealing and attractive in person than they are in their motives and private lives.

At the same time, Jude wanted to do more than help believers to identify false teachers (defense), he wanted to help them actually advance the cause of Christ in a positive, proactive way (offense) (Jude 1:17, 20-21).

Just as Ephesians and Colossians exhibit a similar content and purpose, so Jude is similar to 2 Peter. Both books make very strong denunciations against false teachers. 2 Peter views these false teachers as soon to come (2 Pet 2:1), though Jude views them as already present (1:4), which is a reason for dating Jude sometime after 2 Peter. In fact, 1:17-18 seems to refer back to Peter’s earlier warning (2 Pet 3:2-4), as well as Paul’s (Acts 20:28-30; 2 Tim 3:1-9).

This letter attracts a lot of attention because it quotes from apocryphal, noncanonical literature. These quotations are from the Assumption of Moses (1:9) and the Book of Enoch (1:14-15). This practice was not unique to him, though. Paul, for instance, quoted a pagan poet named Aratus (Acts 17:28), a Cretan poet (Tit 1:12), and an unidentified source for the names of Moses’s opponents, Jannes and Jambres (2 Tim 3:8).

It is important to acknowledge that for a writer of Scripture to quote a nonbiblical source only authenticates the material which is quoted and does not authenticate the rest of the material in the source document, too – just as whatever an apostle said was not inspired, only what he wrote as Scripture. It’s worth noting that there has been a recent surge in fascination with the Book of Enoch in particular, as

Jude waxes eloquent from biblical history in his descriptions of false teachers, demonstrating that their behavior, characteristics, and tactics are nothing new. He calls to mind the fall of angels, Cain, leaders of Israel’s rebellion in the wilderness, Sodom and Gomorrah, and Balaam. Jude assures his readers that just as God judged these apostates in the past, so he will do to the false teachers in the church today.

Jude uses very strong language against false teachers, speaking in a direct and forthright way that is frowned upon culturally today. It is instructive to realize that there is a time and place to be direct and forthright in service to Christ.

Jude’s writing style shows a propensity for triads (threefold patterns). He identifies himself in three ways (1:1), describes his audience as “sanctified, preserved, and called” (1:1), blessed them with mercy, peace, and love (1:2), gives a threefold description of false teachers (1:8), gives three men as examples (1:11), and – best of all – gives a threefold reference to the Trinity (1:20-21)!

Outline of the Book

1.         Purpose for writing (1:1-3)
2.         Description of false teachers (1:4-16)

A.        Past judgment on them (1:5-7)
B.        Present characteristics of them (1:8-12)
C.        Future judgment of them (1:13-16)

3.         Defense against false teachers (1:17-23)
4.         Doxology (1:24-25)