Several passages in the New Testament refer to the narrow circle of relationships that made up the first followers of Jesus (Luke 1:39–45; John 1:29–51; 21:1–3). The small-town, largely Galilean roots of the movement stayed with the people even as they spread in all directions with the message that Jesus was the Christ. The Lord’s immediate family was near the heart of that circle; Mary, His mother, believed the unique testimony about her firstborn Son, which she would have shared with other family members. The little book of Jude assumes that familiarity (Jude 1), presenting readers today with tantalizing questions.
Historical and Cultural Setting of Jude
We know so little of the life and activity of Jude that any attempt to fix the place of writing or to localize the church or churches addressed is bound to be guesswork. Nevertheless, some observations about the historical setting may be considered. For example, one may note that the letter lacks any overt influences from two major events of the era, which were for Judaism like World Wars I and II in our modern era: (1) the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in AD 66–70, and (2) the Bar Kokhba or Second Jewish Revolt, which began in AD 132. Also, the letter has some relationship to 2 Peter so that the date one assigns for 2 Peter can affect how one thinks about the historical situation for Jude. Further, as noted under “Author of Jude” below, the writer for Jude claimed to be a “brother of James,” which if accepted as the half brother of Jesus, would also narrow down the date. Although these observations do not fix the date of the letter, one might argue that the letter was written before the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, nearer the lifetimes of the apostles Peter and James.
Author of Jude
The author calls himself simply “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James” (Jude 1); he does not call himself an apostle, and the way in which he speaks of the apostles makes it clear that he is not one of them (Jude 17). He cannot therefore be identified with the apostle Judas, the son of James (Luke 6:16). “Brother of James” serves to identify him, and there is really only one James so generally known in early Christendom as to serve as identification, and that is James the brother of Jesus, the “pillar” and head of the Jerusalem Church (Galatians 1:19; 2:9; cf 1 Corinthians 15:7; James 1:1). Jude is, then, one of the brothers of Jesus; we find his name listed in Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55. Luke refers to these brothers as a group, and he associates them with the Twelve during the early days in Jerusalem (Acts 1:14). We learn from Paul (1 Corinthians 9:5) that these brothers of Jesus were active in missionary work. Jude, like the other brothers of Jesus, had not believed in Jesus during the time of His ministry on earth (John 7:5). Perhaps it was the example and the witness of his brother James after the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:7) that won him for the faith. Nothing more is known of him.
It is at first glance surprising that he does not call himself “brother of Jesus” in order to identify himself. But James, it should be noted, is similarly reticent; he, too, calls himself not brother but “servant” of Jesus (James 1:1). The men of the Early Church remembered the word that the Lord had spoken concerning His disciples: “Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother” (Matthew 12:50); they knew that faith—and only faith—established the tie that bound a man to Jesus and made him an obedient son of God.
Purpose and Recipients of Jude
Jude leaves us in no doubt as to what occasioned his writing. It was the appearance and the activity of men who answered Paul’s question, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?” (Romans 6:1) in a way that was the very opposite of Paul’s answer, “No!” These were men who saw in the freedom that Christ had won for them not a freedom from sin, but the freedom to sin. Jude calls them “ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). There was, moreover, nothing furtive or apologetic in their assertion and proclamation of this liberty; they did so quite openly and, indeed, arrogantly (Jude 4, 8, 13, 16, 18–19). They had not broken with the Church, but carried on the propaganda for their views within it—they had “crept in unnoticed” (Jude 4), were present at the common meals of the Church (Jude 12), and created divisions within the Church (Jude 19). The images that Jude uses to describe them indicate that they set themselves up as teachers of the Church—they are clouds, from which people might expect water; trees, from which people might expect fruit; stars, from which the sailor expects guidance (Jude 12–13).
Summary of Jude
Jude 1–2 Despite the stumbling faith of Jude’s readers, he begins with comfort and encouragement. He greets the whole congregation as God’s chosen people, even though false teachers exist among them.
Jude 3–16 Jude flatly condemns the activities of the ungodly, while gently rebuking the godly for tolerating them. He candidly points out that the Gospel itself is at risk for corruption. He also refers the people back to their catechesis in the Old Testament history of God’s wrath and grace. Jesus Himself condemned the Israelites for their sins and also acted as their Savior. Then Jude mercilessly describes the sins of the ungodly without explicitly naming them or their group. He knows that the congregation will read his letter publicly, in the hearing of these false brothers.
Jude 17–23 Christians, who have the full salvation already delivered to them in Scripture, need not fall into deceptions.
Jude 24–25 Jude emphasizes that salvation is not based on our own reason or strength but is wholly the Father’s work in Christ.
Martin Luther on Jude
Reflecting on various statements from the Early Fathers, Luther concluded that St. Jude did not write this letter. Many modern scholars would agree. However, one should note that Luther assumed the writer of Jude had copied 2 Peter. This is not necessarily the case.
Concerning the epistle of St. Jude, no one can deny that it is an extract or copy of St. Peter’s second epistle, so very like it are all the words. He also speaks of the apostles like a disciple who comes long after them [Jude 17] and cites sayings and incidents that are found nowhere else in the Scriptures [Jude 9, 14]. This moved the ancient fathers to exclude this epistle from the main body of the Scriptures. Moreover the Apostle Jude did not go to Greek-speaking lands, but to Persia, as it is said, so that he did not write Greek. Therefore, although I value this book, it is an epistle that need not be counted among the chief books which are supposed to lay the foundations of faith. (AE 35:397–98)
There is good reason to suppose that St. Jude would have known Greek, which was commonly spoken in Judea and was also used in Persia.
Blog post adapted from Lutheran Bible Companion, Volume 2: Intertestamental Era, New Testament, and Bible Dictionary © 2014 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Scripture: ESV®.
The quotation from Luther’s Works in this publication is from Luther’s Works, American Edition, vol. 35 © 1960 by Augsburg Fortress. Used by permission of the publisher.
Read more about Jude and every book of the New Testament in Lutheran Bible Companion, Volume 2.
