Jude
Introduction
Author
§ Jude who we know little about; John 7 he was not a believer
o Canonicity
§ Uses of 1 Enoch and the Testament of Moses
§ Similarities with 2 Peter
o Date
§ Similarity with Peter means one or other is source, or a 3rd source
§ Most say Jude came after 2 Peter because:
· Jude 17-18 quotes directly 2 Peter 3:3 and acknowledges it is “from the apostles”
· If Peter would have used Jude as a source, there probably would have been less questions about Jude’s authority
· 2 Peter talks about the anticipation of false teachers, whereas Jude talks about their existence
§ Probably before AD 68-70
Greeting
1Jude,
a servant of Jesus Christ [J1]
and
brother of James,
to
those who are called,
beloved in God the Father
and kept for Jesus Christ:
[J2] 2May
mercy,
peace,
and
love
be multiplied
to you.
Purpose of the Letter
3Beloved,
although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation,
I
found
it necessary
to write
appealing to you to contend
for the faith[J3]
that was once for all delivered to the saints[J4] .
4For
certain people
have crept
in
unnoticed
who long ago were designated for this condemnation,
ungodly people,
who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality
and
deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
[J5]
Abandoning God’s Bounds for One’s Desires is Blasphemy[J6]
5Now I want to remind you,
although you once fully knew it, that
Jesus,
who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, [J7]
afterward
destroyed
those who did not believe.
6And
the angels [J8] [J9]
who did not stay within their own position of authority,
but
left their proper dwelling,
he
has kept
in eternal chains
under gloomy darkness
until the judgment of the great day—
7just as
Sodom and Gomorrah
and
the surrounding cities,
which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire,
serve
as an example
by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
[J10] 8Yet
in like manner
these people also,
relying on their dreams,
defile
the flesh,
reject
authority,
and
blaspheme
the glorious ones[J11] .
9But when
the archangel Michael,
contending with the devil,
was disputing
about the body of Moses,
[J12] he
did not presume
to pronounce
a blasphemous judgment, [J13]
but
said,
"The Lord rebuke you."
Characteristics of the UnGodly
10But
these people
blaspheme[J14]
all that they do not understand,
and
they
are destroyed
by
all
that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.
[J15] 11Woe to them!
For
they
walked
in the way of Cain [J16]
and
abandoned
themselves
for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error [J17]
and
perished
in Korah’s rebellion[J18] .
12These
are
hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear,
shepherds feeding themselves;
waterless clouds, swept along by winds;
fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;
13wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame;
wandering stars,
for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
14It was also about these
that Enoch[J19] , the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold,
the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones,
15to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him."
16These are
grumblers,
malcontents,
following their own sinful desires;
they are
loud-mouthed boasters,
showing favoritism to gain advantage.
17But
you
must remember,
beloved,
the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
18They said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions."
19It is these
who
cause divisions,
worldly people,
devoid of the Spirit. [J20]
The Way of the Godly[J21]
20But
you, beloved,
building yourselves up in your most holy faith [J22]
and
praying in the Holy Spirit,
21keep
yourselves
in the love of God,
waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
that leads to eternal life.
22And
have
mercy
on those who doubt;
23save
others
by snatching them out of the fire;
to others
show
mercy with fear,
hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
Doxology
24Now
to him who is able to keep you from stumbling [J23]
and
to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
25to the only God,
our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
be
glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
[J1]Jude displays humility in how he describes his relationship with Jesus, just as James did in his letter.
[J2]This is the audience—believers. They are at least familiar with Judaism, as evidenced by the examples Jude gives in verses 5-9. The end of verse 1 is also a great, albeit brief, statement about preservation.
[J3]
o An exhortation
§ The contents of this faith have already been delivered.
§ The contents of this faith must be complete.
§ Jude was writing around AD 70, and he presumed to call the contents of the faith—a faith worth contending for—sealed and delivered.
§ The “foundation” we talked about in Eph 2 awhile back
[J4]So there’s only one faith and the contents of it have been delivered already. This really points to exclusivity and sufficiency of Scripture. What has been labeled “the faith” by Jude was complete in his eyes.
[J5]ESV note rightfully points out that perversion comes from using the grace as a reason to feel free to act sensually (according to their own desires) and deny the Lordship of Christ. Lordship salvation?
[J6]From blaspheme’o; to speak evil of, to “rail on” to revile
[J7]Strong declaration of the divinity of Christ.
[J8]With Lucifer they rebelled against their created role and place in heaven (cf. Isa. 14:12, nkjv). When God expelled them from heaven for that rebellion (cf. Rev. 12:4, 9), some continued their downward fall to the point of taking masculine human form and cohabitating with human women to produce a generation of demon-influenced, thoroughly corrupt children (cf. Gen. 6:11–13). God sent those particular apostate angels (demons) to a place under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Peter wrote that God “committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment” (2 Peter 2:4). MacArthur Commentary
[J9]MacArthur doesn’t think Jude is referring to the fall of the angels because God hasn’t kept them in chains—yet. He thinks this is a reference to Genesis 6.
[J10]Is the example of Sodom and Gomorrah another of the same kind as Israel and the fallen angels, or simply a descriptor of the angels’ punishment? I think it is the latter, based on the Greek, which seems to put the first two as equals but does not make the same type of connection with the 3rd example. That is speculation, however. It does not seem as if the sin at Sodom and Gomorrah was a group deliverance or state of grace out of which a smaller group was eventually condemned as in the first two examples. ESV Study Bible and MacArthur Commentary suggest this example is the 3rd example—not a corollary or expansion of the 2nd.
I think whether Jude is giving 2 or 3 examples, the main point comes out in verse 8. The “certain people” likewise defile, reject authority, and blaspheme. Because of this description of their actions, I think the “in like manner” is connecting the ways that were “out of bounds”, which he calls blasphemy. He then reaffirms this point in verse 9.
Overall, I think making Jude’s argument into 3 examples is reading 2 Peter 2 into it. While they are very similar, I don’t think they’re exactly the same.
[J11]Who is this?
Although it is possible to interpret the word as a reference to God’s majesty, the translation angelic majesties is best in light of the parallel passage in Peter’s epistle (2 Peter 2:10). In his letter, Peter used the same word to identify angels as the objects of such blasphemy[1]. MacArthur Commentary
ESV Study Bible cites these as evil angels and offer 2 Peter 2:10 as evidence, but I don’t see it.
[J12]A reference from the Testament of Moses.
[J13]The blasphemous judgment would have been to claim the power of the Lord. Instead, Michael rebukes without claiming authority.
[J14]What don’t they understand? – the faith. How do they blaspheme it? – by being “out of place”, taking an authority or privilege that is not rightly theirs.
[J15]How does what they understand instinctively destroy them? Maybe it’s better to say that their own instinct is to deny the authority of Jesus that comes hand-in-hand with the freedom from condemnation for which He paid. They are proving themselves to be the people that, after God has given them some amount of collective grace, spit upon it by placing their own desires ahead of submission and dependence on Him. This is amplified by the 3 references that follow.
[J16]Genesis 4:3-8. The way of Cain was evil deeds. 1 John 3:12.
[J17]Or “given themselves to Balaam’s error, which was following God but with wrong motives (i.e. gain)? See Numbers 22-23 and 31:8,16.
[J18]Numbers 16:1-11. Korah and his people wanted to do the priestly duties of Aaron (Nu 16:10-11).
[J19]This is the reference from 1 Enoch that likely caused much of the debate over the canonicity of Jude’s letter.
[J20]There is a complete and delivered faith for which the recipients of this letter must contend. The “certain people” are in their midst.
Are there people like this today? - YES
How do we recognize them?
- Pervert grace into sensuality (v. 4)
- Deny Lordship of Christ (v. 4)
- They:
o Rejecting authority (v. 8)
o Defiling the flesh (v. 8)
o Take authority that isn’t theirs (v. 8)
- They:
o Rely on their dreams (v. 8)
o Trust what they understand instinctively instead of what has been delivered by the apostles (v. 10)
- They are:
o Grumblers (v. 16)
o Malcontents (v. 16)
o Loud-mouthed boasters (v. 16)
o Worldly people (v. 19)
o Devoid of the Spirit (v. 19)
- They:
o Follow their own sinful desires (v. 16, 19)
o Show favoritism to gain advantage (v. 16)
o Cause divisions (v. 19)
What is the most common way today?
--all the other gospels and the common willingness to call them all Christians
How do we contend?
[J21]This is our response.
[J22]This is the same faith as in verse 3.
[J23]Even though we are to contend as if in a boxing match, we are to do so by trusting the One that will give us the ability (i.e. not stepping outside of our bounds).