Introductory Commentary to the Epistle of Jude

The Epistle of Jude is one of the shortest books in the New Testament. It has only 25 verses in the English Bible and consists of 458 words in the original text. Though this epistle is brief it is very powerful in its utterance. This is the only epistle which talks about the characteristics of ungodly men, especially in the last days, just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The excellent remarks given by Lawlor rightly support that the epistle of Jude, "is the only book in the entire canon of Holy Scripture which is entirely devoted to the dreadful apostasy that will prevail throughout Christendom prior to the return of Christ from heaven, and to the character and conduct of the apostates themselves."

Apparently this is the reason the epistle of Jude is placed just before the book of Revelation in the canonical list of the Holy Scriptures. This is to express the coming judgement of Christ to those who are apostates and do not believe in Him. Hiebert added, "The vigorous little Epistle of Jude is without a parallel in the New Testament for its vehement denunciation of libertines and apostates. While displaying affectionate concern for true believers, it burns with fiery indignation and vivid pronouncements of judgement upon religious sensualists. Standing, as it does in our English Bibles, just before the Book of Revelation, it forms a fitting introduction to the concluding book of the New Testament."

Therefore Jude wrote his epistle as a warning to the Christians, to be more vigilant towards the characteristics and behaviour of the apostates who are in the church today.

Authorship

There are many debates among scholars on the authorship of the epistle of Jude. Most of the commentators agree to the author being Jude, one of the brothers of James and the half brother of the Lord Jesus. This position seems to be the most common among many of the commentators. However this identification is not absolutely certain, for the epistle itself does not say exactly who the author was, from among the five Judes found in the Bible.

It is therefore important to study more closely and examine who the author of this epistle was. The following is a description of each Jude found in the Bible.

First, Jude or Judas of Damascus referred to in Acts 9:11. He was the owner of the house where Saul of Tarsus was staying after he had heard the call of Jesus. Ananias was asked by God to come to this house to confirm the faith of Saul of Tarsus. Second, Judas Barsabas. After the decision was made at the Council of Jerusalem, he was sent to Antioch together with Paul and Silas when they heard that God had opened the door of the gospel to the Gentiles (Act 15:13-22, 27, 32). Third, Judas Iscariot. He was one of the apostles of Jesus Christ who later became an apostate and a traitor. Fourth, Jude the brother of James and one of the Lord’s brothers (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3). Fifth, another apostle who was named Judas, not Iscariot (John 14:22). He was the very quiet apostle. In the New Testament it was recorded only once that he spoke to Jesus Christ.

Based on the above list which Jude was the author of this epistle? To many scholars there are only two possibilities from the names mentioned above. Either Jude, one of the brothers of Jesus Christ or the apostle, Jude not Iscariot. Many commentators have preferred to take Jude the brother of Jesus as the author. The reason being that in the Holy Scriptures are many records where he was mentioned in comparison with Jude the apostle. Second, the absent of the appellation “apostle” in the salutation. Instead of using the title apostle of Jesus Christ, he used the term “servant” of Jesus Christ. Third, the author of this epistle regarded the apostles as apart from himself (Jude 17-18). Finally, the author mentioned “the contention about the body of Moses, and the prophecy of Enoch, which are no where to be found in the scripture.”

However this writer prefers to take Jude the apostle as the author of this epistle for the following reasons. First, the absence of the appellation “apostle” is not an absolute reason to say that he was not an apostle. The phrase “servant of Jesus Christ” was a very common appellation used by the prophets of God in the community of the Jews. In the New Testament, this title was still valid among the Jews who were serving the Lord. John Calvin commented, "He calls himself the servant of Christ, not as the name applies to all the godly, but with respect to his apostleship; for they were deemed peculiarly the servants of Christ, who had some public office committed to themselves…. And, no doubt, he who declares himself to be the servant of God, includes both these things, that is, that God is the bestower of the office which he exercises, and that he faithfully performs what has been committed to him."

Second, the author also introduced himself as “the brother of James.” This writer believes that the author was referring to James the son of Alpheus who was also one of the twelve and not to James the brother of Jesus Christ. Besides Judas Iscariot, there was another Jude who was one of the twelve. He was the son of Mary the wife of Cleophas, also known as Alphaeus. Alphaeus himself has another son whose name was also James. Both James and Jude were the apostles of Jesus Christ. Therefore it is genuinely written by the apostle of Jude, one of the sons of Alphaeus.

Finally, many commentators used verses 17-18 to support the position that it was not Jude the apostle because the author distinguished himself from the apostles of Jesus Christ. However, these verses cannot be used as absolute evidence that it was not Jude the apostle at all. According to Barnes, Jude has his special reason for referring to other apostles: Jude meant also to include himself among the apostles, or Jude was speaking of the apostles collectively. Furthermore, the description that he gave in verses 4-16 mostly happened in the past, and it was predicted that in the future, similar false characters will come: false teachers, false prophets, even false Christs. It was without doubt that the message of the apostles is to follow what Jesus Christ had preached. Therefore Jude here too, reminded and commanded his readers to obey what the apostles had taught them. Before Jude came and served them there have been apostles who came to them and taught them the true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jude might not have known how many apostles had already come to them. For this reason, Jude did not mention any names. However Jude believed what the other apostles had taught are from the same source as his, namely by the inspiration of God. So Jude was confirming what his readers have already heard. It was with humility that he did not want to point to himself as an apostle but he pointed to other apostles. Clearly, the author of this epistle was Jude the apostle, and not one of the brothers of Jesus Christ.

Authenticity

If we accept that the apostle Jude authored this epistle, there is no doubt about its authenticity. We believe God has chosen his apostles to write His words that all believers might have the Holy Scripture as the most perfect of all to be the guide in faith, practice and conduct of all Christians. On the other hand some scholars considered this epistle as a disputed letter because Jude 9 was a quotation from the Assumption of Moses and Jude 14-15 were taken from the book of Enoch and both these books are apocryphal books. To this, Hiebert answered that “the use of a quotation from an uninspired source need not imply that he approved of the whole book.” Therefore despite these critics, it is necessary to consider the external and internal evidence of the authenticity of this epistle.

One external evidence is that most scholars accept its authenticity and there are few scholars who reject it. One of these was Jerome (340-420). He rejected its authenticity “because of the testimony from the apocryphal book of Enoch." However Didymus (d. 394) strongly defended the authenticity of this epistle. The ancient scholars did not have any problem with this book, but rather they referred to it quite often. Tertullian of Carthage (150-222), Clement of Alexandria (155-215), and Origen (185-253) did not doubt the authenticity of the epistle of Jude. In the Muratorian Canon (c. 170) the epistle of Jude was accepted as part of the Holy Scriptures. The reformers (e.g. John Calvin) also accepted this epistle as the Word of God.

There is little internal evidence to support its authenticity and there are no historical records as to where and when the author wrote his epistle. The only internal evidence seen here was the author was that the servant of Jesus Christ. Although he seemed to distinguish himself from the apostles, it was because he took a humble position.

Place and Date

The zeal to preach the gospel to all nations was in the heart of every apostle as they were commanded to be witnesses for Christ “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The apostles were called to be evangelists to preach the gospel from place to place. Being an evangelist, Jude would definitely have travelled a lot during his ministry. In relation to the writing of this epistle, there is no evidence of place of writing. However there were suggestions that Jude could have written from Alexandria in Egypt or from Palestine, especially Jerusalem.

Regarding the date of his writing the text itself does not provide any certain evidence. Considering the fact that John the last apostle lived till almost the end of first century having written the book of Revelation, there is no doubt therefore that this epistle of Jude must have been written before John wrote the book of Revelation (before A.D 100).

Some scholars have suggested that the date of writing might have been after the destruction of Jerusalem. On the other hand, there are those who hold that it was before the destruction of Jerusalem. Based on the text, Jude apparently wrote it before the destruction of Jerusalem. This is because Jude did not make any reference to this city in his epistle implying that the temple and city were still standing. Due to the importance of the temple and the city of Jerusalem, Jude definitely would have mentioned their destruction if they have taken place but he did not. Thus a possible date of its composition is about A.D 66-68. The exact date however is uncertain.

Occasion

The occasion for the writing of Jude was related to the apostates who revealed their true selves through their own character. Jude pointed out that the apostates were among his readers. The apostates were worshipping together with them and were present at the feast of charity (v. 12). Jude then said that they were “the certain men crept in unawares” (v. 4). Furthermore he identified them as “the ungodly men” (v. 4); “filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities” (v. 8); “murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts” (v. 16). They are the false teachers and “without spirit” (v. 9).

Based on this description Jude was constrained to write to his readers that they might contend earnestly for the faith (v. 3) and build themselves up in the most holy faith (v. 20). Jude knew the danger of these apostates, thus Jude described to his readers the character of these apostates that his readers might know who these apostates were and that they might not follow their ways. At the same time, Jude assured his readers that the Lord Jesus “is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy” (v. 24).

Purpose

Jude clearly placed the purpose of his writing in verses 3 and 4. Jude’s first purpose was to write about the common salvation to his readers. However he was constrained by the Holy Spirit to change to another purpose which was to exhort his readers “to contend earnestly for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” (v. 3). The reason was because “there are certain men crept in unawares” (v. 4) in the midst of his readers. Thus being the apostle Jude gave a strong denunciation of the apostates indicating that the apostates were the ungodly men. The Lord had ordained them to be judged. In addition, towards, the end of his writing he encouraged his readers to build themselves up in the “most holy faith” (v. 20). This was followed by his exhortation that his readers should show mercy to those who doubt (v. 22).