General
With the letter of Jude we have arrived at the last of the so-called ‘general epistles’. As is the case with the other ‘general epistles’, the epistle of Jude is also mainly addressed to readers with a Jewish / Israelite background; not just to Christians in general.
Writer, origin and destination
The letter begins with the words “Judas, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James”. This makes it clear that Judas is the writer. He describes himself as “a brother of James”. With this he refers to the fact that he was a brother of the writer of the James letter. Just like James, he is therefore also a (half) brother of the Lord Jesus (Matt. 13:55); both brothers had the same mother (Mary), but the father of James and Judas was Joseph, while the Lord Jesus is the Son of God. Like James, Judas knew who his half-brother really was, and so he (also) calls himself “a servant of Jesus Christ” and acknowledges that He is “our only Ruler and Lord” (v. 4b).
It is generally believed that this letter was written about the same time as the Epistle of James, in AD 46.
The letter is addressed “to those who are called, who are beloved in God the Father, and are kept for Jesus Christ” (v. 1). The contents of the letter are very similar to that of chapter 2 of the second letter of Peter; or actually that chapter is very similar to this letter, because Peter probably wrote his letters later. This makes it obvious that Judas is writing to the same target group: Israelites who lived in the dispersion. This is reinforced by Jude’s appeal to his readers to remember the words spoken “by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (cf. 2 Pet. 3:1 and 2). Also compare Jude 18 with 2 Peter 3:3.
Whole letter structure
A. 1 and 2 Salute.
B. 3 Incentive.
C. 4 Wicked ones who deny Jesus Christ.
D. 5a Reminder of the Lord’s work of redemption.
E. 5b-16 Retaliation.
D. 17 Remembering the words of the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
C. 18 and 19 Wicked men who bring division.
B. 20-23 Exhortation.
A. 24 and 25 Praise.
Purpose and content
As mentioned under ‘Writer, origin and destination’, the similarity with the second letter to Peter is remarkable. And as with the second letter of Peter, the main purpose for Jude is also to remind the faithful of the work of the Lord and the words of the apostles. Most of the letter (vv. 5b-17) is very warning in character; this part forms the main part of the letter (see structure). The reason for this is that there had crept into the circle of believers who turned the grace of God into debauchery and denied the Lord Jesus Christ. “wicked ones,” Jude defines them (v. 4) and later typifies them as “natural men, having not the Spirit” (v. 19).
Jude compares these ‘creep deceivers’ and their works with examples from the Old Testament. The readers of this letter must therefore have been acquainted with the contents of the Old Testament. In this connection Jude mentions the angels who sought (and found!) the daughters of man (Gen. 6), Sodom and Gomorrah, Cain, Balaam, Korah, and those of whom Enoch prophesied. This puts these “dream seers” (v. 8) in an illustrious line of predecessors and turns out to have everything to do with God’s adversary and his works of darkness.
core texts
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand blameless before His glory in great joy, the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and might before all eternity, both now and forever and ever! Amen” (vv. 24, 2
