Today we begin a completely new Bible book with a new author – Jude. Jude is known to be the half-brother to Jesus and is mentioned in the gospel of Matthew chapter thirteen and verse fifty-five:
Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? Matthew 13:55
And in the gospel of John in chapter fourteen and verse twenty-two:
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? John 14:22
Jude, who like the apostle John, deals with the topic of false teachers and false doctrine in this tiny one chapter book. Although his topic is somewhat the same, Jude has a different style of writing that we shall all come to enjoy. So, let's begin. In verse one Jude writes:
Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, [and] called:
“Jude, the servant” or “doulos” of Jesus Christ”. The word “doulos” means servant or “bond-servant”. A “bond-servant” was a servant who chose to be a servant willingly. In the days of the Bible, if a person was a slave, he could only be a slave under Jewish law for six years and then he would be set free. The slave would not be allowed to take any family he had acquired during his servant-hood such as a wife or children, but he himself could go free. Many of the servants of that time enjoyed their work, were happy with their masters, and desired to stay with their master and thereby would desire to become a willing slave or “bond-slave.” At this point the law allowed for a slave to have his ear pierced with an awl and the earring placed within the hole. This earring would indicate to all that he was a willing servant, a “doulos”, a “bond-slave” to his master.
Jude employs this description of himself in relation to Jesus Christ. Jude states that he is a “willing servant” to Jesus, and although Jude is technically the half-brother to Jesus, he doesn't “name drop” in that manner. Jude was simply like the rest of us who have given our lives willingly over to Jesus Christ. For those who have come to know Jesus as their personal Savior, there is pleasure in having Jesus be our Lord. We desire to serve Him, love Him, and be used by Him in His kingdom. Jude symbolizes our state, and rather than the trend today which is to be highly known by those who are more important that we, Jude humbly accepts the role as bond-servant.
Jude next identifies himself as the “brother of James”. James was also the half-brother of Jesus, and was the second Christian martyr who died in the book of Acts. The interesting part of both Jude and James was that there is no indication that they became believers fully in their half-brother Jesus until after His resurrection, but I suppose that discussion may be left for another time.
Next time we shall continue to look at this fascinating man named Jude, and discover more of what he has to say about those who follow and are bond-servants to Jesus Christ, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
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