The epistle of Jude is considered by some as one of the most serious and serious in the New Testament. It is a short but powerful book, sharp and severe, it makes it point with firm language and without apology. Over the years this has become a neglected letter because of these difficulties. It has been viewed by some over the years as a sort of literary waiting room outside the door of the Book of Revelations.
Author
The author says he is Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James (Jude 1). No other New Testament writer identifies himself by his family connection. That relationship limits the possibilities to two different men:
1) Jude (not Judas), one of the apostles (also sometimes called Lebbaeus, or Thaddeus, Matt. 10:3 and Mark. 3:18 with Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13 and John 14:22).
2) Or Jude, the half-brother of the Lord (Matt.13:55 and Mark. 6:2).
In Jude v17, the author distinguishes himself from the apostles. Therefore, it seems to me the author must be Jude, the half-brother of the Lord. This means that potentially two of Jesus’ half-brothers wrote New Testament books: James and Jude. We now from other writings that this Jude become a respected teacher in the church. The purpose of his letter is clear. He wrote to oppose a kind of false teaching that was doing great damage to Christianity through encouraging immoral behaviour (Jude 1:3-4).
Recipients
Second Peter and Jude are similar, which is not coincidental. Second Peter was written first. It predicts the coming of false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1; 2, 3:3), while Jude records the fulfillment of Peter’s prophecy (Jude 4, 11, 12, 17, 18). Jude uses and quotes 2 Peter 3:3 (Jude 18) and acknowledges it as a quote from the apostles (also 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1). This means that Jude could not have been written before 64 AD, the year Peter wrote his second epistle. It is likely that some years passed between the prediction in 2 Peter and the fulfillment in Jude. Experts believe that Jude was probably written about 75 AD. Jude is addressed to believers in general (Jude 1). Nevertheless, he had a specific group in mind. This group were troubled by ungodly men (Jude 4), who had even infiltrated the equivalent of what we today call a communion service. These men were false teachers (Jude 8). These false teachers knew no restriction on their moral activities (Jude 4). Jude calls them dreamers (Jude 8), which suggests the possibility that they claimed prophetic visions. He leaves no doubt that they were ungodly men (Jude 4, 5-10, 15, 18, etc.) who were headed for judgment (Jude 13, 14-15).
Message
The message of Jude is a warning against false teachers. The message is God will judge the ungodly, including false teachers, and believers should contend for the faith that was originally delivered to them.
Structure
The literary structure is basically that of an ancient letter. It begins with a salutation and ends with a benediction. It does not have the customary thanksgiving, prayer, and personal greetings. The body of the book is divided into two parts, each beginning with a reference (in triplet) to the Old
I. Salutation 1-2
II. Prologue 3-4
III. The Body of the Letter 5-23
IV. Doxology 24-25
Purposes
One of the purposes of Jude is to remind believers that God will judge the ungodly. Even though the believers knew false teachers would come (Jude 17-18), some false teachers had already slipped into their love feast (Jude 12) unnoticed (Jude 4). Another purpose of Jude is to encourage believers to “contend” for the faith (Jude 3). The Greek word translated “contend” means, to fight for a prize, and to struggle and strive.
Summary:
Jude wrote to believers to remind them that God will judge the ungodly and to encourage them to contend for the faith. Most of Jude deals with the ungodly infiltrators into the love feasts of the believers, but toward the end, he begins to speak directly to the readers. Since he begins by saying that he is writing to encourage them he does this by telling them how to contend for the faith. The advice he recommends include:
Firstly, remember that mockers will come who can be identified by how they live ungodly lives (Jude 17-18).
Secondly to remain in the love of God (Jude 20-21). Jude 2021 consists of this command. The way to keep yourself in the love of God is by “building, praying, looking” (John. 15:10). Rescue others (keep yourself in the love of God, Jude 22-23). While some take these verses to be referring to unsaved people, they are written to believers. (The majority of Greek manuscripts contain “them” in Jude 24.) Believers are to rescue other believers from ungodly living (Jude 24-25; Gal. 6:1; James. 5:19-20). And believers should contend for the faith.