The letter of Jude. Or more accurately, Judah, according to the pronunciation of his name both in Greek and in Hebrew. Judah was one of Jesus' four brothers who are named in the Gospel accounts. None of the brothers followed Jesus as the Messiah before his death but afterwards they saw him alive from the dead and then became his disciples. All these brothers of Jesus became leaders eventually in the first Jewish Christian communities. And Judah was known as a travelling teacher and missionary. And this gives us the background to understand the purpose of his letter. We don't know what specific church community he wrote to but it was likely made up of mostly Messianic Jews His writing style assumes a deep knowledge of the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures as well as other popular Jewish literature. Jude had become aware of a crisis facing this church and so this helps us understand the letter's design. It begins with an opening charge followed by a long warning and accusation against corrupt teachers who had influenced this church. And then Judah closes by completing the charge about what this church is supposed to do. Judah begins by charging this church to contend for the true Christian faith. He says his plan was to write a longer work that explored our shared salvation through the Messiah. But that project, he says, got delayed when he heard the urgent news about this church and so he fired off this very thoughtful but very short letter. Judah doesn't begin with how they're supposed to contend for the faith. Rather, he first goes into why. It's because of the corrupt teachers who have infiltrated this church. And it's not their teaching that he targets but their way of life. Their moral compromise is what tells you they have bad theology. First of all, they've distorted God's grace as a license to sin. They think that they're forgiven and they have God's Spirit, so now they can do whatever they want, especially when it comes to money and sex. And so Judah says they betray Jesus by rejecting his authority and his teachings. And Judah wants this church to know that the appearance of these teachers is no surprise. He transitions into a longer warning to stay away from them. He first offers two sets of three Old Testament examples. The first trio is about rebellious people who in the past receive divine justice. So the Israelites who rebelled against God in the wilderness, they got what they wanted and they died out in the middle of nowhere. Then he brings up a story about angels who are imprisoned for rebellion until they face God's justice. He's referring to the interpretation of the story in
Genesis 6 offered in the popular Jewish work called 1 Enoch, where the sons of God are interpreted to refer to angels who rebelled against God, then had sex with women and were judged accordingly. Judah links this story to his third example about the ruin of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis, where violent men tried to have sex with angels. Both these stories are about rebellion against God's order that led to sexual immorality. And that's precisely what the corrupt teachers are guilty of. After this, Judah brings up a bonus example from a popular Jewish text called the Testament of Moses. Like Enoch, it was not part of the Old Testament scriptures. And it was a creative retelling of Moses' final days and words, based on Deuteronomy. In the section that Judah quotes from, Moses has died and there's a good angel, Michael, who is refuting the devil's accusations against Moses. But he decides to leave final judgment for God alone. Now, these stories might seem kind of odd to you, but for Jewish people who were raised on this literature, Judah's warnings make good sense. The behavior of these corrupt teachers has ancient roots: rebellion against God's authority, sexual immorality, rejecting God's messengers. And this connects to the second trio of examples. They're all about rebels who went on to corrupt other people. So Cain, he murdered his brother but then he went on to build a city where violence reigned. Balaam the sorcerer, he couldn't curse Israel and so he lured them into idolatry and sexual corruption. And then Korah, the Levite, he led a rebellion against Moses that ended in disaster for others. Judah concludes the second trio with a barrage of Old Testament images to describe the teachers. They're like the selfish shepherds of Ezekiel. Or like the clouds with no rain from Proverbs. Or like the chaotic waves from Isaiah. Their self absorption betrays their claim to follow Jesus. They create chaos wherever they go. Judah concludes his warning by quoting from two other warnings: one ancient and one recent. The first comes again from the popular book of
1 Enoch, which claimed to contain the visions of the ancient figure, Enoch, from the book of Genesis. Now what's fascinating is Judah quotes from the opening chapter of Enoch which is itself quoting about half a dozen Old Testament texts about the final day of the Lord's justice on human evil. Judah then matches Enoch's ancient warning with a more recent one from the apostles. Peter, John, Paul, they all predicted that corrupt teachers would arise and distort the good news about Jesus. And they themselves were echoing Jesus' early warning about the same thing. And so this church should need no more convincing. These teachers have to be dealt with. So Judah then moves into his closing charge. He picks up his opening line about contending for the faith and he unpacks how to do so with a cool set of metaphors. He describes the community of Jesus as God's new temple. And so they are to build their lives on the foundation of the most holy faith which refers to the core message of good news about Jesus' life, death and resurrection for our sins. On that foundation, the church is to build itself through a dedication to prayer, by devoting itself to the love of God, through obedience. And the integrity of this building will be maintained by staying alert for the return of Jesus to bring his justice and His mercy. And in doing this, they will help each other stay faithful to Jesus. Judah then concludes by praising the God who will protect his people and keep them from falling too far from his grace. The short letter of Judah is powerful and puzzling for many modern readers who ask why he quotes from texts that aren't today considered part of the Hebrew Bible, like 1 Enoch or the Testament of Moses. It's important to remember that Jewish culture in this time was immersed in religious texts. Jesus, his family, all the early Jewish Christians, grew up reading the Hebrew Bible along with many later books that were based on and inspired by the Scriptures. And we know there were ancient debates about whether or not some of these later books should be viewed as Scripture. But regardless, they're still important. A book doesn't have to be in the Bible to speak an important message to God's people. And so we have many Jewish texts from this period. They're known today as the collections of the Apocrypha, also called the Deutero-Canon, along with the pseudepigrapha. These were all preserved and read in Jewish and Christian communities. They were treated with great respect. It doesn't mean they were originally designed as part of the Hebrew Bible but they are part of the biblical tradition. And so Judah, knowing his readers, that they would value words from 1 Enoch, he used them to communicate his message, which is this: God's grace through Jesus demands a whole life response, not just intellectual assent. Notice that Judah doesn't criticize or focus on the teachers' theology but their immoral way of life which denies Jesus. And so Judah is here applying what Jesus first told his disciples: if you really love me, then you will obey my teachings. For Christians, how you live is the most reliable indicator of what you actually believe. And that's what the letter of Jude is all about.
