Jesus became the head of the family and assumed the occupation of carpenter like that of Joseph, his stepfather, who had passed away. Today’s standards say that they were middle-class economically with a large family of brothers and sisters. (Matthew 13:55) One of those brothers was Jude who wrote our text today. However, none of them believed in Jesus until after his resurrection. Would you? Just think about it. He was the big brother and then suddenly he was declared to be God! That’s quite a leap to accept.
By reading this book, you get a hint to the disposition of Jude. Once he accepted Jesus as the Messiah, he was intolerant of anyone who challenged that position in faith. In fact, what Jude wrote is the most severe and challenging of all the books in the New Testament. No doubt he was angry that apostasy had already crept into the church. It is mysterious to me why anyone would want to become a false teacher in a local church.
Jude did not hold back when he spewed word to fire against these heretics. He took his stand against the apostasy that easily led to the life of sin. He was angry and had every right to be. He wrestled through to the unfathomable reality of the identity of Jesus. His was not a casual faith because it was so grounded as a result of resisting what he found so difficult to believe. Under no circumstances would he tolerate anyone who blemished the teaching of his stepbrother, of his God.
He cited examples of unbelief and rebellion including Israel’s journey to the wilderness, the disobedient angels, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Then he spent most of the book describing false teachers. He saw them as rebellious against divine authority, as greedy people, and who disguised themselves among real believers. Of course, these people were spiritually dead and would be facing God’s judgment. Even so, they would rather promote the personality of individuals than that of the Holy Spirit.
He declared those he opposed as filthy dreamers. He contrasted them with the Archangel Michael when he contended with the body of Moses against the devil. To him they were twice dead, like shooting stars headed into the darkness, maybe bright for a time, but dying. He called them ungodly, murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts. He wrote to encourage church members who were those part of the true faith. The words he spoke is so profound for the current day. He encouraged believers to build up their faith. Jude visualized those who were strong to pull victims of these heresies from the fire.
His doxology is one of the most beautiful in the New Testament. The challenge that was at the time of Jude is still real today. We must contend for the faith. We must be careful when we have small Bible study groups and Sunday school classes that they are led by mature and grounded leaders. Heresies are still prevalent. Teachers of error are still present. The corruption of the church is from within, not by outward attacks.
