Jude 1 Study Notes

1 Jude called himself a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. The James named here was surely the well-known leader of the Jerusalem church (Ac 15:13-21; Gl 2:9; see Introduction). This James was the brother of Jesus (Mk 6:3). Jude humbly designated himself as Christ’s servant rather than mention that he was related to Jesus. The called are those who respond in faith to God’s initiative in salvation. Loved by God the Father is a result of being called. The expression kept for Jesus Christ means that believers are kept safe or preserved for Jesus until their salvation is consummated at his return.

2 Mercy is God’s kindness and compassion toward his people. Peace is the well-being that results from this relationship. Love has the best interests of other persons in mind whether or not they love in return. The word may refer to God’s love for humankind and to their love for God and other people.

3-4 Jude originally meant to write a letter about salvation to his friends, but he changed his plans when he learned about false teachers who had secretly made their way into the church. Because of the influence of false teachers he urged his readers to contend for the faith entrusted to them once for all. Contending for the faith is not just a vigorous defense of the Christian faith but an advancement of the gospel as well. These actions must be accompanied by an obedient lifestyle (cp. vv. 20-23). The faith . . . delivered once for all refers to the Christian revelation, or the body of fixed, authoritative, orthodox apostolic teaching that has been handed down to believers.

5-7 Jude pointed out that the false teachers deserved divine judgment and would receive it in the future. He wanted to remind his readers that God had acted decisively in the past against those who opposed him. He mentioned three examples of God’s judgment: (1) the judgment of unbelieving Israel in the wilderness after being delivered out of Egypt (Nm 32:10-12), (2) the angels who fell (cp. 2Pt 2:4; 1 Enoch 6:19), and (3) the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah for sexual immorality (Gn 19:24-29; 2Pt 2:6-7).

8 The false teachers’ sins were like those mentioned in vv. 5-7. They pursued empty dreams and arrogantly committed sexual immorality, rebelled against authority, and blasphemed glorious ones. The latter term frequently refers to angels.

9 Jude contrasted the heretics’ blasphemy of angels with the restraint that Michael the archangel showed when disputing with the devil in an argument about Moses’s body. Scholars generally agree that this story was taken from the Assumption of Moses, an apocryphal book. In the story, Michael sought to bury Moses’s body. The devil opposed the burial with the claim that he was lord over matter and Moses was a murderer. Rather than assuming the right to condemn Satan for his slander, Michael called on the Lord to judge.

10 Jude described the false teachers as slandering what they did not understand. He compared them to irrational animals that are destroyed by the things they instinctively pursued.

11 Jude also compared the heretics to Cain (Gn 4:4-5,8-9), Balaam (Nm 22:1-24:25; 31:16), and Korah (Nm 16:1-35). These men deceived others and were known for their hatred, greed, and rebellion.

12-13 To demonstrate further that the false teachers were like those mentioned earlier (v. 11), Jude portrayed them with several metaphors. He described them as dangerous reefs at your love feasts. This means the false teachers were like submerged rocks, unseen by sailors, that could wreck a ship. “Love feasts” were fellowship meals at which the Lord’s Supper was observed. These heretics were shepherds who only look after themselves without any concern for others. They were useless and full of empty promises like waterless clouds carried along by winds. Jude portrayed them as barren fruit trees and wild waves of the sea that deposited their refuse of shameful deeds on the shore of people’s lives. The heretics were also like wandering stars for whom the blackness of darkness was reserved forever. Some scholars hold that Jude was influenced here by 1 Enoch 18:13-16. In this text the rebellion of heavenly beings caused the planets to wander. Or, Jude was possibly thinking of the angels who fell earlier (Jd 6). Angels falling from heaven were sometimes pictured as falling stars (cp. Is 14:12-15; Rv 9:1). Like disobedient angels destined for eternal punishment, heretics are heading for eternal darkness.

14-15 Jude emphasized that the heretics would suffer divine retribution. He pictured this judgment by quoting a prophecy from 1 Enoch 1:9. Their punishment would take place when the Lord returns to judge the wicked.

16 In the previous verse, Jude warned that the heretics would be judged for their deeds and words. In this verse he focused more on their words. The false teachers were self-indulgent, discontented complainers. They uttered arrogant words, flattering people in order to take what they wanted from them.

17-19 Jude urged his readers to remember that these false teachers were nothing new because the apostles had foretold of such people who scoffed at those who refused to follow them. Jude may have referred to warnings like those in Ac 20:29-30 and 1Tm 4:1-3. The heretics created divisions and followed their ungodly desires. As people who were worldly, they did not have the Spirit.

20-23 After primarily describing the false teachers up to this point, Jude now exhorted his readers on how to contend for the faith (cp. v. 3). They were to show mercy to those who were wavering, reach out to those who had already been taken in and needed to be snatched from the fire (cp. Am 4:11; Zch 3:2), and show concern for the wayward heretics, all at the same time. But believers were to be careful lest they also became defiled.

24-25 Jude ended his letter with a doxology that served as a reminder of the divine power available to believers as they contend against heretics. He praised God because he was able to protect believers from falling into the sinful practices of the false teachers and grant them entrance into his glorious presence.