Jude, whose Hebrew name is Judah, identifies himself as “Jude the servant of Christ and brother of James…” As the brother of James, Jude would also be half-brother to Jesus. Half brothers because none of Jesus’ siblings shared the untainted blood of God. Though they all shared the blood of Joseph, Jesus’ earthly father, and were all born of Mary. This may be why, although not as well-known as the other disciples, he was respected enough that at least one of his letters was included in the New Testament.
During Jesus’ earthly ministry, His own brothers did not believe he was the Messiah. John 7:5 tells us “For neither did his brethren believe in Him.” And Mark 3:21 gives an even more vivid illustration of their early disbelief: “When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”
This explains why Jude, like his brother James, was not among the 12 disciples. But Paul records something remarkable in 1 Corinthians 15:7: “After that, he was seen of James, then of all the Apostles.” It is striking that Jesus chose to appear to His brother — one who had not believed in Him — before appearing to the disciples who had followed Him. It suggests that James, and later Jude, became became believers after the risen Christ appeared to James personally.
Jude, like James, addresses himself as a “servant of Jesus Christ”, choosing reverence for Jesus over a claim to familial ties. Yet in the same breath he acknowledges being the “brother of James” which humbly affirms his identity without pridefully elevating himself. This shows how deeply Jude came to believe in Jesus — a belief strong enough to transform him from an unbeliever into a leader in the early church. As someone whose life was personally changed by the resurrection, Jude’s teachings carried a weight that a distant observer, even one that was trained by the apostles or even by Paul himself, could not possess.
Jude’s letter shows just how deeply concerned he was with the direction and stability of the early church. Though his epistle is only one chapter, its intent is direct and unmistakable. In verse 3 he writes, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation: it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the Saints.”
By using the term of endearment “beloved” shows his compassion and concern for the Church. It also reveals that he was being moved by the Spirit as he wrote. His original intention was to write about what he refers to as the “common salvation.” Common salvation is the universal gift of being saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ — the shared outcome all Christians enjoy. But the “faith delivered to the Saints” is something different. It is the Gospel itself — the good news, the message, the truth that our faith is built upon and that upholds our salvation. Jude is distinguishing between the outcome of salvation and the foundation that produces it.
Like all the apostles after Jesus, Jude was deeply concerned with false teachers slipping into the Church and twisting the Gospel truth. This is the reason for his change in direction — from wanting to write about our common joy in our shared salvation to feeling compelled to write about protecting the truth of the Gospel itself. Jude knew that a corrupted message produced a distorted salvation.
Jude was highly aware of the stealthy infiltration of false teachers into the early church. As a leader, it was within his authority — and his responsibility — to warn believers who were unaware of the spiritual “spies” among them whose only intent was to twist the Gospel. Perverting it by teaching that since God forgives sin, immorality — including sexual lewdness — was an acceptable lifestyle for believers. These false teachers would prey on the minds of the early believers and new converts, whose faith was still growing and had not yet taken root in their hearts. Teaching them to deny that a risen Jesus had the authority to set moral standards for their lives. Because he was well-versed in the Old Testament, he knew the fate awaiting such false teachers when he wrote in verse 4, “The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago.”
What Jude writes in verses 5-7 shows that the human mind has not changed since the beginning of mankind. And this means that since human nature has not changed, neither has God’s judgment. In verse 5 he writes,“I will therefore put you in remembrance though you once knew this…” He reminds his readers that even though God brought the Hebrews out of Egypt, He later destroyed those who fell into the sin of unbelief.
In verse 6 Jude turns to the disobedient angels: “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day.” These angels rejected God’s authority and sealed their own fate.
Then in verse 7 he reminds us that Sodom and Gomorrah are examples of the judgment of sexual immorality. Writing that they are “suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”
Jude reminds believers — then and now — of the price for unbelief, disobedience, and sexual immorality. These were the most prevalent sins in ancient times, and they remain the most prevalent sins today.
As believers, we must guard ourselves and our faith from the arrogance of unbelievers. Those who reject God can be highly influential, often boasting of their own abilities and even mocking God. Because of their lack of understanding, they reject the thought of being judged by a higher authority, choosing instead to create their own moral standards — following their own moral compass. Their aim is to make the believer self-conscious, even embarrassed about their faith. Targeting when emotions are high and circumstances are difficult. In those vulnerable moments believers can become entangled with unbelievers just as many Hebrews did in ancient times.
Just as it was in Jude’s day, false teachers and unbelievers who mock the faith are unavoidable. Jude knew this, which is why in verse 9 he gives the example of Michael the Archangel disputing with the devil over the body of Moses. Michael did not insult or condemn the devil: instead, he simply said “The Lord rebuke you.” In a similar manner, when we as believers are being attacked for our faith or the God we believe in, we are to show restraint. We do not repay insult with insult. We stand firm in our faith, knowing that those who oppose God bring judgment on themselves, for “vengeance is Mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
At all costs, followers of Christ are to avoid false teachers, or else risk going “in the way of Cain.”, Cain chose to create an offering of crops instead of the blood sacrifice God required of him and Abel. In his self-righteousness, he believed he could decide for himself how to please God. And when corrected for his disobedience, Cain allowed his wounded pride to turn into anger at God and jealousy toward Abel. We learn from Ephesians 4:26, “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry…” Yet Cain allowed his anger to grow into jealousy, which grew into hatred, and hatred led him to commit the sin of murder.
In verse 11, Jude also warns of those who “ran greedily after the error of Balaam, for reward…” Balaam’s sin was greed — compromising his obedience to God for financial gain. It is the same spirit we see today in so-called prosperity preachers who exploit the Gospel for personal profit. As believers, we must know the Word for ourselves so that we avoid joining the sins of others, including those who treat the church as an income stream. When believers support such individuals and enable them to continue in their deception, it is as if they share in the sin with them.
We must also guard ourselves from false teachers and spiritual “dreamers” who lead believers into rebellion, or else we risk perishing “in the rebellion of Korah.” Numbers 16 records the story of Korah, a Levite who led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, challenging their God-given authority as spiritual and moral leaders of Israel. What appeared to be a call for equality was actually rooted in envy, pride, and selfish ambition. As Christians, we should absolutely stand for equality, justice, and the rights and freedoms of others — especially the less fortunate.
But we are not to join in rebellion of leadership when the true motive is selfish ambition. We have seen this happen in modern times, particularly when pastors, ministers, and preachers entangle themselves in political movements. Standing against sin in our culture is what the church should do. But the church should never join itself with political leadership for political influence and financial gain, nor to create fame for church leaders.
“Ungodly”, means not accepting God; sinful; wicked; refusing to conform to God’s standards. It is a word seldom used today, yet it perfectly describes much of our global culture. Jude not only draws parallels between false teachers and the examples of Cain, Balaam, and Korah — he also uses the word ungodly to describe them. In verse 12 calling them “spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear.”
We know from 1 Corinthians 13 that the word charity in older English translations is the Greek word agapē, meaning love. In Jude 13, the Greek word agapai is used. So “feasts of charity” would be love-feasts. These were communal meals held by the early church to express their Christian love, unity, and fellowship.
Jude is pointing out not only false teachers, but also Christians in name only who claimed the name of Christ, yet had no genuine love for the body of believers. They attended the love-feasts not caring for the brothers and sisters in Christ, having no will to serve, encourage, and build up the Church — but only to satisfy their own selfish desires.
Jude further describes these false teachers as “clouds without water” meaning they give the appearance of having faith, yet their faith is dry and empty. Unable to nourish the soul by providing the “living water” of Christ (John 4:10). He also says they are “carried about of winds“, suggesting that what belief they have is not rooted in truth. Instead their doctrines and teachings would change with every new and popular idea — having no conviction and unable to offer spiritual direction.
Jude continues: “Trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots.” Illustrating that their teachings cannot produce the fruit of the Spirit thus having no spiritual benefit — their message is spiritually dead. Not only are their teachings dead — they themselves are spiritually dead heading towards eternal damnation. Like uprooted trees, they will be taken out of the way.
Jude was offering a warning, not a condemnation to the believers he was writing to. His epistle moves from the dark tone of caution, and opens to the Light and promise given to believers. Reminding us in verse 18 that the Apostles had already spoken of a time when there would be “mockers of God who will walk after their own lusts” (2 Peter 3:3). Jude is not introducing a new threat — but informing those he ministered to of what the early Church had already taught.
While the exact year of Jude’s writing cannot be determined, most scholars agree that it was written in the late first century, somewhere between mid-60s AD and 80 AD. This means Jude would have been very familiar with the teachings of the Apostles, including Peter. Peter wrote his second epistle around 64 AD, warning believers of the very same dangers. This overlap shows how real and immediate the threat was to Christianity in its infancy — and the understanding early Church leaders had of the need to protect the faith from corruption.
Jude encourages us to examine what we have been taught about God, Christ, and the Word, because these truths form the foundation our faith is built upon. He emphasizes our relationship with the Holy Spirit — especially through Spirit-led prayer — which he highlights in verse 22. Jude understood that firmly rooted faith, especially in difficult times, requires the work of the Spirit strengthening the believer. When we do not know what to pray for, the Spirit does (Romans 8:26).
Today, eternal life does not seem to be the pillar of faith that it was for the early believers. Their faith — and their hope — rested on the promise of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. All of the New Testament writers express looking forward to a resurrected life. But Jude goes further by directly instructing us to continue “looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Reminding us today, that eternal life is a pillar of our faith and not simply a doctrine. The promise of eternal life sustains our faith as believers and should shape our choices. It is the promise that keeps us anchored in Christ.
It is the promise that made Jude’s final exhortation in the closing verses encourage comapssion: through reverence of our Lord by pulling our brothers and sisters in Christ out of sin when they stumble into darkness — and even into the hands of unbelievers. Reminding us that it is our faith in Christ that will keep us from falling into darkness, even though we ourselves may stumble while walking in the light.
We preserve the work of the cross because, it was the sacrifice that cleansed us from our sins, and made us righteous in the eyes of God. And in doing so, our lives bring glory to His name.
Amen!