Jude, a bondservant
of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, To those who are called, sanctified by
God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ:
Jude 1
Dear Heavenly Father
as I begin my study today on the remembrance of your great work at the cross,
I'm humbled by Your grace and Your majesty.
I pray that I will continually grow in the love and knowledge of You. Please help me to understand and apply Your
Word. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
The book of Jude is
a letter to the church. Like most letters, it starts with a greeting. Jude is
the youngest of Jesus' half brothers. In his greeting, Jude mentions Jesus'
oldest half brother, James, the leader of the Jerusalem church. Jude mentions James because of his prominence
in the church. As we study Jude's
greeting, let's examine certain words to see if it is more than a greeting.
"Jude" in
the Greek is loudas which means Judah,
Judas, Jude. It's the Hebrew name
Yehudah which means the praised son of Jacob.
In the Old Testament, Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the
grandson of Abraham. In Genesis 32:28,
Jacob is renamed, "And He said, 'Your name shall no longer be called
Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have
prevailed.'" He would later have 12
sons (one of them Judah) that became the twelve tribes of Israel. Judah is also the name of Israel's southern
kingdom.
"Bondservant"
in the Greek is doulus which means male
slave, belongs to another, bond slave, has no ownership rights of their own,
subject to, gives up wholly to another's will.
Jude is stating the he is a willing slave to Jesus.
"Jesus" in
the Greek is iesous which means
Joshua. Joshua is the transliteration of
the Hebrew term, Yehoshua or Yeshua which means "Yahweh saves" or
"Yahweh is salvation." Yahweh
is the proper Hebrew name for God which was thought to be so holy as not to be
spoken. In Exodus 3:14, God said to
Moses, “I am
who I am.” And
he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” The phrase "I
am" here is hayah which means "to become" which is the root of
the Hebrew word, "YHVH" or Yahweh.
Salvation in the Hebrew is "yesha" which means deliverance,
rescue, safety, welfare, victory.
Therefore, Jesus name literally means God rescues.
"Christ"
in the Greek is christos which means
anointed one, the Messiah. A descendent
of King David, the Messiah was chosen to lead the world and therefore save
it. The phrase "Jesus Christ"
may be interpreted God saves was chosen to save the world.
"Brother"
in the Greek is adelphos which means
member of the same religious community, fellow Christian, brethren, from the
same womb, blood relation, kinsmen. Jude
is from the same womb, had the same mother as James.
"Called"
in the Greek is kletos which means
summoned, to salvation, invitation, the elect, the chosen. Jude is writing to believers in Jesus Christ,
the church.
"Sanctified"
means to be set apart, to be made holy.
However in this passage, it is the Greek word "agapao" which
means take pleasure in, long for, esteem, live through Christ, doing what God
prefers, welcome with desire, loved, beloved, dearly loved. The New King James version uses
"sanctified" to point out that God loves those set apart to live
through Christ.
"Preserved"
is the Greek word tereo which means
kept, guard, watch over, held in custody, take care of. Whereas God the father loves and culls us out
of the world, God the Son guards and takes custody of us.
The concept of a
"surname" or "last name" is a relatively recent historical
development. It evolved from a medieval
naming practice called a "byname" which is a non-hereditary (not passed
down from your father) surname given to an individual in order to describe them
in some way. A surname is based on an
individual's occupation, area of residence, enshrining father's name, or
describes the original name bearer in some way.
A byname would be used in situations where more than one person had the
same name.
Bynames were used in
the Bible to help distinguish people with the same name. Judas Iscariot was a
byname used based on Judas' father's home area.
Iscariot in the Greek means "man of Kerioth." Judas Thaddaeus used
a byname to describe him. Thaddaeus
means large-hearted or courageous in Greek.
As you can see, the bynames use similar conventions as surnames. Then, why does Jude refer to himself as
someone's brother or bondservant in the greeting? James at this time was very well known to the
whole church since he was the leader of the Jerusalem community of
believers. Jude perhaps mentioned James
to give credence to his subject matter.
Being a slave to Christ is byname showing his character. At the very beginning of the letter, James is
pointing to Christ not himself.
Today, when we
introduce ourselves, we provide our surname (our heritage), our job, and where
we live. Very rarely, do we describe
ourselves as "Short," "Tall," "White,"
"Black," or as a slave to Christ.
However, people who we associate with may have descriptions for us. Would they use a "byname" for us
like "Christian" or would it be "hypocrite?" We should strive to be the people to whom
Jude is writing and how Jude describes himself.
We need to humbly bow our lives in service to Jesus.
Jude, a bond-servant
of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, [writes this letter], To those who are the called (God’s chosen
ones, the elect), dearly loved by God the Father, and kept [secure and set
apart] for Jesus Christ:
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