Welcome to the last mini-series in a group of studies on four short books of the Bible. This final book is Jude, from the New Testament. (While not included in this series, 2 and 3 John are also short books of the Bible, but they were covered as part of an earlier study.) If you’re having trouble finding the short book of Jude, it’s just before Revelation at the end of the Bible. (Depending on your Bible, if you start at the back, you might have to get through a section called “maps”, first!)
Perhaps because of its length or its content, one writer called Jude, “the most neglected book in the New Testament”. [Holloway, p. 135, quoting Rowston] If you haven’t studied it before, this mini-series of articles should allow you to add it to your résumé, though.
By the way, if you find Jude useful, you should probably also read 2 Peter. The second chapter of 2 Peter has a lot in common with the book of Jude, leading many to believe that Peter picked up on what Jude had written, and built upon it.
Let’s get started…
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
Jude 1:1-2 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jud.1.1-2.NIV
Like most letters (especially those captured in the Bible), this one starts with an introduction. Even today, we would probably not write a letter or even a personal e-mail without at least addressing the person we’re writing to and including a basic greeting.
In this case, we find the author introducing himself as Jude, or – as some translations might mention in a footnote – “Judas”. Now, because of Judas Iscariot, the name Judas has kind of a bad reputation (like “Benedict” or “Adolf”). However, in the first century, it was just a regular name. And, like names today, ancient names could vary from one language to another, or have common nicknames (like Michael and Mike, or Gerald and Jerry).
I’ll refer to “Jude” for this study, since that’s how this book is usually labeled, but just remember that some people probably called this author by other friendly names, depending on their primary language and how well they knew him.
We learn two things about Jude here: he’s a servant of Jesus Christ, and he’s James’ brother. Being a servant of Jesus identifies him as a Christian. When Jesus is our Lord, that means (by definition) that we serve Him. Claiming Jesus as our Lord says that we have given our lives over to His commands, His direction, and His kingship, so we are His servants by choice. We trust Him to be the best possible leader for our lives: better than our own selfish desires; better than any human philosopher; better than any algorithm.
Things get a little more complicated when we learn about Jude’s brother, though. Like Jude (or Judas), James (or Jacob) was not a unique name in the first century Middle East, either. So, there were probably lots of people – including those in the church – named James.
To piece things together about the specific James who was Jude’s brother, let’s consider couple of passages, starting in Matthew 13:53-56 [see also Mark 6:2-3]. From that passage, we learn that Jesus had brothers (technically, half-brothers) named James and Judas, where “Judas” might be the same name as “Jude”. So, is the author of this book Jesus’ [half] brother?
That could be a coincidence, so let’s consider Galatians 1:18-19, where Paul wrote about his calling. From there we learn that there was a James who was both an apostle and a brother of Jesus. In fact, we have a whole book of the Bible written by someone named James, so it seems like this would be a logical early church leader for Jude to mention in his letter.
As a result, it seems reasonable that the author of this book was Jude (or Judas), brother of James (or Jacob), both sons of Mary (the mother of Jesus). If that is indeed the case, the books of Jude and James were written by half-brothers of Jesus Himself. In fact, the College Press commentary for Jude (cited below) includes both James and Jude, framed as two letters from those who didn’t just know Jesus as their personal savior: they knew Him as part of their biological family, too.
As a result, for Jude to identify himself as a servant of Jesus Christ is a pretty big deal. Jude didn’t merely identifying himself as a Christian in general, but he affirmed that his older half-brother was indeed the Messiah: the anointed one of God and the Savior of the world. That’s no small testimony from a sibling.
Jude is writing to those who are called, loved, and kept. These would be other Christians of the first century, whether a specific congregation, a group of churches in a region, or everyone who followed Jesus. Other content in this letter suggests that [per the NIV Introduction and Holloway] the audience had a Jewish background, and may have been a specific congregation that Jude really cared about.
So, this was an “internal” letter for the church, and although non-Christians have read it over the centuries (and they are welcome to do so), this letter is probably going to be more focused on what the body of Christ should know, rather than an evangelistic message to those who don’t yet know Him.
You’re welcome to pre-read all 25 verses of this short book, even before we pick up on it again in the next article.
From Sunday School lesson prepared for August 24, 2025
References:
- Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
- The College Press NIV Commentary – James & Jude, by Gary Holloway. © 1996 College Press Publishing Co.
Those Who Sin Differently 