Jude 1,2 - A servant

1:1

Jude describes himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James. As mentioned in the introduction, the most likely identity of Jude (and James as well) is as the human brother of Jesus. If we accept this, it is noteworthy that neither James nor Jude make anything of being in the same family as Jesus. Given the events recorded in the gospels (eg Mark 3:31-35), they knew what was truly valuable. A worldly view might have said there was value in making something of their natural brotherhood with Jesus, but they knew that they were just sinners like the rest of us, in need of forgiveness. There was far greater value in being a servant of Jesus Christ. In our own lives the most important thing we can be is to be a servant of the Lord. In all situations we should ask how can we serve Jesus.

There is no geographical identity of the recipients of the letter, and the description given here applies to all who believe. However, v17-19 imply that Jude did actually know the recipients. Anyway, what is our status? We have been called. The Lord of all has called us. We are loved by God the Father, and are kept for Jesus Christ. We belong to Jesus. We do not belong to ourselves, the world has no hold upon us. We belong to God. We should meditate on who we really are.

1:2

This is a common blessing in the New Testament letters, though most of the others have grace rather than mercy. There were some difficult goings on occurring, so perhaps Jude wanted to emphasise the mercy of God. When facing temptations or trials we often become aware of our weaknesses, this can lead us to thinking there is no point in going on, no point in resisting. If we have failed we can think there is no point in trying to get back on our feet. But there is always a point, it is always worth it, because we receive mercy in abundance from the Lord. If we treat the Lord’s mercy as an excuse for wilfully carrying on sinning thinking we can get away with it, then we are badly mistaken and are heading for trouble, in fact already in deep trouble. But if we see the Lord’s mercy as a vital help in our battle to overcome then we are on the right road to victory.