Chapter Two - Verse 1
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:
In this verse Jude calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ. The Greek word for ‘servant’ (‘doulos’) is often translated as ‘slave’, however the term usually refers to a voluntary commitment to follow an individual or serve a specific family line. He further identifies himself, as we have already discussed, a brother of James. The term ‘adelphos’ can refer to a number of types relations (not just family) including a fellow believer.
The author next identifies his audience, the recipients of this letter. He says that the letter is addressed, “to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.” Two words stand out in this phrase, ‘called’ and ‘kept’. What does he mean to be ‘called’ (Greek word ‘kletos’)? The apostle Paul would say we are called to be believers as pointed out in his epistle to the church in Rome, “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7, ESV) and along with being called, Paul also tells us that God has enabled us, “But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:24, ESV). To summarize Paul’s perspective of being called, is that as the result of being loved (beyond our comprehension), God sent His Son to save us (making us ‘holy’, Greek word ‘hagios’, translated in Romans 1:7 as ‘saints’) and gives us power and wisdom through Jesus Christ. However, neither reference really helps us understand what our role in being called actually is.
As Christians we are called to respond to God’s love by being faithful followers of Jesus. Luther referred to our call as our vocation.[1] Our job (or vocation) is first to God (for the purpose of this illustration we can think of Him as our employer and provider). Making our number one priority (or perhaps loyalty) is with Jesus no matter what we do for a living, regardless of who pays us or where we live, since we represent Him (wherever He places us in all aspects of life). God places us where He wants us to be, essentially we are to be, “as Christ” to the people around us. The world is to view Jesus through us. We are made holy, we are empowered through Jesus and we are to show the unbelieving world that He does exist.
Jude says we are being ‘kept’ for Jesus Christ. To be ‘kept’ (Greek word ‘tēreō’) basically means that we are reserved or preserved (like food on ice, except not just temporarily kept, but preserved forever, the word can be found 71 times in the New Testament). Perhaps the greatest example or use of this term in the Bible is in John chapter 17 verses 11, 12 and 15, where Jesus, while praying in the garden to His Father, is referring to believers being kept. Paul also used the term in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 when he talked about us being preserved to the last day, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NKJV)
Between these two words Jude calls us ‘beloved’, however this is not the same Greek word that John used extensively in each of his epistles that was also translated as ‘beloved’ (‘agapētos’), instead we see here that he says we are ‘ēgapēmenois’ (the perfect tense and verb form of agapē) referring to the fact that we are continuously and actively loved by God the Father. Called and continuously loved by God and kept for Jesus, can care and love be expressed any better than that? Before continuing reading any further, think about the Creator of all wanting you! Now think about the fact that He loves us so much that He will not let anything keep you from Him (you can cry, it’s okay, I am).
I am not an advocate for pre-written prayer, however, it seems appropriate as we begin the study of this short, but powerful, little epistle to begin with a short prayer:
Heavenly Father, your love for us is truly beyond our earthly comprehension, knowing that your Son has done all the work and that we have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior, we know that we have been bought by His blood out of slavery to sin, to being free in Christ. All praise, glory, honor and thanksgiving belong to you! Help us now as we begin to read and study this book. Open our hearts and minds so that we can hear what the Holy Spirit intends for us to hear and to return to being diligent followers of Your Son Jesus. In this epistle Jude will point out that our enemy is very active in the world around us, all while many Christians lay dormant, seeking comfort instead of witnessing, pursuing politically correct instead of the absolute truth of your Word, concerned about being offensive instead of holding Your name hallowed. While the enemy has been effective in causing divisions among us, we know that you are greater, forgive us for limited earth-influenced thinking! Guide us in this study, help each of us discern what we need to do in our own lives to make Jesus our one and only priority. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!
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[1] Luther, M. (1999). Luther’s works, vol. 14: Selected Psalms III. (J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald, & H. T. Lehmann, Eds.) (Vol. 14, p. 115). Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.