Three times in this short epistle Jude addresses his readers as beloved (Jude 1:3, 17, 20). In the Gospel narratives the word is used only of Jesus, but in Acts and the epistles it is often used of brethren who work diligently on behalf of the Gospel. However, it is usually used, as it is here in Jude, as a way to address all believers in Christ.
When I first began reading Jude with the intention of a deeper study, I was surprised to find that Jude mentioned he had intended to write to his readers about our common salvation. It seems he intended to write what may have been a Gospel narrative, and, if I understand this accurately, it is very possible Jude was slain shortly after writing this epistle, thus preventing him from doing as he originally intended.
I believe the Apostles fully intended to write more than one or two Gospel narratives. I think Matthew and Luke were written very early, probably in the 30s AD. Luke was written during the persecution that erupted with Stephen’s death and addressed to Theophilus, the then officiating high priest. Matthew was also probably written very early as a work especially designed for teaching. It isn’t arranged, chronologically, at least not strictly so in the same manner as the other Gospel narratives were written. Rather, similar subject matter was brought together for the purpose of teaching and to enable better memory recall. Mark was Peter’s Gospel, which he produced early in his ministry to use in his evangelistic efforts. Nevertheless, it wasn’t written out for the purpose of distribution until late in the Gospel period. It was copied by Mark at the request of the believing community at Rome, who had listened to Peter preach. Mark had accompanied Peter on many of his missions, and he wrote out Peter’s narrative at Rome and adapted it for the believers there.[1]
So what’s my point in bringing all this out in a study of the epistle of Jude? If the Apostles fully intended to write a third and fourth Gospel narrative, and Jude was slain before he could write his intended work, this may be the reason why the author of the Gospel of John wrote his Gospel narrative, specifically to write a fourth narrative about the ministry of Jesus. Nevertheless, the accuracy of this opinion is completely dependent upon understanding Jude 1:3 to indicate a larger work was put on hold for the purpose of addressing the then current problem. If Jude’s mention of “giving all diligence to write unto you of our common salvation” can be shown that it refers to his epistle instead of a prospective larger work, then my understanding is, obviously, proved wrong.
The then current need that precipitated Jude’s epistle was the need for believers to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered” to them (Jude 1:3). Keeping in mind that Paul was at this time imprisoned and awaiting trial at Rome, something occurred on a large scale that alarmed Church leaders, meaning the remaining original disciples of Christ. All other work seemed to be of secondary importance in favor of the need to address the problem at hand. The point of contention had always been the Gospel’s common salvation. The Greek word for common (G2839) refers to what is shared by all alike, male and female, Jew and Greek, slave and free. From the very beginning, the Jewish authorities took issue with how freely salvation was offered by Jesus’ disciples to everyone with little thought over ceremonial cleanliness (cp. Acts 11:1-3).
Jude mentions that certain men had come into the church under false pretense, just as Ananias and Sapphira had done (Jude 1:4; cp. Acts 5:1-11, 13; Galatians 2:4). When the Jewish leadership realized they couldn’t bully the Apostles into submission (Acts 4:16-21), they used clandestine means in an effort to stop the preaching of the Gospel or at least change it into something more tolerable for the Jewish leadership, which, if successful, would have been no Gospel at all (Galatians 1:6-7). Jude tells us that these men were ungodly men who had long before been selected to do the bidding of the high priest at Jerusalem (cp Matthew 13:25, 38; Acts 6:8-12; 17:5-8; 23:12-15). In the context of Jude’s letter, these men would have been teachers who intended to pervert the Gospel of Christ (cp. 2Peter 2:1; 2Timothy 3:6) in an effort to defame it (Romans 3:8), making it into something completely opposite to what it really is (Jude 1:4).
The very fact that such a thing was so widespread (cp. 1Peter 1:1, 6-7) alarmed the remaining original disciples of Christ (Jude 1:3), so that letters were deemed necessary in order to warn the church and ward off the evil work being done by the enemy. Consider for a moment the fact that this trouble came so suddenly upon the church that it alarmed its leaders, and also that it was so widespread (1Peter 1:1, 5-6; James 1:1-3). Such a thing couldn’t have occurred coincidentally; it had to have been planned, and once certain matters had been accomplished (viz. Paul’s imprisonment) the plan was triggered and set in motion. Such a thing requires authority and power, and no one in the Empire had such authority and power like the high priest at Jerusalem. Although Caesar had such power, his methods of confronting an enemy was annihilation, not infiltration and perverting doctrine. Therefore, we must understand what occurred was put in force by the high priest at Jerusalem in an effort to destroy the Gospel of Christ.
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[1] See my earlier studies: Whose Is Mark’s Gospel; Who Wrote Mark’s Gospel; and To Whom Did Mark Write His Gospel.
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