October 14, 2017: Day 55 – Jude

I want to begin looking at this book of the Bible, a single chapter, by starting at the end of the chapter.  What you find from vss. 24-25 is a benediction which many people see as a classic benediction.  Read it again and see yourself at the end of a service being ready to be sent out into the world to do your thing.

There are some issues when we talk about Jude and its authorship and its canonical status.  Okay, what am I talking about?  Jude is self-described as the brother of James.  We know pretty much for sure that he is not the brother of James, the brother of Jesus.  It must be another James, and people think it is someone called James the Just who was a well-known Christian in the 1st century.  Another reason why it is a problematic book is that the author, Jude, refers to this guy named Enoch in vs.14 and following and basically quotes from a book which is called apocryphal and not part of the Bible.  

So, what is the apocrypha?  It is a series of books that were not considered as part of the Bible, which is the term canonical, and were written in the early church and used for reference.  It would be similar to letters and books written about God but not considered by the early church as being parts of the Bible.  The book of Enoch was one of those books.  It was a book written early in the history of the church, but it was not considered part of the Bible.  

This is the shortest book in the New Testament.  The author speaks about judgment day and how it will be unkind to quite a few people.  He writes to make sure that the readers are aware of the false teachings that are circulating, specifically dealing with those who have stepped away from the faith.  Next stop, Revelation!