Jude 1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called
Do you happen to remember who Billy Carter is? You probably do not, unless you remember the 70s vividly. Do you know who Neil Reagan is? Very possibly you do not if you were even alive in the 80s. Both these men in turn were brothers of presidents. Billy Carter was the brother of President Jimmy Carter and Neil Reagan was the brother of President Ronald Reagan. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be a sibling of the President of the United States or someone else in a position like the President. I think it would be very easy to feel like you have been left out, ignored, or outdone by your sibling. On the other hand, maybe you would be a namedropper, saying, “Hey, my name is Neil Reagan, and maybe you happen to know my brother, the President of the United States.”
I can only imagine what it would have been like for the other children of Joseph and Mary. I say other children, but truth be told, Jesus Christ is the Son of the virgin Mary but not the Son of Joseph. Even as a child Jesus made that very clear in Luke 2 where He distinguished between His Father, by whom He meant God, and Joseph, who was His father figure or guardian on this earth. In any event, can you imagine being so close to God in a body? It raises so many questions that most of us have never even entertained. It is a remarkable thing to imagine being in the shoes of one of the other children of Mary.
I think about Jude for instance. In Jude 1 it says, “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called. Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.” What an amazing thing! Jude could have said that he was the brother of the Lord Jesus or a number of other things, but he says he is the brother of James and the servant of Jesus Christ. This is not just accidental. He speaks of “our Lord Jesus Christ” in verses 4,17, and 21. It is very clear that Jude was given to being a servant of Jesus Christ.
Jude would have seen the Lord Jesus in ways that it is hard to even imagine. These are silent years, when Jesus was a boy. It is unimaginable. It is hard not to imagine God in a body when He is feeding the multitudes, healing the lame, and restoring sight to the blind, but to be in the same house as Jesus of Nazareth is remarkable indeed.
Yet, Jude finds his place in this world. He says, “I am the servant of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He illustrates something that is true for all of us: you will not know your place in this world until you know where you stand with the Lord Jesus. You may have gifts, abilities, a background, and things you know, but you will never know your place in this world as God intends it until you know where you stand with the Lord Jesus.
There are so many voices in this world. Jude talks about many of these voices. In the following verses he talks about the “faith which was once delivered unto the saints,” but there were false teachers where he felt compelled to push back against falsehood. There are many voices.
Just the other day I was at our local grocery store where I had a conversation with a very friendly cashier. She said she was thinking of going to the University of Tennessee, but decided to go to the University of Alabama. We joked a little about that, and before I left, I gave a her a gospel tract. I was aware when I heard her, as a senior in a Murfreesboro high school, talking about the school she was thinking of attending that there would be so many voices speaking to this young lady. There are so many voices she is hearing and that is true with all of us. There are more voices and ideas today than ever before with social media and the phone in your pocket, but you will never know your place in this world until you know where you stand with the Lord Jesus.
There are many false voices. Jude says there were those “of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” Maybe you read the rest of Jude where he talks about so may obscure things like Cain, Balaam, Korah, angels, and Moses and wonder to yourself, “What in the world are you talking about?” He is pushing back against falsehood. Today, the things you hear on the news and from people on the street are confusing. There is so much rebellion against God that what we are left with is confusion and a broken society full of broken people who don’t know who or where they are because they don’t know where they stand with the Lord Jesus. So, there are many false voices.
But there is only one Savior. It is not your church, your religion, or your virtues. It is who Jude calls “our Lord Jesus Christ.” There is only one Savior, the salvation once delivered to the saints. In verse 25 Jude says, “To the only wise God our Savior.” Is he talking about Jehovah, the Father, or is he talking about Jesus the Son? It seems to be combined in this verse. “The only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” There is only one Savior. And when Jesus is Lord in your life, then James is a brother and falsehood is an enemy. That is where Jude was. He could see James as a brother and the false teachers as false because He saw Jesus as the Lord.
Now, James is not your brother, of course, but the point is, when I am in a right relationship with the Lord Jesus and I am in a right relationship with God, then I am in a right relationship with all the people in my world. At the end of the day, whatever life may bring, you are not going to know your place in this world until you know where you stand with the Lord Jesus.