Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,

To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

Jude verses 1, 2

Jude is one of my favorites. He identifies himself as the brother of James, presumably Jesus’ brother.  But he does not claim any official status, just Jude!  Jude means simply “a Jew. If he was, in fact, the brother of Jesus, he does not even mention it. He has a word to share and his authority is the Lord God himself.  So he takes joy in being a servant of Christ Jesus.

Had I been Jude I think I would have appealed to my status, my position in church and family and all that.  He simply moves to the message he feels to share.

To whom is he writing?

“To those who have been called.” We would say, to those who are saved by the mercy of God and are brought into the fellowship of the Lord by grace alone.  Of course we owe a great debt of thanks to believers who have welcomed us and love us still, but all the glory goes to God, our primary initiator and caller.

To those “who are loved in God the Father.”  All of us believers are surrounded and held together and held to faith by the love of the Father. This love is stronger than all the powers of Satan.

To those who are being “kept for Jesus Christ.”  I like to think that they are being kept by Jesus as one of his dear followers. Like we all are. We are also kept for Him.  We are His.  That is the basis of everything.

From whom?  “A servant of Jesus Christ.”  Jude! I love his humility and heart-passion.  He has no reason to defend his position in the Body of believers but to simply claim the strong fact that is a servant of Jesus Christ. On reflection, is this not the ultimate calling?