Jude Overview

From Peter Kreeft’s You Can Understand the Bible:

Jude was the “brother of James” (v.1) who was Jesus’ “brother”, that is, his cousin (Mk 6:3, Mt 13:55). This makes Jude one of Jesus’ relatives too. These relatives did not believe in Jesus until after He rose from the dead (Jn 7:1-9, Acts 1:1-14) but they then became leaders in the early Church at Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21).

Jude’s primary theme is false teaching. The language he uses is very strong. But as we have noted before, it is not cruel but kind to utter loud warnings when there is real danger and to tell the truth when falsehoods are rampant.

The false teachers Jude opposed taught both false doctrine and false practice – two things that always go together.

These teachers taught that since God was gracious (v.4), they could live as they pleased. (sound familiar?) Jude reminds them of God’s justice and judgment. He recounts past acts of God’s judgment on disobedient Israel, disobedient angels, and disobedient Sodom and Gomorrah.