1The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, 2until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about God’s Kingdom. 4Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. 5For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
9When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, 11who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”
12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had come in, they went up into the upper room where they were staying, that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14All these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15In these days, Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty), and said, 16“Brothers, it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus. 17For he was counted with us, and received his portion in this ministry. 18Now this man obtained a field with the reward for his wickedness; and falling headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines gushed out. 19It became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem that in their language that field was called ‘Akeldama,’ that is, ‘The field of blood.’ 20For it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘Let his habitation be made desolate.
Let no one dwell in it;’
and,
‘Let another take his office.’
21“Of the men therefore who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John to the day that he was received up from us, of these one must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23They put forward two: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24They prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.” 26They drew lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
As is typical with Pauline letters, the epistle of Jude is named by its author, Jude, a common practice of first-century Greek letters. That Jude identifies himself as “a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James" (vs. 1) is interesting. First, it is possible that Jude simply calls himself a brother of James, on the one hand, and a “bondservant of Christ,” which literally means “slave” on the other. This humble expression of service and loyalty removes any focus on Jude’s identity as a half-brother of Jesus. Thus, Jude’s focus is on Jesus, his Lord, and not on himself or his sibling relationship with the Savior.
Moreover, to establish further the likelihood that Jude wrote this letter, there are only six persons in the NT named Jude. Scholars have concluded that only two of these individuals may qualify to be the author of the letter. One, spoken of in Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13, we read was most likely the brother of the Thaddaeus spoken of in the gospel of Matthew, 10:3. Our second candidate is the brother of James, the half-brother of Jesus, named in Matt 13:55. Finally, we have the opinion of Clement of Alexandria, who refers to Jude as being the half-brother of Jesus.
As for the dating of this small epistle, a precise or even rough date is difficult. Jude mentions no known historical event within which to date our epistle. Thus, any date ranging from A.D. 65 to 80 is possible. Some speculate that it might have been written prior to A.D. 70 since Jude does not mention the destruction of Jerusalem. The same is true of John’s apocalypse. However, the fact that Jude seems to address a solely Jewish audience, evident from his Jewish history and the Book of Enoch, seems to rule out a sizable group of Gentiles being a part of this particular church. Therefore, if that is the case, then Jude may have been written early.
Jude’s recipients are "those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Christ" (vs. 1). Although these could be Christians anywhere at any time, Jude also referred to his audience as "beloved" three times, evidencing a close relationship with them. He also used Hebrew history and Jewish pseudepigrapha (the Book of Enoch), pointing to a Jewish-Christian audience. Beyond this designation, it is impossible to be more precise regarding Jude's audience.
This small epistle is one of the most powerful letters in the NT in its unqualified manner of calling out heretics. Jude does not hold back. He teaches that their days are few and numbered, and a pending doom is coming. The message is one of standing against false teachers and their heresies. He identifies them, their errors, and warns of their impending doom, while encouraging his audience to deeper holiness.
Most interestingly, given divine inspiration, Jude writes that he had planned to write on salvation, but apparently got a report of false teachers infiltrating the congregation and threatening to lead them astray. He wanted to blunt these false teachers and encourage his readers not to fall into their evil ways.
Jude also encourages this body of believers to build themselves up in the most holy faith, always praying in the Holy Spirit, all the while keeping themselves in the love of God and in prayer looking for the mercies that are only available and attainable in the Messiah, who is able to keep them from stumbling forever more.