Putting it Together. An example of Bible study using the book of Jude

Transcription

1 Putting it Together An example of Bible study using the book of Jude

2 Step 1: Exegesis What did the (little a) author mean? Who did they write it to? When? What was their purpose? What grammatical and cultural nuances should be considered?

3 Introduction to Jude: The Message Our spiritual communities are as susceptible to disease as our physical bodies. But it is easier to detect whatever is wrong in our stomachs and lungs than in our worship and witness. When our physical bodies are sick or damaged, the pain calls our attention to it, and we do something quick. But a dangerous, even deadly, virus in our spiritual communities can go undetected for a long time. As much as we need physicians for our bodies, we have even greater need for diagnosticians and healers of the spirit.

4 Introduction to Jude: The Message Jude s letter to an early community of Christians is just such diagnosis. It is all the more necessary in that those believers apparently didn t know anything was wrong, or at least not as desperately wrong as Jude points out. There is far more, of course, to living in Christian community than protecting the faith against assault or subversion. Paranoia is as unhealthy spiritually as it is mentally. The primary Chrisian posture is, in Jude s words, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. All the same, energetic watchfulness is required. Jude s whistle blowing has prevented many a disaster.

5 Jude: The Message (v1-4) I, Jude, am a slave to Jesus Christ and brother to James, writing to those loved by God the Father, called and kept safe by Jesus Christ. Relax, everything s going to be all right; rest, everything s coming together; open your hearts, love is on the way! Fight with All You Have in You Dear friends, I ve dropped everything to write you about this life of salvation that we have in common. I have to write insisting begging! that you fight with everything you have in you for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish. What has happened is that some people have infiltrated our ranks (our Scriptures warned us this would happen), who beneath their pious skin are shameless scoundrels. Their design is to replace the sheer grace of our God with sheer license which means doing away with Jesus Christ, our one and only Master.

6 Jude: The Message (v5-8) Lost Stars in Outer Space I m laying this out as clearly as I can, even though you once knew all this well enough and shouldn t need reminding. Here it is in brief: The Master saved a people out of the land of Egypt. Later he destroyed those who defected. And you know the story of the angels who didn t stick to their post, abandoning it for other, darker missions. But they are now chained and jailed in a black hole until the great Judgment Day. Sodom and Gomorrah, which went to sexual rack and ruin along with the surrounding cities that acted just like them, are another example. Burning and burning and never burning up, they serve still as a stock warning. This is exactly the same program of these latest infiltrators: dirty sex, rule and rulers thrown out, glorry dragged in the mud.

7 Jude: The Message (v9-11) The Archangel Michael, who went to the mat with the Devil as they fought over the body of Moses, wouldn t have dared level him with blasphemous curse, but said simply, No you don t. God will take care of you! But these people sneer at anything they can t understand, and by doing whatever they feel like doing living by animal instinct only they participate in their own destruction. I m fed up with them! They ve gone down Cain s road; they ve been sucked into Balaam s error by greed; they re canceled out in Korah s rebellion.

8 Jude: The Message (v12-13) These people are warts on your love feasts as you worship and eat together. They re giving you a black eye carousing shamelessly, grabbing anything that isn t nailed down. They re Puffs of smoke pushed by gusts of wind; late autumn trees stripped clean of leaf and fruit, Doubly dead, pulled up by the roots; wild ocean waves leaving nothing on the beach but the foam of their shame; Lost stars in outer space on their way to the black hole.

9 Jude: The Message (v14-19) Enoch, the seventh after Adam, prophesied of them: Look! The Master comes with thousands of holy angels to bring judgment against them all, convicting each person of every defiling act of shameless sacrilege, of every dirty word they have spewed of their pious filth. These are the grumpers, the bellyachers, grabbing for the biggest piece of the pie, talking big, saying anything they think will get them ahead. But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: In the last days there will be people who don t take these things seriously anymore. They ll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts. These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There s nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!

10 Jude: The Message (v20-25) III But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven. And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes.

11 Jude The Bare Bones Bible Handbook Main Verse: Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write you exhorting you to content earnestly for the faith Theme: Contending for the faith Date written: AD Author: Jude Setting: Jerusalem (Verse 3)

12 Jude The Bare Bones Bible Handbook Book Summary Although Jude had earlier rejected Jesus as the Messiah, he, along with his other three half-brothers of Jesus, was converted after Christ s resurrection. Because of his close family relationship with Jesus and because he was an eyewitness of Jesus life, ministry, and resurrection, Jude has a burning passion for the salvation that comes in Christ. But as he writes, he transitions to a matter that is heavy on his heart at this time. Jude is intensely concerned about the threat of heretical teachers in the church and the response that Christians should have concerning this threat. Therefore, Jude seeks to motivate his readers to wake up from their complacency and take action against false teachers.

13 Jude The Bare Bones Bible Handbook Verses 1-4: The Reason for Writing Jude begins by identifying himself as a bondservant of Jesus and as the brother of James, whom history and Scripture tell us was the leader of the Jerusalem church, the author of the book of James, and the half-brother of Jesus. Jude is about to write a treatise on salvation when grim news forces him to put aside this topic. In light of those who are denying Christ and using the grace of God to justify immoral behavior, Jude writes this timely work of rebuke and warning.

14 Jude The Bare Bones Bible Handbook Verses 5-16: The Danger of False Teachers Jude begins this section by reminding his readers that false teachers will meet their doom just as three other groups in the Old Testament met theirs: Contentious unbelievers who died in the wilderness; fallen angels who cohabitated with women before the flood and who are in chains until judgment; and men who exhibited homosexual behavior and were destroyed in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. False teachers are characterized by Jude as being ruled by their flesh, rejecting authority, and reviling angelic beings. Jude compares false teachers to three spiritually rebellious men in the Bible Cain (from Genesis), and Korah and Balaam (from Numbers) and says their evil is likened to hidden reefs, airy clouds, uprooted trees, wild waves, and wandering stars. Jude affirms the judgment of God upon these ungodly men.

15 Jude The Bare Bones Bible Handbook Verses 17-25: The Duty to Fight for God s Truth After exposing the behavior of false teachers, Jude now addresses his readers and reminds them that others have warned about these mend. He exhorts them to protect themselves against this onslaught of apostasy by building themselves up in the Scriptures, praying consistently in the Spirit for God s will, and looking for Christ s second coming. In the process of fighting for God s truth, they are to show compassion to those who deserve it and, if necessary, to pull others out of the fires of apostasy with great fear of personal defilement. Jude then returns to the theme of salvation that he mentioned at the beginning of his letter. He closes with one of the most often-cited doxologies in the Bible (verses 24-25), emphasizing the power of Christ to preserve His followers from being overpowered by the enemy.

16 Jude The Bare Bones Bible Handbook Where to find it: Warning from Jude of the fact of apostasy: v4 Description of Michael, the archangel: v9 Warnings from the apostles of the fact of apostasy: v18 Blessings of knowing and following God: v24 Blessing of the all-wise God, our Savior: v25 Jude s Description of an Apostate: Godless (v4) Immoral (v4) Denies Christ (v4) Rebels against authority (v8) A grumbler (v16) A fault finder (v16) Mocks the truth (v18) Divisive (v19) Worldly (v19) Lacks the Holy Spirit (v19)

17 Jude Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary - Book Summary Most English translations use the name Jude only here in the New Testament. In fact, however, the Greek behind Jude is Ioudas, a name that occurs forty-three other times in the New Testament. It is usually translated Judah, referring to the Old Testament patriarch or the territory within Israel named after him, or Judas. The latter, of course, usually refers to Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. But the name is also given to four other men who appear in the New Testament: (1) Judas the Galilean, a revolutionary; (2) Judas son of James, one of the Twelve; (3) Judas, called Barsabbas, an early Christian prophet; and (4) a brother of Jesus named Judas.

18 Jude Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary Important Facts Author: Jude, the brother of James and Jesus. Date: Sometime between AD 40 and 80; perhaps in the middle 60s. Occasion: False teachers have arisen in the church, and some Christians are attracted to their ideas. Purpose: To encourage Christians to stand fast in their faith by bringing them to recognize the dangerous doctrines and sinful lifestyle of the false teachers.

19 Jude Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary Authorial Notes The author of this letter is almost certainly Judas, the brother of Jesus, for he identifies himself as a brother of James. This James must be the famous James who led the Jerusalem church (cf. Acts 15:13-21; 21:18), the Lord s brother (Gal 1:19). Like James in his letter, Jude refrains from claiming to be a brother of the Lord because the physical relationship was the basis neither for his own faith nor for his authority in the church. Jesus brothers did not believe in his claims during his own lifetime (John 7:3). Only, apparently, after his resurrection did they recognize the truth of his messianic claims and become his followers (Acts 1:14).

20 Jude Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary Parallels (Ideas & Vocab) Jude 2 Peter 4 The false teachers condemnation from the past 2:3 4 They deny the Sovereign [and] Lord 2:1 6 Angels confined for judgment, gloomy (2 Peter) and darkness (Jude) translate the same Greek word (zaphos) 2:4 7 Sodom and Gomorrah as examples of judgment of gross evil 2:6 8 They reject [Jude] / despise [2 Peter] authority they slander celestial beings 2:10 9 Angels do not bring slanderous accusation[s] 2:11 12 The false teachers are blemishes 2:13 12 Jude: clouds without rain, blown along by the wind Peter: springs without water and mists driven by a storm 18 scoffers following their own evil [Peter] /ungodly [Jude] desires 3:3 2:17

21 Jude Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary Rhetorical Structure The letter of Jude follows a traditional rhetorical structure, adopting a strategy of persuasion that fits into the models his world knew as follows: The exordium (v3): introducing the case that the rhetor is going to argue The narrito (v4): setting forth the concerns that require the rhetor to address the matter The probatio (v5-16): seeking to persuade his audience by means of argument and illustration The peroratio (v17-23): recapitulating the case and appealing to the emotions of the audience in a last ditch attempt to persuade