The Epistle of Judas the Apostle (we celebrate him on the 19th of June) is one of the comprehensive messages that reminds us of some problems known to the early Church, so let us avoid them and acquire the truth.
In the opening of the letter, Judas introduces himself with a solemn confession. He says: He is “the servant of Jesus Christ,” which indicates his total faith in the Lord’s sovereignty, and that he is, consequently, “the brother of James,” and he is James, the brother of the Lord (one of his relatives), the prominent leader in the early church. He directs his message to “those whom God the Father has called and loved,” placing them under the care of Jesus, the Judge of the world. The Fatiha includes three liturgical elements, drawing a brief picture of Christian life, which is based on God’s mercy, peace, and love (2). Then he indicates that he wished to write instructions to his readers “on the subject of our common salvation.”
After this, the Apostle quotes three examples from the Old Testament, and wants them to embody God’s truth. It relies, first and foremost, on the faith of God’s people, to show us the fate of sinners, and warns the unbelievers by affirming that God’s judgment is a given (5). In the second, he is inspired by the story of the sons of God who favored the daughters of men (Genesis 6: 1-4). He alludes to the sexual chaos that surrounds false teachers with fallen angels. Its goal is to confirm that God, who did not pardon fallen angels, will not leave the infidels unpunished (6). In the third, he describes the demise of the false cities of the plain that “sought after beings of a different nature.” This is another warning to those who imitate the sodomites of Sodom and Gomorrah who wanted to do to angels what was not permissible to do (Genesis 9:15), and to everyone who does not fear God and does not consider what happened to the sinful cities that “faced the punishment of eternal fire” (7).
Judas confirms, in verse 8, that he wanted, by presenting his examples, to give those who rely on delusional teaching, to justify their sins, lessons that they are not good at reading. He explains the filth of the sins that he mentioned before. He says: “They defile the body,” which is: “They make the grace of our God ungodly.” “And they disdain the divine glory,” meaning: they deny the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus (4); “And they blaspheme those who have glory,” that is, they mock the divine glory to which thousands of angels bear witness. Then he mentions a story mentioned in an apocryphal book from the first century AD. (The Ascension of Moses) about the quarrel of Michael the archangel with Satan, who when he argued with him “regarding the issue of Moses’ corpse, he did not dare to pass a heinous judgment on him, but rather said: May the Lord reward you” (9), and with it he wanted to criticize those who did not imitate Michael. (That is, with the chastity of his tongue), and subsequently criticizes their ignorance and deviations that indicate that they live like animals that have no mind (10).
In verse 11, Judah compares the unbelievers to people who symbolize evil leadership, and they are: “Cain,” the murderer of his brother, “Balaam,” a false teacher who incited the people to betray God and follow Baal, and “Korah,” a rebel who questioned the authority of Moses and Aaron. Then he mentions the “shared banquets” that the early Christians organized before the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of what Jesus did before his crucifixion, which symbolized unity, assistance to the poor, and final joy. His goal is to expose the misguided people who care exclusively about food without adhering to the meanings of the practice. He further describes them, saying: “They are clouds with no water in them, and trees with no fruit on them...” (12), meaning they are of no use. As for verse 13: “They are the mighty waves of the sea, the foam of which is the shame of their souls...”, by which he intends to further depict the corruption of the morals of the infidels who leave behind nothing but the shame of their souls.
To what was stated in the Book of Enoch (1:1-3), Judas bases his words (14 and 15), to confirm the reality of the judgment of the Lord who is coming “among the thousands of his saints” (i.e., the angels), to “disgrace all the unbelievers.” Then he lists five vices that are partly similar to the above accusations: 1) “They are the ones who complain”: they object and disbelieve in Christ; 2) “And they complain”: they protest against God’s saving plan; 3) “And they follow their desires”: they justify them by criticizing God’s system; 4) “Their mouths speak pretentious words”: they insult God with their lofty words; 5) “And they flatter people in search of benefit”: that is, they favor those who follow them, especially the rich, and hate those who reject their lies (16).
Then he returns to his readers, asking them to remember what the messengers of our Lord foretold: “When they said to you: There will be scoffers at the end of time who will follow their ungodly desires...” (17-19). He urges them to return to the living teaching of the Apostles, so that they will be alert and faithful to the Lord, and be able to expose every mockery and disbelief that is intended to cause them to be lost and fragmented.
In the next passage (20-23), Jude gives final instructions to his readers, enumerating the virtues that must be possessed by everyone who waits for the Lord’s mercy “for eternal life” (21). He urges them to build themselves on the “holy faith.” Then he asks: “And pray in the Holy Spirit,” which ensures their steadfastness in the unity of faith. He adds: “And keep yourselves in the love of God,” that is, by devotion to His living salvation.
This prompts the Messenger to remind the believers of some of their responsibilities within the community. He says: “As for those who hesitated, they sympathized with them, and even saved them, pulling them out of the fire. As for the others, they sympathized with them out of fear, and they hated even the shirt that their body had defiled” (22 and 23). This makes us believe that Judas considered that hesitant sinners could be worked with and saved. As for the others, no.
Jude ends his letter with Magdala 24 and 25, which agrees with the situation of his readers, and closely links the unity of God with his work of salvation. God, the Triune Persons, to whom glory, majesty, dignity, and authority are due, is the one who protects his people from every fall, presents them without blemish before his glory, and grants them to taste his final joy “now and forever and ever.”
With this message, Judas responds to deviations that can sprout in every generation. His intention is to show that true faith is the one that does not differentiate between education and life. That is, to confirm that the righteous life, which is based on the truth, is what saves believers from God’s judgment and establishes them in His joy always.
My parish bulletin
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Issue 25
