Jude's Surprises

Jude in his short book tosses some words (phrases) our way that we don't expect. Here are a couple of the unexpected

Jude 1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ...

Here are the unexpected:

We are beloved in God the Father (Expected: we are loved by God the Father)

We are kept for Christ (Expected: we are kept by Christ)

We so expect that we are loved by God and kept by Christ that the NIV smooths out our problems with the original Greek by giving this translation, "To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ...."

What does it mean that we are beloved (literally "the ones being loved in God the Father). The first things to notice as we try to understand this is that Jude is addressing not individuals but the community of faith. As I thought about this it struck me that overwhelmingly when we hear of God's love we hear about it in the context of community. There are few times when God's love is spoken of as being for a specific individual. One of those rare occurrences is in Galatians 2.20 where Paul speaking of himself says, that Christ loved him and died for him. The general focus on God's love spoken of in the context of community should remind us of the importance of seeing our faith and God's love for us in that light. It is good to continually remind ourselves as one person has said, "God's love is a love for a community of people wh he has called to be his own. The address of the gospel writers almost everywhere assumes a community of faith."

But beyond that these words by Jude of "the one ones being loved in God the Father" go beyond being love by God as they reflect being brought into intimate fellowship with God, embraced by him. There is an amazing intensity in these few words. To be loved in God the Father is to be in God the Father. It is a great picture.

Since we are in the Father or loved in God the Father he is the one who is keeping us for Jesus. It is not Jesus who keeps us, but God the Father. This seems to reflect the words of Jesus in his high priestly prayer in John 17.11 "And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one." We are being kept for the day when Christ returns. The Greek in Jude indicates the security that God provides, his own will not be lost but will know the eschatological benefits of the New heavens and earth.