OVERVIEW: Jude was generally regarded as the brother of James the brother of Jesus, and his apparent unwillingness to say so explicitly is put down to his modesty (EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA, OECUMENIUS). He is distinguished from Iscariot (HILARY OF ARLES) and may be identified with Thaddeus in Matthew and Mark (BEDE). There was independent testimony to the fact that he was of David’s line, and it seems to have been assumed by some that he was a son of Joseph by an earlier marriage. The grandchildren of Jude were still being accused of being related to Christ in the days of Domitian, according to Hegesippus (EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA). It is in mercy, peace and love (HILARY OF ARLES, OECUMENIUS) that we are kept in Christ (THEOPHYLACT).
JUDE THE SERVANT. CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Jude was the brother of the sons of Joseph, but despite his relationship to the Lord, he did not say that he was Jesus’ brother. What did he say? He called himself Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, that is, of the Lord, and the brother of James, who was the Lord’s brother. ADUMBRATIONS.1
THE DESCENDANTS OF JUDE. EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: When Domitian ordered that those of the race of David be slain, an ancient story holds that some of the heretics accused the grandchildren of Jude (the brother of the Savior, according to the flesh), on the ground that they really were of the family of David and were related to Christ himself. Hegesippus makes this quite clear. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 3.19.2
EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: Hegesippus says that other descendants of one of the so-called brothers of the Lord, Jude by name, lived until the reign of Trajan [98-117], after giving testimony of their faith in Christ in the time of Domitian [81-96]. HISTORY OF THE CHURCH 3.32.3
NOT ISCARIOT. HILARY OF ARLES: Jude does his utmost to make sure that nobody confuses him with Judas Iscariot, which is why he confesses that he is Christ’s servant and James’s brother. Note how he also says that the Father chooses us, Jesus keeps us and the Holy Spirit calls us. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON JUDE.4
JUDE CALLED THADDEUS. BEDE: The apostle Jude, whom Matthew and Mark call Thaddeus in their Gospels, is writing against the same corrupters of the faith as Peter and John condemn in their letters. ON JUDE.5
THE BROTHER OF JAMES. OECUMENIUS: This apostle, after calling himself the servant of Jesus Christ, went on to add that he was the brother of James because James was so highly regarded in the church that Jude was bound to benefit from so close an association with him. Note that he refers to his correspondents as those who have been “called,” because it was not they who decided to follow Jesus, but God who reached out to call them to his service. COMMENTARY ON JUDE.6
KEPT IN JESUS CHRIST. THEOPHYLACT: Christ the Lord said: “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.”7 Jude affirms the truth of this here when he says that those whom the Father has loved are preserved by the Son. COMMENTARY ON JUDE.8
LOVE MULTIPLIED. HILARY OF ARLES: Jude includes a reference to love here because he has noticed that there is a lack of it among his people. INTRODUCTORY COMMENTARY ON JUDE.9
MERCY AND PEACE. OECUMENIUS: Jude prays for greater mercy because it is by the bowels of God’s mercy that we have been called back to him and enrolled as his servants. He asks for increased peace because this is God’s gift to us, by which he leads us who have sinned back to friendship with him through his Son Jesus Christ. He also desires greater love, since it is because of the love which he has shown toward us that the only-begotten Son sacrificed himself for us by dying on the cross. In praying for these things, Jude is doing no more than imitate David, who said: “O continue thy steadfast love to those who know thee.”10 COMMENTARY ON JUDE.11