By Shane Kastler
Imagine growing up with an older brother who is perfect. And I don't mean “perfect” in the sense of merely being good at everything he does. I mean “perfect” in the sense of being morally perfect. A brother who not only never sins, but does not even have a sinful nature. Such was the case with Jude, the younger half-brother of Jesus.
Of course the Bible teaches us that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, and while Joseph raised him; Joseph was not his biological father (hence, the “virgin” Mary). But Joseph and Mary did go on to have other children. Once, when Jesus came back to visit his hometown of Nazareth, they said this about him: “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? (Matt. 13:55-56)
Based on this text, we can see Jesus had four half-brothers and at least two half-sisters (based on the plural use of “sisters.”) And if the brothers are named in order of age, then the “Judas” mentioned here would be the same “Jude” who wrote a later epistle. Jude is a shortened version of Judas, and was a very common name in first century Judaism. So Jude was probably the baby of the family. Of the five sons Joseph and Mary raised, Jesus was the oldest (obviously), and Jude was perhaps the youngest.
It must have been very unique growing up in a household with the Son of God. We do know that after they were grown, Jesus's brothers resented him. John's gospel records that they tried to get him to go to Judea where it was well known the Jewish leaders sought to take his life (John 7:1-5). Likewise in Mark 3 it records that his mother and brothers came to “take custody” of him, fearing that he had lost his mind. (Mark 3:20-35) But these hateful brothers, including Jude, became loving followers of Christ. In God's time and by God's grace, they came to see the brother they grew to hate, was in fact their only hope for salvation. They went from being haters of Christ to lovers of Christ; so much so that James becomes the pastor of the New Testament Jerusalem church, and Jude writes an epistle calling Christians to defend the faith.
Jude, who once despised his brother Jesus, referred to himself in this manner as he opened his epistle: “Jude, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James.” (Jude 1:1) Bond-servant, literally means “slave” and Jesus was Jude's master. Are you a slave of Christ? Is Jesus your master? We typically see slavery as bad, but to be a slave of Christ is to be bought and possessed by him. And oh what a benevolent master He is!
My prayer for you is that you will come to see what Jude saw. Jesus is God. Jesus is Lord. And Jesus (and ONLY Jesus) saves. Come along and worship the King, just like Jude, the kid brother of Jesus.
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