From Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, wrapped in the love of God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ. (Jude 1, NET)

Jude is known as the brother of James. Note that he is also the half brother of Jesus, and we should recall that he was still blind to who Jesus was until after the resurrection! He now doesn’t use this relationship for his benefit, but instead refers to himself humbly, as a slave.

I wonder sometimes what it would be like to have grown up with Jesus. Did Mary and Joseph tell their other children of Christs miraculous conception? Did they believe their own brother was to be the messiah? Did they understand that many children were slaughtered in an attempt to kill Jesus? That their own parents had to flee to safety and live as refugees? How did James and Jude connect with this familiar history? Was this all a big secret in their family, only to be revealed in small vignettes until Christs time came? How could Mary and Joseph not treat him with more favor? Did they James and Jude hold Christ in contempt? How could they have had a “normal” life? 

Obviously this is all conjecture. But we must not forget Jesus was fully God and fully human. 

We don’t need to understand how Jesus and Jude (and James) reconciled. We know Jesus loved them unfathomably and in His good grace and kindness revealed to them the mysteries of His own nature as the Father determined before the foundation of the earth was laid.

We do know that Jude was transformed and given new spiritual life. The gospel of his own brother, his kin, changed everything he knew about himself and the world. He understood that there was in fact nothing he could have done differently or apart from this news. That he was completely and utterly subjugated by Gods divine will over every aspect of his life. He nonetheless remembered every detail of his life shared with Christ. Every nuanced moment of their upbringing. Every exchange of words. Every second. It was always, all about Jesus. 

He had always been a slave to Jesus. Now he saw it for his good.

So should we.

Like Jude, the gospel changes everything for us. Christs life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension are the catalyst for our own salvation and sanctification in faith. We aren’t slaves to sin or even our own earthly flesh – but we aren’t the lucky ones who discovered salvation – we were called into it by our maker. We don’t produce good in and of ourselves – we are wrapped in Gods love – and we don’t keep our place in the kingdom by grudging through good works – we are preserved for, by and in Christ!

Perhaps you feel like you’re a slave to your circumstances. You can’t beat the odds. Your stuck. You can’t overcome the vices and perpetual decaying cycles of life. You are destitute and feel abandoned. You blame your parents, and where you grew up and what you did or didn’t have. You blame the adverse experiences, and see nothing but dead ends in your past. You lay it on the trauma you have suffered and now just pass any further expectations that life could or should be any better.

You say if only things were different, then… then… then…

Friend, things are different. Christ did come and what he did made everything different. He turned the world upside down. When he returns, he will do it again.

I know it’s hard right now. We live in this state of “complete but not yet complete”.

Remember this, no matter what: you are called, loved and kept. Amen.

Peace be with you.