04/23/2008
24Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy, 25to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now, and forever. Amen.
Jude introduces himself as the brother of James. We believe James, the author of the epistle, to be the earthly brother of Jesus, and thus, Jude would be a second, earthly brother of Jesus. I believe that Jude introduces himself as a brother of James to establish his authority, but also in reverence for Jesus, whom he clearly sees as divine. Jude does not introduce himself as the brother of Jesus because to do so might imply his own divinity. This is the only writing we have of Jude, but it is clear from this one short letter, that he was a firm believer in Jesus as the Son of God.
The verses above are the benediction to his letter. Among all the books of the Bible, this is my favorite benediction because Jude captures so much in just these few words.
Imagine if you will, yourself, an ordinary person. You will probably never get to see the oval office of the white-house. Only a few people ever have the privilege of standing in that room in the presence of our nation’s highest leader. Imagine now, that the president himself came out of the white-house and came directly up to you and said “come with me.” Then he took you to that room.
Now imagine God doing the same thing. He came to you and took you by the hand and said “come with me.” And now, you are able to stand. Not only to stand, but to stand blameless in His glory. He has made this possible by way of his Glory, Majesty, Power, and Authority. And He existed before all time and will exist forever.
Consider these words. Write them down and keep them in front of you today. Look at them and reflect on what great blessing has been given to you through Jesus.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2008 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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