“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions’” (v17-18).
Can we be honest for a moment? Good. Christians are easy targets. There are plenty of times when folks claiming to be believers do absolutely crazy things that have little or nothing to do with Jesus and look like fools in the process. You know what I’m talking about, right? Setting a specific date and time for Jesus’ return, for example. Claiming God’s judgment is behind a devastating hurricane. Seeing God’s hand in the spread of disease as His way of cleansing sinners from society. I don’t know about you, but absolutely cringe every time I hear this crap. As a result of these crazy claims, late night comics throw a blanket over every Christian and make us the punchline du jour.
But Jude reminds us that Jesus’ handpicked representatives warned that folks will laugh at us for all the right reasons. People will make jokes about us because we do follow the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter. They’ll mock us because we really believe He’s not only in charge but that He’s coming back. Jude tells us that false teachers will not only make jokes about Jesus and His followers, but they’re going to demonstrate their rebellion by blatantly ignoring God’s commands and doing exactly what they want when they want. Of as the Message reads, “But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: ‘In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore. They’ll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts’” (v17-18 The Message).
Instead of pointing out that he’s Jesus’ little brother, Jude looks to the authority of the Christ’s handpicked representatives. “But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v17). God used them to make all sorts of prognostications about what was going to happen. They weren’t picking point spreads in the NFL. They weren’t even giving the five-day forecast. One of their favorite topics is about Jesus’ incredible encore. They were also talking a lot about how false teachers would sneak into the church and twist God’s truth.
The Apostle Paul personally warned the leaders in the Ephesian church that bad stuff was about to go down right before their own eyes. “I know that after my departure, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30). Just before his own death, Paul wanted his protege Tim to be locked and loaded for these spiritual grifters looking for easy targets. “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (2Tim 4:3). Jesus’ best friend John went so far as to call anyone who denies Jesus as “the deceiver and the antichrist” (2Jn 7). These are just a handful of many other warnings from the apostles about false teachers. Jesus’ rep[s said this was going to happen. Meteorologists might miss a forecast. Apostles don’t miss predictions. Period.
So does Jude’s warning sound familiar? Do you kind of feel like you may have read something a lot like this before? Well, flip over to 2nd Peter 3:2-4. There’s clearly a very closely relationship between Jude’s letter and Peter’s sequel. Both are loaded with all sorts of warnings about a posse of false teachers weaseling into local churches. It would seem that Pete wrote first, sounding the alarm that these knuckleheads were on the way. If so, Jude wrote a little later after these hucksters began tearing apart churches from the inside out.
One thing that seems to support that is the parallel between Jude 17-18 and 2nd Peter 3:2-4. As one of the apostles, Pete writes, “You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles; knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of His coming?’” (2Pet 3:2-4). Jesus’ kid brother then encourages us to “remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles” (v17). He makes a point of saying how the apostles make the call that “In the last time there will be scoffers” (v18). It sure seems like Jude’s referring to Pete. He would certainly fill the bill of an apostle who’s warned of scoffers in the last days.
There are a few things you can take to the bank as a believer. Fellow Christians will continue to say and do goofy things that make us wince. Stick around a while and I’ll probably be one of them! We can count on the predictions of Jesus’ handpicked posse to come through with flying colors. False teachers will weasel their way into our churches. As a matter of fact, they already have. And we can be sure that they will keep coming. Finally, we can be absolutely certain that Jesus is coming back. Despite the jokes, Jesus will have the last laugh.
No comments:
Post a Comment