One Way
Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Jude 3
The saints – It all begins with the date of this letter. For some time, scholars have argued about the date of Jude. Those who believe it must be later than the apostolic age suggest, on this basis, that the letter is pseudepigrapha, written by someone who wanted the work to appear important and therefore named the author as Jude, a brother of Yeshua. But much of their supposed evidence is mere speculation. The conservative view, that Jude did in fact write this letter sometime around 65AD, seems the most plausible and carries the most historical witnesses. So, let’s suppose that Jude did write this before the Second Temple destruction in 70AD. How does that help us understand what he is saying?
Jude deals with a problem already acknowledged in Corinth. Certain religious people infiltrated the assembly and attempted to subvert the common understanding of the message. In an explosion of metaphors and allusions, Jude condemns these people. But notice who he is trying to protect. He calls his audience “the saints.” Actually, the Greek is tois hagiois, the holy ones. Who would have been called “the holy ones” in the time before the destruction of the Second Temple? It certainly would not have been “Christians” since that term wasn’t even in use yet. From Paul’s letters, we know that Jude would have included the followers of the Way, a “so-called sect of Judaism.” Notice what else Jude says about these people. They have been the recipients of the faith which was “once for all” delivered. We know that first century Messianic Jews and God-fearing Gentiles held a common code of conduct with all other Jews. The only difference between these believers and the rest of the Jewish population was the claim that Yeshua was the Messiah, not that the common faith had been replaced. So, if Jude says that the faith was delivered once for all to the saints, then he must include everyone who had heard Torah. How else can we understand this verse in light of what we know about the Messianic community before 70AD?
Notice what Jude does not say. He doesn’t say, “Contend for the Messianic status of Yeshua.” He doesn’t say, “Evangelize and convert Jews.” He doesn’t say, “Preach a message of pure grace.” He says that the “common salvation” is tied to a faith that has already been delivered to the holy ones. In other words, those who are practicing the one way, the way of Torah – those who would be called tois hagiois in the Messianic congregations – are those whose behavior establishes their claim to be citizens of the Kingdom. That’s how you know who they are. And that’s why Jude can go on to list behaviors which mark the detractors as the opposition. In order to use behavior as a measuring stick, there must be a prior commitment to a common code. And, of course, there was – a code that had not changed for sixteen centuries.
Topical Index: saints, hagios, Torah, Jude 3
Skip, lately I have been praying about this: for our brothers and sisters in Christ who now live in Israel and are not accepted by the Jewish Community because their status is in Yeshua. Also, we need to remember to pray for the many Messianic congregations today that hold Jesus as Messiah who in turn are not being accepted by those of a faith that has already been delivered to the holy ones. We need to pray for those who oppose these messianic congregations and pray that they will come to see Jesus as the true Messiah of Israel. And even more so, we need to pray for those who hold on so tightly to everything Jewish that their message of salvation in Jesus is clouded! I understand it is very difficult for any one to make Aliah to Israel if they are followers of Yeshua and yet I know that there are exceptions to the rule. It is very important that in our zeal to identify with the Jewish people, we never forget that our true identity does lie in Yeshua and that there is salvation in no other. I Timothy 1:17 “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” In His Love, Linda K. Morales Puerto Rico
~ He came unto His own and His own received Him not.. ~
Why? (or why not?)
~ He was (is) despised and rejected of men…~ – Why?
John 6: 58 “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
59 “Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.”
60 “When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
( l(-_-)l not listening)
61 “But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?”
If they rejected Him at this point how much more difficult will it be for them to believe the message at the cross when He would be crucified, die, then rise from the grave and ascend to heaven where He had been for longer than they could possibly fathom.
Teachings I’ve heard say many of the Jewish interpreters were masters at figurative interpretation, so how did they miss when He said, “the words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
64 “But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)”
66 “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”
Here the unbelievers are separated from the true believers. Don’t know how many, He had recently fed several thousand people who followed after him (hoping for more bread) but when He said he was the bread come down from heaven, they scoffed, ‘we know his parents, how can he say he’s come down?’ (l(-_-)l)
This may be the only recorded incidence in the N.T. where the believers stop believing in Jesus, and actually rejected Him because of His doctrine.
67 “So Jesus said to the 12, “Do you want to go away as well?”
So the hand picked 12 did not reject Him.
68 “Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,”
69 “and we have believed, and have come to know, that YOU are the Holy One of God.”
Blessed be the Name of the LORD.
A most compelling argument made for the root of our fruit being Jewish; not Greek. Heads up all you embarrassed seminary professors. How did you miss this in Theology 101? Perhaps a little less of New Testament Survey and a lot more of Old Testament diving.
Skip, I admire that you continue driving home what should be obvious to those who say they truly know Him. As we look around us, it is blatant lawlessness that seems to prevail in every area of life today. Romans 1 captures this wonderfully, discussing those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, and calling them out as UNGODLY. Christianity appears to be imploding, yet so many are dazed and confused by what they are experiencing in traditional church, because they have had pablum fed to them down through the years. As followers of The Christ, The Messiah, why do people think the summary of the Scriptures, the NT, is sufficient for doctrine, when He and the Apostles delivered their teaching from Torah? Watered down teaching has proven to be quite unprofitable. Thank you for what you do!
Yes Skip, I hope you do not tire from making this point. When something is so entrenched theologically, we must be able to come at it from different angles and with repeated efforts.
Funny though, when you said, “…are those whose behavior establishes their claim…”, I instinctively started to think, “Whooooaaa, to much emphasis on behavior/works.” And then I remembered Paul’s lists of BEHAVIORS. There is a correct and incorrect way to emphasize behavior, and I pray we will all get the wisdom to know the difference.
On a related topic – I can’t think of many things that are NOT defined by physical actions,…. freedom, love, justice, ect, can all mean very very different things to different people — but when we want to explain what these mean we must necessarily talk about actions and behaviors.
” In order to use behavior as a measuring stick, there must be a prior commitment to a common code. And, of course, there was – a code that had not changed for sixteen centuries.”
We see that code alluded to in the movie Repo Man, where the master Repo Man mentors his disciple:
“That’s what I call the repo code, kid. Don’t forget it, etch it in your brain. Not many people got a code to live by anymore.” – Bud
In order to use behavior as a measuring stick, there must be a prior commitment to a common code.
No, not commitment to a code, but yes, -commitment to the living Christ. ~ For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things~ Christianity is Christ, and without Christ there is no Christianity.
~ Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right ~ (Proverbs 20.11)
Our Messiah’s message? “Follow me..” “Do as I do”- and ~ He went about doing good..~ His words again? ~ I do always those things that please the Father..~ Do we? If not.. -why not?
This description suffers from the same problem of calling the believers “christians” since the Jews who followed the “Way” of Torah were the ones persecuting the believers. There is something more that changes Torah and how we hear it. Followers were being tempted, enticed, and persecuted to abandon their belief in Jesus as the Mashiach and “return” to the Torah of the temple. The difference is more than mere belief in Jesus, it is nothing less than observance under the law – an observance the law could not perfect and which the 12 and the disciples chose not to burden the goyim with. Israel only received the 613 commands after the apostacy of the golden calf because they lacked the holiness to follow the 10 commandments. The 613 commands were a guardian to rehabilitate Israel, to prepare it to keep the 10. Israel apsoticized from the 613 just as it did the 10. Israel’s observance was not used to draw close to Adonai, but rather to establish the nation of Israel as a temporal power to lord it over the goyim. That was why Jesus was rejected and why his followers were presecuted – for denying Israel’s religious imperialism. Judaism wanted a sword to quench in the blood of the goyim, a Mashiach who would destroy and ravage as the roman’s did – as the goyim have always done. Israel did not love Adonai they served him out of fear and a desire to conquer the goyim. For Jude and the faithful these Jews were children of Esau trading the birthright of Jesus for a bowl of porridge. They were darnel sown among the wheat waiting for the harvest to be seperated and burned on the fire. In John’s writings they were the dark that could not comprehend the light. Unlike believers they took no joy in dwelling before Adonai because that power comes from the spirit of Adonai alone – rather they were children of the flesh seeking the desires of the flesh and subject to the dominion of death. They were observant, but only as a slave out of fear of death. There was no spirit of sonship living in them crying out to Abba. There’s was a wicked and corrupt observance of outward signs and appearance – one of human pride and ambition that put human opinion and tradition above Adonai and his purpose. It was impossible they should not sin and reject Jesus, the living Torah come down from heaven, because their father was Nahash and they like their father had inherited his 6 names. From the time the two seed lines were mixed Adonai has been seperating them until even here in Jude where the belivers are warned to be ready because Nahash is prowling about like a lion seeking to devour the careless. In the covenant with Jesus neglect is the greatest threat to losing salvation because we fall little by little unaware until Nahash strikes from hiding, robbing us of our crown purchased with the blood of Jesus. The question is how to stay sober and awake?! Do we take upon ourselves the burden of the 613 commandments as a cross to follow Jesus or do we hold to only the 10? I believe the answer lies in each of us. Are we, like Israel, in need of the law so that grace may perfect us? Or do we follow the 10 perfecting the world in tikkun olam? They are as different as Martha and Mary. Martha who followed the 613 by grace to serve Jesus; and Mary who followed only the 10 by grace so that she sat down in the presence of Jesus waiting to be served by him. Both responded to Jesus by grace but Mary’s was the greater path for the 613 must be found with in the 10 or be cut off from Adonai. When the 613 become a stumbling block to the 10 they are struck down and cut off from Adonai just as the temple was cut off from him forever. They still wait in vain for Mashiach to come and rebuild the earthly temple like King Saul who sought to change the mind of Adonai. They do not see that the third temple is already established – built one Jew, one goya at a time with Jesus the headstone. Their desire is not to approach Adonai but rather to build a nation (a shem) to rule over the goyim – to be lords of the dust with Nahash their god. Our desire must be to Jesus as his salt spread accross the earth, his seed to guard and till until the vine of the earth is cast into the lake of fire.
Just a few comments in reply. I am sure that you would agree that the description of apostate Israel you present does not apply to all Israel. After all, there is ample evidence that many followed God throughout the period before the arrival of Yeshua and many followed after He arrived. While Yeshua’s criticism is leveled toward those who hypocritically espoused the faith, it is not leveled toward all Jews.
Secondly, I disagree about the distinction between the 10 words and the 613 commands. Just like Hosea and Habakkuk, the 10 words present in summary form what is later elaborated in specific cases. And since the precursors of all 10 commandments can be found in Genesis, they are hardly new to the community of the faithful. The 613 represent a cod of conduct that identifies the way followers of YHWH are to live – with elaborate detail just to make sure there is no confusion. They are not expendable. Of course, if we lived the 10 perfectly, we would in fact exhibit the same behaviors found in all 613.
But the real point is that they are not rules. They are an expression of a way of life, opportunities to demonstrate faithfulness to God.
Finally, while I understand the allegories of Martha, Mary and the other examples you cite, there is nothing in the text that compels me to read these verses as allegories. There is nothing that suggests Martha obeyed the 613 but Mary only the 10. There is nothing that suggests that “they were observant but only as a slave out of fear of death.” Allegorical interpretation is popular but, in my opinion, suspect and particularly vulnerable to importing preconceived theology. That has been its history since the Middle Ages and I hate to see it take over contemporary exegesis since we have so many superior tools available today.
Dear Skip,
Of course I am describing those who persecuted the believers and continue to do so. It is most certainly not a condemnation of all Israel.
The distinction between the 613 and the 10 I mentioned refers to the decision by the believers not to impose the halacha on the goyim believers and is eventually resolved in Acts. While goyim are free to embrace halacha there is no demand that it be so.
Martha and Mary are a useful pedagogical tool to illustrate that point since Martha was very likely treating Jesus with a prophet’s welcome and Mary was treating him as Mashiach doting on his every word. The contrast in behavior illustrates the point between Jewish observance of the 613 and goyim who are held to the 10 and a few others, such as the prohibition on eating blood, etc.
The interesting point that later developes is the mystery of faith and inquity which describes the superficial believer motivated by selfish interest versus the true believer motivated by a desire to approach Adonai. Some of us begin as the former like Paul-Saul and are called to the later by Adonai. In any case I am not judging Jewish observance versus goyim observance, but rather pointing out that it does exist and is at the root of conflict between believers and non-believing observant Jews. It should be noted that once the Jewish believers leave the stage of history then begins the practice of anti-Semitism and anti-Catholicism. Once the Catholic Church achieved temporal superiority against Judaism its relationship changed from nuturing and protecting to active suppression. It would appear that these unresolved root conflicts morphed into collective acrimonies on both sides of the division. In order for these issues to be addressed and eventually resolved it is necessary to recognize the reality which defines both extreme behaviors. In this regard I feel more like an ant trying to move a mountain.