James and Jude
We view James and Jude as the authors of the books that bear their names. But who is James? Who is Jude? Let’s look at what Scripture tells us.
James:
There are several men named James in the New Testament (but none in the Old). The one we might best know is James, the brother of John and a disciple of Jesus. Yet King Herod arrests and executes James early in the book of Acts (Acts 12:1–2). That means this James would not have been alive to write this letter.
Two other men named James are the son of Alphaeus and the father of Judas (Acts 1:13). As secondary characters, it’s unlikely either wrote the letter of James.
One of Jesus’s brothers, however, is James (Matthew 13:55). He’s a fixture in the early church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13) and becomes its leader after Peter flees to avoid imprisonment (Acts 21:18). It’s this James, the brother of Jesus, who most likely writes the book that bears his name.
Yet he opens his letter with the humblest of greetings, saying he’s a servant of Jesus Christ (James 1:1). It’s as if his biological connection with the Savior of the world doesn’t matter. What does matter is that he’s God’s servant.
Jude:
The name Jude only appears once in the Bible, and it’s in the opening of his letter (Jude 1:1). Like James, he identifies himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. In addition, he mentions he’s a brother of James.
In Matthew 13:55, we learn that Jesus’s brothers are James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Jude). Jude already revealed he’s the brother of James.
We should understand Jude as an alternate form of Judas. After Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus, who among Jesus’s followers would want to go by the name Judas? I wouldn’t. And who would be uneasy opening a letter from Judas—even though it’s from a different man? It would certainly give me pause. Going by Jude instead of Judas makes sense.
Brothers:
This means we have two books of the Bible written by Jesus’s brothers. This is noteworthy for two reasons.
First, they didn’t initially believe in him (John 7:5). They were understandably skeptical that the brother they grew up with could be God’s son. Yet they eventually believe and identify as his servants. This is a dramatic transformation, from skeptics to followers.
Second, though Jesus’s disciples spend three years with him, James and Jude have spent their entire life with him, until his death. This gives them a twenty, twenty-five, or even thirty-year history with Jesus. Therefore—outside of his mother Mary—James and Jude have known Jesus longer than anyone else in the early church. This makes their insights about him and his teachings even more profound.
Given all this, we’ll do well to embrace and contemplate the words in these letters from James and Jude, servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Questions: Like James and Jude, should we consider ourselves servants of Jesus? How can we best serve our Lord and Savior?
[Discover more about another man who identifies as Jesus’s servant in 1 Corinthians 4:1, Ephesians 3:7, and Philippians 1:1.]
