Jude 1:24

THE BENEDICTION

Now unto him that is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of his glory without blemish in exceeding joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and forevermore. Amen.

Rose remarked that, "If Jude is known or noticed at all by churchgoers, it is because of the frequent use of Jude 1:1:24,25," [52] in such things as the benediction. To this writer, this benediction instantly brings to mind Ike Thorne (a faithful deacon from the Central Church of Christ, Houston, Texas, a retired member of Plasterers' Labor Union, and truly a wonderful person.) who frequently dismissed the congregation with his immense, stentorian voice, booming out the awesome words of this magnificent passage, using no other words except these. One feels sure that many others have similar recollections.

Unto him that is able to guard you from stumbling ... If Christians heed the instructions of their Lord and walk in the light as he is in the light, they will not stumble; and, for those who thus walk, the Lord indeed can and does guard them from stumbling.

And to set you before the presence of his glory ... This refers to the "great day" of Jude 1:1:6, the judgment day, when all nations shall be assembled before the White Throne.

Without blemish ... Payne, with others, identifies this as a metaphor "from the Old Testament sacrificial system (Leviticus 1:3, etc.)";[53] but there may also be in it another glimpse of the perfection commanded in Matthew 5:48, and promised to Christians as an actual achievement upon their behalf, not by themselves, but through Christ, according to Paul's promise that every man should be presented "perfect in Christ" (Colossians 1:28). For more on perfection see in my Commentary on Colossians, pp. 130-133.

In exceeding joy ... "This denotes a proud, exulting joy,"[54] having something of the meaning "to be proud of" in it, affording a glimpse of the triumph of God himself in his exultation because of the redemption of his people.

To the only God our Saviour ... This stress of the unity of God could have found such a prominent place in primitive doxologies and benedictions as an effective rejection of antinomian Gnostics who were infected with polytheism. Paul also referred to God as Saviour.

Through Jesus Christ ... God is not man's Saviour apart from his acceptance and obedience of his Son Jesus Christ.

Be glory, majesty, dominion and power ... All of the ultimates belong to God. "In him we live and move and have our being." All of the praise, all of the glory, all of the worship and adoration that human hearts are capable of are rightfully given only to God through Christ.

Before all time, and now, and for evermore ... "This is as complete a statement of eternity as can be made in human language."[55] Our blessed Saviour was, and is, and shall be forevermore. He is one with the Father, the eternal God who is ever and perpetually the "I AM" of all time and eternity.

Amen ... For a comment on this expression, see in my Commentary on Hebrews, pp. 360,361. It means "So be it." It calls God to witness the words which are sealed by it. It is the signal that any hymn or prayer concluded by it is held to be sacred in the eyes of God, and is a pledge of the sincerity and integrity of the petitioner.

In this series of commentaries, our studies have now brought us to the threshold of the Apocalypse; and, in this last short epistle, an immeasurable blessing has been received through the study of it. Although, in a sense, known for many years, the full impact of a certain truth was heightened and increased by this little book. Is it not a most remarkable providence that of those four little boys, all of them younger than Jesus, who grew up at Nazareth in the same room with Jesus in the home of Joseph and Mary, is it not astonishing that two of them, James and Jude, have left the legacy of two precious epistles?

Just think. Two of the sacred New Testament writers lived with Jesus practically all of his life on earth, except for the four years, during which, for the most part, they did not belong to the immediate circle of the Lord's followers, an exclusion that was doubtless also providential. These two did not at first believe in Jesus; but even their unbelief at first must be considered a testimony to the holiness of the Master. Why? Like all other Jews, they believed that Messiah would be a conquering hero who would rally the troops and chase the Romans out of Judea. They knew that Jesus was not that kind of person. But, when they came to know his real purpose of redeeming people from sin, all that they knew of him had its weight in constraining them to fall down in his presence and hail him as Lord and Saviour, leading them both also, ever afterwards, to write themselves "not as his brothers" but as "Servants of the Lord Jesus Christ!"

[52] Delbert R. Rose, op. cit., p. 448.

[53] David F. Payne, A New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1969), p. 628.

[54] J. B. Mayor, op. cit., p. 277.

[55] Delbert R. Rose, op. cit., p. 628.