Interpretation of the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Jude

Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria gained experience in explaining the Holy Scriptures when, as a rhetorician of the Great Church, he instructed the people. Most of his written interpretations arose at the request of the Greek Empress Maria, whom he calls his pious patron. These works became an outstanding synthesis and transposition of the established patristic traditions, primarily the heritage of the Antiochian theological school and St. John Chrysostom. As a rule, the author presents abbreviated versions of extensive interpretations of the ancient Church Fathers, borrowing only what is necessary for understanding the text. The commentary also includes his own explanations, which often concern disputes with heretics, especially later ones, and issues of dialogue with the Latins. Thanks to his clear, concise presentation and clear semantic emphasis, his commentaries were accessible to a wide range of readers, became widespread and had a significant influence on both Byzantine and Western European theology. The “Commentary on the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Jude” talks about protecting believers from false teachings and distorted ideas about the Christian faith. Examples from the Old Testament show the consequences of unfaithfulness and deviation from God's ordinances, as well as reminders of the penalties for sins and broken covenants. The text emphasizes the importance of having strong faith and not associating with those who mislead. About attentiveness to faith in Christ due to the appearance of wicked and depraved people. - About their upcoming punishment in the likeness of ancient sinners and villains. - Woe to them for temptation, wickedness, debauchery, blasphemy, and hypocrisy to deceive. - About the firmness of those to whom he writes in faith and about their sympathy and mercy for their neighbors in the hope of saving through a holy life. – Prayer for them for sanctification and pure boldness and praise to God. Contents of the message of the Holy Apostle Jude The Apostle Jude Thaddeus writes this letter to those who have already believed. The reason for writing was the following. Some people appeared and taught that sin was indifferent and rejected Christ. The apostle needed to write and confirm the brothers. And he, firstly, convinces them to strive for the faith betrayed to them and to remain in it; then, he refutes the false teachers as deceivers, and commands the believers not to have any fellowship with them, knowing that it is not enough just to be called, but one must also walk worthy of the calling. For although in ancient times the Lord led His people out of Egypt, when this people did not remain faithful to Him, He destroyed them. The Lord did not spare the angels who did not observe their rank. Therefore, we must distance ourselves from false teachers. For even Archangel Michael did not tolerate the blasphemy of the devil. Therefore the apostle teaches that false teachers will perish like the Sodomites. Then he teaches moral rules, and ends the message with a prayer to the Lord for the confirmation of believers in their faith. Jude 1:1. Judas, servant of Jesus Christ, brother of James, called, who are sanctified by God the Father In my opinion, it was enough for this apostle, as proof of his dignity, after calling himself a servant of Christ, to point out his relationship with James. For Jacob was praised by everyone for his virtue. This circumstance should also have given this apostle greater confidence from the listeners in the teaching of the word, since it is doubtful that a fellow member in birth and blood would be very far from the one with whom he had fellowship in kinship, especially one who serves one Lord Christ and bears the burden of slavery equally with his half-blood. and preserved by Jesus Christ: Jude 1:2. May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you. The Lord said: “no one can come to Me unless My Father draws him” (John 6:44). This blessed man shows that this word has now been justified. For he says that those loved by the Father are preserved by Jesus Christ, which is why he calls them called, since they did not come of their own accord, but were attracted and called by the Father. He wants mercy, peace and love to increase for them; “mercy” because we are called by God and accepted into His servants through the compassion of mercy; “peace” because God and the Father Himself gave it to us, reconciling us who offended Him to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ; “love” because the Only Begotten Son of God gave Himself to death for us out of love for us. So, the apostle prays that the believers may have these gifts in abundance, just as David calls out to the Lord: “extend your mercy to those who know you” (Psalm 35:11). Prompted by these saving examples, we too, with an unhypocritical disposition towards our neighbor, must live worthy of the One who called us. Jude 1:3. Beloved! Having all the zeal to write to you about common salvation, I considered it necessary to write to you an admonition - Here the apostle indicates the motive for writing the epistle. Namely: he writes this epistle, taking care of the salvation of believers, so that they, in their simplicity, will not be carried away by the most vile heretics, he writes in order to, through a description of the depraved life of heretics, reveal them and make them obvious to the ignorant. The Apostle Peter already spoke about them, but the Apostle Jude writes at greater length. Says they are “destined” (v. 4); because the apostles Peter and Paul already wrote that in the last time deceivers of this kind will come (2 Peter 1:1-2, 3:3; 2 Tim. 3:1-8). Even before them, Christ Himself said: “Many will come in My name and will deceive many; do not follow them” (Luke 21:8); because, calling themselves Christians, they will deceive many with this name. The Apostle speaks of the followers of the most vile Nicholas, Valentin and Simon. For they, being gluttons and intemperate, gave their teaching a plausible cover in order to find access to houses and captivate women mired in sins. Having invented some night rituals, they indulged in debauchery. This is also why they reject our Lord Jesus Christ. For how can those who drive away the Teacher of all chastity from themselves by unclean lives not reject Him? For what does light have in common with darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14). to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. Jude 1:4. For some people have crept in, destined from ancient times (προγεγραμμένους) to this condemnation, the wicked, turning the grace of our God into an occasion for debauchery and denying the only Master God and our Lord Jesus Christ. He exhorts those who once recognized our Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and believed in Him to strive for the faith. For if we have accepted the Word made man and yet say that there is another One who was from the Father before the ages, and another One who is from the Mother, and that This One is a special person, then how do we not deny the one Lord and Master? For the Lord Jesus is one in the unity of economy; because the eternal Word of God and God, having the flesh implanted in the glory of the Divine, received by Him from the Holy Virgin, from the very conception, is one and the same Lord of all. Jude 1:5. I want to remind you, who already know this, that the Lord, having delivered the people from the land of Egypt, then destroyed those who did not believe, Jude 1:6. and the angels who did not retain their dignity, but left their home, he preserves in eternal bonds, under darkness, for the judgment of the great day. Jude 1:7. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, like them, committed fornication and went after other flesh, and were subjected to the punishment of eternal fire, were set as an example - Having spoken about the debauchery of the wicked Nicolaitans, Valentinians and Marcionites, he also adds that the Lord delivered the people from the land of Egypt, and so on. This shows that the Founder of the Old and New Testaments is one and the same God, and not as these vile people say, that one God, wrathful and cruel, gave the Old Testament, and another God, non-wrathful and humane, gave the New Testament. This also shows that those who are now wicked will not remain unpunished, just as those who came out of Egypt did not remain unpunished. For although God, by His superior power and by an oath to their fathers, freed them from Egyptian slavery, however, when they transgressed the law, He did not leave them without punishment, but gave them due retribution: neither God’s favor to their ancestors, nor the supernatural power of miracles helped them at all; and those who then crossed the Red Sea on dry land subsequently died for apostasy from the faith. Those who, having received the honor of angelic dignity, through negligence did not remain in their original state, but rejected the heavenly way of life given to them by goodness, God hid as punishment for the judgment, that is, for condemnation, of the great day; for this is what the word “observes” means. Why does the Lord say: “go into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). The inhabitants of Sodom are also cited as an example of the fact that they will be embraced by an unquenchable fire. “Other flesh” refers to the male nature as not serving such intercourse in order to give birth. For female flesh is capable of such intercourse, according to the saying of the progenitor: “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Gen. 2:23), and the flesh of a man, as I said, is alien to such intercourse. Yes, and female flesh, according to the laws, for one is its own and its own flesh, but mixed with many is different and alien and in defilement it lags little behind the male. Jude 1:8. So it will certainly be with these dreamers who defile the flesh, reject the rulers and slander the high authorities. Jude 1:9. Michael the Archangel, when he spoke with the devil, arguing about the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce a reproachful judgment, but said: “The Lord rebuke you.” Having set forth the examples just mentioned, the apostle left the consequences to the listener to understand. Which one? If God did this to these, without looking at their previous good lot, then will the present wicked be saved by the fact that the Son of God came into the world for people, endured reproach for them and suffered suffering? Nobody can say it. For although He loves mankind, He is also righteous in truth, and in true justice He did not spare those who sinned, but out of love for mankind He brought harlots and tax collectors into the Kingdom (Matthew 21:31). This is the consequence; but the Apostle omitted it, and did so either because we spoke before this, or according to the example of St. Peter, when he said: “If God did not spare the angels who sinned” (2 Pet. 2:4), etc. This is how we talk about it. The words: “dreamers who defile the flesh” are spoken with amazing modesty; for by the expression “dreamers” the apostle only hinted at the extremely shameful side of the matter. Let us discover it partly and how decently, borrowing information about this from the work of Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus, which he called Panarius. He says: these fornicators and filthy men, shamefully uniting with women, do not lower the seed into the womb, but, without completing the defilement, they take it in their hands and immediately put it into the mouths of the women with whom they were corrupted, and thus the unclean ones retreat from each other, imagining that they have done something great. It is this unclean handful, for the unfinished business, that the apostle calls dreaminess, for such defilement occurs during sleep. By desecrating their flesh with such a vile offering, they still madly rebel against the Divine nature, rejecting Her dominion and dominion over everything. Saint Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, spoke about this at greater length in his essay “Condemning the False Mind.” Otherwise: the apostle testifies to the depravity of heretics, saying that they are unclean in life, but very vile in knowledge. They, he says, “reject the authorities,” that is, they reject the celebration of the sacrament of Christ - they reject it because instead of the angelic sacraments they commit their own defilements. “High authorities are maligned” (δόξας). By authorities should be understood the different opinions of wise men, called by the noble Hellenes propositions (θέσεις), by which they mean sublime opinions, accessible not to everyone, but to those familiar with philosophy. The witness of what we said is the Apostle Paul. When the Athenians brought him to the Areopagus and he preached to them the doctrine of God, they considered him an idle talker (Acts 17). So, just as the teaching of the apostles was called idle talk, so the above was called “authorities.” That is why, speaking about God-given and God-inspired people, the Apostle Jude used the word “power”, as usual and known to everyone. Another explanation: perhaps the Old and New Testaments refer to them as “authorities.” Or: “authorities” he calls the church authorities who slandered them, as beloved John makes it known in his third letter (3 John 1:9-10), who writes that Diotrephes reviles them with evil words. Since the apostle mentioned slander, he not only disciplines blasphemers, but also convinces all people not to defile their tongues with such evil, not to use it even against those worthy of it, and says: “Michael the Archangel,” etc. He says something like this: they quickly and uncontrollably slander everyone, but this should not happen. For it is unfair to slander those who deserve slander, as can be seen from the act of Archangel Michael. Arguing with the devil about the body of Moses, he could have reproached the devil for his shamelessness, but he did not do this, but only said to him: God forbid you, devil! Otherwise. If the Archangel did this, then we, in a dispute with a man, our brother and only begotten, should not use slander. The dispute about the body of Moses was like this. The apocrypha says: Archangel Michael served at the burial of the body of Moses; the devil did not allow this, but charged Moses with the murder of the Egyptian and for such guilt he recognized Moses as unworthy of burial. The Apostle Jude reminds us of this in order not only to teach us not to be quick to slander, but also to show us that all people, upon leaving the body, must give an account of everything; that the God of the Old and New Testaments is one and the same; that, upon our transition from this world, the devil, together with his evil demons, rises up against our souls, wanting to stop their successful procession: he opposes, and the good angels fight for them, as Saint Anthony saw it. This could have happened then too. Only Michael then repelled the devil, forbidding him, but not with his own power, but leaving judgment to the Lord of all, saying: May God forbid you, devil! Jude 1:10. But these slander what they do not know; Whatever they know by nature, like dumb animals, they corrupt themselves. Jude 1:11. Woe to them, because they follow the path of Cain, indulge in the deceitfulness of reward, like Balaam, and perish in stubbornness, like Korah. Michael, he says, did not tolerate the blasphemy of the devil against a man, that is, Moses, but these compose blasphemous speeches against teachings that they do not know; and what, by natural desire, they know mixedly, like dumb animals, they pursue like horses. Woe to them, because they followed the path of “Cain” through fratricide; for, teaching wicked teaching to brothers, that is, only-begotten people, they kill them with their evil teachings, or: devouring the seed, they kill their brothers in opportunity, that is, those whom the seed, brought to maturity, would bring to life. They followed the path of “Balaam”, because they do their own for self-interest, like Balaam. They followed the path of “Korea” because, like him, being unworthy, they stole their teaching dignity. Jude 1:12. Such are temptations at your love suppers; feasting with you, they fatten themselves without fear. These are waterless clouds carried by the wind; autumn trees, barren, twice dead, uprooted; Jude 1:13. fierce sea waves, foaming with their shame; wandering stars, who are reserved for the darkness of darkness forever. At that time, suppers were still celebrated in churches, as the Apostle Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 11:21-22), called “agapes”, or “love suppers.” They, he says, gather at suppers not for the sake of the benefit contained in them, but in order to find an opportunity to deceive unsteady souls, as the Apostle Peter says in his second epistle (2 Pet. 2:14). Likens such people to underwater rocks, waterless clouds, autumn trees and wandering stars; for what happens by nature among these people is done by heretics at will. Just as pitfalls, when unexpectedly encountered by those swimming, can be harmful to them, so heretics cause unexpected harm to those who participate in the supper. Just as waterless clouds do not cool with rain (for they do not have it in themselves) those places where they are carried, driven by the wind, but bring darkness upon them, so heretics do not irrigate the souls of the people they meet with saving teaching, but darken them with their most vile stories, driven by the evil properties of demons. Autumn trees die twice, deprived of fruit and losing leaves (for dry trees at this time seem to be deprived of their decoration, the shine of fruit and the blooming decorum of leaves). And that the same thing happens with heretics. And they die twice, losing their fruit by consuming the seed and losing the decency of a prudent life. That is why they are uprooted from the paradise of the Lord, that is, from the Church, and outside it they are gathered and thrown into eternal fire. For what root will he have, whom everyone abhors for the vileness of his life? Calls them “wandering stars.” Heretics are similar to them, not in that they show off in the firmament of our faith and through them passes the sun of truth, Christ, bringing virtues to maturity and reviving the faithful devoted to them, but in the fact that, appearing to have taken on the form of an angel of light, like their leaders, demons (2 Cor. 11, 13-14), rush only against the teachings of the Lord, thereby approaching them they darken and prepare eternal darkness for themselves. Likens it to “fierce waves”. They have similarities with them; for, driven by the spirits of malice, they furiously and uncontrollably foam with their shame in blasphemy against God and end the fickle and easily destructible shame of their life in the foam of proud blasphemy. For such is the foam of the waves, to which they are likened. The words “without fear” should be related to the words “fatten themselves.” They fatten themselves “without fear,” that is, without fearing for their inability to shepherd the condemnation spoken by the Lord: the blind leading the blind, together with their flock, themselves fall into the pit (Matthew 15:14). Jude 1:14. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them, saying: “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of His holy angels - Jude 1:15. to bring judgment upon all and to convict all the wicked among them of all the deeds that their wickedness has done, and of all the cruel words that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jude 1:16. These are murmurers, not satisfied with anything, walking according to their own lusts (ungodly and lawless), their lips uttering inflated words; they show partiality for self-interest. Jude 1:17. But you, beloved, remember what was predicted by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 1:18. They told you that in the last time there would appear scoffers, walking after their own ungodly lusts. To what has been said above, he adds that Enoch also prophesied about the punishment facing them from God in the last days, that is, on the day of God’s righteous judgment. The difference between the wicked and the sinful is this: the wicked sins in relation to God, and the sinful deviates from the goal of righteousness in the affairs of life. After this, leaving behind the likening of the wicked, he begins to denounce them, calling them murmurers and reproaches. A murmurer is one who, through clenched teeth and hesitantly, reproaches what is unpleasant to him, and a reproacher is one who always laughs at everything. These vile ones are murmurers and reproaches. They are murmurers; for they do not dare to openly use their teaching, due to its vileness, since it is unsafe to make public their wickedness, combined with debauchery and blasphemy. They are reproaches because they slander everything that is foreign and the truth itself, in order to more firmly establish their own evil and depravity. What was said above, that heretics, like Balaam, were carried away by bribes, is now explained with the words: they “show partiality” for “self-interest.” To show partiality means to treat your superiors flatteringly. Jude 1:19. These are people who separate themselves (from the unity of faith), who are spiritual, who have no spirit. This is another fault of these most vile people. They, he says, not only perish themselves, but also kidnap the children of the Church (this means “separating”), that is, they take them outside the boundaries of the church, that is, the limits of faith or the very fence of the church. For they have shown their meetings as caves of robbers, and they are leading others away from the Church and bringing them to themselves. They do this because they are spiritual people, that is, living according to the decency of the world. For we have already noticed that Holy Scripture has the custom of calling life also soul. And the Apostle Paul says that natural people cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 2:14). So, being spiritual, they also use spiritual teaching, about which it is said: “This is not wisdom coming down from above, but earthly, spiritual, demonic” (James 3:15), which does not have the Spirit of God. Jude 1:20. And you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, Jude 1:21. keep yourself in the love of God, expecting mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ, for eternal life. Jude 1:22. And be merciful to some, with consideration, Jude 1:23. and save others through fear, snatching them from the fire, Those who are spiritual, he says, act as we have outlined. And you edify yourself in the Holy Spirit and in your most holy faith, that is, renew yourself in the Holy Spirit, that is, hold your meetings in your prayer buildings according to the teaching of the Holy Spirit. And “keep” yourself in the love of God, that is, preserve yourself, expecting mercy from the Lord, who on the last day will reward you with eternal life. And if they move away from you, reprove them, that is, expose their wickedness before everyone; if they are inclined to be healed, then do not push them away, but accept them by the grace of your love, saving them from the fire that threatens them. Accept them with mercy and with fear, being careful that your acceptance of them, with your careless disposition towards them, does not become the cause of destruction for yourself, because they drag even those who are firm in the faith into the spill of their wickedness, and evil is conveniently adopted. reprove with fear, abhorring even clothing that is defiled by the flesh. Jude 1:24. Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and present you blameless before His glory with joy, Jude 1:25. To the only Wise God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and majesty, power and authority before all ages, now and to all ages. Amen. So, accept them, but approach them with fear, that is, with caution, and with mercy for them, combine hatred for their bad deeds; even towards clothing defiled by their flesh, have disgust and aversion, because by touching the flesh it itself becomes filthy. Or: by accepting them, through the fear of future punishment, prepare them to repent and prove worthy of pardon. Defiled clothing is a life defiled by many crimes due to carnal passion. For every person is known whether he is righteous or unrighteous by his lifestyle, as if by his clothing. One has clean clothes, a virtuous life; the other - a defiled life, with evil deeds. Or, better: clothing defiled by the flesh is such a habit and mood of conscience that corrupts the soul by remembering the vicious movements and actions of the flesh, looking at which constantly, as at its clothing, the soul is filled with the stench of passions. For just as from the Spirit, through the virtues, gradually added to one another, a garment of incorruption is formed for the soul, putting on which it becomes beautiful and glorious, so from the flesh, through the gradual addition of one passion to another, a certain unclean and defiled garment is formed, which itself shows the properties of the soul and gives it a different form and image, not God’s. Having said this, the apostle concludes his epistle with prayer, like a seal. The end of the message of the Holy Apostle Jude. You might be interested in: