Humble Jude

Jude, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote a letter to the Palestinian Christians. He began his letter with this greeting, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.”  (Jude 1)

This was a perfect opportunity for Jude to remind everyone he was the half-brother of Jesus; instead Jude says he is a servant of Jesus. He did not use his relationship to Jesus for his personal advantage.

If I had been a half-sister of Jesus, how would my letter have begun? I wonder if I would have humbly written, “Dara, a servant of Jesus Christ,” or would I have boasted, “Dara, a favorite sister of Jesus Christ?”

One day Jesus was teaching a crowd of people. Jesus’ mother and brothers were outside, asking to speak to Him. Jesus said, “…whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” (Matthew 12:46-50) Jude may have been one of the brothers standing outside, realizing his status of half-brother to Jesus gained him no special treatment. This could account for the humble greeting in his letter.

Society says, “It’s who you know,” and I’ve observed this same philosophy in the Body of Christ. Some people do their best to get close to Christian celebrities while the “unknowns” get pushed to the side. If Jude didn’t brag about who he was in relation to Jesus, we have no reason to be uppity because of who we know.

1 Corinthians 12 compares the Body of Christ to the human body. There are many parts of a human body, and all of them are needed. The outward parts get the most attention, but the most important parts are unseen. In the Body of Christ there are levels of authority, but we all stand on equal ground when it comes to who we are in Christ.

“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential, not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

When God chose us He was not looking for someone respected by the world’s standards. It’s not who we are, who we know or what we’ve done; we have no reason to boast.

When we’re tempted to think too highly of ourselves, or simply want to convince others of our supreme importance, we can remember Jude and his example of humility.