Epilogue of a Woman ...

 The seeds of a counterfeit are planted early.  They require careful attention to detail.  They must emulate the original thing they impersonate as much as is possible in order to be believed.  People want the original, and will only accept the counterfeit if it cannot be perceived to be what it is, a counterfeit.  So the lie must look as much like the truth as it can.  Mix the lie with elements of the truth and it becomes harder to distinguish.  In heaven “Love” reigns supreme.  “Love” is the reason, the motivation, the means, the method for salvation, perfection, and fulfillment of life and existence itself.  Lucifer took what was holy and perfect and made only one slight alteration; he altered “Love” for others, into “Love” for self.  It was still “Love” after all.  How could that little change be so bad?  Why would God counsel him not to pursue a love of self?  Was God trying to hoard all the “Love” for Himself and not share any with anyone else?  They all loved God, why was it so bad that they should choose to love themselves as well?  What kind of God would deny them, the love for self, that they were surely due, that they had surely earned?  A conflict of ideas had been born.  There was no supporting evidence, other than “God’s words” that the new idea was somehow going to be bad.  And why should a “selfish” God, who appears to only be hoarding all the love, be believed anyway?  This was perfection right?  How could altering something perfect turn out bad, and what was bad anyway?

But a counterfeit is always a counterfeit.  It does not perform to the specifications of the original, for by definition, it cannot.  A counterfeit might appear to look like the original, it may function much like the original, but in the end, it cannot be anything other than what it is, a counterfeit.  The alteration of Lucifer, the transformation of “Love” for others, into “Love” of self, proved the definition of evil itself.  His counterfeit quickly degenerated into the defining of the entire opposite of the word “Love” in any way.  Instead he had only defined “Selfishness”.  Self cares only about self.  But Self cannot find enough to make it happy.  Happiness can be found only in loving others, not loving self.  So the counterfeit of Lucifer, now Satan, must be covered up, and masked.  He could not market the pure love of self without quickly revealing where it leads.  So he markets a “blend” of love of self, and love of others.  Satan proposes that we must love ourselves first, in order to sustain ourselves, and insure our survival and dignity.  Once that is achieved, we should also love those who are closest to us.  We should love those who love us, and provide a support system to us that makes us happy.  We should do things for them to show them we love them, as long as they are doing things for us, and it is “balanced”.  BUT, should the balance ever appear to be one-sided, our love of self dictates that we move on, and find someone else to love, someone who will love us in a more “balanced” way.

And so the counterfeit does not perform as the original, it brings a facsimile of happiness, that might last for a moment, but it does not bring the long lasting, deeply fulfilling happiness that the original intended.  But the idea of “blending” truth with error, of “balancing” love of self with love for others, continues to make the counterfeit appear like the original.  So a counterfeit religion is launched to compete with the true religion of God.  The counterfeit will have many varieties, many names, many alternative theories, deities, and ideologies – but at its heart – it will have only one central premise; the idea that self and love of self must play an active role in the achievement of perfection.  Self-reliance, whether by words, or deeds, will be the cornerstone of every counterfeit religion that will emerge on planet earth.  Even within Christianity, the ideas that our salvation is a “partnership” with God, or that our salvation is somehow dependent upon “us” will come to be the majority view within every church.  The ideas that salvation is a pure gift, will be augmented by a “then what?” strategy that leads the believer to determine that his own actions following his declaration for Christ, are what save or lose him his own salvation.  The insidious idea is to immediately cut off the new Christian from a dependence upon Christ, and instill the need for him to save himself and perfect himself now that he is a Christian.

So the counterfeits of self-reliance and the balance of self-love, are not new ideas, but seeds planted long ago by the master of lies.  They have given rise to many false churches and false religions all through time.  And over time, they have infected the church of Christ, until what was formerly the church of Christ becomes indistinguishable from the church of Satan and Self.  Satan is far too smart to eliminate the “name” of Christ from His own church.  Instead he simply eliminates the power of Christ from eliminating sins.  Satan offers us our own beautiful self to eliminate sin, gradually over time, as we read the word, and forget the role of its Author.  Satan skillfully teaches us the role of “self” in our salvation; never that it is only self, but always that self cannot be eliminated from salvation.  And so through insidious ideas of balance and partnership, we become content to rely upon grace to save us in spite of our sins, instead of a dependence on grace to change us from within to the point where we no longer wish to commit those sins.  We remain content with the idea that sins are a part of who we are.  For self is inextricable from sin.  The counterfeit can never actually do what only the original can do.

And herein is the mystery: if the original is free, why would we choose to pay so high a price in pain, suffering, and death for the counterfeit?  If the love of self can be demonstrated to never fulfill us, and bring us only inevitable misery, why would we choose to remain its slave, if there is a free alternative?  In short, why freely choose to die, when life is so easy to choose instead?  It is the mystery of addiction.  It is the mystery of self-destruction.  It is the mystery of sin.  It makes no sense.  It is a counterfeit that is empty of meaning.  For when once the love of self is embraced over the love of others, what was perfect becomes the definition of evil, what was free becomes a slave that can no longer ever save itself. 

In order for the slavery of the love of self to be broken, it will require a Savior, something outside of self, to see us made free from self.  This is no partnership.  This is a purely an external action and mission.  It will be done FOR us, not by us, or it will never happen at all.  We will have no role in our own salvation, except to embrace it, accept it, and allow it to occur.  We only need to choose it, and then let Christ do it within us.  We will take no actions that see it done.  We will be no partner in the demise of our sin.  And we will be left with ZERO love of self, when the process completes, because it is the love of self in any amount that is the source of all evil.  The pure love of others, without attempts at “balance”, and with no consideration for how others love us, is all that remains in the salvation our God brings to us.  The original will see us free to love, free to live, and happy beyond our imagination in both.  To choose to remain slave to misery and death becomes a mystery no sentient life can understand.

So after the climactic events of the series of seven are largely over, in the aftermath, an epilogue of revelations are presented.  John has just revealed in chapter 16 the final seven last plagues that have befallen the world.  Evil has met its first rewards.  And in the aftermath of so great the destruction and consequences of sins, of counterfeits, of “balance” between love of self and love of others, an angel who carried one of the plagues upon the world takes time to come to John to reveal what has befallen the counterfeit religions Satan has given rise to. 

He begins in Revelations chapter 17 and verse 1 saying … “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: [verse 2] With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”  Throughout the book of Revelations, the image of a woman has always aligned with a church.  In this case, the “great whore” has been fully unfaithful to the idea of a singular belief in Jesus Christ alone as the method of our salvation.  Instead the whore has sought to blend any other ideas into the process of salvation. The counterfeit has been successful if measured by the sheer number of people who embraced her ideas of mixture and self-reliance, even within Christianity.  So the angel begins the epilogue of what happens to these ideas, and how they were to be judged by God in the end of all things. 

He continues in verse 3 … “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”  First, notice that what appears to John are two distinct entities, the first is a woman.  The second is a scarlet colored beast.  It is the beast who is full of names of blasphemy.  It is the beast who has seven heads, and ten horns.  This is the beast described earlier, the second beast (after the dragon), which first gave rise in the dark ages.  The woman, or great whore, or false church, rides upon this second beast.  John continues in verse 4 … “And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:”  This woman is no pauper, she has not given away all her wealth to others so as to make her poor.  She retains her wealth and puts it on display, in opulence, in public without shame or embarrassment at its lavish extreme.  She wears the finest clothing, and decks it with the finest in jewels and precious gems.  She also carries a golden cup and its contents are described as abominations and filthiness of her fornication, a substance of perversion one would not wish to explain to children.

John continues in verse 5 … “And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”  Three named elements are offered that describe this woman, this false church.  First is MYSTERY; the mystery of sin.  From the perspective of unfallen beings, of sentient life who have never known the slavery of self-love, it is pure mystery to them why anyone would choose this course.  Those who never broken trust with God, do not understand why anyone would.  It is plain to see, what happens when someone breaks trust with God, when someone chooses to trust themselves and their own wisdom and common sense, instead of trusting in God.  This is why Lucifer pursued a course he was counseled against.  And once embraced, he degenerated from Lucifer to Satan.  Self-love has led to the genesis of evil, of pain, and of death, even requiring the life of the creator.  There is nothing compelling about it.  It is mystery why anyone would ever freely choose it.

The second name assigned to this false church is BABYLON THE GREAT.  In this context, the false doctrines of the church are inextricably married with the power of the state.  In this context, the compulsion of the conscience is born and carried to its logical extremes.  There will be no dissent in the church of Satan, no reliance on Christ; reliance on anything else is fine, just not on Christ.  Those who would choose to rely solely upon Christ for salvation would find it; therefore they must be exterminated by the power of the state.  Babylon has the power to do just that.  Babylon was a universal power, not bound by the limits of any one government, but infected in all of them.  There will be no free will, no power of choice in this false religion.  There will be only slavery to its edicts and its power.  Any dissent will find only martyrdom.  The power of the state will back the false ideas of these religions, even the ones who bear the name of Christ, but have no idea what it means to love.

The third name of this false church is THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.  One false Christian church the original Catholic one, did not end alone in its false ideologies and adoption of self-reliance.  Instead it gave birth to other Harlots.  What emerged from the reformation and great protestant movement no more stayed purely aligned with their roots, as did the Catholic Church from the apostles who first gave it the light.  Over time, corruption entered the doors of the protestant faiths until they too adopted the ideas of “balance” and “self-reliance” in the method of our salvation.  In the times of the end, it is not just the mother of harlots that aligns herself with the power of the state to enforce her edicts over the conscience of men; it is her many harlot daughters who are equally content to do the same.  It can no longer be blamed on the Popes of the past or future who alone are thought to be responsible for what will transpire; for every protestant faith will also bear its share of blame in the coming woe.  None are exempt from the idea of using the law to enforce the ideas and edicts of men over the simple individual following of Jesus Christ alone.

The abomination of the compulsion of conscience is no longer reserved only to the mother church; it is shared by those who she gave birth to.  And it is not just one abomination that exists because of this woman, it is many.  She lies.  She thinks herself equal to God.  She kills those who dissent.  She persecutes and tries to force those who are weak in their beliefs to acquiesce to her demands.  She offers them sex, and perversion, and momentary pleasures that come from a whore, instead of the wholesome monogamy and intimacy that Christ would have desired for them.  She collects the fruit of her sexual promiscuity in her golden cup, and puts it on display proudly without shame or remorse.  She is content to be the mother of harlots.  She is content to be the purveyor of abominations upon the earth.  She has no shame, but much pride.

John continues in verse 6 … “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.”  The first part of this text concludes the imagery associated with the false church, this woman of harlotry and now murder.  The woman is drunken.  The blood of the saints and martyrs for following Jesus Christ alone and not adhering to the edicts of men has not only been shed, it is has been drunk.  She has become inebriated with their blood, happy, giddy, joyful, relaxed, and engorged with the blood of those who follow Christ.  Murder is not a thing of disdain, or something to be avoided, it is to be embraced by her. 

Lest you believe you are immune to this kind of thinking, consider your own level of acceptance in embracing the ideas that to keep your faith pure, how many would you allow to die?  How many would you kill yourself, or allow others to kill for you, in order to preserve your church, your doctrines, your ideas.  Or how many “sinners” who remain unrepentant would you wish to see die?  How many homosexuals, or pregnant mothers heading into the abortion clinic, or atheists, or Satanists, or militant Christians carrying placards filled with hate speech, would you take pleasure in seeing meet their early demise?  The false churches take pleasure in these things.  The woman becomes drunk on blood.  Sure we could argue she is drunk on the blood of saints and martyrs not sinners.  But then which saint was not also a sinner?  Which of us was perfect from birth?  Who of us, did not require the intervention of Christ in order to think differently, love differently, and become someone else?  We have all sinned, we all need a Savior, and as such we are all sinners, and all re-created saints.  It is our blood this woman seeks.  Do you find yourself aligned with the ideas of seeking blood, or of redeeming it?

In the second part of this passage John states “when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.”  John does not imply that he admires the whore for her grandeur, beauty, and wealth.  His admiration is in the mystery of her imagery and who she is.  It is a great mystery to him as to her identity.  He cannot immediately figure it out.  So this is the situation, the angel will rectify.  He continues in verse 7 saying … “And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.”  John being overwhelmed at the imagery presented was not the intent of this epilogue.  So the angel intends to decode the imagery so that John will understand better who she is, who the beast is, and what these things mean.  For the point of this epilogue is to understand what happens to the counterfeit and why the original is so much better.

The angel begins in verse 8 saying … “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”  The angel begins first with the beast.  The life cycle of the beast is first described.  The beast was, and is not.  Meaning the beast existed for a time and was powerful for a time, but then it lost its power.  After that loss of power, the beast will ascend out of the bottomless pit.  So after the loss of power, it gains again in influence throughout the world.  But the end result of the beast remains constant, it will again go into perdition.  The ultimate end of this beast is to be consumed in the lake of fire.  Those who have not embraced the salvation of Jesus Christ alone, who find their names are not written in the book of life, will “wonder” after this beast.  They will marvel at its ability to have regained so much power and influence after having lost it earlier.  They will embrace the ideas of this beast. 

John continues in verse 9 … “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.”  The angel here pretty much spells out to John in as clear a clue as possible, who this beast is, or rather where she is based.  The seven heads of the beast are the seven mountains, those where Rome is based.  The second beast has already been identified in previous chapters as the Papal power of the dark ages.  In this epilogue of false churches, the angel shows that when false ideas infect even a Christian church, it can become the tool of the enemy, the mother of harlots, and a beast raised by the dragon himself. 

Catholicism embraced using the power of the state to enact and enforce its edicts upon men.  Catholicism propagated the idea that one must have association in good standing within the church first, in order that salvation be achieved.  In that sense it made itself equal to Christ in the process of our salvation.  This beast carried power until the beheading of the Pope when its power was taken.  But Mussolini restored the Vatican city with its wealth and power back to the Roman church.  Since then it has only gained in power and influence around the world.  It is not the same persecuting entity it once was, but its underlying “blend” of actions required for salvation has never gone away.  Nor has the idea that church association in good standing is required as part of the process of our salvation.  Those who are not rooted in their salvation from Jesus Christ alone, have no problems with these ideas.  They see the charity and love of the current Pope as evidence that things have changed and the mixture of doctrines might not be so bad.  And in truth what the Pope espouses is not much different today than what any protestant church espouses, including your own.  Christian ideals are not a bad thing.  Love and charity are not a bad thing.  But to mask the idea that self continues to play a role in our salvation is the fundamental premise that turns a church of Christ, into a church of His enemy.  This is not a condemnation of Catholics, or Protestants, or sinners in general – it is an exposition by the angel of what constitutes the counterfeits Satan promulgates in ANY ideology.

John continues in verse 10 … “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. [verse 11] And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. [verse 12] And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. [verse 13] These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”  Frankly little is understood from these passages.  The seven kings are often interpreted as the 7 powers that ruled the world affecting the people of God.  Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and a blended United Nations style power (mixture of clay and iron described in the ten toes of the feet of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel).  Five of them had fallen in the time of John, the sixth was in power then.  The ten kings which have received no power as of that time where John lived, could be interpreted as the members of the UN security council.  They are said to represent the great powers of this world in the current times.  The eighth kingdom, being connected with the previous seven, is a worldwide power and will exist in the light of the Mark of the third beast.  This is often interpreted as the kingdom of the antichrist, or the time when Satan has direct rule over the planet just prior to the return of Christ.

The idea of having the UN security council align itself with the image of the beast, and enact a worldwide series of edicts that restrict commerce unless the mark of the third beast is accepted is not that farfetched.  Keep in mind, the computer systems needed to run the finances of the world are already chiefly run by the United States today.  Should Satan impersonate the return of Christ, and Allah, and Buddha, and Ganesh, and the Messiah, how quickly might he align the nations of the world under a single banner with his leadership at its front.  The ideas of having a one-world-government, or having the ten powers of “one mind” in offering their allegiance to the beast under these conditions is quite predictable.  The most important characteristic here remains the same, it is the alignment of worldly powers of the state, to enforce the religious edicts of man to compel the conscience that is at issue.  Once these ideas have been accepted on a worldwide basis, the fate of the great whore will have been decided, and the false churches, even the ones bearing the name of Christ, will be sent into perdition.

John continues in verse 14 … “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”  The Armageddon war to end all wars will be waged by these 10 powers, by this worldwide coalition against the Lamb, but they will not prevail.  The counterfeit cannot compete with the original.  The plagues recently described are to be poured out upon the evil in this world.  The false churches, even those who carry the name of Christ, will experience the results of those plagues.  It is not the name of Christ that will protect people from the final seven plagues, it is the following of Christ, the dependence upon Christ alone for our salvation, that will determine whether we are truly His, or only borrowing and blaspheming His name.  Those who by declaration, or by refusing a full surrender to Christ, have adopted the Mark of the Third Beast, will see firsthand the wrath of God’s judgments, the full consequences of their choices revealed in the final plagues upon evil in the world.  The angel revealing these things to John was one of those who carried these plagues.

John continues in verse 15 … “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.”  The ideas spread by all of the false churches of Satan are worldwide.  They are not constricted to a particular set of doctrines, or peoples, or geographies, but instead have infected the entire planet.  Religions who plainly deny the divinity of Christ share the same self-reliant ideas of salvation as those who do carry His name.  John continues in verse 16 … “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. [verse 17] For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.”  If we interpret the ten horns as being the powers defined by the UN security council, then it would seem to indicate that religions who do not carry the name of Christ are to be hated and persecuted by these powers.  The kingdom of the beast (whether the second of Papal origin, or the third of likeminded Protestant origin) is to have the allegiance of the final 10 powers upon the world.  In short, those who do not unite under the banner of the antichrist and his impersonations of worldwide religious leaders are to feel the wrath of the 10 powers.  The compulsion of the conscience remains the key principle upon which all of this is based, and upon which the kingdom of Satan is founded.

John concludes this epilogue in verse 18 saying … “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”  The woman or false church remains aligned inextricably with the power of the state to rule over the kings of the earth.  Her fate was decided in the previous chapters.  Her identity was revealed in this one.  She is the counterfeit.  She is the seeds planted long ago.  She is the introduction of self-reliance into the process of our salvation and of our perfection that dominates the religions of the world, and has even infected the Christian religions as well.  She retains the altered ideas of balancing self-love with love for others.  She makes sense.  She is more logical, and more alluring.  The pleasure of self after all seems like quite a wondrous thing.  But she is a lie.  She is a mystery of choosing death over life, of choosing pain over happiness and contentment, of choosing slavery over real freedom. 

The angel who carried one of the final plagues upon this world takes time to speak to John, so that he will see the fate of the counterfeit over the original.  He speaks to John, in the time of John, so that John is not seduced by the ideas of control and power that already infect the church of Rome who carries the name of Christ.  The seduction of self-reliance that leads to a quest for power, control, and wealth will inevitably take over the church with the name of Christ and turn it into the mother of harlots, so that no church carrying Jesus’ name will be immune to these counterfeit ideas.  All will succumb to the notion of compelling the conscience of others, and challenging their identity as followers of Jesus Christ alone.  The daughters of the harlot will be no better than their mother.  The abominations wreaked by these counterfeit ideas will lead to the destruction described earlier.  The union of church and state to enforce these religious compulsions will not end, until the return of King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

But there is one more epilogue and epitaph to be written …

 

Two Weddings ...

John the Baptist would proclaim Him; disciples began to follow Him; and now to make time for family.  In the beginning of the gospel of John, chapter two, verse one, it says … “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee.”  Interesting that at the creation event of mankind, one of the first institutions God created was that of marriage and the Sabbath.  Here at the opening of the ministry of Christ, one of the first things he attends is a marriage.  There is no way to know for sure if He knew the bride or groom, but He was invited to the feast, both He and His disciples, so it seems possible.  This was after all the area where His family appeared to be living.  For verse one continues … “and the mother of Jesus was there:”.  Family is an institution the “Son” of God understands well; for we are created in the image of God.  All throughout scripture, Jesus is referred to as God’s “Son”.    This familial relationship is something we understand.  It is something illustrated in the story of Abraham being willing to sacrifice He and Sarah’s only son Isaac, a foretaste of the sacrifice God the Father must make of His only Son to redeem mankind.

Notice too, at the creation of mankind Christ was present, for as John has already said it was He who “created all things”.  Therefore it was Christ who made both Adam and then Eve.  He was there at the first wedding.  He created the family unit throughout all of creation both male and female.  It was the union of male and female that resulted in the perfection of intimacy of His designs.  Neither Adam, nor Eve, were complete on their own.  In fact, some of the first marital advice ever offered in scripture was by our God to our first parents in that they should “stay together”.  As a family unit only would they be able to resist the much older devil who desired their destruction.  It was that Eve found herself alone, where all of the troubles began.  Had Adam been at her side, the temptation might well have been resisted by the power of their combined love.  But the separation and isolation made her more vulnerable, and they fell.  Here in the earliest days of His ministry, Christ again attends a wedding.  This act offers more than a miracle of water turning to wine, it offers another affirmation, that marriage and more importantly the intimacy that results from marriage by the surrender of two individuals into one family unit, is still something valued by God.  A marriage is still something God is interested in.  And like in the perfection of the Garden of Eden, it is only through the surrender of marriage that we find our ability to pour out our love on someone else and share an intimacy that God alone ordained.  An intimacy He was supposed to be the center of.

A marriage, no matter what the traditions that surround it, is a joyful occasion.  At this time in earth’s history, it was a common event to have wine at a wedding.  The word “wine” however, carries more than one meaning.  Christ referred to his own blood as being represented by wine.  And due to our own carnal natures, it is sometimes common to assume the wine referred to here was alcoholic wine.  However despite the fact that this story never actually says Christ drank the wine He created (that would be assumed but not specified), nor even that His disciples drank this wine (again assumed but not specified).  It is clear that others drank it.  So does that make Christ a divine wedding bartender?  Logic would dictate that if the governor of the feast, was also participating in the feast, his taste buds would have already been dulled by alcoholic wine served early at the wedding.  He might not have had the sense, or remaining sharp taste buds to determine if the new wine was actually so much superior to the old.  It is also logical that if Christ wanted only what is best for mankind, for us to hear and understand His truth clearly, He would likely not have offered a drink designed to dull our ears and our perceptions.  Much more likely, logic alone would dictate this wine would have been of the grape juice variety.

Author Samuele Bacchiocchi, conducted an extensive study on the original biblical manuscripts that were translated into our modern bibles of today.  In his book entitled “Wine in the Bible” he provides a detailed account of how the original language used words for wine that clearly delineated it was referring to the non-alcoholic grape juice variety beverage, as opposed to the clearly alcoholic version of wine.  These terms were mistranslated intentionally over the years to promote the idea that alcoholic versions of wine might have been produced or consumed by Christ, when in fact this did not occur.  So the idea that whether Christ and His disciples were consuming alcohol at a wedding, or simply serving it, does not make logical sense, nor does it actually concur with the original language used to translate our scriptures.

But not having alcohol is hardly the point where it comes to making a marriage a joyous occasion.  Genesis tells no stories of wine consumption being the thing that gives a marriage a reason to celebrate, or the cause for joy.  It is the love and union of two hearts that brings the joy to a wedding.  Having an outstanding grape juice there to drink, along with celebratory foods that comprise a feast, only adds to the joy of two families now blended in marriage.  And in this marriage in particular, having the blessing of the God of the universe, who despite His mother rushing Him a bit, still took time to resolve a very human dilemma, was the real win at this feast.  Notice the difference between serving self as opposed to  serving others.  Christ does not take the initiative to make wine because He is thirsty.  He only does this, to build the faith of His disciples, and to bless those in attendance at the feast.  Jesus was not a walking wine maker for those who were constantly thirsty.  Much later you will recall the story of the woman drawing water at the well, a Samaritan woman who Christ asks for a drink.  There would be no need of this, if He simply went around creating grape juice whenever He was thirsty.  Instead He remained thirsty.  In this instance, the needs of others, resulted in Him meeting those needs (again never even mentioning if He also participated in enjoying what He had created).

Marriage is an intimate thing.  In verse 12 of chapter 2 John continues … “After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.”  Marriage brings the blessing of children.  Love expressed generally does not stay dormant, or have no effect, it produces a result.  Joseph married Mary, despite her virgin conception, and kept her virginity intact until after the birth of Christ.  He did this to honor the direction given Him, as well as to see the scripture fulfilled.  But after the birth of Christ, the institution of marriage does not call for continued celibacy.  Joseph and Mary loved each other, their love knew the normal union, and in that expression, brothers and a sister of Christ were brought into this world.  Notice how scripture distinguishes between his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples.  If his brethren and his disciples were the same thing, there would only be need to state it once.  Instead John draws the distinction.  Christ had siblings.  They shared a mother, and for Christ an adopted father here on earth, and it appears his siblings knew who He was, and some followed Him as disciples (such as Jude and James mentioned earlier). 

Verse thirteen reveals the reason for their travels as Passover was near, and Jesus went up to the Temple at Jerusalem.  This would be the second symbolic wedding He went to attend, the one between God and man, the one more sacred to us all, in that each of us is not only bound to our marital partner, we are also bound to our God in the intimacy of our divine relationship.  It is God who knows each of us more than we know ourselves.  It is God who, like with Nathaniel, hears the deepest longings of our hearts, and who desires to be with us so much He would lay down His own life to achieve that end.  It is God who so loved us first, while we were yet His enemy, that He would do everything to redeem and free us from the slavery of sin and self and pain.  This is the God, the Bridegroom, who goes to the place of His worship, who goes expecting to receive us, and expecting to reciprocate our desire to see Him.  But alas this kind of intimacy is not what He finds.  This kind of pure worship cannot even take place in His house, as by then every tradition has been corrupted.

The Temple at the arrival of Christ is filled with commerce.  Religious profiteering has replaced real worship.  The place where one should go, during the most important time of the year to do so, is now so full of livestock, and salesmen, selling religious supplies and making money, that real worship is literally impossible.  How poignant, that the nation given so much instruction, with so rich a religious system steeped in symbolism to point forward to the Messiah, is now wholly unprepared to receive the object of their longing.  No one there sees Him enter as Messiah.  How could they, the sound of livestock, and profiteering salesmen fill the place.  So Christ fashions “a scourge of small cords”.  Notice this is not a 12 foot bull whip, nor does it carry the shards of glass in the tips of the whip that would soon be used to tear the flesh from His own body.  It is just enough to move the livestock.  And He began driving the livestock out of the Temple.  When divinity flashed through the eyes of humanity, those who were selling religious tokens immediately saw themselves in the eyes of Christ.  Like at no other time in their lives, were their evil deeds and intentions brought forward to them.  Evil cannot stand in the presence of God, it craves darkness, not light.  Light reveals evil for what it is.  And in the presence of light, evil must flee.  And so they did, running for reasons they could not fully explain.  Leaving behind the very money they worked so hard to swindle from innocent religious victims.  They ran before they themselves realized it. 

The force of the scourge was not the reason why those doing evil flee from the brilliance of the light.  It is not the fear of punishment or pain that causes the evil ones to run or to change.  In a straight up fight, they outnumber Christ, and could easily defeat Him.  Unscrupulous men, tend to know how to fight, how to struggle for what they want, and they do not surrender easily.  But this encounter was different.  When faced with pure love, evil is revealed, and it cannot remain in place.  They run.  It may even be possible they do not see the whip, it is the purity in the eyes of Christ, that makes them tremble all the way into their bones.  This is not a man who moves their cattle, this is the Owner of the Temple they have corrupted.  For those who wish no intimacy with God, for those who want what they want and have no desire to ever see themselves rid of sin and pain and evil, there is but one choice when confronted with purity … run. 

Then Christ proceeds to show the world what He thinks about the value of money, particularly where it comes to money as it inhibits true worship, he overturns the tables and casts the money on the floor of the Temple.  He does not count the coins.  He does not gather the funds for the poor.  He does not return it to those who have been swindled.  The condition of the money is put in the priority of its value according to Christ – on the ground where it is literally meaningless. 

The words “I desire obedience more than sacrifices” have never gone out of style with Christ.  The blood of rams was not the goal of the sacrificial system of worship, the reformation of the heart was the goal.  Buying a dove, or a ram, or another animal to offer was supposed to rend the heart of the sinner, and instill in them a desire to never have to repeat this process again.  It was supposed to send the broken hearted sinner into the loving arms of Christ who alone could change in them what they wanted, and how they lived.  But instead, it became a game of spending money to have sins wiped off the board, for this year, knowing full well, we will need to do it again next year, because we have every intention of repeating how we live every single day between now and then.  No intimacy with God.  No broken hearts over the innocent blood that would be shed.  No desire to be any different; only to fulfill the law, and be made pure through the acts of symbolism.

And today, what has changed?  We go through the traditions of our worship services.  We sing repetitive worship songs with mind-numbing tunes, and simplistic lyrics that repeat ad-nauseum until all meaning has been lost.  We give offerings and consider our debts to God paid in full.  We listen to sermons and consider ourselves filled.  We buy bumper stickers, and necklaces with religious icons, large print bibles to carry to church, and hope these symbols alone will do our witness of the gospel for us.  We ask forgiveness of our sins, but not for reform from them.  Our hearts are steeped in pretense, not in desire to actually change.  If our system of worship had not changed from the ancient days of Israel, we would be no different than those who went to the Temple on the day in which Christ cleansed it.  Our love does not define our reputation, rather our judgment of evil does.  We are obsessed with the condemnation of others, and wholly complacent with the redemption of our own souls.  Like those who felt no broken heart at the killing of the innocent sheep, we feel no broken heart every time we repeat our sins, having lost all perspective at the cost of our actions in the very blood of the Lord we claim to love.  As in the days of old the words …”I desire obedience rather than sacrifices” still applies with poignant fervor to us.  Obedience that could only come from the surrender of the will to Christ; this is what He desires way more than our money, or our meager attempts at worship and praise.  To drop the pretense, and experience the intimacy with God, this is the desire of our Lord.  This is what He came to experience in that Temple, and what He cleaned it out to make room for.  I wonder if confronted with the purity of love in the eyes of Christ, if we too would have run away before we even realized why we fled.

The priests however, were going to lose quite a bit of money on this deal.  So having gathered their senses they return to challenge Christ as to His authority to do these things.  After all He had said in verse 16 … “Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise”.  He referred to the Temple as being “my” Father’s house, again denoting the relationship of Son to Father.  The priests were still reeling from the flash of divinity in the eyes of Christ, they knew who He was, but they did not want to accept what He was saying.  What is more, there were people still here, people who did actually come to worship.  If they allowed this young upstart to reveal His truth unchallenged they might lose all sway over the religious rubes, and see profits come crashing down.  How alike in some of our churches today, where maintaining the hierarchy and organization of the church becomes more important than the dissemination of the truth, or the ministry of love and redemption to the world.  So the priests, despite recent events, ask for another sign from Christ.  He responds in verse 19 … “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Here again, Christ is attempting to turn the conversation from the errors the Jews clung to, to the real reason of His mission.  Jesus had come to redeem mankind, and He would be the Lamb of God who must be slain.  Where could a more relevant message be delivered than at the very spot where lambs were killed every year?  Instead of condemning the priests for the complete lack of understanding of the meaning of His mission, He guides them to think about something in a way they have never considered, while providing His disciples with His words in their memories when times would be dark after His crucifixion.  He would arise in three days.  Most of the priests did not comprehend the spiritual truth He was saying.  Like us, we view scripture through the lens of our own ideas and greed, and therefore interpret it according to what makes us happy.  So the priests failing to recognize the symbolism He was drawing attention to, interpreted His remarks as literal and being about the physical building He was standing in.  Thus they thought they had Him, but given that recent flash of divinity, they were not entirely sure, even if He was talking about the building, it might still be true.

Verses 23 to 25 of John chapter two, conclude with a worst case scenario for the priests of His day.  Following this exchange Christ does “miracles” and “many believed”.  Christ then restores the intimacy that weddings are supposed to bring.  He restores the intimate relationship with God and mankind, by meeting the individual needs of those who came to worship.  Notice that the slaying of lambs, and traditional Temple services do not appear in these words.  It was Passover after all.  If the traditions and symbols were more important than the God who stood behind them, we might well have found Christ conforming to the daily traditions and customs of the Temple worship establishment.  Instead He is there meeting the needs of individual people who came to worship, both physical and spiritual needs.  Many believed by the work He performed.  Christ made no attempt at becoming high priest of Israel.  He did not try to take over the religious power structure and lead it.  He made no attempt at being international president of the church to which He belonged.  Instead He tried in every waking moment to return the religion back to its fundamentals of surrender to God, and the intimacy that results when two are blended as one, both God and man.  When we allow Christ inside of us, when we surrender our will to His, we become something different than what we are today.  We become a new person, a creation re-created by God, reborn, as someone else was about to learn …

 

Jude ...

What would you say to those of the Christian faith today if you only had 7 paragraphs and 25 verses to save the world?  Herein was the epistle of Jude.  Jude who may well have been the half-brother of Christ penned 25 verses to try to remind the church of his day what it means to be saved.  He opens in verse one with a greeting identifying himself as the brother of James, followed by the most salient words in the entirety of the Bible – a phrase that often is overlooked as merely part of a cordial greeting between Christians.  But the phrase that follows is … “to them that are sanctified by God the Father”.  Here Jude identifies the entirety of truth, the whole of how salvation works – we are sanctified by God the Father.  Jude does not say to those who have achieved sanctification by the multitude of good works they have done, or by obtaining a mastery of self-control such that they have avoided the doing of evil.  Sanctification is NOT a work we do for ourselves – it is a work God does for us (sometimes in spite of us).  God makes us sanctified, we receive the benefit of that work.  We do NOTHING to earn it. 

Jude continues … “and preserved in Jesus Christ”.  We do not remain sanctified of our own accord, we are preserved by Jesus.  Our faithfulness is weak, and failing, but our Lord is faithful on our behalf, and preserves our salvation, the work His Father has done for us.  Jude completes his thought with the words … “and called.”  He reminds us that we are called of Christ to be His.  Our response, our acceptance of His call, or heeding the call, this is the role we have to play.  The work of salvation is done by God.  We are preserved by Christ, and called home to the redemption He offers.  This single sentence gives such a beautiful and poignant picture of the message of the gospel from end to end.  Our God has saved us, through Jesus Christ.  Jude begins his letter with a summary of the gospel, with a single sentence that says it all.

Then Jude completes his opening with a blessing on those who read these words.  He did not know his words would be preserved by Christ, and read by many a subsequent generation of believers.  He had no idea that a Bible would be constructed, and books of various authors would be compiled into the Old and New Testaments.  He did not know his little letter of 25 verses would be placed right before the book of Revelations in this New Testament, and considered part of the sacred and inspired writings of the Word of God.  Jude was simply blessing his readers, the audience he presumed would be made up of the early Christian faith of his time.  These were people like him.  They knew poverty.  They knew slavery and persecution.  They knew hunger.  They knew what it meant to be cold when it was cold outside.  They lived in his world.  And so Jude thought to bless them with a blessing he knew they would need.

Jude offers in verse 2 … “Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.”  The people who would read Jude’s epistle lived in this ultraviolent world where they were physically tortured and persecuted for what they believed.  They had no wealth, no ease, no comforts.  And so when Jude thinks to bless them, he focuses on what is most important to him and to them – their spiritual needs.  He does not offer them wealth, ease, or comforts.  He offers no fame, no power, not even freedom from their oppression.  Instead he begins with Mercy or unmerited favor.  Here again Jude restates the nature of why we are saved; we are saved by the Mercy of our God, not by what we have done.  He then offers peace.  Not peace with the world as this would be impossible while Satan seeks only to destroy.  Instead I believe he offers us peace within our faith, within our ranks, with each other, those who claim the name of Christ but do not always see eye-to-eye.  Lastly he offers love, the essence of the character of Christ Himself, and what is more, Jude asks that it be multiplied.  Jude is not just looking for an extra measure of love; he is looking for a quantum leap of love.  He wants it to be rapidly and measurably increased to those who believe.  For it is love that marks the life and ministry of Christ, and love that is the one characteristic of those who have given themselves over to Christ and are in the process of being made sanctified.

With his opening summary of the gospel, and offer of blessing complete, he begins his second paragraph in verse 3 and wishes to address a concern he has for the early fellowship of believers that now comprise the Christian church.  He writes of a “common salvation” and the need to “exhort” his readers that they should … “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”  Jude reminds them that even faith itself is something that was “delivered” to them, not earned, not something that originated within them, but something that was given them.  How does one “contend” for a gift?  Perhaps by being willing to receive it.  Perhaps by being humble enough to know it must be received as a gift, and not as wages for works performed.  Or Perhaps Jude only meant that they should not give up praying or asking for the faith they were daily given.  Then Jude offers the reason why seeking the gift of God of faith is so important to them.

In verse 4 there … “are certain men who have crept in unawares.”  These men were of bad intent, or of self-concerned focus from before.  They were ungodly.  These men who had infiltrated the ranks of the Christian faith were a great danger to them because they were … “turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness”.  Ever heard the phrase “cheap grace”?  Even in our early Christian church the concept that being made sanctified by God had been misapplied by these evil men, twisted for them to believe that being sanctified by God allowed them to do anything they pleased.  They took the grace of God as a license to lust, a license to please themselves, and in so doing earned Jude’s assessment of them as “ungodly”.  For our God loves us, His creations, not Himself.  These men love only themselves and not others and as such they are the reverse of God or ungodly.  They twisted grace from the freedom from sin that God offers, to a warped freedom “to” sin instead.  They thought to please themselves sexually, and use grace to excuse it.  But they did not stop there with their errors.

He continues … “and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”  In this, I do not believe that Jude is saying these men verbally deny God, and the divinity of Christ.  They may have when it suited them, perhaps in the middle of committing nefarious deeds.  However if they denied Christ around other Christians, they would not have been able to infiltrate the early church.  I think that Jude is here referring to them doing a far worse act.  I believe Jude is calling them out for denying God his ability to sanctify them, and the Lord Jesus Christ’s work of preserving them and saving them from the slavery of self.  Our God offers them salvation despite their deeds, and they deny Him, or reject his offer.  This happens outside of our eyesight and within their hearts.  As they reject God’s offer of salvation, they replace the role of God, with what “they think” should be the nature of salvation.  When the focus is removed from God and placed on self, the pleasing of self takes priority, and it is not uncommon to see lascivious acts follow.

Jude begins his third paragraph in verse 5 with a series of analogies to illustrate that having been once saved, it is possible to reverse this condition, by taking the eyes off of God, and placing them back on self.  He reminds them in verse 5 of how God saved His people out of Egypt, but those who did not believe were destroyed.  This did not happen all at once; instead it happened little by little.  Those who refused to put the lamb’s blood over their doorways even after witnessing the power of God 9 times through horrific pestilences designed to melt the heart of proud Pharaoh, would still perish for having ignored God yet again.  Those who would not cross the parted Red Sea would have died.  Those who forsook God because Moses was delayed on the top of Mt. Sinai and even when he confronted them, they chose to worship the golden calf instead of God, died.  Those who refused to enter the Promised Land died in the desert of old age wandering.  Those who refused to just “look” at the serpent on the cross died of the snake bites they had received instead of accepting the healing God offered.  Every time the children of Israel refused to believe, they suffered the results of their choice.  Every time salvation is rejected, death follows.  This was the lesson of Israel.  It did not matter if you had put blood over your doorstep in Egypt and were spared, if you now had decided to refuse to look at the serpent on the cross after having been bitten by a snake.  Because you were saved at one time through your belief in God, does not sustain you forever if you lose sight of that belief, or refuse to keep believing.  This was the lesson Jude was trying to remind his audience of.  The same is true of us today.

Jude continues in verse 6 by pointing out this is not even just a human phenomenon.  Angels who were once perfect but made a choice to leave that perfection, are now destined, or “chained” or enslaved to the service of self, and heading to a destruction they will not escape.  Jude points out in verse 7 that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah whose level of slavery to self, had so degenerated to the point where any form of rape was considered commonplace, were destroyed by “the vengeance of eternal fire.”  Jude is reminding his readers that these pretend Christians, who deny the salvation of Christ, and engage in the pleasing of self, that use grace as a license to fornicate, are not destined to anything other than self-destruction.  When one denies Jesus, one cuts off the only mechanism by which freedom from sin can be achieved, and the darkness that results is akin to how bad Sodom and Gomorrah were.  Those cities were not burned merely because there were homosexuals within them.  If that were true, no city in the world would still be standing before or since.  They were burned because the level of depravity had sunk so low, that rape and crimes of sexual nature, were considered the norm.  Nothing was out of bounds, not even murder.  Life was worth nothing in those cities, as life without the salvation of God is worth nothing in the end.  Jude attempts to remind his audience that grace is designed to lift us out of our depravity not sink us down to its lowest depths.

It is also worth noting the phrase … “the vengeance of eternal fire.”  As we look out across the Middle East we see no continued rain of fire from heaven over the former locations of these corrupt cities on the plains.  They were burned to the ground, and then the fire stopped.  They are not “still” burning.  The punishment was eternal in the sense that they were wiped out, their inhabitants exterminated.  But the flames did not need to keep burning to prove the point.  When the work of the fire was complete, the fire was extinguished.  The flames came from the eternal source, they had eternal consequences, but did not need to keep burning to prove it.  Perhaps Jude is making a more subtle point about the nature of hell itself, perhaps Jude is drawing the analogy that the flames of hell will have eternal consequences, but do not need to burn for all eternity just to prove it.

In his fourth paragraph beginning in verse 8, Jude continues … “Likewise also these filthy dreamers, defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.”  These pretend Christians that Jude is concerned about carry lust in their minds, that lust finds an outlet in how they “defile” the flesh.  Whether these acts be fornication, adultery, homosexuality, or masturbation – they are predicated on lust.  The second two phrases carry a greater condemnation.  “Despising dominion” is not about wishing to be free from the Roman yoke of bondage.  It is about the condition required where salvation takes place.  As we are made sanctified by God, it is not something we do, but something we accept.  We must give up our ideas of self-control, and self-based-righteousness, and accept the gift of God on our behalf.  This is a humbling experience.  It is humbling to admit that you “cannot” do it, and must accept it as a gift instead.  To remove the sin from your life, you must yield control to God.  To despise dominion is to hate the idea that God must be in control, and not you.  This is something the pretend Christians have a hard time accepting. 

Further, speaking evil of dignities is about how we talk to each other, and what we value.  Judas did not like Mary Magdalene pouring out such expensive oil on the feet of his Lord.  He would rather have had the money himself, to use as he saw fit.  Those Christians who speak ill of giving to the poor follow the path of Judas.  They reveal where their hearts truly are, and in so doing, they speak evil of dignities.  In verse 9, Jude gives the example of how we speak, even when confronting evil which is clearly in the wrong.  We do not need the use of railing accusations, but can be content with the simplicity of … “the Lord rebuke thee”.  

In verse 10, Jude makes the contrast of how they speak evil of things they know not, and instead follow what is natural to them, comparing them to “brute beasts.”  Jude points out again that the lust they cherish within them, leads them to corrupt themselves.  In verses 11 thru 13, Jude tries to warn them of path they are on.  He compares them to Cane, Balaam, and Core.  He makes the analogy of the dead fruit tree, waterless clouds, and foaming waves on the sea.  In this he points out they have no fruit as they have rejected the root of their religion (Jesus) and are therefore dead.  They are directionless, carried around like clouds or aimless waves, with fury perhaps, but no purpose, no meaning, no worth to others only to themselves.  The three Biblical characters he compares them to all had a knowledge of God, and all sought to use God in a way that suited themselves, instead of allowing God to be in control.  All 3 sought to gain something personally from the service of God, instead of blessing others by following the guidance or character of God.  This is what happens when “love” is turned inward towards self and away from the real “love” of others.

Jude’s fifth paragraph is an interesting one.  He quotes scripture (again remembering he only had the Old Testament writings as a reference) and in this case quotes from a book that is not a part of our Biblical compilation.  He quotes from the book of Enoch, believed to have been written by Enoch the great-grandfather of Noah, and preserved through the flood, perhaps passed down after Moses somewhere.  Parts of it were located in the Dead Sea scrolls along with the book of Daniel.  It is considered canonical only by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and was not generally accepted by the Jews because of its incorporation angels in its topics.  But here Jude makes reference to it and appears to accept it as a part of what he decries in reference to these pretend Christians.  The theme of what Jude quotes from the book of Enoch is not only found there, there are similar warnings in other works.  But Jude uses it to show that these ungodly men, need to be convicted that what they do is ungodly, and how they speak is ungodly.  The murmuring and complaining, and walking after their own lusts is a problem.  It is also a problem to speak “great swelling words” for the sake of pleasing those who have money or as Jude puts it … “having men’s person in admiration because of advantage.”  Jude is contrasting the ministry of Christ our God, with how these men behave and noting that what they do is the opposite of what Christ did, making them ungodly.

Finally Jude returns in his sixth paragraph beginning in verse 17 thru 19 by reminding his audience that warning of these kinds of pretenders were issued by the Apostles as well, not just in the Old Testament.  They too warned of “mockers”, or those who seek to use the grace of God, to give them an excuse to please themselves … “walk after their own ungodly lusts.”  Jude warns that these people tend to separate themselves, being … “sensual, having not the Spirit.”  How often in our isolation do we find ourselves free to pursue our evil intentions without the burden of someone else witnessing our selfish acts.  It is not the act of sexual intimacy that Jude warns of, it is the act of self-indulgence that leads to a void of intimacy and a path of self-destruction that rejects the Spirit of God.  Jude is warning his brothers in the faith, not to pursue self, but to remain compliant, humble, and willing to be saved.  He contrasts those who would keep their faith centered in Christ, with those who put faith in themselves, and points out how far that depravity will run.  Jude counsels them, and tries to warn them, about where a Christian in name only, will find himself over time.

In verse 20 Jude tells them how to avoid this fate for themselves.  He tells them to build themselves up on their most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.  Remember that this was the faith that was given to them.  It is not a faith they earned, but rather a faith they were humble enough to receive.  It is on this faith, this gift, that is outside of themselves, that Jude says is safe to build upon.  He is telling them to “let” Christ continue the work that has been started in them.  He tells his listeners to continue to pray in the Holy Ghost.  Even their prayers should be something assisted by someone outside of themselves.  In this verse Jude highlights a belief in the three-part personage or nature of God.  Jude clearly articulates a difference in God the Father, Jesus Christ His Son, and here the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit.  While it may be difficult to ever understand the entire nature of God, Jude seems content in his understanding that there are three united in one purpose for the salvation of mankind.  Three who are One.

In verse 21 he continues … “Keep yourself in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”  Jude reminds us that our focus should always be first and foremost on the LOVE OF GOD.  Again it is hallmark of a Christian when they reflect the love God has for others.  God loves without discrimination or limit.  He does not restrict His love from those who do not deserve it because of the evil they have or are committing.  Instead He longs to free them from this evil through the power of His love.  He reminds us of our dependency of the mercy of Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.  Jude reminds us of our great need of mercy, of unwarranted favor, of forgiveness.  Jude points out our imperfections not to glorify them, or excuse them, but to again remind us of our need of His mercy to see them removed from us.

In verses 22 and 23 Jude keeps the focus on our great commission, our great mission as Christians – to share the testimony of our salvation with the world around us.  He tells us to have compassion, and that our compassion will make a difference.  He also tells us that some may only come to see love after having initially encountered fear, that we might actually pull them out of the fire.  But not by engaging in their wickedness with them, instead … “hating even the garment that is spotted by the flesh.”  Jude does not intend for us to try to go around attempting to scare people into the kingdom.  But he does point out, that some people will only seek God when they fear for their lives.  For some, they only go after a miracle when they are in need of one.  A patient waiting on the results of a cancer assessment, a soldier in a foxhole, a person like Mary caught in the act of adultery and facing the condemnation from what she has done.  Some people only seek something outside of themselves when facing these fearful situations when they are forced to confront the fact that they are NOT truly in control of themselves.  Jude tells us not to leave them in their fear, but instead to pull them out of the fire.  Show to them the power of love, and help them to see for themselves, what allowing God to change them can truly accomplish.

Jude starts to conclude his letter the same way he opened it, with a description of how salvation works.  In his last paragraph beginning in verse 24  he writes … “24.) Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, 25.) To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”  The only one who is “able to keep us from falling” is Jesus.  But in these words Jude reminds us that our failure is assured outside of the power of Christ.  Sin is removed from us by Christ, not by our own actions or power of will.  And this is not a work Christ regrets, or only performs as a sense of obligation to fulfill His word and promise to us – instead it is a work that brings Him … “glory with exceeding joy”.  The glory of our God is defined in how much He loves us; in how much He does for us; in how much our God serves us, His lowly creation.  This is how glory is defined.  It is not defined by how much we appreciate what He does, but rather is a testament of the fact He does it.  Our appreciation of the work of Christ and our resulting worship does not glorify Him, it only recognizes the glory of what He has already done.  His glory predates our worship.

Jude then concludes with honoring our God, recognizing that ONLY He is a wise God.  Glory, Majesty, Dominion, and Power are His already, both now and forever.  These are characteristics that Jude sees in the God he serves.  Jude offers this in the form of a prayer and concludes with Amen.  Jude may well have understood these aspects of God from following Christ as a disciple those many years.  Perhaps he saw it reflected in him during the time they spent together as a family before He was called to His ministry at His baptism.  Perhaps the half-brother of Christ knew him like only family could.  But no matter, Jude does not use his familial connection as a method of assuring his own salvation.  Instead he offers the same message of hope in Christ to his brothers as well as himself.  Sharing Mary as their mother was not Jude’s claim to fame, instead it was the sharing of the love of God.  It is the love of God that unites the entirety of the Christian family.  It is the love of God that can transform a life of slavery to self to a life of service and love to others.  It is a submission to God that results in the perfection of our characters such that we begin to hate even the garment that is spotted by the flesh.  It is the love of God that we are to focus on and share with EVERYONE.  With those who are in fear for their lives, to those who know not the name of Christ, to those who are steeped in their wrong doing.  For it is only the power of the love of God that can reclaim those lost lives, and preserve them to the coming of our Lord.  Our salvation is found only in Jesus.  This is the message of Jude.  Do not look for salvation within yourselves, look for it in Christ.  For only there will it be found.

The short and succinct book of Jude speaks to Christians.  It warns those who would use grace to pursue the evil of self-indulgence and mock grace by attempting to use it to excuse the sin they love.  It tells us to remain humble and accept salvation as the gift that it is.  And it exhorts us to ever keep our focus on the LOVE of God.  In just 7 paragraphs and 25 short verses, Jude summarizes the entirety of the purpose of both Old and New Testaments.  What else might we find when we open the Book and take a second look …