The Judas We Never Knew: A Study on the Life and Letter of Jude

By Jerome Van Kuiken

Jude (a.k.a. Judas) and the biblical letter that bears his name have been sidelined for centuries. But his personal history teaches us about the complicated relationship between faith and family and between Judaism and Christianity. His letter’s backstory inspires confidence that it is a trustworthy addition to the Bible. His letter’s teachings about Jesus, spirituality, sexuality, community, and the afterlife have plenty of contemporary relevance. This book explores all these topics and more in a fast-paced conversational style that connects with popular culture and history—from football to fantasy films and from John Wesley to Beyoncé! Each chapter ends with discussion questions, making this book perfect for individual or group study.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seedbed
• Release date: Jun 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9781628246629

Book preview

Praise for The Judas We Never Knew

The most engaging book on Jude, his family, and his letter I’ve read. The author explains complicated issues in understandable ways, making use of well-known contemporary examples. Readers are encouraged to hear the good news proclaimed by Jude in ways that connect to the world we live in today and the issues that confront us at every turn. An approachable resource for today’s followers of Jesus.

—Ruth Anne Reese, PhD

chair, New Testament Department

Asbury Theological Seminary

author of 2 Peter and Jude

(The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary)

A hidden gem by Jesus’s long-lost brother. The book of Jude has much to teach us, but it is frequently ignored. Jerome Van Kuiken masterfully rights that wrong and reveals how Jude points all of us toward his Savior-sibling.

—Joshua McNall, PhD

associate professor of pastoral theology

Oklahoma Wesleyan University

author of Long Story Short and How Jesus Saves

In The Judas We Never Knew, Jerome Van Kuiken introduces readers to one of the most overlooked books of the New Testament, the book of Jude—a book written by a man named Judas, one of Jesus’s own brothers. Despite its small size, Jude contains a message that is actually quite enormous, as Van Kuiken convincingly shows. Written in a style that is fun, witty, and engaging, The Judas We Never Knew raises the profile of this little-known biblical character for a modern audience. With both skill and grace, Van Kuiken beckons the twenty-first-century church to commit unswervingly to the teaching of Jesus—just like his younger brother Judas did two thousand years ago. I highly recommend this book.

—Matthew L. Halsted, PhD

Eternity Bible College

The Judas We Never Knew is a very creative and accessible reading of the letter of Jude, its background, and message. The author uses information drawn from literature, history, theology, and popular culture to shed light on such things as Judas’s identity, the culture of the first century, and the early church’s setting within which the letter was written and received. Van Kuiken makes plain many things that are often taken for granted and identifies connections that many tend to overlook. The result is a reading of the letter of Jude that is refreshing, welcoming, accessible, and very informative.

—Abson Joseph

professor of New Testament

vice president of academic affairs, Wesley Seminary

Many are taking more of an interest in the small New Testament letter of Jude lately. We are fortunate that Jerome Van Kuiken is one of those. Writing with quick wit, depth of insight, and incisive illustrations, the author takes you further along your discipleship journey with Jude’s twenty-five verses than you ever imagined possible and leaves you wanting more. Read it now!

—Matt Friedeman

John M. Case professor of evangelism and discipleship

Wesley Biblical Seminary

Jude is one of the most neglected books of the New Testament canon. Van Kuiken has done the church a great service by offering a sprightly, fun, yet exegetically and theologically sound way back into this wonderful epistle.

—Matt Ayars

president, Wesley Biblical Seminary

In The Judas We Never Knew, Jerome Van Kuiken introduces us to Jesus’s brother Jude and his oft-neglected letter. With engaging wit, vivid illustrations, and a winsome orthodoxy, Van Kuiken unpacks the message of Jude and shows how this ancient letter speaks a powerful word to the present.

—Caleb T. Friedeman, PhD

David A. Case chair of theology and ministry

associate professor of New Testament

Ohio Christian University

THE

JUDAS

WE

NEVER

KNEW

THE

JUDAS

WE

NEVER

KNEW

A Study on the Life and Letter of Jude

JEROME VAN KUIKEN

Copyright 2023 by Jerome Van Kuiken

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission, except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles. Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the

Holy Bible, King James Version, Cambridge, 1796.

Art direction by Nick Perreault

Cover design and layout by Kevin Tucker at Collide Creative

Page design and layout by PerfecType, Nashville, Tennessee

Van Kuiken, E. Jerome.

The Judas we never knew : a study on the life and letter of Jude / Jerome Van Kuiken. – Franklin, Tennessee : Seedbed Publishing, ©2023.

pages ; cm. + 1 video disc

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN: 9781628246605 (paperback)

ISBN: 9781628240382 (DVD)

ISBN: 9781628246612 (mobi)

ISBN: 9781628246629 (epub)

ISBN: 9781628246636 (pdf)

OCLC: 1375023725

1. Jude, Saint. 2. Bible. Jude--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

I. Title.   II. Bible. Jude. English. Van Kuiken. 2023.

SEEDBED PUBLISHING

Franklin, Tennessee

seedbed.com

To Gale Finney and Gary Cockerill,

who shared their learning and their lives,

and to Jude’s Health and Java House,

for keeping it delicious.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction: A Missing Sibling

Chapter One: Jesus Family Feuds

Chapter Two: Jesus Family Reunion

Chapter Three: Fantasy, Forgery, or for Real?

Interlude: The Letter of Jude (author’s translation)

Chapter Four: Surprise Identity

Chapter Five: Transgressive Teachers

Chapter Six: Out of the Fire

Chapter Seven: Father’s House

Chapter Eight: Life on the Border

Notes

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THANKS TO Mr. Gale Finney of Kentucky Mountain Bible College and Dr. Gary Cockerill of Wesley Biblical Seminary for teaching me New Testament Greek and Bible courses and for opening their hearts and homes to me. I offer this book as a down payment on the debt I owe them.

Thanks also to my friends Drs. Jon Ensor, Josh McNall, and Matthew Halsted for reading and offering feedback on portions of the manuscript. Naturally, I take responsibility for its contents and any errors.

Thanks thirdly to the Multnomah Holiness Association in Portland, Oregon, whose leadership invited me to teach the adult Bible studies amid the Pacific Northwest’s beauty in 2018. I picked the epistle of Jude and, behold, this book came forth! I’ve drawn additional material from my presentations on Jude at the 2018 Wesleyan Theological Society annual meeting and my plenary address on Challenges to Biblical Authority at the 2019 Josh McDowell Institute conference at Oklahoma Wesleyan University. My thanks to them as well.

INTRODUCTION

A Missing Sibling

ELSA AND ANNA.

Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.

Percy Jackson and Tyson.

Oprah Winfrey and Patricia Lee.

Beyoncé and Nixon and Koi.¹

What do these sets of names have in common? They’re all long-lost siblings. In most cases they grew up not even knowing about one another, but in every case, they experienced a separation in their sibling relationship.

It’s not only fictional characters and famous celebrities who have these experiences. Long Lost Family is a reality TV show in Britain and the USA, with Aussie, Dutch, and Scandinavian versions airing too.² Each episode goes through an often complicated, emotion-laden investigation into someone’s family tree leading up to a big reveal and reunion (usually). For many people, it’s worth whatever it takes to unearth the truth and start up a relationship with a missing relative.

Jesus has a long-lost sibling too—lost not to Jesus, but to us. He’s there in the pages of the New Testament, but he and the letter he wrote have suffered neglect for centuries. It’s time to put in the effort to reconnect with him. Like Anna outside Elsa’s door or Leia picking up the training of Jedi where Luke left off,³ this sibling has something important to contribute. He’s been sidelined long enough!

In chapters 1 and 2, we’ll make his acquaintance and trace the ups and downs of his sometimes-rocky relationship with Jesus. We’ll even meet a couple of his grandsons in their face-off with a Roman emperor! Along the way, we’ll sift through both recent and ancient speculations about Jesus’s family. What we learn will teach us how Christians today should relate to their families, fellow Christians, and the Jewish people.

In chapter 3, the spotlight falls on the backstory of the letter written by this long-lost sibling of Jesus. Why did it have such a tough time getting into the Bible? Why did Martin Luther think it was a fake? Why have biblical scholars blown it off for the last four hundred years? And what do mermaids have to do with any of this? Those are questions we tackle as we investigate whether this letter is trustworthy.

In chapters 4 through 7, we listen to what the letter actually says. Its topics are shockingly up-to-date: Jesus, spirituality, sexuality, community, and the afterlife. Who wouldn’t want to know more about these?

To round things off, chapter 8 recaps this book as a whole and gives more practical applications. From racists to robots, from OMG to GMOs, from Messianic Jews to an ex-Christian comedy duo, we cover the waterfront.

A word of warning before we dive in: When people find a long-lost family member, their self-perception shifts. They may end up facing issues that they’ve kept under wraps or never even thought about before. So rev up your courage as we chase down the truth about Jesus’s missing sibling.

It all begins with his name.

What’s in a Name?

What’s in a name? On her balcony, love-struck Juliet mulls this question about Romeo in Shakespeare’s famous play.⁴ She’s not alone: whole websites exist to help you choose a meaningful name for your baby or uncover your own name’s secret significance. As I write this, trending baby names include Sophia, Noah, Oliver, and Olivia.⁵ Who wouldn’t want a calling card that means wisdom (Sophia), rest (Noah), or that you’ll flourish like an olive tree (Oliver/Olivia)? And the dictionary definition or original meaning of a name is just the start. There are also the associations that it picks up from well-known people or family members who share the same name. Maybe it’s no coincidence that Sophia is the name of several celebrities (like Sophia Bush, Sophia Grace, and Sophia Lillis) or that Noah’s a famous Bible character.

Sometimes a name even picks up added meaning from its various versions across different languages. Take my name, for instance. My parents liked the sound of Jerome, so that’s