Jude 17-25
Mothers
will do almost anything to protect their children if they feel they are threatened.
My brother tells the following story about our mother that illustrates this
point.
As
a little boy, he was playing with some friends when things turned ugly and the
other boys started throwing crab apples at him. He couldn’t find anything to
retaliate with except for a small broken piece of brick. So he threw it at one
of the boys, hitting him in the forehead.
Shortly
after running home, there was a loud knock at our door. Our mother answered the
door to find an enraged mother with her bloodied son in tow. She yelled at our mom
saying, “Look what your son did to my poor boy”. Perceiving a threat to her
child, our mother responded, “Well… well… he probably deserved it”.
In
today’s passage Jude wrote to those who have been called to follow Jesus to “watch out for scoffers”, “to build yourself
up in your faith” and “save others by snatching them from the fire”. In
other words, he told them to protect yourself and others against the evils of
this world that can drag you down from following Christ.
I
like how The Message makes this point of motherly protection:
“But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this
most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of
God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our
Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after
those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The
sin itself stinks to high heaven.” Jude
20-23
Jude
uses the phrase “Dear Friends” twice in today’s eight verses. He might as well
have addressed them as, “Dear Children”, because he is as loving and protective
as a Mother’s love trying to protect her children. His message is as relavent
today for you and me as it was then.
Therefore,
“keep your arms open and outstretched,
ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ”. And when you see a
brother or sister who is taking the wrong way, go after them and “snatch them from the fire”.
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