O Brother, Who Art Thou?—James and Jude on the Deity of Jesus
James and Jude were Jesus' earthly brothers who did not believe in Him at first, but eventually came to recognize Him as their divine risen Lord.
O Brother, Who Art Thou?—James and Jude on the Deity of Jesus
James and Jude—whose names are on the New Testament books—were (arguably) the half-brothers of Jesus, the physical sons of Joseph and Mary (cf. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3; Galatians 1:19; Jude 1). (I take the position that the New Testament books of James and Jude were written by James and Jude in the first century and were written by the brothers of Jesus, not the disciples-apostles of Jesus among the twelve [cf. Acts 12:2, 17; Jude 1], however, even if they are not the brothers of Jesus, but the apostles, most of the argument is unchanged, except for the arguments from their brotherhood.) As such, they are not only important witnesses to the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus, but also important first-century testimony to the deity of Christ from Jesus’ own brothers who originally did not believe Him (John 7:5).
In fact, even as crowds flocked to Jesus, His own family and relatives—probably even including James and Jude—came to “take custody of Him” because they thought, “He has lost His senses” (Mark 3:21). When Jesus returned to His hometown (Mark 6:1), people who knew Jesus were offended at His claims (Mark 6:3), and their hard-hearted unbelief was so stubborn that Jesus Himself marveled at it (Mark 6:6).
James—Jesus is the Lord of Glory (ca. 47-49 AD)
Post-resurrection, James obviously had, not only a profound change of mind, but a profound change of heart.
Independently, James is identified by Paul as one of the early post-resurrection appearances of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7). James, “the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19; ca. 50 AD), was key to Paul’s testimony in Galatians (1:19). “James and Cephas and John” were “reputed to be pillars” of the church and extended the right hand of fellowship to Paul and Barnabas, neither adding nor taking any content to the gospel Paul preached (Galatians 2:6). James also occupied a key place of leadership at the Jerusalem Council, even speaking last (Acts 15:13).
For those reasons, and many others, James is important, early, historical evidence to the death and resurrection of Jesus and to the deity of Jesus. In fact, the evidence that these beliefs were already accepted, widespread, and non-controversial is the fact that James (and Jude) simply assume them without extended explanation or justification. Evidently, they did not feel the need to prove these beliefs.
James 1:1—“James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad [Lit in the Dispersion]: Greetings.”
Jesus was identified as “Lord” and James identifies Him as “Lord” while identifying himself as a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:1). He does this without defense and while affirming Jewish monotheism (James 2:19).
“The author of James presents himself as standing in the prophetic line of ancient Israel by introducing himself as a ‘servant of Jesus Christ’ [James 1:1]… This designation would no doubt have been understood by the original readers of this letter as a reference to the prophetic role, for the prophetic texts of the Jewish Scriptures, beginning with Moses as the founding mediator of Israel’s covenant with Yahweh, referred to the prophets who enforced the covenant as the ‘servants of God/the LORD’ (e.g. Amos 3:7; Zech 1:6; Mal 4:4 [3:24 LXX]; possibly Jon 1:9).” (Karen H. Jobes, “The Greek Minor Prophets in James,” in What Does the Scripture Say?, p. 152)
James relationally positioned himself (and his readers) as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:1), indicating that James and his audience were to relate to God and the Lord Jesus Christ as Israel and the prophets related to the LORD God. To self-consciously employ this well-known terminology with his audience, James made a compelling implicit claim that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, shared an equal divine status with the God of Israel.
If that evidence regarding the fact that Jesus is called “Lord” while being name with God the Father—a term often used to translate the divine name of Yahweh and applied to Jesus—then, consider the next use in James 2:1:
James 2:1—“My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.” (emphasis added)
Another way to read this phrase regarding Jesus is “our Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of glory” (ESV). Paul used a similar phrase about Jesus independently when he said that the rulers of this world crucified the “Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:8). B. B. Warfield writes in his book, also titled Lord of Glory,
“James speaks of our Lord by name only twice, and on both occasions he gives Him the full title of reverence: ‘the (or our) Lord Jesus Christ’ (1:1, 2:1)—coupling Him in the one case on equal terms with God, and in the other adding further epithets of divine dignity. Elsewhere he speaks of Him simply as ‘the Lord’ (5:7, 8 [14], 15) in contexts which greatly enhance the significance of the term. The pregnant use of ‘the Name,’ absolutely, which we found current among the early Christians as reported in the Acts, recurs here; and James advises in the case of sick people that they be prayed over, while they are anointed with oil ‘in the Name’ (5:14). The ‘Name’ intended is clearly that of Jesus, which is thus in Christian usage substituted for that of Jehovah. A unique epithet, equally implying the deity of the Lord, is applied to Him in the exhortation, ‘My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Glory, with respect of persons’ (2:1). ‘The Glory’ seems to stand here in apposition to the name, ‘our Lord Jesus Christ,’ further defining Him in His majesty. There is here something more than merely the association of our Lord with glory, as when we are told that He had glory with God before the world was (Jno 17:5), and after His humiliation on earth (though even on earth He manifested His glory to seeing eyes, Jno 1:14, 2:11, 17:22) entered again into His glory (Lk 24:26, Jno 17:24, 1 Tim 3:16, Heb 2:9, cf. Mt 19:28, 25:31, [Mk 10:37]), and is to come again in this glory (Mt 16:27, 24:30, 25:31, Mk 8:38, 13:26, Lk 9:26, 21:27, Titus 2:13, 1 P 4:13). We come nearer to what is implied when we read of Jesus being ‘the Lord of Glory’ (1 Cor 2:8), that is He to whom glory belongs as His characterizing quality; or when He is described to us as ‘the effulgence of the glory of God’ (Heb 1:3). The thought of the writer seems to be fixed on those Old Testament passages in which Jehovah is described as the ‘Glory’: e. g., ‘For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the Glory in the midst of her’ (Zech 2:5). In the Lord Jesus Christ, James sees the fulfillment of these promises: He is Jehovah come to be with His people; and, as He has tabernacled among them, they have seen His glory. He is, in a word, the Glory of God, the Shekinah: God manifest to men. It is thus that James thought and spoke of his own brother who died a violent and shameful death while still in His first youth! Surely there is a phenomenon here which may well waken inquiry.” (Warfield, The Lord of Glory, pp. 184-185)
James—as the brother of Jesus in the flesh, a committed monotheist writing to other committed monotheists, and writing within the lifetime of other eyewitnesses (ca. 57-59 AD)—calls Jesus “the Glory” or the “Lord of glory” or “glorious Lord.” And he does this without the seeming need for embellishment or defense just to make a point about personal favoritism. Consider further a few Old Testament Scriptures about Yahweh that James and his audience would have known and had in mind,
Zechariah 2:5—“For I,’ declares the LORD, ‘will be a wall of fire around her, and I will be glory in her midst.’” (emphasis added)
Zechariah 2:8-11—“For thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘After glory He has sent Me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye. 9For behold, I will wave My hand over them so that they will be plunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me. 10Sing for joy and be glad, O daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will dwell in your midst,’ declares the LORD. 11‘Many nations will join themselves to the LORD in that day and will become My people. Then I will dwell in your midst, and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you.” (emphasis added)
Even in these Old Testament texts alone, note the use of the pronouns, who is speaking, and who is sent. Yahweh speaks (Zechariah 2:5, 8, 9) in the first person (Zechariah 2:5, 8, 9, 10, 11) yet also speaks of Yahweh in the third person (Zechariah 2:8, 9, 10, 11) and is sent by Yahweh (Zechariah 2:8, 9, 11). Within Zechariah alone, we observe that Yahweh will come but will also be sent by Yahweh and will be “the Glory.” In Isaiah, God says, “I am the LORD [Yahweh], that is My name; I will not give My glory to another,...” (Isaiah 42:8). In Psalm 24, Yahweh—translated as “Lord” (kyrios) in the LXX—is said to be, “Yahweh of hosts…the King of glory” (Psalm 24:10; cf. v. 8). Thus, for James to call Jesus of Nazareth—His own Brother—the “Lord of glory,” “glorious Lord,” or “the Glory” would be highly significant both for him and his audience.
Furthermore, what could explain a self-consciously monotheistic Jew in the first century (James 2:19)—writing to a Jewish audience (James 1:1)—to speak of his elder Brother—whom he once viewed as crazy (Mark 3:21)—in such exalted terms?
How could a monotheistic Jew (James 2:19)—with no explanation or defense—introduce himself as a slave of both God and the Lord Jesus Christ, presuming God and Jesus to have a co-equal divine status (James 1:1)?
How could a monotheistic Jew (James 2:19)—as if it were already the conventional norm needing no apologetic—speak about faith in Jesus as the “Lord of glory” (James 2:1; cf. James 2:23; Genesis 15:6), an Old Testament name for Yahweh (cf. Zechariah 2:8-11; Psalm 24:1, etc.)?
How could James—who did not believe in his own Brother (John 7:5)—identify Him as “Lord” just as God the Father is identified as “Lord”?
How could James write to an early Jewish-Christian community about—not only how Jesus is the object of saving faith (James 2:1; cf. 2:14)—but the possessor divine Name which is blasphemed among unbelievers (James 2:7) and that He is the coming eschatological Judge (James 5:7-8)?
James affords both God and Jesus the same divine status by saying he is a slave of both “God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). James uses the title of “Lord” of both Jesus (James 1:1; 2:1; 5:7, 8) and God the Father (James 1:7; 3:9; 4:10, 15; 5:4, 10, 11, 14, 15) often even quoting or alluding to the Old Testament (James 5:4, 10, 11), which means “Lord” is a translation of the divine name of Yahweh, showing a shared divine identity, culminating in referring to Jesus as “our glorious Lord” (James 2:1). Jesus is the object of saving faith (James 2:1), just as God was the object of saving faith for Abraham (James 2:23 citing Genesis 15:6), the Name by which Believers are called, and a divine Name that can be blasphemed by unbelievers (James 2:7). Jesus is the sovereign Lord and Judge whose eschatological coming is near (James 5:7-8), while God is acknowledged as the one Lawgiver and Judge (James 4:12). All this occurs comfortably within the context of monotheism (James 2:19). James, being a Jew and writing to a Jewish audience at an early date in Christianity, maintains Biblical monotheism, even making the point that the demons recognize the truth of monotheism (James 2:19; cf. 4:12).
Jude—Jesus is Lord (ca. 67-72 AD)
Jude, another half-brother of Jesus (Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3), identifies himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (Jude 1). If this is truly the Jude who was the brother of Jesus, not the apostle, then similar concepts apply concerning his profound shift from unbelief to belief (John 7:5; cf. Mark 3:21).
Jude—writing later (ca. 67-72 AD) than the early date of James (ca. 47-49), but still writing within the first century and probably before the death of Nero (68 AD)—is still an early witness to the testimony of Jesus. Jude’s aim is more apologetic than that of James regarding Jesus because he was dealing with those that “deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4) and encourages the believers to “contend earnestly for the faith once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3). We see that Jude assumes a common and legitimate faith, contrasted against false teaching.
Like James, Jude calls his Brother “Lord” in the sense of a divine name, alongside God the Father. Jude demonstrates that this usage of “Lord” is more than just a polite address like “Sir.” Evidently, he considered Jesus to be “Lord” (Jude 4, 5, 9, 14, 17, 21, 25) in the sense that Yahweh God is considered and he himself to be His bond-servant or slave (Jude 1).
Jude 4—“For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” (cf. 2 Peter 2:1)
This is a remarkable statement, especially given Jude’s commitment to monotheism (Jude 25), his audiences commitment to monotheism (cf. Jude 25). It is made even more remarkable by the fact that Jude calls Jesus “our only Master and Lord.” Consider that fact against the fact that he later writes a doxology “to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Jude 25). For Jude—or any monotheistic Jew—to use the phrase “our only Master and Lord,” he would have to have God—his one Master in Heaven—in mind. Therefore, he considered Jesus to be divine by this title. The very next verse—Jude 5—only illustrates this further.
Jude 5—“Now I desire to remind you, though you know all things once for all, that the Lord [Two early mss read Jesus], after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, subsequently [Lit the second time] destroyed those who did not believe.”
Now, it is true, there is a textual variant here regarding whether the verse should read “the Lord” or “Jesus” (cf. Jude 5 ESV). We know that the text originally read one way or the other, yet both readings affirm the deity of Jesus from Jude’s perspective!
Jude 5—“Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts once for all) that Jesus, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, later destroyed those who did not believe.” (NET)
The New English Translation (NET) provides extensive footnotes regarding textual variants and their justification for a certain translation. The information, history, and transparency regarding translation choices is to be applauded. On Jude 5, the NET footnote on “Jesus” reads,
“The reading ᾿Ιησοῦς (Iēsous, “Jesus”) is deemed too hard by several scholars, since it involves the notion of Jesus acting in the early history of the nation Israel (the NA27 has “the Lord” instead of “Jesus”). However, not only does this reading enjoy the strongest support from a variety of early witnesses (e.g., A B 33 81 88 322 424c 665 915 1241 (1735: “the Lord Jesus”) 1739 1881 2298 2344 vg co eth Or1739mg Cyr Hier Bede), but the plethora of variants demonstrate that scribes were uncomfortable with it, for they seemed to exchange κύριος (kurios, “Lord”) or θεός (theos, “God”) for ᾿Ιησοῦς (though P72 has the intriguing reading θεὸς Χριστός [theos Christos, “God Christ”] for ᾿Ιησοῦς). As difficult as the reading ᾿Ιησοῦς is, in light of v. 4 and in light of the progress of revelation (Jude being one of the last books in the NT to be composed), it is wholly appropriate. The NA28 text now also reads Ιησοῦς. For defense of this reading, see Philipp Bartholomä, “Did Jesus Save the People out of Egypt: A Re-examination of a Textual Problem in Jude 5, ” NovT 50 (2008): 143-58.sn The construction our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ in v. 4 follows Granville Sharp’s rule (see note on Lord). The construction strongly implies the deity of Christ. This is followed by a statement that Jesus was involved in the salvation (and later judgment) of the Hebrews. He is thus to be identified with the Lord God, Yahweh. Verse 5, then, simply fleshes out what is implicit in v. 4.” (emphasis added)
In other words, there are strong reasons for why the name ought to be translated as “Jesus.” Even if translated as “the Lord,” the same evidence indicates that Jesus is being spoken of in Jude 5. However, even if the title in Jude 5 is to be translated “the Lord” and even if this refers to God in the Old Testament, this this demonstrates the deity of Jesus because the previous verse called Jesus “our only Master and Lord” (Jude 4), then calls God “the Lord” (Jude 5), therefore, using the same divine title for both Jesus and God.
The other uses of “Lord” throughout Jude bear this out (cf. Jude 4, 9, 14, 17, 21, 24). Even though referring to 1 Enoch and The Assumption of Moses, not the Old Testament—a topic which will not be addressed here (see Chou, The Hermeneutics of the Biblical Writers, pp. 189-190)—Jude clearly refers to God the Father as “Lord” also (Jude 9, [14]). Michael is said to have said to the devil, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 9). Also, Enoch is said to have prophesied, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones” (Jude 14).
A case might even be made that the coming of the “Lord,” here described by Jude, means Jesus since the “coming of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 2:19; 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8; James 5:7, 8; cf. Matthew 16:28; 24:3, 27, 30, 37, 37, 42, 43, 44, 64; Mark 1:7; 13:26; 14:62; Luke 3:16; 12:40; 21:27; John 14:1-3; Hebrews 10:37; 2 Peter 3:4; 1 John 2:28; Revelation 1:7; 2:16; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20) was a key aspect of the faith of the early Church. Further, James—the brother of Jude (Jude 1) and Jesus—probably also refers to Jesus when he refers to “the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7, 8).
We know that the return of Jesus—“His coming”—was an early, established belief of the Christian churches. By the time Paul wrote 1 Corinthians (ca. 56-57 AD), he can refer to a common prayer-invocation to Jesus in Aramaic and expect a largely Gentile church to understand it: “Maranatha!” (1 Corinthians 16:22, NASB) or “Our Lord, come!” (NET). This was obviously a belief and common statement of faith of the early churches: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20). Jude also has similarities to 2 Peter, which might indicate borrow of concepts and wording from it (cf. Jude 4 [2 Peter 2:1]; cp. Jude 5-13 and 2 Peter 2:4-10, 10-16, 17-22; Jude 17-18 [2 Peter 3:3], etc.). In fact, Jude probably even quotes 2 Peter 3:3—“In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts” (Jude 18)—and Peter’s next statement is that the mockers ask, “Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter 3:4). Therefore, the coming “Lord” in eschatological judgment, said to be prophesied by Enoch by Jude (Jude 14), most likely refers to Jesus, thereby equating Him with Yahweh’s coming prophesied in the Old Testament. This would mean that Jude believed Jesus of Nazareth—His Brother—to be Yahweh, coming Lord and Judge: “....Then the Lord, my God, will come, and all the holy ones with Him!” (Zechariah 14:5; cf. 14:9).
All that said, even if Jude did not intend the coming “Lord” in Jude 14 to be the Lord Jesus, but God Himself, then it means that Jude had no problem calling both Jesus and Yahweh by the same title “Lord,” in the highest sense.
Jude even seems comfortable with Trinitarian language regarding the Godhead (esp. Jude 20-21). Without sacrificing monotheism or expecting his audience to, Jude praises “the only God our Savior” (Jude 25; cf. Deuteronomy 6:4). He speaks of “God the Father” (Jude 4), sandwiched between calling himself a bond-servant of “Jesus Christ” (Jude 1) and says that “the called,” who are beloved in God the Father are also “kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1). God the Father and Jesus are invoked as the dual sources of mercy, peace, and love (Jude 2). He speaks of the pervert the “grace of our God” and “deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (Jude 4). As mentioned earlier, Jude is comfortable applying the divine term “Lord” to both God and Jesus (Jude 4, 5 [NASB], 9, 14, 17, 20, 25). Next, he either says that “Jesus” saved a people out of Egypt and judged those who did not believe (Jude 5, NET), or called the God of the Old Testament “the Lord” (Jude 5, NASB), which is also a term he applies to Jesus. God or Jesus are referred to as “He” (Jude 6) and said to have kept disobedient angels and judged Sodom and Gomorrah (Jude 7; cf. Genesis 19:24). When quoting a story from The Assumption of Moses concerning Michael and the body of Moses, Michael is said to have said, “The Lord rebuke you!” (Jude 9). The author of The Assumption of Moses doubtless would have considered the “Lord” to be the God of the Old Testament, especially since this seems to be wording taken from Zechariah: “The Lord said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, Satan!’” (Zechariah 3:2). Jude uses this wording to make his point, but also applies the term “Lord” to Jesus. He also applies the language of 1 Enoch to capture multiple Old Testament Biblical concepts at one time to speak about the coming of the Lord in judgment of the ungodly, most likely applying these passages to Jesus (Jude 14-15; cf. Deuteronomy 33:2; esp. Daniel 7:9-14; Zechariah 14:5; Matthew 16:27). Finally, Jude also mentions the Holy Spirit (Jude 19, 20). He speaks of ungodly people as “devoid of the Spirit” (Jude 19) and refers to “praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20). In fact, Jude talks about “praying in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 20), “the love of God” (Jude 21), and “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Jude 21). Jude’s doxology then praises God who is able to “keep you” (Jude 24; cf. Jude 1: “kept for Jesus Christ”) as the “only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Jude 25). Such statements in Jude, when taken together, possess all the theological requirements for Trinitarianism—monotheism, ascription of co-equal deity to each Person, and distinction between Persons.
In summary, B. B. Warfield again summarizes Jude’s contribution to the deity of Jesus,
“The attitude of Jude is precisely the same. He does indeed speak of Christ in the address of his Epistle by the simpler formal title of ‘Jesus Christ,’ but in accordance with his description of himself at that point as the ‘slave’ of this ‘Jesus Christ,’ he tends to multiply reverential titles in speaking of Him elsewhere. To Him our Lord is always ‘our Lord Jesus Christ’ (17, 21), ‘Jesus Christ our Lord’ (25), ‘our only Master (δεσπότης) and Lord, Jesus Christ’ (4)—a phrase, this last one, so strong that many commentators balk at it and wish to render it ‘the only Master, viz., God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.’ But we cannot feel surprised that one who pointedly calls himself in the first verse of his Epistle ‘slave’ of Jesus Christ, should apply the correlative of that term, ‘Despotic Master and Lord’ to Jesus Christ, three verses later. No doubt ‘no Jew could use’ such a phrase ‘without thinking of the one Master in heaven’; but that is only evidence that this Jew thought of Jesus who was his ‘Lord’ and whose ‘slave’ he recognized himself as being, as, in this eminent sense, his ‘Master in heaven’ (cf. 2 P 2:1). Obviously it is the testimony of these two Epistles that Jesus was conceived by His first disciples as their divine Lord and Master.” (Warfield, Lord of Glory, pp. 185-186)