14. Triplets in Jude
One of the first things you may notice as you read the epistle of Jude is that the apostle loved triplets! We are not speaking about triple babies, of course, but about groups of three related things. If you look for them, you will see these verbal "triplets" throughout Jude's letter. Take the first two verses as an example:
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance" (Jude 1:1-2). In these two verses alone we have three triplet sets: Jude - Jesus - James; called - loved - kept; mercy - peace - love. Once we see the pattern it is hard to miss, and we come to realize that there are groups of three in almost half the verses in this epistle!
The obviously conscious structuring of the epistle around these "triplets" seems to be a unique "literary device" that Jude utilized to present his material in a concise and memorable way. They certainly help us to see the flow of what he is saying and provide mini-summaries of the different sections of his message.
For instance, a large part of Jude's letter is concerned with apostacy and error that were occurring in the Church in his day, and he summarizes these problems in carefully selected sets of three easily memorized examples. In verse 4 Jude tells us the individuals causing these problems:
… are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord (Jude 1:4). Here we see three clear forms of wrongdoing affecting the Church. In verses 5 through 7 Jude lists three groups that are Old Testament examples of judgment for wrongdoing: Israel in the wilderness - the angels who rebelled - the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And in verse 11 he follows these broader examples with three specific individuals who were punished for wrongdoing: Cain - Balaam – Korah; while in verse 8 he gives three characteristics of these apostates: they defile the body - reject authority - blaspheme.
In continuing his description of those who had fallen from the faith or who were perverting it, in verses 12-13 Jude has a double triplet telling us that these people are like: submerged rocks - shepherds who feed themselves - clouds without rain; and that they are like: dead trees - waves of the sea - wandering stars. Finally, on this theme Jude tells us in another clear triplet:
These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit (Jude 1:19). At first sight some of these threefold descriptions may seem more poetic than instructive, but they are carefully chosen. If we think about them, we see similarities between the items in each group of three that help us understand the problems Jude is portraying. In this way Jude sometimes even breaks the individual elements he is describing into three further divisions. For example, the dead trees he mentions in verse 12 are said to be "autumn trees" – in other words, trees that have died back for the winter. They are also "without fruit and uprooted" so that they are in effect: dead trees - dead fruit - dead roots. It would be hard to produce a more thorough description of the spiritual deadness of the individuals Jude describes!
But if these examples are all from the negative warnings of Jude's letter, there are many more triplets that give the positive side of his message. Despite all the problems Jude felt compelled to address, he stresses that if we do our part, God will do his – and God's will will prevail. This tremendously encouraging instruction is summarized in a vital triplet toward the end of Jude's letter:
But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life (Jude 1:20-21). These three spiritual exercises: building up our faith - praying - keeping ourselves in God's love (through obedience, as John so clearly shows in his letters) are our part, Jude tells us, in combating the evils that were already assailing the Church in his day. And they are just as necessary in any age. If we do these things, Jude affirms, then God will do the rest in bringing us to eternal life.
Jude foreshadowed that truth at the beginning of his epistle (Jude 1:1) and he concludes the thought in the great doxology or praise that he offers (with double triplets!) at the epistle's end:
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy (Jude 1:24). If we are doing our part, Jude concludes, God will fulfill his purpose in us, which is why Jude triumphantly exclaims:
To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen (Jude 1:25). Jude clearly saw the problems of the time in which he lived, but he held out confidence in God's controlling power for all three reaches of time: before all present time, for now, and forever.