the Door

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. Jude 1:24

The magnificent ascription which ends the otherwise rather hectoring letter of Jude has become part of the liturgy of many churches and the ‘prayer library’ of many Christians. To be fair to him, having spent most of his short letter denouncing every kind of error, apostasy and sin that he could think of, Jude offers at the end these wonderful words of encouragement and faith, even calling on his readers to ‘have mercy on some who are wavering’.
 

However, the general tone of the letter seems more consistent with the title ‘Zealot’ which Luke ascribes to Jude’s usual apostolic ‘partner‘, Simon (6:15). Perhaps both of them were known in the apostolic band for the zeal with which they pursued their faith. The Church celebrates them together on October 28th. The Gospels tell us little about them. Jude is described as the brother of James and as one of the ‘brothers of the Lord’. Simon is called by the Gospels either ‘the Canaanite’ or ‘the Zealot’.
The latter title may mean that he formerly belonged to one of the strict Jewish sects, or indeed that he had been a ‘freedom fighter’ (or terrorist, as the Romans would have seen him).
 

Simon and Jude were linked together in church records from quite early times, following a strong tradition that together they carried the gospel to Persia and were martyred there. Less seriously, Jude has become known as the patron saint of lost causes - hopeless law cases, precious lost objects and that kind of thing. Why, is a mystery. It has been suggested that it’s because his name is similar to that of the betrayer of Jesus, and he suffered guilt by mistaken association.
 

Somewhere in the distant past someone thought that such a man would understand what it felt like to be up against an insoluble dilemma! Simon and Jude stand together as reminders that it is not always those who grab the headlines who are the most dedicated in God’s service. They were called by Jesus. They followed him from the beginning to Gethsemane, Golgotha and the upper room.
 

If, as one may suppose, they then went off in obedience to his command to carry the message to Gentile lands, and especially if they gave their lives for the cause, then they, too, are among the great apostolic pioneers of the faith.
 

Canon David Winter is a former Diocesan Adviser on Evangelism, former BBC head of religious affairs, a broadcaster and author of many books.