A number of men in the New Testament bear the name "James":
Because he is first mentioned in the list of the Lord's brothers
(Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3) it is assumed that he was next in age
after Jesus. During the public ministry of Jesus, James and the
other family members had tried to visit Jesus (Matthew 12:46-50;
Mark 3:31-35; Luke 8:19-21). It appears that they were concerned
about His health (Mark 3:21,31). Up until at least seven months
prior to the crucifixion, James and the other brothers remained
unbelievers in Jesus (John 7:3-5). And yet prior to the day of
Pentecost we find James with the apostles and other disciples
(Acts 1:13), evidently now a believer in Jesus. Many feel that
the "James" mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:7, to whom
Jesus appeared, was this James. And that this appearance convinced
James and subsequently the other brothers that their brother Jesus
was indeed the Messiah.
In the history of the early church we increasingly find James
playing a prominent role. Three years after his conversion, Paul
had met with Peter and James (Galatians 1:18-19). In Galatians
2:9, Paul referred to this James as being one of the pillars of
the church, along with Peter and John. Around 47 A.D., James
takes a prominent and vocal role along with Peter, Paul and Barnabas
in opposing the Judaizing teachers (Acts 15:13-21). Clearly,
he is a man who had the gift of speaking by inspiration. When
Paul brought the collection for the poor Christians to Jerusalem,
James is mentioned along with the elders of the church in Jerusalem
(Acts 21:18). This was the end of Paul's third missionary journey
and would be spring of 58 A.D. Josephus claims that between
the death of Festus and the arrival of the new Roman governor
in Judea, the high priest, Ananus, seized the opportunity to call
the judicial council together. He charged James and others with
violating the law, and James was stoned to death. If we take
this account as accurate, then James would have died around A.D.
62.
'to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad' (1:1)
"Twelve tribes"-Obviously, James isn't writing to non-Christians
or Jewish unbelievers. The expression 'twelve tribes' must be
taken figuratively to apply to the Church, the new Israel (Galatians
3:28-29; 6:16; Romans 2:28-29; 4:11-12).
"Dispersion"-Initially, the word was used of Jews who
from time to time had been scattered among the Gentiles (John
7:5), Jews who lived outside of Palestine. But since James isn't
writing to unbelieving Jews, the word 'dispersion' must mean,
'figuratively of Christians who live in dispersion in the world'
Therefore it would seem that this letter is addressed to Christians
who have been scattered due to persecution (Acts 8:4) and other
factors. This is a general letter addressed to all Christians.
Woods notes, that James mentions the "early and latter rain"
(5:7), which is a characteristic of Palestine. In addition, all
the references to James in the latter half of the book of Acts
place him in Jerusalem (Acts 15,21). The years during which
James was a prominent voice for Christians in Palestine were troublesome
years. Roberts notes, 'The political and religious life of the
country in these years is filled with corruption, strife, intrigue
and hatred
In the governorship of Cuspius Fadus (A.D. 44-46)
occurred the uprising of Theudas in Judea
It was during these
years that the infamous Ananias was elevated to the high priesthood
which he held A.D. 47-59. In A.D. 48 another governor Cumanus
replaced Tiberias Alexander, and under his blundering occurred
the riot in the temple in which Josephus says 20,000 Jews lost
their lives
.The new Procurator was Felix (A.D. 52)..Under
him conditions of "legalized extortion"..became the
order of the day. The Jewish nation, already impoverish by the
famine (Acts 11:27), reached a critical economic state
The
greed of Ananias and the rich Jews of whom the Sanhedrin was typical
.Resentment
against this situation and against Rome, who allowed it, became
intensified in the 50's by the growing Zealot bands of murderers
and armed Dagger Assassins. These Assassins who appeared in the
early reign of Felix began their work under the instigation of
the Governor himself with the murder of the ex-high priest Jonathan
in the Temple
.The recall of Felix soon after the rule of
Nero began brought the more able Festus to the troubled province.
But his efforts to promote peace availed little
Festus died
in A.D. 62, )and according to Josephus, before the new governor
could arrive (Albinus), Ananus and the Sanhedrin took the life
of James)
The high priest who had done the deed was deposed
by the new Governor, but the Governor
organized his own pillage,
set prisoners free for fees, and allowed the Sadducees free rein
in Jerusalem; mobs ran riot
Meanwhile the Romans were growing
tired of the bickering and the attacks upon Roman supply trains.
Vespasian was on his way to set the troubled province at peace.
The rest is tragedy.'
Guthrie has noted that many statements in this book are simply
restatements of what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew
5-7).
4. And then there are the writers who are always trying to find
a pseudo-writer behind every New Testament book. That is, someone
other than James wrote the book and attached his name to it.
But if the real author was deceptive, or in other words a liar
(Revelation 21:8), then why should we listen to anything he said?
VI. A Very Practical Book:
Various voices within the community of religious scholarship might
not like this book, but I have a feeling that some of this is
due to prejudice on the part of the scholars. This book doesn't
allow us to remain on an academic or theoretical level with the
truths of Christianity. 1. This isn't a Christianity which is
practiced in the comfort of a study or with the perks of tenure
and a successful book tour (1:2-4). 2. God isn't impressed by
the skeptic (1:6-8). 3. There is a wisdom that cannot be obtained
apart from God and submitting to His will (James 1:5). 4. This
book gets down to the nitty-gritty of temptation (1:14-16), and
removes all the human explanations, excuses and rationalizations
for why people do bad things. The teaching on why people give
into evil clearly goes against modern political correctness and
what often passes for "science". 5. Often, religious
or secular scholarship doesn't like to hear that lip-profession
means nothing (1:22-27). Being a Christian means getting your
hands dirty, getting into uncomfortable situations, changing your
attitude, controlling your tongue and so on. 6. The teaching
concerning personal favoritism (2:1-9) goes against the preferences
of those who see themselves as belonging to an elite class. 7.
A faith that works upsets the Calvinist or the elitist, who wants
their salvation locked in, so they can concentrate on more important
matters (2:14-26). The book is so practical that some have called
it "the gospel of common sense". Or as the writers
of the ISBE stated, "The sentence construction is simple
and straightforward. There is usually no good reason for misunderstanding
anything James says.' One writer noted, "There are those
who talk holiness and are hypocrites; those who make profession
of perfect love and yet cannot live peaceably with their brethren;
those who are full of pious phraseology but fail in practical
philanthropy. The epistle was written for them. It may not give
them much comfort, but it ought to give them much profit. All
who are long on theory and short on practice ought to steep themselves
in the spirit of James; and since there are such people in every
community and in every age, the message of the epistle will never
grow old.' (ISBE p. 1567)
Pure Religion:
Vain Religion
Joy and patience in the midst of trials (1:2-4) Complaining
(5:9)
Unwavering faith (1:5-8) Doubting (1:6-8)
Enduring temptation (1:12-15) Yielding to it (1:14)
Seeing God as the source of all good (1:17)
Slow to anger (1:19) Anger (1:20)
Humility (1:21) Pride (4:6)
Obedient Faith (1:22-25) Lip profession (2:14-16)
Control of the tongue (1:26) Lack of control (1:26, 3:2ff)
Benevolence (1:27; 2:14-26) It's not my job (2:16)
Moral purity (1:27; 4:8) Friendship with the world
(4:4)
Love of neighbor (2:10) Showing partiality (2:1-9)
Respect for the whole law (2:12) Picking and choosing (2:9)
Mercy (2:13) No mercy (2:13)
Peaceable, gentle, reasonable, good fruits Hypocrisy, jealousy, selfish
conviction, sincerity (3:17) ambition, lying, arrogance
(3:14-16)
God is the judge (4:12) Trying to assume God's place
(4:11-12)
Trust in God (4:15) Trust in self (4:13-17)
Generosity (1:27) Hoarding (5:1ff)
Paul and James do not contradict each other, how could they if
we believe the Bible is inspired of God? Paul and James teach
the same thing, the faith that results in salvation is an active
and obedient faith. Romans 4 stresses the same truth which is
stressed in James 2:14-26. Look at the faith which Abraham possessed,
and how Paul describes it in Romans 4:18-22. If one tries to
argue that Romans 4 and James 2 are in opposition to each other,
what is going to happen when you read Matthew 7:21 and following?
Or John 14:15? Do Paul and Jesus contradict each other?
James also makes it clear that we must continue to exercise
an obedient faith to end up saved. For James is addressing people
who are already saved, (2:15 'If a brother or sister
and
one of you says
'). The book makes it clear that a Christian
can so sin as to forfeit their salvation (2:14 'can that faith
save him?'; 5:19-20).
This book contradicts Calvinistic theory, for it presents man
as having a choice, a freewill. And much of the book places the
responsibility for change and morality upon the individual (1:2,4,6,9,12,21,22,
and so on).
Whoever wrote, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but
words can never hurt me", needed to read this letter. Words
can hurt and they can destroy (3:6,8). In fact, God feels that
one of the real tests of our spirituality is whether or not we
can control what we say (1:26).
In contrast to so many false theories about why a person sins,
the letter makes it clear: 1. Temptation is not a matter of
fate or some eternal decree from God (1:13). 2. 'nor is it hereditary
and so antecedent to choice.' Many modern and ancient theories
concerning why people do bad things are completely destroyed by
the words found in James 1:13-15.
While many outlines for the book exist, I like the following:
Greeting (1:1)
Trials and how to meet them (1:2-4).
Wisdom and how to obtain it (1:5-8)
Wealth and how to regard it (1:9-11)
Temptation and trial distinguished it (1:12-15)
Good gifts (1:16-18)
While trials are used by God to develop character and spirituality,
temptation never comes from God but rather springs from our own
evil and selfish desires. God doesn't send temptations, but
He does send all good gifts.
Hearing and doing (1:19-27).
The best thing that God has given us is His word. And when the
word is received everything that is contrary to the will of God
must be removed.
Against partiality (2:1-13)
Against a barren faith (2:14-26)
Qualities required in teachers (3:1-18) (and all Christians)
Dangers: (4:1-17)
Warnings to wealthy oppressors (5:1-6)
Encouragements to the oppressed (5:7-11)
Against oaths (5:12)
The power of prayer (5:13-18)
Help for the backslider (5:19-20)
Before we close we should note that like the other writers of the New Testament, James believed that the examples and events recorded in the Old Testament: A. Really happened. B. Still stand as offering relevant lessons, warnings and words of encouragement (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:1-12; James 5:10-17).