James is a fast moving book. Eleven loose topics are handled in rapid succession in these 5 chapters. It is a book containing multiple imperatives (commands), over 60 of them in this letter. It is a book about ‘doing’ as in doing the Word of God.
Author:
COMMENT: James, the author of this letter to the twelve tribes, is the physical half-brother of Jesus, by means of the virgin birth. James genealogy includes Joseph and Mary whereas Jesus was the offspring of the Holy Spirit and Mary. He is the oldest of the half-brothers as his name appears first in the lists found in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. He is also the pastor and leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:12-21) and one of its pillars with Peter and John (Galatians 2:9). Understand that James pastored the church at Jerusalem under the prophetic death spiral or prophecy that Jesus gave back in the gospels (Matthew 23:37-24:2). In roughly twenty-five years, the city would experience destruction and the church dismantled by the Roman Emperor Titus in 70 A.D. Interesting thought here: Could Jerusalem’s destiny been altered as Nineveh’s had been many centuries before? Could this prophecy have been averted? James, though, never saw the fulfilling of this prophecy. He suffered martyrdom in 62 A.D under Titus’s father, the Roman Emperor Vespasian. Tradition states that he was thrown off the temple, and then stoned and beaten to death when he refused to recant his testimony about Jesus 1.
Date:
COMMENT: James wrote his letter about 45 A.D. as one of the first New Testament documents recorded.
Recipients:
COMMENT: this epistle was written to the ‘twelve tribes which are scattered or dispersed abroad’. ‘Dispersed abroad’ means, according to John 7:35, out among the Gentiles or outside the land of Israel (Palestine). The letter has a distinctively Jewish feel. James uses quotes from the Old Testament, James 1:11 cited from Isaiah 40:7, James 2:8 cited from Leviticus 19:18, James 2:11 cited from Exodus 20:14, James 2:23 cited from Genesis 15:6, and James 4:6 cited from Proverbs 3:34. James also uses familiar Jewish characters in Abraham, Isaac, Rahab, Job and Elijah (James 2:21,25, 5:11,17), as well as, language that would be understood by Jewish listeners as the phrase Lord of Saboath (Lord of Hosts) in James 5:4 suggests.
COMMENT: James is not a letter written to a specific church. The church at Jerusalem is inferred as part of the group he is writing to because of his connection to it as its spiritual leader. Although the letter may not have been written to a specific church, it surely was written to a definite group, ‘those who have been scattered’. The letter joins the group of letters between Hebrews and Jude which are also classified into this ‘universal’ non-specific category.
Purpose:
COMMENT: James, as pastor of the church in Jerusalem, would have known about the struggles, difficulties, and failings of those he oversaw. In fact, one of the reasons that they were ‘scattered’, came because of the persecution surrounding Stephen (Acts 11:19). Such difficulties would not have altered their growth level in God. Trials, in and of themselves, do not cause development. It is what people do amid trials that cause movement. Lack of growth, a condition implied by the topics James discusses throughout the letter, would have only been accentuated by the high stress conditions. Trials do not help you grow. Only spiritual growth stemming from the Word of God can build you and ‘grow’ you out of immaturity. So James, because he cannot pastor and coach his congregation in person, does so by letter.
COMMENT: James is a fast moving book. Eleven loose topics are handled in rapid succession in these 5 chapters. It is a book containing multiple imperatives (commands), over 60 of them in this letter. It is a book of ‘doing’ as in doing the Word of God.
COMMENT: James chiefly has two sources as a foundation for his letter, the Old Testament and the sayings of Jesus. At the time of the writing of the letter, Paul’s revelation and the ‘Gospel’ accounts had not been put to ‘parchment’ yet and were not available as a source. This is the reason this letter has the flavor of many of Jesus own lessons particularly the Sermon on the Mount.[i] But the intimate knowledge James owned of the words of Jesus did not occur because he grew up with Jesus in the same household. During the time of Jesus earthly ministry, James and his siblings were not believers (Mark 3:21, John 7:3-5). It is interesting to note two things, in this vein, surrounding the events of the crucifixion of Jesus, the absence of James as well the committal of his mother Mary. Jesus did not commit his mother to James, the eldest natural son, nor to any of her other children (she had at least 4 sons and two daughters – Matthew 13:55-56) but instead committed her to John (John 19:26-27). This adds to the polemic that James was not a believer pre-Calvary. It also displays another point. Spiritual ties are higher than physical ones. Rather than committing His mother to a ‘disbeliever’, He places her in a disciples care. James did come to receive salvation through Jesus after the resurrection (Acts 1:14). The Lord, himself, especially appeared to him (1Corinthians 15:7).
COMMENT: The book does not have a doctrinal tone. James does not set out to establish truth. Many of the pillars of the Christian faith like salvation through Christ, the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, among others are not ‘proved out’ in this letter. What is encouraged is ‘putting’ the Word of God into daily use.
Outline:
COMMENT: James deals with the following topics:
- Doing the Word: Being a Servant of Jesus (James 1:1)
- Doing the Word: Enduring Tests and Trials (James 1:2-18)
- Doing the Word: The Importance of Putting the Word Into Action (James 1:19-26)
- Doing the Word: Manifesting God’s Love by Treating People Equally (James 2:1-13)
- Doing the Word: Understanding the Faith and Works Connection (James 2:14-26)
- Doing the Word: Guarding the Tongue (James 3:1-12)
- Doing the Word: Operating in Meekness instead of Jealousy (James 3:13-18)
- Doing the Word: Avoiding Worldliness and Carnality (James 4:1-12)
- Doing the Word: Following the Will of God (James 4:13-17)
- Doing the Word: Handling Money Rightly (James 5:1-6)
- Doing the Word: Walking in Patience (James 5:7-12)
- Doing the Word: Effectual Fervent Praying (James 5:13-18)
- Doing the Word: Restoring a Fellow Believer (James 5:19-20)
Theme:
COMMENT: Overall theme of the book is putting the Word of God into operation in your everyday life (James 1:22).
Parallel References to the Teachings of Jesus in the Book of James
- Sermon on the Mount Parallels
- Joy and trials (James 1:2 – Matthew 5:10-12)
- Path to maturity (James 1:4 – Matthew 5:48)
- Asking God (James 1:5 – Matthew 7:7)
- (James 1:17 – Matthew 7:11)
- On Being Angry (James 1:20 – Matthew 5:22)
- James 1:22 – Matthew 7:24
- James 1:23 – Matthew 7:26
- James 2:5 – Matthew 5:3
- James 2:10 – Matthew 5:19
- James2:11 – Matthew 5:21-22
- James 2:13 – Matthew 5:7
- James 2:15 – Matthew 6:25
- James 3:12 – Matthew 7:16
- James 3:18 – Matthew 5:9
- James 4:2 – Matthew 7:7
- James 4:3 – Matthew 7:7-8
- James 4:4 – Matthew 6:24
- James 4:8 – Matthew 6:22
- James 4:11-12 – Matthew 7:1
- James 4:13-14 – Matthew 6:34
- James 5:2 – Matthew 6:19-20
- James 5:9 – Matthew 5:22, 7:1
- James 5:10 – Matthew 5:11-12
- James 5:12 – Matthew 5:34-37
Other Parallels
- James 1:6 – Matthew 21:21
- James 1:12 – Matthew 10:22
- James 1:21 – Luke 8:8
- James 2:6 – Luke 18:3
- James 2:8 – Matthew 22:39-40
- James 4:9 – Luke 6:25
- James 4:10 – Matthew 23:12
- James 4:17 – Luke 12:47
- James 5:1 – Luke 6:24-25
- James 5:6 – Luke 6:37
- James 5:8 – Matthew 24:3, 27, 39
- James 5:17 – Luke 4:25
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References
- Schaff, Philip, and Henry Wace. 1890. “A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, Second Series: Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine.” pages 126-127 In. New York: Christian Literature Company. ↩