James 1:1-18

READ: James 1:1-18

REFLECT/RELATE:

The epistle of James is of unique and peculiar significance to us because it comes from the one who knew more about the Lord Jesus than any other human being -- at least as far as the record that is passed on to us is concerned. James, the brother of our Lord, was raised in the same home in Nazareth, grew up with the Lord Jesus, saw him through all those silent years of which we have no record, and joined with his three other brothers -- Joseph, Simon, and Judas -- in opposition to the Lord Jesus during the early days of his ministry. James was finally converted by the resurrection of the Lord; and the Apostle Paul tells us that after the resurrection, the Lord appeared to James (1 Corinthians. 15:7).

Many of us would give a lot to know what happened during that time when James had looked upon Jesus as nothing more than his brother. He was one who had grave doubts that Jesus was indeed the Son of God as he claimed; once he had regarded him as a madman, and came with his mother and brothers to have him locked up -- or at least go home with them, get him out of the public view. But finally, by the resurrection, he was convinced that here indeed was God manifest in the flesh -- "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14a), and James, too, saw "his glory as of the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth," (John 1:14b). And so he begins his letter,

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ... (James 1:1a)

That is a great testimony, isn't it, to the deity of Jesus? That this one who was his half-brother by nature should address him this way: "Our Lord Jesus Christ." Throughout this letter, there breathes a reverence and respect for the person of the Lord that is unequaled anywhere in the New Testament.

There has been considerable controversy as to whether James, the brother of Jesus, was the one who wrote the letter, but if you look carefully into its background, you can see that it almost certainly must be the Lord's brother who pens this letter. In the early days after the resurrection, he became the acknowledged leader of the church in Jerusalem, and was regarded by all with reverence and respect even by the Jews -- so that he gained the title, "James the just one." Tradition tells us, supported by Eusebius, one of the great church fathers and a respected historian, that James was finally martyred for his faith by being pushed off the pinnacle of the temple. The pinnacle was the point in the wall around the temple that jutted out over the Kidron Valley. There is a drop of about a hundred feet from the height of that wall straight down into the Valley. This was also the very place where the devil took Jesus and tempted him to jump off the pinnacle of the temple.

Eusebius tells us that in about the year 66 A.D., James the Just, the brother of our Lord, was pushed off this pinnacle by the Jews who had become angered with him for his Christian testimony. Eusebius says that the fall did not kill him, and that he managed to stumble to his knees to pray for his murderers. So they finished the job by stoning him to death, and he joined the band of martyrs.

Now it is very evident that this letter was written during the early part of the life of the church. It comes out of that period reflected in the book of Acts, and may therefore be the earliest Christian document that we have, written perhaps even before the gospels of Mark or Matthew.

You cannot read this letter of James without being struck by its likeness to the teaching of Jesus; in fact, if you take the Sermon on the Mount, and the letter of James, and lay them side by side, you'll see more than a dozen exact parallels. So, it is quite evident that this man James listened to the Lord Jesus and heard these messages, even though perhaps he struggled with them at the time. Also, this letter, more than any other letter in the New Testament, is characterized, like the teaching of the Lord himself, by figures of speech taken from nature. You have the waves of the sea, the animal kingdom, the forests, the fish, and others, all drawn from nature, just as the Lord Jesus himself used to do.

The theme of this letter, is faith. If you do not have faith, you will receive nothing from God. Without faith, the book of Hebrews tells us, it is impossible to please God... (Hebrews 11:6). Faith, therefore, is the channel by which all God's blessings come to us, and without faith, all that you do is sin; "whatever does not proceed from faith," says the Apostle Paul, "is sin." (Romans 14:23). So all activity that does not stem nor derive from faith is sinful activity. If you are not acting out of what you believe, then what you are doing is distasteful and disgusting to God, even though it may be highly applauded by everyone around.

In this letter, then, the Apostle James is telling us several things about faith. In chapter one you have a wonderful answer to the question, "What makes faith grow?" Jesus said that it does not take very much faith to start -- if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, just a little bit of it, just enough to get you to act, even though you are filled with doubts in the doing of it, that is enough -- that will move mountains, he said.

James tells us that trials make faith grow. This is a wonderful chapter for those who are facing trials. He said,

Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness [or patience] have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)

You need trials. Then he goes on to describe how to take trials. Accept them, he says, as from God, and if you lack wisdom about it, ask God to explain to you what is going on. But you have to ask in faith; you have to expect him to do this. If you are poor, do no let that bother you -- that is a trial, but it is a trial that can lead to blessing:

Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)

As I was thinking about this -- about trials -- I was mentally contrasting the way these early Christians faced trials with the way we do. I was thinking particularly of the Apostle Paul. You remember that in Second Corinthians he tells us, "Five times I have received ... the forty lashes less one" (2 Corinthians 11:24). On five occasions he was bound at a stake, and the Jews took their leather whip and beat him thirty-nine times across his back. So that when he wrote to the Galatians, he said, "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus," (Galatians 6:17b). Three times he was beaten with rods and "Once," he said, "I was stoned," (2 Corinthians 11:25b).

What was his attitude in all this? Well, the wonderful thing about these early Christians is that when they went through trials, they rejoiced -- they counted themselves fortunate to be considered worthy to suffer for the name of the Lord. The writer of Hebrews says, "You joyfully accepted the plundering of your property since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one," (Hebrews10:34b). I could not help but contrast that with us. We get all unhappy over when it rains in the morning when we are getting to work, don't we? Or if we hear that our mother-in-law is coming for a visit, it makes us almost ready to commit suicide. We become disturbed over these little things.

Not long ago, a pastor told me about a woman who came down to see him, and she wanted a divorce from her husband. But when he got to the heart of the matter, he found that she was upset because she had fixed a special luncheon for him, and had done all kinds of special extra work, expecting him to come home, and he had called up at just the last minute and said he could not come home. She was furious! So she wanted a divorce!

REST:

Now what kind of an attitude is that? God sends trials, the Scriptures say, because we need them. They teach us lessons which we could never learn otherwise, and if we did not have them, we would be weak, spindly, incomplete Christians, unable to take the great responsibilities that will be placed upon us in the day when we are with the Lord -- when we enter into his kingdom and into the fullness of his service.