James, a servant[a] of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings. (James 1:1)
Intro
Well today we begin an exposition of a new book of the Bible after finishing Exodus. We are back in the New Testament, beginning the book of James. This is a book which is filled with practical wisdom and exhortation which is one thing that attracted me to this book next. James is a book which will challenge every single Christian who reads it and hears it. Noone will leave the book of James unchanged – either hardened in unrepentance, or more conformed to the image of Christ – having received His word, repented, and obeyed it. James is direct and yet profound. He is straightforward yet not without pastoral comfort. James really has a way of offending people, and each in different ways. Even our brother Martin Luther was so offended by James that he called it an “epistle of straw,” because he thought it lacked evangelical character and he, like many, have struggled with understanding James’ teaching on justification. As James chapter 2 says that Abraham was not justified by faith alone. Now, we of course will get there soon enough and work through that passage, but we don’t want to throw out the Word of God because it offends us, or we don’t understand it. It’s the word of God, that’s what it’s going to do. So we receive it and recognize that though we may not understand all of it, nothing in James contradicts Paul, or any other, for it is One Spirit, which spoke through the apostles and prophets to give to us the written Word of God. Luther eventually did come around later in his life to accepting James as the Scripture.
This is a book which is considered by many the oldest letter of the New Testament, or the first letter written in the New Testament. It is quite possible that this letter was written in the mid to late 40’s AD, sometime before the Jerusalem council in AD 50. There are of course different arguments for different dates and such, but this time period makes the most sense to me, and is the most common in church history. If this is the James who was heavily involved at the Jerusalem council, which I believe it was, then he probably wrote this before then, since there are no allusions to the council at all in this letter.
James is a book which is classified as one of the “catholic” (meaning universal) or “general” epistles, along with 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, and Jude, since they are not addressed to a specific church. The fact that this is a “catholic” or “general” epistle does not mean that it has no context or purpose. While it is written to Christians, the 12 tribes in the dispersion, this does not mean it’s written to random believers living in their little islands. But clearly, the letter assumes that these Christians, are all a part of their local organized church and living in community with one another. This is seen in James addressing how they are to treat one another in a myriad of ways, and in the fact that James tells them to call their elders for prayer when they are sick. So even outside of the Pauline epistles and the book of Acts, even at the earliest stages of the Church, Christians are assumed to be in Church fellowship with one another where these things are lived out.
So as we consider these things throughout the book of James, we consider them not only for our own personal lives, but in the life of the church, how we are to live with one another and conduct ourselves in the household of God. Indeed, as a pillar of the Church, an elder of the Jerusalem church, James writes to encourage and build up the organized church, the body of Christ put together in an orderly fashion. These indeed are abiding instructions for each local church today.
We will find that James is steeped in the Hebrew world. His audience: Jewish converts to Christianity – the twelve tribes in the dispersion. James is filled with numerous references to the Old Testament. In many ways, James even reads like a New Testament book of proverbs. In this we will find that James, is not a smattering of random wisdom sayings, but is steeped in the story of the whole Bible, a culmination of all the wisdom and instruction of the Scripture, specifically to the New Testament Church.
The name “James” is also an anglicized version of the Hebrew name “Jacob.” Because of this, and the fact that he addresses his audience as the “Twelve Tribes,” many commentators have suggested that this letter has themes or a structure that plays off of Jacob and his twelve sons. I believe that some have overstated the connections, but the way that James addresses these twelve tribes as “brothers” 15 times in the letters does help us to see there is some merit to this consideration, and thus we can see the the twelve tribes in the dispersion, Jewish converts to Christianity, as the beginnings of a new nation, a new Israel, the Church. And in this new nation, the Church, Jesus is Lord, as James calls the Lord in his greeting, using the Greek word Kurios, as is used in the Septuagint for “Yahweh” and “Elohim.” He is showing Jesus as the God of Israel, and this new nation, the church.
Which James Wrote It?
As we continue to consider the background and greeting of this letter, we must ask, which James wrote this letter? There are a few different possibilities, the two most common is that it was either James, the brother of John, one of the original 12 disciples; or James, the brother of Jesus. James the brother of Jesus is probably the most common view in the history of church, and it is the view to which I adhere. James, the brother of John was martyred at a very early date of AD 44. You see his death mentioned in Acts 12:1-2. Then after his death, James the brother of Jesus takes a more prominent role in the early church. It is still theoretically possible he wrote this letter, considering the early date at which this letter was written, but further biblical evidence of the role of James the brother of Jesus in the early church provides a greater reason to take the brother of Jesus as the author in my view.
Now, Roman Catholics will most often opt for a different James, other than the brother of Jesus, and you can see that they need to do so in order to most easily defend their doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary. However, the Bible clearly shows that Jesus had siblings. Matthew 13:53 and following, “And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?’”
Who was this James?
So who was this James, the brother of our Lord? What does the rest of the Bible tell us about him? In John 7:5 it talks about the unbelief of the people in Jesus, and it mentions that not even Jesus’ brothers believed in him. James may or may not be included in this, but it seems likely he may be. This would show us the redemptive arch in James’ own life. Like many of the disciples who were hard of belief, James as well did not believe at first. Yet he eventually does and is made a servant of the Lord. James ends up being a leader, presumably an elder, in the Jerusalem church, from AD 44 to his own martyrdom in AD 62.
Right after James the brother of John’s martyrdom in Acts 12, Peter is freed from prison and later in Acts 12 Peter tells the Christians to go and tell what has happened to him to James and the brothers, referring to this other James, the brother of our Lord.
In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is talking about all the people that Jesus appeared to after His resurrection and he says that Jesus appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. And this is interesting because part of apostolic qualification was to be a witness to the resurrected Christ, and it is implied that James is considered to be an apostle by Paul in Galatians 1:19 where Paul says, “But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother.”
So James is a witness to the resurrected Christ and considered an apostle, and was a great influence and leader in the New Testament Church, especially the Jerusalem church, as we notice his leadership and influence in the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.
In Acts 15, at the Jerusalem council, James is one of the lead figures, as he stands up in the assembly and advocates that the gentile converts should not be put under the law of circumcision, as some were advocating. And this is interesting because one of the controversies of the book of James is his statement in chapter two that Abraham was not justified by faith alone. Certainly, James does not contradict Paul or anything else in Scripture, as the epistle of James is itself the Word of God. But seeing James uphold justification by faith alone at the Jerusalem council certainly sheds light on his views of justification.
According to church history, this James was called “James the Just” because he was an exceedingly godly and righteous man. Certainly we see these things throughout his letter, which has immense practical application of righteousness. There are a couple varying accounts of his martyrdom which took place around AD 62. It is said that the Pharisees and Scribes invited him to the pinnacle of the tabernacle to speak, at which he took the opportunity to proclaim Christ risen and ascended to the right hand of God. This enraged the unbelieving Jews who threw him from the temple, yet he did not die from the fall, and so they beat or stoned him to death from there, as he died praying for the very ones killing him. The life and testimony of the brother of our Lord leaves us another, in a long line of godly men, to thank God for, for his faithful witness and God’s use of him to bring us this portion of Scripture. He is someone to learn from and emulate. His conversion from unbelief to belief is like so many of the disciples. And through Him, God has given us a blessed New Testament epistle, speaking through him to us, and to all the church in every age. We need this wisdom, and this word of God, for our lives today and always.
For James, and the scores of martyrs down through the ages, the reason that a Christian can die a martyr’s death is because of at least two reasons. The first is because the Christian already has Jesus who died as their sacrificial substitute on the cross for their sins. There is no more blood that needs to be shed to atone for our sins, and so therefore we are free to die, and it doesn’t matter if our death is insufficient, because our death is not for a sacrifice for sins. So we are free to give our lives without fear. The second reason is because a martyr doesn’t become a marty in a moment. Someone who dies a martyr’s death, has already died to themselves a thousand times. The Christian life is a life of slavery to Christ as His servant. Our lives are not our own, but everyday the call to follow Christ is the call to take up your cross, and die to yourself, and be Christ’s faithful servant. We die to ourselves and live according to what He wants from us. And when one comes to die a martyr’s death, they have been practicing every day. Their life is the Lord’s.
A Servant/Slave
This is what James calls himself in the greeting of his letter. “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” “Doulos” is the Greek word for servant, and it could also be translated “slave.” And this is how James sees Himself. His highest credential, his greatest honor, his most important relation to Jesus is that He is a servant or a slave of Christ. The status of a servant increases based upon who their master is, and there is no greater master one could have than the Lord Jesus. There is no one greater to be found in all history to serve, than the Lord of heaven and earth. And yet, we are still slaves. All we are and have is because of and from Christ, not ourselves. So as a servant of God, James is speaking only what God would have him say. This is the identity and the purpose of a Christian, and there is no greater honor in all the world. What is James? A servant. What is His purpose? To serve Jesus Christ.
Is that your identity and purpose? If your conception of the Christian life does not include total servanthood to the master of all creation, then it is not a proper conception. Do you live your life like you are truly a slave of Christ? Do you spend your time for him? Do you use your abilities and resources for Him? Does He have your eyes? Does He have your heart? Does He have your mind? Does He have your tongue? Do you belong in total to Jesus Christ? Or is it all for yourself? Do you just give to Christ what is convenient? Or just when you feel like it? Or do you just give the Lord your public life, but in private or in home, it’s for yourself, you quit serving Him? To be a Christian is to be a slave of Jesus Christ. Have you taken up your cross today? This is issue of servanthood is an issue of authority. Who’s in charge? Who is sovereign? Who has authority? The Lord Jesus.
James is going to show us what it looks like to be a slave of Christ throughout his letter in all the practical application – enduring through trials, letting Christ control our tongue, how we treat others, doing the Word, and on and on. He says, “I am James, a slave of Christ, and here’s how you live as slaves of Jesus Christ.”
Instead of referring to himself as the brother of Jesus, he refers to himself as the servant of God and Christ Jesus. What is a servant? A servant is one who does the will of His master. And who does Jesus say His mother, sisters, and brothers are in the gospels? Those who do His will. In a way, to be a servant of Christ, is to be His brother, or sister, or mother. Is Christ your brother and master?
Greetings/Rejoice
So James is a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ and he is writing to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion, and then he says, “Greetings.” This may seem like nothing, but the Greek word for “greetings,” is a word that basically means to rejoice and be glad, or be exceedingly well. It is a greeting that implies cheer. It is basically saying, “joy to you,” similar to Paul saying “grace to you,” in some of his letters. So James, this servant of Christ greets the tribes in the dispersion with joy. And what a profound thing this is, since those in the Dispersion were in a difficult situation. They had enemies of their own kinsmen – Jewish authorities who rejected Christ and persecuted the brethren, yet James greets them with joy. And then the next verse he immediately instructs them to consider it all joy when you face trials of various kinds.
So what we will find in this letter is godly wisdom and instruction for being a faithful servant of Christ, which is a joyful calling and life regardless of the outward circumstances we may find ourselves in which don’t seem to be joyful.
James is a faithful imitator of the Lord Jesus Himself who came to do the Father’s will, and endured the suffering He did for the joy that was set before him. This is the calling of a servant of the Lord Jesus. Since Jesus willingly served and gave up His life for joy, that we might be made into servants and brothers, though we deserved none of his grace, and were once in unbelief in sin, we then are called and enabled by God’s spirit to live a life of the same, and were are freed to do it. Free, joyful, brother-servants of Christ is what the Christian is and is to be.
Is this your life? Do you trust Christ to live this kind of life? James is here to help us do this by the Holy Spirit.
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