Call to Commitment

 Beginning with this introduction, we launch an expositional study of the general epistle of James. We will try to follow with a study in 1 & 2 Peter, 2 & 3 John, and Jude. We hope you will desire to enter this study, as students of Scripture, and as true Christians, hungry for the "milk of the word". Please open the map below to a larger vew, to be able to see the key in green, red and yellow of the three dispersions of the Jews.

Dispersion to Assyria, Babylon and in Acts

Introduction

 

Who was James?

“James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord  Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings” (James 1:1).

  The first verse itself of James’ letter provides the introduction to it, giving us the author and the people, to whom he wrote. The purpose of the letter will develop throughout the book, as the author addresses the needs of the Jewish Christians. The needs and desires of Christians down through the ages, give us reason to study its chapters for our profit, regardless of our personal backgrounds. The Holy Spirit places the book of James within the canon of Scripture for the edification of the church throughout its history.

 James introduces himself in the very first word, but to discover the author, we must identify him among the various men called James in the New Testament. That task is not entirely simple. First, we must eliminate the original disciple, James, the brother of John and son of Zebedee. We read of his martyrdom in Acts 12:1 and 2: “Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” 

 This took place about 11 years after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ. At that time, Herod imprisoned Peter, who was supernaturally released by an angel, as the believers prayed for him. He appeared at the door of Mary, the mother of John Mark, without entering, but asked them to relay his liberation to “James and to the brethren” (Ac.12:17). This James, the writer, lived on, after James, the brother of John, was killed.

 There is another James among the twelve that Jesus appointed, often called James, the Less. He is identified as the son of Alphaeus and called the Less, probably because of the prominence of James, the son of Zebedee. He was the son of Alphaeus, certainly not the son of Joseph, the carpenter, as was the author of the book that we are about to study.

 Jesus’ townspeople mentioned his half-brothers by name, James, Joses, Judas, and Simon, as well as referring to His sisters. They thought that Jesus was the son of the carpenter (Joseph) and Mary (Mt.13:55-56), not recognizing His divine conception. Paul identifies James, in his letter to the Galatians, as a pillar in the Jerusalem church: “When James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars…” (Gal.2:9). He also identified James as an apostle and Jesus’ brother: “I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother” (Gal.1:19). He is the writer of this book.

 

Continuing apostleship

 Before we go any further in the biography of James, I want to emphasize that he was an apostle, although not one of the original Apostles of the Lamb (Rv.21:14). We will honor the twelve in their supremely special calling (Rv.21:14), their names being inscribed in the twelve foundations of the celestial Jerusalem. However, I want to show that the apostolic calling continues, on another level, in the New Testament.

In 1 Corinthians 15:5, Paul mentions that the original twelve disciples saw Jesus after the resurrection. He probably includes Matthias in this number, because he was chosen in Acts 1, to take the place of Judas Iscariot. In verse 7, Paul says that the resurrected Christ was seen “by all the apostles.” John Wesley, Jamieson-Faucett Brown and Adam Clarke are commentators, who think that Paul was referring to the 70, chosen and sent out by Jesus (Lk.10:1).

 Of course, Paul makes it very clear that he was called by Jesus Christ and God the Father to be an apostle. Men, associated with him, were also called apostles. For example, in Acts 14:14, Barnabas is called an apostle, along with Paul: “When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this…” Silas (Silvanus) and Timothy were with Paul when he went to Thessalonica (Ac.15:40, 16:1,3), and were well know to the church there. They joined Paul in both letters that he wrote to them and Paul included them as apostles in 1 Th.2:6: “Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ”.

 At the end of the book of Romans, Paul greeted Andronicus and Junia (according to JFB, a contracted form of Junianus). He said that they were “of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me” (Ro.16:7). It might mean that they were recognized by the apostles, but because he said that they were older in the faith than he was, I believe that Paul is including them among the apostles.

 Can we recognize that there were a good number of men in the New Testament, besides the original 12, who were also apostles? The Latin translation of apostles is missionaries, and this office and calling continues to the end of time. If this is not true, what are we to call the missionaries in the book of Acts and in the church throughout the centuries? Can we call them pastors, teachers, evangelists or prophets? I think not, and I also think that it is extremely unwise to take, either the gifts or the offices, away from the New Testament. There is no biblical suggestion, which should cause the believer to eliminate apostleship.

 In 1 Corinthians 9:5, Paul refers to “the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas.” This brings Jude (Judas) into apostleship, as well as James. “Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James” (Jd.1:1).  As writer of the small book, included in the canon of Scripture, and placed just before the Revelation, Jude is also an apostle.

 

A short biography of James

 This James was not an original disciple of Jesus, in fact, he was an unbeliever: “For even His brothers did not believe in Him” (Jn.7:5).  James may have been included in “His own people”, who came 30 miles from Nazareth to Capernaum, where Jesus now had His residence. They came to take Him, because, they said, “He is out of His mind”, as the scribes were intimating, when they said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons” (Mk.3:21-22).

 He was certainly among “His brothers and His mother,” when, because of the crowd, they could not enter the house. They sent word to Him from outside, but Jesus intimated that “whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother” (Mk.3:35). James was not.

 It surely was the resurrection of Jesus that made his half-brothers believers. Paul lists the people, who saw Jesus after the resurrection, a total of over 500. One of them is James, his brother: “After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles” (1 Co.15:7). He was in the upper room on the day of Pentecost with his mother and his brothers, obeying Christ’s command, to be indued with power from on high: “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers” (Ac.1:14). On Pentecost, he was baptized in the Holy Spirit. Very rapidly, he grew in Christian teaching and living, so that quickly, he became a pillar in the first church in Jerusalem.

 

His position and teaching in the Jerusalem church

 James did not mention his apostleship or natural relationship with Christ, but chose to present himself as a bondservant. This term comes from the Old Testament, when slaves, who loved their master and their present position, could voluntarily continue to be slaves permanently (Ex.21:5-6). That physical choice illustrates so well the slave of Christ, who voluntarily and freely continues to serve Him, rather than free himself from his Master.

 As an elder in Jerusalem, James had a rather sensitive position, where the believers were all Jews. James himself was very Jewish, trained in the Law of Moses. This church followed in many of the Jewish customs and laws, but James made a clear distinction between them and the gospel of Christ. He knew that the customs, the law, and circumcision were still practiced by Jewish believers, but were not relative to the Gentile church.

 James knew, practiced and taught the doctrines of Jesus. He probably became familiar with them in his own home, as given by his older Brother, before they were taught publicly. It contributed to his rapid growth, as a Christian leader. In James 1:12, he taught the blessing of persecution and the promise of Jesus to the persecuted: “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” Compare this verse to one of the beatitudes in Matthew 5:10: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sale, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

 He knew well Jesus’ guarantee of the Father’s faithfulness in granting the petitions of His people. He taught: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him” (Jm.1:5). Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you… for everyone who asks receives… If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” (Mt.7:7-11).

 His doctrine followed that of Jesus in the question of judging one another: “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Mt.7:1). In James 4:11, we learn: “He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.”

 He understood the things that Jesus had to say about the hypocrisy of confessing the lordship of Jesus, without practicing His will: “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (Jm.1:22). Jesus knew that there would be professors of Christianity, who were not actually possessors: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Mt.7:21).

 Finally, we will mention that James understood the value of heavenly treasures, and the vanity of earthly riches: “Come now, you rich… your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten… be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth…” (Jm.5:1,2,7). No one knew better than his Lord, Who came from heaven to emphasize this truth: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth… but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Mt.6:19,20).

 

Paul and James agreed

 About 20 years after Pentecost, Judaizers came to Antioch from Judea, saying, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Ac.15:1) Paul and Barnabas, of course, challenged this false teaching, and went to Jerusalem to bring this problem before the apostles and elders. 

 Even in the church in Jerusalem, a Pharisee sect repeated the challenge: “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses” (Ac.15:5). Peter gave his testimony in the church of his experience with the Gentiles in Caesaria, emphasizing the grace of God upon uncircumcised people. They believed and they experienced the same baptism in the Spirit, exactly as the Jews did on the day of Pentecost.

 At that point, James took the meeting in hand, speaking of Old Testament prophecies concerning the blessing of God upon the Gentiles. He clearly was the leader among the apostles and elders. He judged that they not trouble the Gentile Christians with Jewish laws and customs, except for four issues: 1) They should not participate in idolatrous food. 2) They should keep themselves from immorality. 3)  They should not strangle animals or birds, but drain the blood from them. 4) In fact, they should not eat meat with blood. Clearly, he believed that the Gentiles did not have to become Jews to be saved.

 In Acts 21, Paul came to Jerusalem to see James in particular. When Paul testified of the marvelous work of God among the Gentiles, Jerusalem’s Jewish Christians glorified the Lord. They proceeded to share with Paul, what God was doing among the Jews, some of whose customs continued after their conversion to Christ. They asked Paul to accompany four of them in a purification ritual, in which they, Paul included, would shave their heads. At the same time, they acknowledged that the Gentile believers “should observe no such thing” (v.25). As a Jew, Paul had no problem fulfilling their request.

 There are those, who have supposed that there was a controversy between Paul and James concerning faith and works. Martin Luther called James’ work, an epistle of straw, and destitute of an evangelic character. This is one of the areas, in which the famous reformist lacked divine light in his teachings, quite obviously in his criticism of inspired Scripture. When we get to chapter 2, I will attempt to show that that controversy did not exist, nor  is there any indication of contradiction to the New Testament doctrine “by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph.2:8-9).

 

When and to whom was the epistle written?

 James was martyred at the Passover, by the scribes and Pharisees, because through his leadership, large numbers were converting to Christianity. Many think that James wrote his letter, shortly before his martyrdom sometime during the seventh decade, A.D. Others think it is among the first epistles written, and among them are those, who think it was the very first.

 His epistle, along with Peter, John and Jude’s, is called a general epistle, because it is not addressed to any particular church or individual. It is written to “the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (Jm.1:1). He is referring to the dispersion of the northern tribes, taken captive to Assyria; then the southern tribes of Israel, taken to Babylon (Dt.4:25-27). Do you remember in the Gospels, how the Jews questioned, if Jesus would go to the dispersion?

 In the apostolic times the Jews still knew their parentage… Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin, Anna of Asher. When the temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., the birth records were lost and since then, their tribal roots are gone. For the sake of Christianity, they were scattered abroad to spread the gospel, since the day of Pentecost, and established churches throughout the known world (Ac.2:8-11).  They were Jews from various parts of the world, converted to Christianity at Pentecost. Also, there was a dispersion of the Christians in Jerusalem after the martyrdom of Stephen. James is writing to all these Jews, outside the nation of Israel.