James

As we continue through the General Letters of the New Testament, we now turn to the book of James in this week’s blog. You might recall that two major themes in all these books are faithfulness to Jesus amid persecution and dealing with false teachings. This first theme is especially important for understanding James.

Wisdom

This book can be described as the Proverbs of the New Testament.  It is most likely the case that the author is James, the half-brother of Jesus.  Although James appeared to not have been a disciple of Jesus during his earthly ministry, Jesus would later appear to James after his resurrection (see 1 Cor. 15:7).  James became a disciple of Jesus and an important church leader, centered in Jerusalem, who had influence near and far.

The audience for James seems to be a dispersed group of Jewish followers of Jesus, those whom James called “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion.”  This is likely a reference to Jewish groups that had been dispersed over 500 years earlier in the exiling of the southern kingdom by the Neo-Babylonian Empire (586 BC and beyond).  Generations later, these Jews had come to faith in Christ.  James writes to them to foster spiritual maturity among these followers of Jesus.

The book can best be described as a letter essay, focused on the overarching theme of wise living as followers of Jesus.  There are some features of a letter at the beginning of the book, but it resembles an essay that revolves around unpacking how Jesus’ followers can live wisely in a broken world.  It doesn’t read like one of Paul’s letters, where there’s a sustained argument over several chapters.  Instead, the book cycles through different topics in the way a symphony might return to the same motifs.

A Symphony of Themes

There are three sets of major themes that James cover in the book:

• Trials and temptations – The audience seems to have been poor and was facing trials in terms of being persecuted by the rich and the powerful.  The temptations involved being friends with the world at the expense of friendship with God.
• Poverty and prosperity – The audience was also struggling with poverty and the anger that came from injustices against them.  In addition to this, James warned them about the spiritual dangers of putting one’s trust and hope in prosperity.
• Wisdom and words – The audience was encouraged to show their wisdom in the use of their words, focusing on glorifying God and building up others with what we say.

We can see the themes of trials, wisdom, and maturity come together in James 1:2-9:

² Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, ³ for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. ⁴ And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James provides guidance for us to live according to Jesus’ wisdom in a broken world, looking to Jesus as our wise Teacher and Lord.

Blessings,

Dean Bobar