I. Introduction
A. In the 2.5 or so years I have left, I plan to preach three book series: on James this year, on Revelation next year, and then on 2Timothy in 2024.
1. I have a reason for preaching each of these three series. The reason I’m preaching through James is that ever since the 1970's I’ve been using James in one-on-one discipleship, but I’ve never preached through it. Every time I go through, I say to myself, “There’s so much great stuff here, I need to preach on this someday!”
2. The series on James will be around 19 weeks long, beginning this spring and then resuming and finishing in the fall.
B. Of the 27 books in the NT, 21 of them are epistles/letters.
1. The epistles of the NT are divided into two groups. And conveniently, they are clumped.
a. First, come the Pauline epistles, written by the apostle Paul.
b. Then there are the general or catholic epistles, which include Hebrews, James, 1&2Peter, 1&2&3John, and Jude. These are the epistles which are not targeting to any one church or person. It just so happens that they are also the epistles not written by Paul.
C. James is most likely the first-written book of the NT, probably written several years before Paul’s letter to the Galatians, which is likely the second oldest. (First book of the NT doesn’t mean first apostolic record of the NT. Likely there were written records of things Jesus had said and done, which eventually were incorporated into the four gospels. That’s why, in the TV show, The Chosen, Matthew is always taking notes.)
D. James 1:11 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
E. There are three things I would like to reflect on from this verse this morning:
1. the author James,
2. the intended audience of his letter: the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad,
3. and, finally, something which is uniquely absent from this verse.
II. James, the author
A. There are four Jameses mentioned in the NT, so which James wrote the letter?
1. One of the Jameses is out of the running because he’s only mentioned a couple of times as the father of the disciple Judas Thaddaeus.
2. Two of the Jameses were among the twelve disciples, James the son of Zebedee and brother of John, and James the son of Alphaeus. Neither of these is the likely writer of the letter either.
a. The son of Alphaeus is so obscure in the NT that he’s only mentioned in the lists of the Twelve. It doesn’t seem like he was prominent enough to write this letter. One thinks that someone like this would have taken time to explain who he was since that wouldn't have been obvious in a general letter.
b. James the son of Zebedee, on the other hand, was very prominent and in Jesus’ inner circle. But it seems like he had been martyred before this letter was written, so it was probably not him.
c. This leaves us with the other James, James the brother of Jesus. He was certainly prominent enough in the early church to not need to introduce himself.
B. So, by process of elimination, most Bible scholars have concluded that James the brother of Jesus was likely the author of this epistle.
C. And since I’m going to preach with this assumption, let’s find out more about this James.
1. According to Matt.13:55, Joseph and Mary had four sons after Jesus: James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, in that order. So, James was the next brother in line, the one closest in age to Jesus.
2. Presumably James knew Jesus better than anyone else did, at least humanly-speaking.
3. Another thing we know about James is that before the cross, he didn’t believe in Jesus, as it says in John 7:5, “Not even his brothers believed in him.” So, what turned James around?
4. Well, the pivotal moment seems to have been Jesus’ resurrection appearance to James which Paul refers to in 1Cor.15:7. Jesus only had several appearances after His resurrection: to the women, to the apostles, to all the believers, and to James. He appeared personally and privately to His brother James. Why would Jesus appear to Him if not to demonstrate to him who He truly was?
5. According to Acts 1:14, by the time of Christ’s ascension, just days later, Jesus’ brothers had come to believe.
D. If James the brother of Jesus wrote this letter, why does he introduce himself as James a bond-servant of God & of the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of as James the brother of the Lord Jesus?
1. Well, it seems to me that James is putting what he says a few verses later into practice. In James 1:9–10 he says: “The brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.”
2. In human terms, James is a rich man for being the brother of Jesus. By referring to himself as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” instead of as the brother of Jesus, James is glorying in his poverty and not in His wealth.
3. The fact is, being a brother of Jesus didn’t give James the authority to admonish other Christians as he does here in this letter. What qualified James to write such a letter was not his physical relationship to Jesus but his spiritual relationship. That’s why he calls himself a servant of Christ instead of the brother of Christ.
E. We said that this James had a prominent role in the NT. Let’s talk about that.
1. It wasn’t long after Jesus' ascension before James had a prominent leadership role in the Jerusalem church, something like being the pastor of that church.
2. We see this when Paul was converted, and went to Jerusalem to present himself to Peter and the other apostles. But, Gal.1:19 says, the only leaders there at the time were Peter (Cephas) and “James, the Lord’s brother.”
3. Then, when Paul went again to Jerusalem 14 years later, Gal.2:9 tells us that three men who were pillars of the church gave him and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship to endorse his call to bring the gospel to the Gentiles: James, Peter and John.
4. We also see it in Acts 12:17, when the angel sprung Peter from prison, and he went to the house where people were praying for him to tell them what happened. Well, one of the things he said to them was, Make sure to report to James what has happened.
5. And, remember from our study of 2Corinthians that Paul collected an offering from the Gentile churches to bring to Jerusalem for the poor in the church there (2Cor.8-9). Well, when Paul and the others arrivedin the holy city, one of the first things Paul did was to meet with James and the elders of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 21:17-18). So, clearly James was a leader, perhaps the main leader in Jerusalem.
F. James also played a major role in the Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15, when the apostles and elders met to consider the matter of whether the Gentiles should be included in the church without first converting to Judaism. After the others had said what they needed to say, we’re told that James stood up and said, “It is my judgment that we not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but should write to them,” a proposal approved by the apostles, elders, along with the entire assembly (Acts 15:12-22).
1. Whatever was going on, and whatever role James played, it’s obvious that he was a prominent figure in the leadership of not only the Jerusalem church, but of the entire Christian community.
G. It was probably shortly before this question of including the Gentiles in the church became a big issue that James penned his epistle, because he doesn’t mention that at all in his letter. Paul had already become a Christian (Acts 9:1-22); the church in Antioch had already started (Acts 11:19-26), and Paul may have already been called by Barnabas to minister there. But James probably wrote his letter before Peter and the other men from Jerusalem (and from James) came in Galatians 2:11-14 and the controversy began to heat up.
1. If this is correct, then James represents the earliest form of Christianity in the epistles.
2. It certainly has more overlap with the teachings of Jesus than with the teachings of Paul.
III. James' letter is addressed "To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad" OR “scattered among the nations.”
A. “The twelve tribes,” of course, refers to the twelve tribes of Israel, which were the clans of the twelves sons of Jacob the patriarch.
1. Well, the Assyrians and then the Babylonians attacked and conquered various parts of the land of Israel, and the twelve tribes of Israel were scattered or exiled to various locations.
2. However, several of the OT prophets promised that God would regather the scattered people of Israel and bring the twelve tribes back together again (Is.11:11-12; Jer.31:8-14; Ezek.37:21-22; Zech.10:6-12). And so this became an expectation among the Jews.
3. And when Jesus came and chose twelve disciples, it sort of seemed like He was bringing this to pass. See especially Matt.19:28 (Luke 22:30): “Jesus said to them (the Twelve), ‘I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.’ ”
4. (The book of Revelation similarly pictures the people of God of the last days in terms of 12,000 people drawn from the twelve tribes [Rev.7:5-8] and of the heavenly Jerusalem, with twelve gates on which “were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel” [Rev. 21:12]. – D. Moo)
5. By referring to his readers as “the twelve tribes,” then, James calls to attention the fulfillment of the prophetic promises about regathering the people of God.
6. Eventually, the gathering of the Gentiles to Christ came to be seen as a part of this, but at this point it seems that James was primarily writing his letter to Jewish Christians (like the epistle to the Hebrews) before the Gentile issue gained prominence.
7. This can also be seen in his references to distinctive Jewish institutions and beliefs. For instance:
a. The believers meet in a “synagogue” (2:2).
b. The law is central to God’s dealings with his people (1:21, 24–25; 2:8–13; 4:11–12).
(1) This is another reason why it makes sense that this epistle was written by James the brother of Jesus. From the story, we can tell that he had a strong passion for the law of God.
c. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, there is no mention of the Gentiles in this epistle.
B. This raises the question of where these Jewish Christians were to which he was writing. What churches of scattered Jewish Christians existed to receive this letter?
1. We know about the mother church in Jerusalem. We know about the first largely Gentile church in Antioch.
2. But if it is true that this letter was written before Paul and Barnabas set out on their first missionary journey, what other churches existed at the time, and how did they get started?
C. Well, we know very little about the state of Christianity in the rest of the world at this time, outside of Jerusalem and Antioch. We don’t even know how the churches of Rome or Alexandria started, two of the world’s biggest cities, which both had prominent churches.
1. But there’s one thing we must remember.
a. James himself said in Acts 15:21 “From ancient generations Moses has been preached in every city, and read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” So, cities all around the Roman Empire had communities of Jews in them, who formed synagogues and practiced their faith.
b. Thus it makes sense when Acts 2:5-11 tells us that in Jerusalem at Pentecost, there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome, Crete and Arabia.
c. Three thousand became Christians on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41), and within a few days the number rose to 5000. James was there, very much in the middle of it all. He met and knew many of those new believers, and cared about them.
d. Eventually many of those folks returned to their home cities. We know that the ones who stayed in Jerusalem the longest were eventually driven out by the persecution which broke out in the aftermath of Stephen’s stoning.
e. And when these folks returned home they brought the gospel with them back to their synagogues, in cities all over the Roman empire, and even beyond (Acts 11:19-21). And, apparently, many churches began.
2. So, presumably, this is who James is writing to: Jewish Christians who had been converted in Jerusalem at Pentecost and had gone home, and also those who had come to believe in Christ through their testimony.
IV. I said earlier that my final point will be about something which is uniquely absent from this verse.
A. One thing which is obvious from reading this epistle is that James had a deep concern about the way Christians live. James is the most practical epistle in the New Testament.
B. But what is unique about this first verse is that it is the only non-practical verse in the entire epistle.
C. You know Paul’s epistles. They each begin with theology, mostly the explanation of God's redemption through Christ, and then they move to the application of that theology in the second part of the letter.
D. Not so James. James is basically devoid of theological reflection, and is practical all the way through.
E. This means that, unlike Paul, James does not explicitly root his challenges and exhortations in the gospel.
1. This is what disturbed Martin Luther so much – along with his statements about justification in chapter 2.
2. I’m not saying that James would be against how Paul approaches his epistles. I’m sure he would agree that all of the applications he addresses in his epistle are ultimately expressions of the gospel.
3. All I’m saying is that in his epistle James doesn’t explicitly root the application in the gospel like Paul often does.
4. And, frankly, I would be surprised if James didn’t later grow in this area as he was exposed to other teaching – like Paul’s – and in his awareness of the dangers of Christian moralism.
F. And I think that from this we can conclude that it is not appropriate to dismiss a teaching or a sermon or a book which is not explicitly rooted in the gospel.
1. We’ve got to be careful here. It is very possible for a preacher (or any other Christian) to be a moralizer in the name of Christ. There are many around. And it’s an easy trap to fall into.
2. But we have to be careful about judging people’s hearts. We certainly can’t judge James -- His letter is inspired Scripture; it says just what God wanted it to say.
3. I think not constantly rooting one’s exhortations in the gospel is an appropriate concern to raise with someone, but we must be very careful about accusing.
G. On the other hand, God chose to include 13 of Paul’s letters in the NT, and only one of James. So, God’s recipe for the NT included one part James and 13 parts Paul. This means, it seems to me, that Paul saw something which God wanted emphasized over and over again to His people.
H. But Paul didn’t see everything, and that’s why God included this letter by James -- and two by Peter, three by John, one by Jude, and one whose author is not identified (Hebrews).
I. You see, there are two dangers when it comes to God’s law.
1. One danger is to over-exalt the law, to exaggerate its role, to portray it as the means of justification, and in so doing, depreciate the things of the heart, like faith and love, from which all else flows.
2. The other danger is to depreciate or diminish the law, to fail to give it the place it deserves.
3. One makes the law everything, the other makes it nothing.
4. One neglects grace; the other cheapens grace.
J. James is more alert to the latter danger, whereas Paul seems more alert to the former.
K. Why was this? Why did James and Paul have such different approaches to the law? I think the answer might lie in very different childhood experiences these two men had regarding the Jewish law.
1. I think it’s likely James grew up in a family which loved God’s law fervently & in the right way:
a. like in Ps.1 How blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the LORD. On it he meditates day and night.
b. like in Ps.19:7-10 The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. 10 They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.
c. like in Ps.119
d. Twice James refers to God's law as "the law of liberty":
(1) James 1:25 One who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it... this man will be blessed in what he does.
(2) James 2:12 So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.
(3) Pharisees and Judaizers don’t call God’s law “the law of liberty.” That's just not the way they view the law.
e. This is consistent with everything we know about the family of James and Jesus. But whether or not this assessment of James’ childhood is true, one thing is sure: James grew up standing next to a perfect model of this righteous passion for God’s law we see in Ps.1, 19, 119. So, he understood this mentality, even if it was imperfectly modeled by the rest of the family.
f. And if anyone in the family of James ever began to veer in the wrong direction re: the law of God, his older Brother would surely set them right by His example and rightly-spoken words.
g. This would explain why James emphasizes obedience to God’s law without much apparent fear of legalism.
2. I think it’s likely that Paul, on the other hand, grew up in a family which loved God’s law in a very different way. Whereas James grew up in poverty with a modest education, Paul grew up in an academically elite environment. And this must have affected his approach to the law.
a. Let me read 3 verses where Paul describes the kind of Judaism he grew up in:
(1) Acts 22:3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, but brought up in Jerusalem, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.”
(2) Romans 10:2–3 “They have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.”
(3) Galatians 1:13–14 “You have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it (cf. John 16:2); 14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions.”
b. This would explain Paul’s strong reaction to the misuse of God’s law. Until he met Christ he had probably never seen a zeal for God’s law which was not stained with human pride and self-righteousness.
L. So, we have to be very careful going through James. We want to heed everything God says through him, but we also want to remind ourselves that it is all rooted in the gospel of grace.
1. God gave us both Paul and James. Paul expressed some of God’s concerns; James expressed some of God’s concerns. With the others, a lot of the concerns which were in tension with one another got hammered it out at the Council of Jerusalem. But that was after this letter. So, here we have James talking about his concerns without regard to the teaching of Paul.
2. But we, on the other hand, do not need to read James without regard to Paul, because by God’s grace, we have both.