The following post is a message I delieved to an assisted living facility on James 1:1–18, which includes background information utilized from The Son Cometh.
—
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,
To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion:
Greetings.
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.
9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. 18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. (Jas 1:1–18 RSV)
James the Just introduces himself as a slave of God and of his own brother, the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Jn 7:5; Acts 12:17; 15:13; Gal 1:19; Josephus, Antiq. 20:9:1). At this time (ca. 55–62 CE) James was the principal elder of the Jewish Christian assembly (or church) at Jerusalem (cf. Gal 2:11–14; Acts 12:17b; 15:13–21; 21–25:18; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 2:1:2–5; 2:23:1–18ff.; 7:19:1). [Note: Although John Calvin recognizes that the majority of early church fathers identified this James as the brother of Jesus, in his commentary Calvin was inclined to believe that this James was the son of Alphaeus (Mk 3:18; Lk 6:15); namely, one of the Twelve.]
Nonetheless, James both greets and addresses “the twelve tribes in the Dispersion,” that is, the first-century believing Jewish Diaspora of the Roman Empire. Those were first-century Jews who had to make pilgrimage to the temple at Jerusalem annually, but who also believed in Jesus as the Christ. Although the Diaspora Jews, as a minority, made up roughly ten percent of the entire population of the Roman Empire, an even smaller minority of that Jewish population believed in Jesus of Nazareth as the Jewish Messiah; hence, these Jewish Christians of the Dispersion were persecuted by their own kindred throughout the habitable earth (see the book of Acts).
Accordingly, Josephus records that once Festus was dead (early 62 CE), who was the former Roman governor of Judea (Acts 25:1ff.), and while Albinus was just upon the road to Jerusalem (from Alexandria) to replace him, Annas II (the son of Annas the high priest, who had condemned Jesus; cf. Jn 18:13) assembled the Sanhedrin of judges and brought before them James (the Just), whom Josephus designates as “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ,” and some of his (Christian) companions. After Annas II had fabricated an accusation against them as transgressors of the (Mosaic) Law, he handed them over to be stoned (that is, apart from the lawful consent of the Roman governor). But the most equitable of the citizens of Jerusalem and those most upset at the breaking of the (Mosaic) laws (the “Pharisees,” per Mason; see below), disliked what the high priest was doing and sent word to King Agrippa Jr., asking him to stop Annas II from acting like this in the future, for what he had already done (i.e., the murders of James the Just and his Christian companions) was not just. Truly, some of the law-abiding and impartial citizens also went to meet Albinus as he was on the road from Alexandria (to Jerusalem) to inform him that Annas II had unlawfully assembled a Sanhedrin without his consent. Albinus agreed with what they said and wrote in anger to Annas II, threatening to bring him to punishment for what he had done. Therefore, King Agrippa Jr. took the high priesthood away from Annas II after he had ruled only three months and made Jesus, the son of Damneus, high priest (62–64 CE).
Moreover, Josephus further relates that as soon as Albinus came to the city of Jerusalem (after the death of James), he made every effort to ensure that the country would be kept in peace by destroying many of the Sicarii (cf. Acts 21:38). But the (former) high priest Ananias, son of Nebedeus, became progressively more prominent, to the degree that he had obtained the manifest favor and esteem of the citizens, “for,” as Josephus says, “he was a great hoarder up of money” (Antiq. 20:9:2). Thus, Ananias cultivated the friendship of Albinus and of the high priest, Jesus, son of Damneus (per Whiston), by giving them gifts. Likewise, Ananias had very wicked servants, who allied themselves with the most audacious people, and, going to the threshing floors (that is, the temple at Jerusalem; cf. Mt 3:11–12; Lk 3:16–17), they took away by force the tithes that belonged to the priests and beat those who would not hand them over. So the other high priests acted similarly, as did their servants, without anybody being able to stop them, so that priests who of old were formerly sustained by those tithes died for lack of food.
Let us further note, therefore, as James had likewise informed Paul just prior to the Pentecost of 55 CE: “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed; they are all zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20 RSV). Included among this many thousands of Jews at Jerusalem who believed in Jesus as the Messiah, who were also zealous abiders of the Law, would have been some Christian priests (Jn 12:42–43)—besides some Christian Pharisees (cf. Jn 3:1–2; 19:38ff.).
Erstwhile, however, this was the same Ananias the high priest who was present during the persecution, arrest, and trial of the apostle Paul at Jerusalem upon his pilgrimage to the Pentecost of 55 CE (cf. Acts 22:30–23:10ff.). Accordingly, James’s epistle was most likely written some time after the official high priesthood of Ananias (47–ca. 56 CE), but during his consequently corrupt political influence over Jerusalem and prior to the martyrdom of James at the temple in early 62 CE. [The story goes, as Eusebius says, that James was first cast down from the pinnacle of the temple and then subsequently stoned to death (Ecclesiastical History 2:23:1–18).]
Hence, it was within this historical milieu that James exhorts the first-century Jewish Christians of the Diaspora to, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials [Gk. πειρασμοῖς, ‘trials’ or ‘temptations’] of various kinds [both internal and external], for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness [Gk. ὑπομονή, ‘cheerful endurance’ or ‘hopeful patience’]. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jas 1:2–4 RSV).
Thus, what was (or is) the fruitful consequence of cheerfully enduring under trials and temptations of various kinds? That is, regardless of whether those trials come from without or tempt from within; whether they strip you of life’s necessities or entice you to seek the ill of your neighbor, ultimately every trial of any kind is a testing of one’s own faith in God. Namely, do you trust God in the midst of this ordeal? Or do you doubt in His provision and get swept away by your own sinful uncertainties? Do you persevere as one who has a hopeful patience, knowing that you will be rewarded by the One who gives generously? Or do you surrender in despair, uncertain and anxious for tomorrow? Thus James stipulates that you are to subject yourself to steadfastness under trials of various kinds (which included in his day famine, robbery, religious persecution; political corruption, mob violence and even murder in the streets via the Sicarii), which is the testing of your faith, for the resultant effect will yield a complete Christian; namely, one who hopes and trusts in the providence of God, and consequently lacks in nothing!
Therefore, James continues: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him [cf. Prv 1:7; 9:10]. 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. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (Jas 1:5–8 RSV). Accordingly, Matthew Henry comments, “We should not pray so much for the removal of an affliction as for wisdom to make a right use of it. To be wise in trying times is a special gift of God.” Hence, wisdom is not merely knowing the right thing, but making the right use of that knowledge at the right time; that is, especially during times of tribulation. In view of that, King Solomon affirms, “The fear of YHWH is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prv. 1:7; cf. 9:10). That is, rather than the fear of the LORD being the result of a right use of knowledge, reverence for God is the starting point from which anything can be known rightly! Thus, in faith we first revere God in order to know rightly—credo ut intelligam, “I believe in order to know,” as Augustine puts it—trusting in God’s sovereign Providence, and consequently praying for wisdom from God to make a right use of our knowledge in any given circumstance.
For that reason, James exhorts: “Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits” (Jas 1:9–11 RSV). Whether poor or rich, therefore, both kinds of believers are to be esteemed as brothers and sisters in Christ. For the grounds of our boasting is not so much in our circumstances in and of themselves, but rather the paradoxical shift and providential governance of those circumstances as appointed by God. [Consequently, and in fulfillment of the apostle Paul’s words spoken against him circa 29 May 55 CE (Acts 23:2–3), Josephus accounts that on the sixteenth of September 66 CE, and during the outbreak of the Great Jewish Revolt against Rome, the high priest/great hoarder up of money Ananias, son of Nebedeus, was caught where he had concealed himself in an aqueduct (which the Roman governor Pilate either built or refurbished in 29 CE). Hence, the robbers slew Ananias, son of Nebedeus, with his own brother Hezekiah (Wars 2:17:9).]
Nevertheless, James resolves: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial [Gk. πειρασμόν, ‘trial’ or ‘temptation’], for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown [Gk. τὸν στέφανον, ‘the laurel wreath’ or ‘victor’s crown’] of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted [Gk. πειραζόμενος, ‘he being tempted’ or ‘he being tried’], ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire [Gk. ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας, “by the lust/longing (which is) his own”]. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death [Gk. θάνατον]” (Jas 1:12–15 RSV). Happy (or fortunate), therefore, is the believer who perseveres under trial (that is, as externally appointed in God’s Providence), for once he or she has been perfected via a hopeful endurance under his or her own “cross” (that is, the testing of one’s own faith), God’s eternal reward will be the victor’s crown of life (that is, eternal life from God as anticipated in the future bodily resurrection). In the midst of such providential trials, however, let us not attribute our own internal temptations to God, for God Himself cannot be tempted with evil, for God Himself has no evil from within, and therefore tempts no one with evil from within. “But,” James (1:14) clarifies concerning temptations, “each person is tempted [from within] when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” Thus, via an analogy of physical generation (or life), James paradoxically states that when one’s own internal desire has conceived, it externally gives birth to sin (in action), and after sin has been given life, thus being born and fully maturing, it yields its own consequent reward (or penalty) which is (eternal) death!
“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.” James concludes of this catena of passages, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above [via God’s Providence], coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change [for light and life are both coextensive gifts and creations of God given unto men; Jn. 1:1‒5]. Of his own will he [God] brought us forth by the word of truth [cf. Jn. 1:9‒13], that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures [that is, the initial offering or tribute unto God which anticipates a later and fuller harvest]” (Jas 1:16–18 RSV). Thus we cheerfully endure the external trials of various kinds, which include remaining steadfast against the internal temptations that entice us from within, knowing that in God’s Providence we will be made entire Christians; who not only receive God’s gift of eternal life now (that is, by a faith born of God’s word of truth), but also anticipate (by faith) a fuller harvest upon the future bodily resurrection. Amen!