September 4th, 2021

This week’s epistle starts us looking at a particularly interesting one, the Epistle of James; last week I suggested that we look at that text instead of the other ones. This Epistle has a lot of Old Testament connections, much like the Old Testament Reading and the Gospel Reading working together. The text for this Sunday, though, does not start us in chapter one of James; the text for this Sunday is from James 2[:1-10, 14-18].

The reason behind this is probably that the first chapter of James was given as the Epistle Reading for the First Sunday in Lent for this year, the ‘B’ series. The text for that Sunday was only verses twelve through eighteen. It might be good to have a better introduction to this special work, to start at the very beginning.

Beginnings of literary works are usually very special. And this epistle was extremely well-crafted. And the person who crafted it was also an important one. James was a leader in the early Church. And he was also a step-brother to Jesus. But you would not think that to be the case when he starts out this writing in this way (and what follows is a somewhat-literal translation of James 1:1):

James; of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, a slave; to the twelve the tribes in the dispersion. Greetings!

Perhaps the word ‘slave’ stands out to you. That word is a very negative term these days. And James does not even put that word out in front to start even the thought that he would brag about his extremely low position. He throws it in, right at the end, right before he describes the people to whom he is writing. And those people to whom he is writing could easily be putting themselves down; after all, they have been ‘dispersed’. But James does not go into great detail on that either. In both cases, he does not focus on the negative for very long. (In fact, the word for ‘Greetings’ is very similar to the word for ‘joy’!)

Because of that lack of detail when speaking of the ‘dispersion’, we are not sure when this letter was written. But, ultimately, the chronology of the letter is not that important. The theology, on the other hand, IS very important.

It is easy to see in this epistle a similarity to the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament. Now this epistle certainly has a lot of good advice, and there are also a large number of commands in this book. But those commands are not all of the same level of importance.

In the Greek language, it is interesting that there are two types of commands. There are commands in the ‘second person’. This is a normal command, when you say to someone, ‘Do this!’ There are also commands in the ‘third person’, and this is a less important command. The latter MAY be translated in one of the following ways: ‘Let him or her do that’ or ‘have him or her do that.’

In the first section of James, right at the very beginning (verse 2), there is a clear, strong command in the second person. And this COULD be translated somewhat literally as ‘Lead all joy.’ The word literally means ‘lead’ or ‘rule’, and figuratively means ‘consider’ or ‘esteem’ [A Concise Lexicon to the Biblical Languages; Peabody, Massachusetts, USA: Hendrickson Publishers; Part 2, page 58]. And, at the very end of this section (verse 16), there is another clear command—with all the intervening commands being in the third person (and, therefore, secondary)—and this time the command is a prohibition. Again, quite literally, the text says, ‘Do not err,’ and one of the main ideas in this verb is to ‘mislead’ [A Concise Lexicon, Part 2, page 102]. These two verbs are quite appropriate for those who have been dispersed and are without a leader.

When it came to commands, the Jews had two different types of them. The Jews would consider commands to be either positive or negative—do this and do not do that. And this structure of a positive command at the beginning and a negative command at the end would certainly appeal to them.

In Acts 15, when James gets up after Peter, Paul, and Barnabas had spoken, he connects this word of gospel to an Old Testament passage in Amos, and he also gives, at the end of his speech, four prohibitions. But within that context, and in that situation as well, those prohibitions are not so negative, because he connects them, immediately after, with Moses being proclaimed.

This is a very positive description of Moses, since something that is proclaimed is usually good news. If you are interested, the word was used in this way before chapter 15: In Acts 8:5, Philip proclaimed the Christ. In 9:20, Jesus was proclaimed as the Son of God in the synagogues. In 10:37, John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism. And in 10:42, Jesus was proclaimed to the people that he was designated as the judge of the living and the dead. To have Moses proclaimed may, initially, seem like a negative thing. But the prohibitions do not have to stop at saying to someone ‘Do not do that.’ There is much more good news to be found, even within the Pentateuch.

The comforting message here in James is, admittedly, a bit subtle. When these people are getting dispersed, there is ultimately a better leader than anyone of them could ever be. James does not seem to be pointing them back to the place where they originally started. He seems to be pointing them literally upward. What follows are some excellent words of comfort after that prohibition that caught their attention near the end of the first chapter:

Every giving good and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the lights, with whom he has no place change or of turning shadow. Having purposed, he brought forth us by a word of truth, that we should be a certain first fruit of the creatures of him [a somewhat-literal translation of James 1:17-19].

What does this mean? Much could be said! But what follows will be brief.

The perspective certainly is a much broader one. One could think of Jesus when he mentions ‘coming down from the Father’. But it seems that the writer is taking us back to the very beginning, at the time of creation. On the first day, he created light, but he did not have to do that; he could have saved that for the fourth day. And, on the fourth day, when he created the greater and lesser lights, he gave them authority.

Ultimately the writer is referring us to every day. Good gifts come every day. Perfect gifts—like the forgiveness of sins and eternal life—may come every day as well. And they all come from above, from the Father. And this is the Father who had the Son who called himself the Light of the world (John 8:12).
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It may be helpful, during these times when those in authority are put down and mocked, that God gives authority that no one can do without. Whether one has been scattered or not, God is still God. And do not forget that the designation of ‘Father’ is certainly significant.