The Author James
It has been contested throughout the years who wrote the book of James, partially because others mentioned throughout the New Testament bear that name. Two of these men were part of the twelve Apostles (see Matthew 10:2-4) and were unlikely to have written the book for multiple reasons. Others have been suggested, but the candidate who best fits the bill (all arguments, reasoning, and evidence aside) is James the Lord’s half-brother and leader of the Jerusalem council (church). Passages that mention/involve him include Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3, John 7:2-5 (although this passage doesn’t mention his name directly; see also Acts 1:14), 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, Galatians 2:8-9, Acts 12:17, Acts 15:13-21, and Galatians 1:18-19. Jude also mentions him as a brother in Jude 1:1 and was also a prominent leader in the Jerusalem assembly.
Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 directly mention him as the Lord’s brother, while John 7:2-5 confirm that James, like the rest of his siblings, was an unbeliever even after Jesus had begun His public ministry. We don’t know when he came to faith in Christ, but 1 Corinthians 15:7 confirms that he was one of the earliest witnesses to the resurrected Lord (this may be when he came to believe). It wouldn’t be long after this that James would become a prominent leader of the Jerusalem church. Galatians 1:18-20 mentions Paul encountering him there after returning to Jerusalem from Syria and Cilicia after a fourteen-year stay in those locations (Galatians 2:1-10). Acts 15:13-21 mentions James’s speech to the brothers regarding accepting the Gentile believers as members of the body of Christ. James was the only “apostle” Paul saw in his first post-conversion visit to Jerusalem, aside from Peter. He was not an apostle like the rest of the twelve. Still, he was one in the sense of being “one who was sent out” (the other and second type and meaning of the word “apostle”) to teach the Word and preach the gospel (although James remained stationed in Jerusalem for the bulk of his work). Needless to say, he was not one of the twelve apostles, but he was popular and well-known based on everything we read about him.
Some have estimated that he was martyred in either 62 or 69 A.D. However, we probably can’t know the precise date of his death (the year included).
Date
We cannot know the exact date (let alone the year) of when James was written. Some estimate is that it was penned sometime around 50 A.D. (a few years more or less), while others put it somewhere later between 55 and 65 A.D.
Audience, Purpose (Occasion), and Theme
James was writing to Jewish believers (“the twelve tribes scattered among the nations”) who were originally attendees of the Jerusalem church but were scattered either on account of the persecutions that broke out under Saul (who later became Paul) after Steven’s death (Acts 7:54-60 and Acts 8:1-4) or after Herod’s killing of the apostle James (not our author but one of the twelve apostles/disciples of Jesus) mentioned in Acts 11:27-30 and Acts 12:1-3. Both may be meant. However, I see the former interpretation as being more likely. It is true that these persecutions died down after some time and that many of the believers who fled Jerusalem returned years later when it was safe. Nevertheless, it was still necessary for James to write this epistle since many within his “flock” were absent during this challenging period. They were not all in the same place, but different groups and individuals were dispersed in various pockets throughout the eastern Mediterranean world.
Therefore, James wrote this book to his listeners because they were scattered like lost sheep without direct access to any of their former pastor-teachers (James and some of the other Jerusalem leaders like Jude were some of them). Hence, these believers encountered a scarcity of Bible teaching and leadership in lands where they were perhaps unfamiliar. James wrote this epistle to “fill in the gap” to help amend the situation and guarantee the spiritual growth and safety of those under his care (especially until the persecutions lifted and everyone could either return home or reunite somehow). If James could not be physically present with them, he could write to those under his charge to further enhance their ability to bear under the difficult situation(s) they now found themselves in. It is for this reason that he wrote the Book of James.
Although the book was written specifically for Jewish believers (with perhaps a few Gentiles mixed in as well), the principles (the entire book) contained therein apply to all believers of all time (including us today), both Jews and Gentiles (even if the specific setting and circumstances differ). The book’s theme, sometimes criticized as confusing, is relatively simple: to show believers how to live the Christian life, especially while facing difficult trials and tribulations. This includes not just listening to and acknowledging the truth (as if a mere acceptance and appreciation of the facts is good enough), but also applying it through faith. In other words, we can paraphrase or summarize James’s message: “You had my instructions while you were with me and are now receiving more through this letter while absent. Don’t just read and understand my words; put them into practice through faith! Otherwise, the truth will not benefit you in any way during these strenuous times you must now endure, times where you desperately need to practice what you know since your faith is now under some serious pressure.”
All believers of all time, especially growing individuals making great strides in their spiritual advance, will always have to face trials and tribulations of various kinds as long as they live and breathe because such difficult tests are necessary for faith to grow. Without testing, our faith, spiritual growth, and maturity would be suspect, and we would never have any opportunities to prove their quality. Faith needs challenges and difficulties to grow so that such hard scenarios are allowances of love and graciousness from the Lord that enable us to grow closer to Him. However, as James points out, not long into the epistle, temptations to sin are not the same as receiving tests directly from the Lord Himself because God does not tempt anyone to do evil that is so contrary to His will and character. We will explain this further by examining the individual verses throughout the book.
How applicable James’s words are to the church today because of the greatest of all trials and “tribulations” we are about to endure soon! The seven-year tribulation prophesied throughout Scripture (most notably Revelation and many of the major and minor prophetical books contained throughout the Old Testament) will be the worst time the earth has ever seen (Matthew 24:21) so that James’s words should sink into the minds of all believers. This is one of the reasons I chose to teach through this book because of how applicable it is for us (the modern-day church), who will soon have to “get our acts together” (stop being lukewarm Revelation 3:14-22) and start more aggressively seeking out and applying the truth so that we will be able to endure through those most difficult times.
The Structure and Content of the Book
Many of James’s teachings echo the ethical principles Jesus taught during the sermon on the mount, such as listening and doing, giving, prayer, wealth, asking, etc. A side by side comparison between Matthew chapters five to seven and many of the ethical teachings found in the epistle of James will reveal this. Much of this is also undoubtedly because James and our Lord were half-brothers, so the apostle was familiar with many of our Lord’s words and certainly had other things in common. James’s style is more simplistic and straightforward than most of the other New Testament books (especially when compared to many of Paul’s epistles) and contains a “flavor” similar to that of the wisdom writings, such as what we see in Proverbs.
Regarding the book’s structure, we will briefly lay out some of the bigger subjects here in passing in an overview or survey form. The book (chapter one) opens with a greeting (James 1:1), followed immediately by James’s encouragement to his readers of how to react in difficult trials and temptations (which includes asking the Lord for wisdom in complete faith and not allowing one’s status in life to drag one away from the Lord James 1:2-11). This, and all the following warnings, was necessary because many within James’s reading audience were at odds with one another (this included fighting and quarreling James 4:1-12). Now that James and the other Jerusalem leaders were no longer with them, disunity and disorganization began to arise within the ranks. Not only that, but the trials and tribulations the members of James’s congregation were now facing made living and acting morally difficult; hence, they began to react negatively. They no longer had the peace and comfort of living in Jerusalem under far better, mostly unopposed conditions. No longer were they under the direct “supervision” of their shepherds. It was test time to see whether they would practice what they already knew and everything else they would be taught. Now that testing had come, some of them began to react poorly (so were some of the reports James had received about the spiritual welfare of his “flock”).
James 1:12 then adds further encouragement and motivation for reacting in the spiritually mature way to these trials and difficulties by mentioning the specific reward for so doing (the crown of life; again, we will explain all these things later as we examine the individual verses within the context). After that, but before continuing, James realized the necessity of differentiating between temptations from the Devil and tests the Lord allows the believer to go through to strengthen their faith to head off any false ideas his readers may have had that credited God with doing anything impure (since a righteous and holy God can have nothing to do with evil) James 1:13-18. He did not want his fellow Jews (or anyone else after writing, including us today) to think that God was against them (as Job was tempted to do through his own testing) lest they grow disheartened by abandoning their faith because of demoralization.
James 1:19-27 in chapter one continue with the narrative on applying the wisdom the believer should ask for and apply (which includes being slow to speak and quick to listen, listening and doing, and taming the tongue). Chapter two includes more things to include on this list of asking for and applying wisdom, such as treating all men as equals without partiality (James 2:1-13), followed by giving reasons as to why works (James 2:14-26) are so important (since they highlight false faith for believers out of fellowship with God and unbelievers claiming saving faith they don’t have). Regarding the issue of showing partiality, it was imperative for James to address that because most believers during his time held a lower status in society. Since this was the case and because it was the rich who were exploiting and oppressing them, why would anyone within James’s sphere of authority who claimed Christ wish to hypocritically replicate this sinful behavior? This section then leads to the part about faith and works, where James uses an example of helping a poor brother in need in verses James 2:15-16.
Chapter three then continues the theme of listening and doing (seeking out and applying wisdom in one’s life “Doers of the Word”) by urging the reader to learn to bridle the tongue (James 3:1-12) since many of these Jewish believers were fighting and quarreling with each other James 4:1-12 (one of the reasons why James warns them that not many of them should become teachers because what one says or teaches and how one talks can have a huge impact on others). For this reason, James needed to distinguish between the wisdom of this world and the type that comes from God above. Now that they were scattered in different parts of the Mediterranean world (and for multiple other reasons already given), it was easier for these Jews to become affected by outside forces (by their choosing, of course). As they became more exposed to the world, they became more influenced by it, necessitating the measure James took to distinguish between Godly wisdom from above and worldly wisdom from below (James 3:13-18). It is not wise to do what unbelievers see as good, right, and acceptable. However, it was not enough for James to tell his readers what they were doing was wrong; he needed to show them what the good looked like instead of pointing out their flaws and walking away. This he did, as seen in verses seventeen and eighteen.
Chapter four finally brings to the fore one of the reasons James addressed so many of the topics he did (James 4:1-3 because of the internal strife and disunity that was occurring) and warns of the dangers of such ungodly conduct in James 4:4-6 (see also James 4:11-12). The solution to this was (is) to submit to God by resisting the Devil (along with everything else mentioned in James 4:8-10). The final section of chapter four (no doubt necessary for James to address because some were, as mentioned before, allowing themselves to be influenced by unbelievers and their worldly type of “wisdom”) revolves around seeking the Lord’s will first in humility instead of proudly and arrogantly assuming one knows what is best (James 4:13-16).
In chapter five, James now breaks off from his main body of teaching to give a brief warning to the rich unbelievers who were also oppressing the brothers and sisters under his care (James 5:1-6). To further help end his letter, he exhorts his scattered congregation to patience amid the trying times they presently faced (James 5:7-9), followed by examples of past, inspiring biblical figures who had done the same under far worse conditions (James 5:10-12). And, finally, since some were presently not faring so well because of their weak faith under trying circumstances (and because of possible future lapses), James wanted his listeners to help restore those in any spiritual danger so that the problem(s) would not grow worse and result in greater consequences (James 5:13-16 and James 5:19-20). He referenced the prophet Elijah in James 5:17-18 as an example of genuine faith in prayer to help encourage his congregants to do the same.
To end our introduction, we will examine this book verse by verse, section by section (breaking it down into parts for easier readability). Also, there will be times when I will diverge into a specific topic directly or indirectly related to the present subject of whatever verse(s) under examination to help the reader better grasp the truths contained therein. So, this series will combine verse by verse and topical (as we go along).