The letter from James, servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.
This James is most likely the brother of Jesus, Acts 15 clearly represents James the brother of Jesus as a key leader and spokesperson for the church in Jerusalem. There are several views on Jesus brothers, one is they are step brothers from a previous marriage of Joseph; the other is Joseph and Mary married after Jesus was born, and had children, making these Jesus half-brothers; this explanation seems to fit the overall picture better. The difference is not critical to the gospel.
Jesus brothers are not seen as sympathetic to Jesus being the Messiah, the Christ, through the gospels. 1 Corinthians 15:7 tells us the resurrected Jesus was seen by James. Consequently, His brothers saw things differently after the cross and resurrection. James in particular becoming a significant leader of the church.
Historical records picture James as a godly man, a devout follower of the Judaism’s laws and traditions and a follower of Jesus, a man of much prayer.
Because James is light on mentioning Jesus Christ, and strong on our responsibility, he has received criticism from people like Martin Luther. Some have seen his teaching clashing with the apostle Paul’s teaching. As James was martyred in Jerusalem about 62 A.D. it is unlikely he had read much or any of Paul’s writings. Paul clearly states that his primary mission is to those without a Jewish heritage, and his writings reflect this. James never left his Jewish heritage and his letter reflects this. James letter is incredibly valuable to us, not in the clarity it brings to the gospel; but in the clarity it brings to what the effects the gospel has in the believers life. James contains 23 apparent quotes from Jesus sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7; and his reflects knowledge of the Old Testament.
James letter is a good example of an ancient sermon. Jewish teaching was deliberately disconnected, like a string of beads, and James reflects this. The greek is the best in the New Testament, suggesting this was a sermon by James written down by a scribe.
I struggled to get a title for this series, my three top ideas were; A people of a different Spirit; Crowned to live well; Down to earth Spiritual Living. The third has won my internal debate. James brings instruction and encouragement for down to earth practical faith. Faith that is effective because it has a different Spirit to the prevailing spirit’s of our culture and community; and it calls us to live to crowned with the life of Jesus (James 1:12).
At Unite Church we are about to embark on a journey with James, this will take about three months. Our goal is to grow our down to earth practical living, from the different Spirit we have as belibvers in Christ. We want to grow in living on earth as those crowned with resurrection life in Christ; in contrast to those whose only expectation is a grave.
There is a sub -theme through James of spiritual conflict, it leaps up in James 4, where it says “resist the devil’. As we embrace the word of God, we will grow in our capacity to resist the devil; and to live near God, with faith in His grace to us. As we reflect on our lives allowing the word of God to be our truth; we will grow in our confidence and boldness. My prayer is that many at Unite Church will grow in faith, being like Elijah, praying prayers that are powerful and effective in bringing heaven to earth. (James 5:16-18)