CHAPTER 1

SALUTATION

James 1:1

Author

Verses 1a: James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The book opens by mentioning the standard items: (1) author, (2)readers/hearers, (3) greetings. The author is James, the son of Josephand Mary, the half brother of Jesus.

Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 present a list of Jesus' half-brothersas James, Joses, Simon, and Judas (Jude). The name James is Jacob,named after the Hebrew patriarch Jacob. He is also known as "Jamesthe Just," because of his piety. He assumes that the readers alreadyknow his identity. He must have been someone well-known in theearly church. It is James, the brother of our Lord, who could assumesuch recognition.

What would it be like to have Jesus in the family? Bruce Barton etal. answered that question: "Because there is so little information inScripture about Jesus' early years, we can only speculate about what itwould be like to have Jesus as a son or as an older brother. But suchwas the experience of James, the author of this book that bears hisname." Surely Mary and Joseph knew who Jesus was and must haveexplained His identity to the rest of the family. But James and othersiblings including Jude did not believe in Him. As John says, "Foreven his own brothers did not believe in him" (John 7:5). But thingschanged when James met the risen Lord. Jesus appeared personally toJames, His half brother (1 Corinthians 15:7).

In spite of that unique relationship with Jesus, James does notintroduce himself as the brother of our Lord possibly because of hishumility. Also, he did not introduce himself as "a pillar of the church."Rather, he calls himself simply as a servant of God and a servant ofthe Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek word translated "servant" is doulos,which refers to a slave. Total obedience is the work, utter humility isthe position, and unshakable loyalty is the relationship that a masterexpects from a slave. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Caleb, Joshua,Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Amos were all designated servants of God.Paul, Peter, Timothy, and Jude were also called servants of God. Jamesdoes not claim he was an apostle, although Paul regards him as onein Galatians 1:19. James and Jude were not among the Twelve, andtherefore they do not call themselves apostles.

Jesus is not just the promised Messiah, but also the Lord to whomservice is due. The word "Jesus" means "The Lord is salvation." Theword "Christ" mean the Messiah, the anointed One. As the popularchorus puts it:

    Jesus is the sweetest Name I know
    He's always just the same
    Oh praise His Holy Name
    That is the reason why I love Him so
    Jesus is the sweetest Name I know.

James was a Jew; his Christianity never rose much above Judaism.Paul, Peter, and other apostles went off around the world preachingthe gospel, but James stayed put teaching and leading the motherchurch at Jerusalem. He remained as a leader of the Jerusalem churchuntil his martyrdom. "It has been said that Paul was the apostle offaith, John the apostle of love, and James the apostle of works."

Recipients

Verses 1b: To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

James assumes that the readers/hearers know him and his credentialsvery well. The recipients of the letter are identified as "the twelvetribes scattered among the nations." This refers to those areas outsidePalestine where the people of Israel (the original twelve tribes) werescattered. The network of Jews scattered throughout the world servedas the stepping stone for the spread of the gospel. In almost everytown Paul and others visited, the presence of a Jewish communitygave them a platform for preaching the good news. Apparently, Jamesis writing to Jewish Christians. As the next verse shows, James isaddressing his letter to the brethren. "The twelve tribes" no longerexist physically, but this has become a technical term used to denotethe people of God, the church.

Greetings

Verses 1c: Greetings.

In this case, the Greeting is simple It is not as elaborate as the greetingformula commonly used in Paul's epistles. James uses the Greek wordchairein, which literally means "rejoice," to convey a sense of joy. Hebegins on a note of joy or happiness. He expects what he writes togladden his readers/hearers. Whatever the circumstance in which wefind ourselves, we can rejoice and face the future with confidence.

CHAPTER 2

TRIALS AND TEMPTATIONSPart 1

James 1:2-11

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