1. JAMES 2 COMME TARY EDITED BY GLE PEASE 1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. BAR ES, "James, a servant of God - On the meaning of the word servant in this connection, see the note at Rom_1:1. Compare the note at Phm_1:16. It is remarkable that James does not call himself an apostle; but this does not prove that the writer of the Epistle was not an apostle, for the same omission occurs in the Epistle of John, and in the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, the Thessalonians, and to Philemon. It is remarkable, also, considering the relation which James is supposed to have borne to the Lord Jesus as his brother (Gal_1:19; Introduction, 1). That he did not refer to that as constituting a ground of claim to his right to address others; but this is only one instance out of many, in the New Testament, in which it is regarded as a higher honor to be the servant of God, and to belong to his family, than to sustain any relations of blood or kindred. Compare Mat_11:50. It may be observed also (Compare the introduction, Section 1), that this term is one which was especially appropriate to James, as a man eminent for his integrity. His claim to respect and deference was not primarily founded on any relationship which he sustained; any honor of birth or blood; or even any external office, but on the fact that he was a servant of God. And of the Lord Jesus Christ - The servant of the Lord Jesus, is an appellation which is often given to Christians, and particularly to the ministers of religion. They are his servants, not in the sense that they are slaves, but in the sense that they voluntarily obey his will, and labor for him, and not for themselves. To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad - Greek The twelve tribes which are in the dispersion, or of the dispersion ( en t diaspora). This word occurs only here and in 1Pe_1:1, and Joh_7:35. It refers properly to those who lived out of Palestine, or who were scattered among the Gentiles. There were two great dispersions; the Eastern and the Western. The first had its origin about the time when the ten tribes were carried away to Assyria, and in the time of the Babylonian captivity. In consequence of these events, and of the fact that large numbers of the Jews went to Babylon, and other Eastern countries, for purposes of travel, commerce, etc., there were many Jews in the East in the times of the apostles. The other was the Western dispersion, which commenced about the time of Alexander the Great, and which was promoted by various causes, until there were large numbers of Jews in Egypt and along Northern Africa, in Asia Minor, in Greece proper, and even in Rome. To which of these classes this Epistle was directed is not known; but most probably the writer had particular reference to those in the East. See the introduction, Section 2. The phrase the twelve tribes, was the common term by which the Jewish people were designated, and was in use long after the ten tribes were carried away, leaving, in fact, only two of the twelve in Palestine. Compare the notes at Act_26:7. Many have supposed that James 2. here addressed them as Jews, and that the Epistle was sent to them as such. But this opinion has no probability; because: (1) If this had been the case, he would not have been likely to begin his Epistle by saying that he was a servant of Jesus Christ, a name so odious to the Jews. (2) And, if he had spoken of himself as a Christian, and had addressed his countrymen as himself a believer in Jesus as the Messiah, though regarding them as Jews, it is incredible that he did not make a more distinct reference to the principles of the Christian religion; that he used no arguments to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah; that he did not attempt to convert them to the Christian faith. It should be added, that at first most converts were made from those who had been trained in the Jewish faith, and it is not improbable that one in Jerusalem, addressing those who were Christians out of Palestine, would naturally think of them as of Jewish origin, and would be likely to address them as appertaining to the twelve tribes. The phrase the twelve tribes became also a sort of technical expression to denote the people of God - the church. Greeting - A customary form of salutation, meaning, in Greek, to joy, to rejoice; and implying that he wished their welfare. Compare Act_15:23. CLARKE, "James, a servant of God - For an account of this person, or rather for the conjectures concerning him, see the preface. He neither calls himself an apostle, nor does he say that he was the brother of Christ, or bishop of Jerusalem; whether he was James the elder, son of Zebedee, or James the less, called our Lords brother, or some other person of the same name, we know not. The assertions of writers concerning these points are worthy of no regard. The Church has always received him as an apostle of Christ. To the twelve tribes - scattered abroad - To the Jews, whether converted to Christianity or not, who lived out of Judea, and sojourned among the Gentiles for the purpose of trade or commerce. At this time there were Jews partly traveling, partly sojourning, and partly resident in most parts of the civilized world; particularly in Asia, Greece, Egypt, and Italy. I see no reason for restricting it to Jewish believers only; it was sent to all whom it might concern, but particularly to those who had received the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ; much less must we confine it to those who were scattered abroad at the persecution raised concerning Stephen, Act_8:1, etc.; Act_11:19, etc. That the twelve tribes were in actual existence when James wrote this epistle, Dr. Macknight thinks evident from the following facts: 1. Notwithstanding Cyrus allowed all the Jews in his dominions to return to their own land, many of them did not return. This happened agreeably to Gods purpose, in permitting them to be carried captive into Assyria and Babylonia; for he intended to make himself known among the heathens, by means of the knowledge of his being and perfections, which the Jews, in their dispersion, would communicate to them. This also was the reason that God determined that the ten tribes should never return to their own land, Hos_1:6; Hos_8:8; Hos_9:3, Hos_ 9:15-17. 2. That, comparatively speaking, few of the twelve tribes returned in consequence of Cyruss decree, but continued to live among the Gentiles, appears from this: that in the days of Ahasuerus, one of the successors of Cyrus, who reigned from India to 3. Ethiopia, over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, Est_3:8, The Jews were dispersed among the people in all the provinces of his kingdom, and their laws were diverse from the laws of all other people, and they did not keep the kings laws; so that, by adhering to their own usages, they kept themselves distinct from all the nations among whom they lived. 3. On the day of pentecost, which happened next after our Lords ascension, Act_2:5, Act_2:9, There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven; Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, etc.; so numerous were the Jews, and so widely dispersed through all the countries of the world. 4. When Paul traveled through Asia and Europe, he found the Jews so numerous, that in all the noted cities of the Gentiles they had synagogues in which they assembled for the worship of God, and were joined by multitudes of proselytes from among the heathens, to whom likewise he preached the Gospel. 5. The same apostle, in his speech to King Agrippa, affirmed that the twelve tribes were then existing, and that they served God day and night, in expectation of the promise made to the fathers, Act_26:6. 6. Josephus, Ant. i. 14, cap. 12, tells us that one region could not contain the Jews, but they dwelt in most of the flourishing cities of Asia and Europe, in the islands and continent, not much less in number than the heathen inhabitants. From all this it is evident that the Jews of the dispersion were more numerous than even the Jews in Judea, and that James very properly inscribed this letter to the twelve tribes which were in the dispersion, seeing the twelve tribes really existed then, and do still exist, although not distinguished by separate habitations, as they were anciently in their own land. Greeting - Health; a mere expression of benevolence, a wish for their prosperity; a common form of salutation; see Act_15:23; Act_23:26; 2Jo_1:11. GILL, "James, a servant of God - For an account of this person, or rather for the conjectures concerning him, see the preface. He neither calls himself an apostle, nor does he say that he was the brother of Christ, or bishop of Jerusalem; whether he was James the elder, son of Zebedee, or James the less, called our Lords brother, or some other person of the same name, we know not. The assertions of writers concerning these points are worthy of no regard. The Church has always received him as an apostle of Christ. To the twelve tribes - scattered abroad - To the Jews, whether converted to Christianity or not, who lived out of Judea, and sojourned among the Gentiles for the purpose of trade or commerce. At this time there were Jews partly traveling, partly sojourning, and partly resident in most parts of the civilized world; particularly in Asia, Greece, Egypt, and Italy. I see no reason for restricting it to Jewish believers only; it was sent to all whom it might concern, but particularly to those who had received the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ; much less must we confine it to those who were scattered abroad at the persecution raised concerning Stephen, Act_8:1, etc.; Act_11:19, etc. That the twelve tribes were in actual existence when James wrote this epistle, Dr. Macknight thinks evident from the following facts: 1. Notwithstanding Cyrus allowed all the Jews in his dominions to return to their 4. own land, many of them did not return. This happened agreeably to Gods purpose, in permitting them to be carried captive into Assyria and Babylonia; for he intended to make himself known among the heathens, by means of the knowledge of his being and perfections, which the Jews, in their dispersion, would communicate to them. This also was the reason that God determined that the ten tribes should never return to their own land, Hos_1:6; Hos_8:8; Hos_9:3, Hos_ 9:15-17. 2. That, comparatively speaking, few of the twelve tribes returned in consequence of Cyruss decree, but continued to live among the Gentiles, appears from this: that in the days of Ahasuerus, one of the successors of Cyrus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia, over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, Est_3:8, The Jews were dispersed among the people in all the provinces of his kingdom, and their laws were diverse from the laws of all other people, and they did not keep the kings laws; so that, by adhering to their own usages, they kept themselves distinct from all the nations among whom they lived. 3. On the day of pentecost, which happened next after our Lords ascension, Act_2:5, Act_2:9, There were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven; Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, etc.; so numerous were the Jews, and so widely dispersed through all the countries of the world. 4. When Paul traveled through Asia and Europe, he found the Jews so numerous, that in all the noted cities of the Gentiles they had synagogues in which they assembled for the worship of God, and were joined by multitudes of proselytes from among the heathens, to whom likewise he preached the Gospel. 5. The same apostle, in his speech to King Agrippa, affirmed that the twelve tribes were then existing, and that they served God day and night, in expectation of the promise made to the fathers, Act_26:6. 6. Josephus, Ant. i. 14, cap. 12, tells us that one region could not contain the Jews, but they dwelt in most of the flourishing cities of Asia and Europe, in the islands and continent, not much less in number than the heathen inhabitants. From all this it is evident that the Jews of the dispersion were more numerous than even the Jews in Judea, and that James very properly inscribed this letter to the twelve tribes which were in the dispersion, seeing the twelve tribes really existed then, and do still exist, although not distinguished by separate habitations, as they were anciently in their own land. Greeting - Health; a mere expression of benevolence, a wish for their prosperity; a common form of salutation; see Act_15:23; Act_23:26; 2Jo_1:11. HE RY, "We have here the inscription of this epistle, which consists of three principal parts. I. The character by which our author desires to be known: James, a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was a prime-minister in Christ's kingdom, yet he styles himself only a servant. Note hence, Those who are highest in office or attainments in the church of Christ are but servants. They should not therefore act as masters, but as ministers. Further, Though James is called by the evangelist the brother of our Lord, yet it was his glory to serve Christ in the spirit, rather than to boast of his being akin according to the flesh. Hence let us learn to prize this title above all others in 5. the world - the servants of God and of Christ. Again, it is to be observed that James professes himself a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ; to teach us that in all services we should have an eye to the Son as well as the Father. We cannot acceptably serve the Father, unless we are also servants of the Son. God will have all men to honour the Son as they honour the Father (Joh_5:23), looking for acceptance in Christ and assistance from him, and yielding all obedience to him, thus confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. II. The apostle here mentions the condition of those to whom he writes: The twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. Some understand this of the dispersion upon the persecution of Stephen, Acts 8. But that only reached to Judea and Samaria. Others by the Jews of the dispersion understand those who were in Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, and other kingdoms into which their wars had driven them. The greatest part indeed of ten of the twelve tribes were lost in captivity; but yet some of every tribe were preserved and they are still honoured with the ancient style of twelve tribes. These however were scattered and dispersed. 1. They were dispersed in mercy. Having the scriptures of the Old Testament, the providence of God so ordered it that they were scattered in several countries for the diffusing of the light of divine revelation. 2. They began now to be scattered in wrath. The Jewish nation was crumbling into parties and factions, and many were forced to leave their own country, as having now grown too hot for them. Even good people among them shared in the common calamity. 3. These Jews of the dispersion were those who had embraced the Christian faith. They were persecuted and forced to seek for shelter in other countries, the Gentiles being kinder to Christians than the Jews were. Note here, It is often the lot even of God's own tribes to be scattered abroad. The gathering day is reserved for the end of time; when all the dispersed children of God shall be gathered together to Christ their head. In the mean time, while God's tribes are scattered abroad, he will send to look after them. Here is an apostle writing to the scattered; an epistle from God to them, when driven away from his temple, and seemingly neglected by him. Apply here that of the prophet Ezekiel, Thus saith the Lord God, Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come, Eze_11:16. God has a particular care of his outcasts. Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab, Isa_16:3, Isa_16:4. God's tribes may be scattered; therefore we should not value ourselves too much on outward privileges. And, on the other hand, we should not despond and think ourselves rejected, under outward calamities, because God remembers and sends comfort to his scattered people. III. James here shows the respect he had even for the dispersed: greeting, saluting them, wishing peace and salvation to them. True Christians should not be the less valued for their hardships. It was the desire of this apostle's heart that those who were scattered might be comforted - that they might do well and fare well, and be enabled to rejoice even in their distresses. God's people have reason to rejoice in all places, and at all times; as will abundantly appear from what follows. JAMISO , "Jam_1:1-27. Inscription: Exhortation on hearing, speaking, and wrath. The last subject is discussed in James 3:13-4:17. James an apostle of the circumcision, with Peter and John, James in Jerusalem, Palestine, and Syria; Peter in Babylon and the East; John in Ephesus and Asia Minor. Peter addresses the dispersed Jews of Pontus, Galatia, and Cappadocia; James, the 6. Israelites of the twelve tribes scattered abroad. servant of God not that he was not an apostle; for Paul, an apostle, also calls himself so; but as addressing the Israelites generally, including even indirectly the unbelieving, he in humility omits the title apostle; so Paul in writing to the Hebrews; similarly Jude, an apostle, in his General Epistle. Jesus Christ not mentioned again save in Jam_2:1; not at all in his speeches (Act_ 15:14, Act_15:15; Act_21:20, Act_21:21), lest his introducing the name of Jesus oftener should seem to arise from vanity, as being the Lords brother [Bengel]. His teaching being practical, rather than doctrinal, required less frequent mention of Christs name. scattered abroad literally which are in the dispersion. The dispersion of the Israelites, and their connection with Jerusalem as a center of religion, was a divinely ordered means of propagating Christianity. The pilgrim troops of the law became caravans of the Gospel [Wordsworth]. greeting found in no other Christian letter, but in James and the Jerusalem Synods Epistle to the Gentile churches; an undesigned coincidence and mark or genuineness. In the original Greek (chairein) for greeting, there is a connection with the joy to which they are exhorted amidst their existing distresses from poverty and consequent oppression. Compare Rom_15:26, which alludes to their poverty. CALVI , "This reproof seems at first sight to be hard and unreasonable; for it is one of the duties of courtesy, not to be neglected, to honor those who are elevated in the world. Further, if respect of persons be vicious, servants are to be freed from all subjection; for freedom and servitude are deemed by Paul as conditions of life. The same must be thought of magistrates. But the solution of these questions is not difficult, if what James writes is not separated. For he does not simply disapprove of honor being paid to the rich, but that this should not be done in a way so as to despise or reproach the poor; and this will appear more clearly, when he PROCEEDS to speak of the rule of love. Let us therefore remember that the respect of persons here condemned is that by which the rich is so extolled, wrong is done to the poor, which also he shews clearly by the context and surely ambitions is that honor, and full of vanity, which is shewn to the rich to the contempt of the poor. or is there a doubt but that ambition reigns and vanity also, when the masks of this world are alone in high esteem. We must remember this truth, that he is to be counted among the heirs of Gods kingdom, who disregards the reprobate and honors those who fear God. (Psalms 15:4.) Here then is the contrary vice condemned, that is, when from respect alone to riches, anyone honors the wicked, and as it has been said, dishonors the good. If then thou shouldest read thus, He sins who respects the rich, the sentence would be absurd; but if as follows, He sins who honors the rich alone and despises the poor, and treats him with contempt, it would be a pious and true doctrine. 1Have not the faith, etc. , with respect of persons. He means that the respect of persons is inconsistent with the faith of Christ, so that they cannot be united 7. together, and rightly so; for we are by faith united into one body, in which Christ holds the primacy. When therefore the pomps of the world become preeminent so as to cover over what Christ is, it is evident that faith hath but little vigor. In rendering , on ACCOU T of esteem, (ex opinione ,) I have followed Erasmus; though the old interpreter cannot be blamed, who has rendered it glory, for the word means both; and it may be fitly applied to Christ, and that according to the drift of the passage. For so great is the brightness of Christ, that it easily extinguishes all the glories of the world, if I DEED it irradiates our eyes. It hence follows, that Christ is little esteemed by us, when the admiration of worldly glory lays hold on us. But the other exposition is also very suitable, for when the esteem or value of riches or of honors dazzles our eyes, the truth is suppressed, which ought alone to prevail. To sit becomingly means to sit honorably. BARCLAY, "RESPECT OF PERSO S (James 2:1) 2:1 My brothers, you cannot really believe that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, and yet CO TI UE to have respect of persons. Respect of persons is the ew Testament phrase for undue and unfair partiality; it means pandering to someone, because he is rich or influential or popular. It is a fault which the ew Testament consistently condemns. It is a fault of which the orthodox Jewish leaders completely acquitted Jesus. Even they were bound to admit that there was no respect of persons with him (Luke 20:21; Mark 12:14; Matthew 22:16). After his vision of the sheet with the clean and unclean animals upon it, the lesson that Peter learned was that with God there is no respect of persons (Acts 10:34). It was Paul's conviction that Gentile and Jew stand under a like judgment in the sight of God, for with God there is no favouritism (Romans 2:11). This is a truth which Paul urges on his people again and again (Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25). The word itself is curious--prosopolempsia (Greek #4382). The noun comes from the expression prosopon (Greek #4383) lambanein (Greek #2983). Prosopon (Greek # 4383) is the "face"; and lambanein (Greek #2983) here means "to lift up." The expression in Greek is a literal TRA SLATIO of a Hebrew phrase. To lift up a person's countenance was to regard him with favour, in contradistinction perhaps to casting down his countenance. Originally it was not a bad word at all; it simply meant to accept a person with favour. Malachi asks if the governor will be pleased with the people and will accept their persons, if they bring him blemished offerings (Malachi 1:8-9). But the word rapidly acquired a bad sense. It SOO began to mean, not so much to favour a person, as to show favouritism, to allow oneself to be unduly influenced by a person's social status or prestige or power or wealth. Malachi goes on to condemn that very sin when God accuses the people of not keeping his ways and of being partial in their judgments (Malachi 2:9). The great characteristic of God is his complete impartiality. In the Law it was written, "You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in 8. righteousness shall you judge YOUR neighbour" (Leviticus 19:15). There is a necessary emphasis here. A person may be unjust because of the snobbery which truckles to the rich; and may be equally unjust because of the inverted snobbery which glorifies the poor. "The Lord," said Ben Sirach, "is judge and with him is no respect of persons" (Sirach 35:12). The Old and ew Testaments unite in condemning that partiality of judgment and favouritism of treatment which comes of giving undue weight to a man's social standing, wealth or worldly influence. And it is a fault to which every one is more or less liable. "The rich and the poor meet together," says Proverbs, "the Lord is the maker of them all" (Proverbs 22:2). "It is not meet," says Ben Sirach, "to despise the poor man that hath understanding; neither is it fitting to magnify a sinful man that is rich" (Sirach 10:23). We do well to remember that it is just as much respect of persons to truckle to the mob as it is to pander to a tyrant. ELLICOTT, "(1) My brethren.The second chapter OPE S with some stern rebukes for those unworthy Christians who had mens persons in admiration, and, doubtless, that because of advantage to themselves. (Comp. Jude 1:16.) The lesson is distinctly ADDRESSED to believers, and its severity appears to be caused by the Apostles unhappy consciousness of its need. What were endurable in a heathen, or an alien, or even a Jew, ceased to be so in a professed follower of the lowly Jesus. And this seems to be a further reason for the indignant expostulation and condemnation of James 2:14. Thus the whole chapter may really be considered as dealing with Faith; and it flows naturally from the foregoing thoughts upon Religionor, as we interpreted their subject-matter, Religious Service. Have (or, hold) not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with (or, in) respect of persons.Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, wrote St. Paul to the proud and wealthy men of Corinth (2 Corinthians 8:9), that, though He was rich, yet for YOUR sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich; and, with more cogent an appeal, to the Philippians (James 2:4-7), In lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves: look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of Godi.e., Very God, and not appearance merelynevertheless thought not His equality with God a thing to be always grasped at, as it were some booty or prize, but emptied Himself of His glory, and took upon Him the shape of a slave. Were these central, nay initial, facts of the faith believed then; or are they now? If they were in truth, how could there be such folly and shame as acceptance of persons ACCORDI G to the dictates of fashionable society and the world? Honour, indeed, to whom honour is due (Romans 13:7). The Christian religion allows not that contempt for even earthly dignitiesaffected by some of her followers, but springing more from envy and unruliness than aught besides. True reverence and submission are in no way condemned by this scripture: but their excess and gross extreme, the preference for vulgar wealth, the adulation of success, the worship, in short, of some new golden calf. BURKITT, "For the better understanding of these words, let us consider. 1. What 9. the apostle doth not; 2. What he doth condemn. 3. What is here not condemned, namely, 1. The paying of civil respect to all persons, ACCORDI G to their character, and a different respect to persons, according to their different qualities: honour is to be given to whom honour is due, and the rich are entitled to respect; and that they receive it from us, is no ways displeasing unto God. 2. Much less does our apostle here speak against honouring magistrates, or paying respect to our ecclesiastical or civil rulers and governors in their courts or judicature: civility, yea, Christianity, calls for outward respect and reverence to them that are above us, especially if in authority over us. But POSITIVELY, that which is here condemned, 1. In general, is partiality in our respect to persons in religious matters, for in the things of God all are equal: the rich and the poor stand upon the same terms of advantage; external relations and differences bear no weight at the gospel-beam; therefore, to disesteem any of the poor members of Christ, as such, is to disesteem and undervalue Christ himself. Holiness in not less lovely to him because clothed with rags, nor unholiness less loathsome because it goes in a gay coat with a gold ring. Wickedness is abominable to Christ, and ought to be so to us, though it sits upon a throne, and holiness shines in his eye, (and may it in ours also,) though it lies upon a dunghill. 2. That which seems here to be condemned in particular, is the accepting of persons in judgment, upon the ACCOU T of outward advantages, proceeding not according to the merits of the cause, in their ecclesiastical and civil judicatures, but according to external respects. Our apostle would by no means have them pay a deference to a rich man in judgment because of his riches, or gay attire; nor to pass over the poor saints in their assemblies, for want of the gold ring, and goodly apparel, seeing their faith clothed them with a greater and a more valuable glory, which renders them more honourable than any riches or gay clothing could do. And mark the apostle's vehement expostulation, which carries with it the force of a severe reprehension; Are you not partial, and become judges of evil thoughts? As if he had said, "Are ye not condemned in yourselves, and convinced in YOUR own consciences that you do evil? Are ye not become judges of evil thoughts; that is, do you not pass judgment from your evil thoughts, in thinking the rich worthy of respect in judgment for his gorgeous attire, and outward greatness, and the poor fit to be despised for his outward meanness? Is not this an evil, a very evil thought in you, to think him the best man that weareth the best clothes, and him a vile person that is in vile apparel? From the whole learn, 1. That men are very prone to honour worldly greatness in general, yea, to give too great a preference to it, even in matters of judgment. Man is very often swayed in judgment by the power, pomp, and splendour of men; we are apt to think that they that are worth most are most worthy: thus men, good men, may mis-judge of men; but thus to accept the persons of men, either in spiritual or civil judgment, is a provoking sin. 10. DAVID ROPER, "James mentioning of Christ as the Lord of glory is significant. The very fact that God Himself was willing to forsake His glory to save a sinful and unloving people as us reveals His impartiality (Phil 2:5-8). There is no respect of persons with God (2 Chron 19:7, Rom 2:11, Eph 6:9, Col 3:25) . When James mentioned the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, he must be referring to the privileged opportunity he had along with Peter and John in seeing the Lord transfigured before their very eyes. For a moment, they saw the shekinah glory of the living God. John spoke of that marvellous experience in his gospel in John 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace and truth." Peter gave his testimony concerning the transfiguration in 2 Pet 1:16-17, "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." I have a friend back in Texas who told me an unforgettable Texas story about ten years ago and I've never been able to get the thing out of my mind because it is so true. There was a young attorney with a law firm in Dallas, a bachelor about twenty-eight or twenty-nine-years-old who lived alone in an apartment. It was customary every Thanksgiving for this particular law firm to distribute turkeys among the employees and this man could never figure out what to do with his. Being single he really didn't want to cook the thing and he could never consume all of it anyway. So every Thanksgiving it was a problem to know how to dispose of this bird. The distribution of the turkeys was always with a great deal of pomp and ceremony. The president of the firm would line them all up on a table, and each person would have to file by and get his turkey. One particular Thanksgiving some of this young man's friends decided they would do him in. So they stole his turkey and replaced it with a bogus one made of paper- mache. They wrapped it with brown paper and had just the neck and tail of the real turkey showing. It looked for all the world like the others. The time came to distribute them and when the president gave him his he took it home on the streetcar. He was sitting there with this thing in his lap when a man came down the aisle and sat down with him. He was obviously down an his luck, a little shabby and run down at the heels. They struck up a conversation and the man told what had happened to him. He had been hunting for a job all day but had had no luck whatever. He had only a dollar or two in his pocket with which to buy something for a Thanksgiving meal for his family. He was quite concerned because he knew his children would be disappointed. So the light came on in this young attorney's mind. He thought, "Here's where I can 11. do my new friend a service and can also get rid of this bird." His first thought was to give him the turkey but then he thought, " o, that might offend him. I'll sell him the turkey." So he asked the man how much money he had with him. The man said, "Two dollars." He said, "I'll sell you the turkey for two dollars." So they made the transaction and both were very satisfied. The man got off the street car with his turkey and the attorney went home with his money. Well, you can imagine the scene when this man arrived at his home. The children gathered around the table, all excited, and they unwrapped the turkey and there was this phony bird. You know what he must have thought. "Of all the dirty, low- down, no-good blankety-blanks, that guy takes the cake!" To make a long story short, the young attorney went back to the office the day after Thanksgiving and discovered what had happened. He was appalled, and he and his friends rode the streetcar for a whole week trying to find this man again. They walked the streets and knocked on doors. They would have done anything to set this matter right but they never found him. That story keeps coming back to me because it depicts so vividly the impossibility of judging the motives of other people. We simply do not know their hearts. Our tendency so often is to cast judgment on a person because of something that he does, or because of some outward appearance, or some other external factor, when we simply don't know what is going on inside. James addresses a word to us in this regard in the first thirteen verses of his second chapter where he deals with the problem of prejudice, or the making of superficial judgments. The word translated "show . . . partiality" is a Greek word that means "to receive by face," i.e., to judge on the basis of some external or superficial factor--to judge a man by the color of his skin, or the length of his hair, or the kind of clothes he wears, or the sort of academic credentials he carries, or his economic status. This is what James is talking about when he says, "Do not show partiality." "Do not receive a man by face." We cannot judge on the basis of externals. This word is used a number of other times in the ew Testament. But in every other case God is the subject of the sentence and it is expressed negatively. "God does not show partiality." "God is not a respecter of persons." "God does not receive people by face." God doesn't judge by externals; he judges the heart. There is a vivid illustration of this in I Samuel 16. There was a time in the history of Israel when God rejected Saul as king and commissioned Samuel to anoint his successor. Samuel was led by the Lord to the family of Jesse. As he was looking at Jesse's sons, his eyes alighted upon Eliab, the eldest. Eliab must have been a very big, impressive, handsome young man, and Samuel thought, "Surely this must be the Lord's choice. He has all the marks of kingship about him." He should have learned from Saul that such was not necessarily the case, for Saul certainly had a stature befitting a king. But the Lord said to Samuel, "Don't judge this man on the basis of his appearance and stature, because I have rejected him." God does not see as man does; man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart. You see, the people whom God draws to himself are not necessarily the tall, dark, 12. and handsome. Many of them are the short, shot, and shapeless. He is not impressed by external features or factors but by the condition of a man's heart. That is why James says it is inconsistent to hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and, at the same time, to judge a man on the basis of some external. We just can't do it. God does not judge that way, and if Jesus Christ is Lord in our life then we cannot judge that way either. COFFMA , "The first section of this chapter (James 2:1-13) carries a warning against courting the favor of middle-upper income people or the wealthy, against showing special courtesies and solicitude. There are no doubt many congregations which are tempted to do this very thing. After all, there are budgets to be subscribed, programs to be FI A CED and all kinds of good works which require constant scrambling on the part of the church elders and deacons in their efforts to finance such things. Therefore, the tendency is to do a little bowing and scraping when some well-to-do person condescends to visit the assembly of the church. It was no different in that generation to which James addressed these remarkable words. The warning is clear enough: "Don't do it!" The second section will be introduced separately at the end of James 2:13. It will be remembered that "Perfection" is the overall theme of this epistle, and this first portion of James 2 relates to the general subject by guarding against partiality and false judgments of men upon the basis of external conditions. My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. (James 2:1) My brethren ... Significantly, this entire epistle is ADDRESSED to Christians, true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ; for only such persons could truthfully be addressed as "brethren." As Lenski said, "This is preeminently a ew Testament writing and by no means a legal one."[1] To read James as if it were addressed to Jews is to miss the meaning altogether. The faith of our Lord Jesus Christ ... As usual, the scholars cannot AGREE on whether "faith" is here subjective or objective. Zerr made it objective, "referring to the Christian religion."[2] Roberts said that "It is subjective and does not refer to the doctrine or teaching."[3] As Gibson said, "Here it may be either (1) objective as in Jude 1:1:3,20, or (2) subjective, as in Mark 11:22."[4] Despite such views, we accept Zerr's understanding of the passage which sees it as a clear reference to "the Christian religion." Our Lord Jesus Christ ... This exact title of the Master is found in that letter addressed by James and the apostles and elders in Jerusalem to the Syrian churches (Acts 15:26), and this is considered by some to support the proposition that this epistle was written by the same James. The Lord of glory ... The first two words of this are italicized, showing that they are 13. not in the Greek, leading some to translate this place, "Our Lord Jesus Christ the glory," much in the same manner that Christ is called the way, the truth or the light. Tasker favored this construction,[5] as also did Wessel: "Jesus is here called simply, the glory."[6] With respect of persons ... The meaning of this will be sharpened by James' further words in this paragraph. What is condemned here is not the VALID and proper respect which belongs to the noble and the great of this world, but the condemnation is against "the preference for vulgar wealth, the adulation of success, the worship, in short, of some new golden calf."[7] Furthermore, it is not the appreciation for such persons merely, but the partiality exhibited in the treatment of them, the toadying in their presence. [1] R. C. H. Lenski, Interpretation of ... the Epistle of James (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1938), p. 564. [2] E. M. Zerr, Bible Commentary, James (Marion, Indiana: Cogdill Foundation, 1954), p. 244. [3] J. W. Roberts, The Letter of James (Austin, Texas: Sweet Publishing Company, 1977), p. 69. [4] E. C. S. Gibson, The Pulpit Commentary, James (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1950), Vol. 21, p. 27. [5] R. V. G. Tasker, The General Epistle of James (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1977), p. 56. [6] Walter W. Wessel, Wycliffe ew Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 950. [7] E. G. Punchard, Ellicott's Commentary on the Holy Bible, Vol. VIII (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1959), p. 363. COKE, "It is not agreeable to Christ's profession, to regard the rich partially, and despise the poor brethren: rather we are to be loving and merciful; and not to boast of faith, where no deeds are; which is but a dead faith, the faith of devils, and not that of Abraham and Rahab. Anno Domini 60. THE manners and customs of the Hebrews being different from those of all other nations, the jurisprudence of the Heathens could not be APPLIEDfor determining the controversies which arose among the Jews in the provinces. 'The Romans therefore allowed them, not only in Judea, but in all the countries of the empire, to determine their controversies about matters of property by their own law and practice. So Josephus informs us; and gives us copies of several decrees of the 14. emperors to that effect. See 1 Corinthians 6:2. Hence the apostle, in mentioning the right practice which the Jewish converts, who thought themselves religious, were to maintain, insisted, particularlyin the first part of this chapter, on their observing justice and impartiality in judging such causes, as by the Roman law, or by the consent of parties, they were allowed to determine. And this he did the rather, because the unbelieving Jews were now become very partial and unjust in their decisions as judges. or were the believing part of the nation altogether blameless in that respect. But partiality in judgment being directly contrary to the gospel, the apostle severely reproved both the one and the other, for shewing any disposition to favour rich litigants, though it were only by giving them a better or more honourable seat in their synagogue, than that allotted to their poor opponents, James 2:1-4.This partiality to the rich and contempt of the poor, he told them, was extremely improper in the disciples of Christ, especiallyas they knew that in all countries the poor had shewn a greater disposition to receive the gospel than the rich, James 2:5.and that the rich unbelieving Jews were great persecutors of the Christians, and dragged them to the Heathen tribunals to get them punished, James 2:6.Wherefore, to prevent partiality in judgment for the future, the apostle enforced upon them that unfeigned benevolence towards all men, which Christ has enjoined as his commandment, and which, on that ACCOU T, may be called the royal law, James 2:8-13.This passage of the epistle, so far as it related to the Christians, was intended for the instruction of the rulers and other GIFTED persons in the church, whose office it was to determine those controversies about worldly matters which arose among the brethren. See 1 Corinthians 12:28. Many of the Jews, influenced by the prejudices of their EDUCATIO , attempted to excuse their unjust judgments and other evil actions, by the care with which they performed some one or other of the precepts of the law, which they considered as of more importance than the rest. Hence the question of the lawyer, Matthew 22:36. Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Wherefore, to set them right in this matter, the apostle assured them, that though they kept all the other precepts of the law, if they offended in any one of them, they became guilty of all, James 2:10.because the precepts of the law being all enjoined by one and the same authority, he who wilfully transgresses one precept, disregards the authority of the Lawgiver, and shews himself ready to transgress any other precept, in the like circumstances, James 2:11-13. Another great ERROR into which the Jewish Christians had fallen in the first age, and which had made them negligent of good works, was this: They fancied that the speculative belief of the doctrines of the gospel, to which they gave the name of faith, was sufficient to save them, however deficient they might be in good works,a fatal error, which has too much prevailed in modern times likewise. Wherefore, to shew that one's assenting with his understanding to the truths of the gospel, will not save him, unless it leads him to holiness, and every good word and work, the apostle compared the faith of such a believer, to the benevolence of a man who in words expresses abundance of kindness to the naked and the hungry poor, yet gives them none of the things necessary to the body, James 2:14-18.For the same purpose he remarked, that even the devils believe speculatively the truths of the gospel, but will 15. not be saved by their faith; on the contrary, they tremble when they recollect God's justice and power, James 2:19.Farther, more fully to prove that good works are necessary to our final justification, or in other words, to obtain the approbation of the great Judge on the dayof judgment, the apostle appealed to Moses himself, who has declared that Abraham and Rahab were, in this sense, justified, on ACCOU T of the good works which their faith prompted them to perform, James 2:20-25. St. James concludes this subject with a saying, which must impress every intelligent reader with the strongest conviction of the necessity of good works,As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also, James 2:26. Verse 1 James 2:1. With respect of persons. The word signifies the respect of persons in judgment, not purely according to the merits of the cause, but according to external respects which relate not to it. As for instance, 1st, The dread of any man's power, or the fear of what he may do to us if we judge against him. See Leviticus 19:15. Deuteronomy 1:17. Or, 2nd, The poverty of any man, which renders him less able to suffer punishment or loss. See Exodus 3:3 rdly, It is respecting persons in judgment, if we favour a cause by reason of any GIFT or hope of gain. See Deuteronomy 16:19. Or, 4thly, By reason of relation, affinity, friendship, or affection. In spiritual or evangelical matters, it is to have respect to men, in reference to things which render them neither better nor worse, neither more nor less acceptable in the sight of God. As for instance, To respect them, 1st, in regard to their nation or their offspring. See Acts 10:34-35 for God will have no respect to nations, or external professions, in his future recompences. See Romans 6:9-10. Or, 2nd, With respect to their condition, as being masters or servants. See Ephesians 6:9. Colossians 3:25. 1 Peter 1:17. Or, 3rdly, To their quality. This is the thing here censured,not as it respects the due subordination of ranks, which is necessary to the EXISTE CE of society, but merely as it regards judicial matters; and in this latter and only true sense, the rule may be carried in its essence and spirit into every department of religious, civil, social, and domestic life. AUTHOR UNKNOWN, "When we are in the midst of trials we often feel tempted to believe we are powerless and without hope. We do not want to stay where we are, in the midst of the difficulty. We want to find a way out if we can, and we want to associate ourselves with those that we think can help. We look for people whom we think have some glory, some prestige that will rub off when we are with them. Or maybe we are hoping that they will share some of their prestige with us and that we will be lifted out of our difficulties because of our association with them. Our lives, in the middle of these trials seem without glory, without anything good in them. It is tempting to deal with difficult circumstances by comparing ourselves with others and by using the world's standards to decide who is worth giving honor to and who is not. I might even feel some shame associated with my struggles in life. I may look at someone who seems to have it all together and to be blessed and wonder what is wrong with me. What did I do to deserve this? Am I not as good as these 16. people who are so well off in their lives? Why does my life have to be so hard? Or I may look at those who don't have much in the world and are obviously struggling and think, well at least I am not as bad as them? What is their problem? Why did they allow themselves to get into such a mess? It is interesting how easy it is to judge others and size up their worth compared to us. We are tempted to do it all the time and when life is hard, the temptation is even stronger. James is warning his readers against doing just this. You could almost title this section, "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places." The people in this congregation are honoring the rich who come to their worship services. The rich have power and authority in our world. In Biblical times people often thought that riches was a special sign of God's blessings. James' readers hope in their preferential treatment of these rich people that they will receive some blessing as well. It seems that they believe these people have to some important degree the ability to tell them who they are and to provide them with real life. But James reminds them of the sad truth about these very people they are so eager to please. They are the ones who, in general, oppress them, drag them into court, and even "blaspheme the honorable name which was invoked over (them)." These are not people primarily interested in what is best for those James is writing to. They are not attempting to reflect to others the good truth about our heavenly Father and our real identities as His beloved children. In fact they view others in terms only of what benefits themselves. They are unable to see the truth about others because they do not know the truth about God and themselves. Why, James is asking his readers, are you seeking to honor these rich and so receive some glory or blessing from them for yourselves? There are some among you, James tells them, that can bless you, can remind you of the wonderful reality that we know only by faith. These are the poor among you! Unfortunately, they have not yet seen the richness of these people. They are missing the blessings these people have to offer because they see them only as the world sees them. They are assuming because the poor have no earthy prestige, power, or authority, that they have nothing helpful to offer. otice the irony: James' congregation is treating the poor in a similar way to how the rich treat them, with contempt. How did it happen that in this congregation people were seeking for blessing from those least interested in blessing them and missing the blessing that others could give them because they didn't see any good in them? Because they forgot in their troubles that Jesus is "the Lord of glory." We struggle and so we wonder, where is the glory in this? What blessing can be had here? And then we look around us at those who seem to be blessed compared to us, who seem to "have it all together" or just have it better than we do and we are tempted to look to them to tell us who we are, to give us a share in the more glorious life they seem to have. But Jesus is the one and only "Lord of glory." Why does James give Jesus this title 17. here, in this passage? Because his readers need to be brought back to the right place to look for help in their times of trouble. Jesus is the one who is truly glorious, honorable, all-powerful and prestigious. And He is intimately interested in sharing His glory with us. He is making us His very own sisters and brothers. He is the God who "gives to all generously and without reproach,"(1:5) and He is the One who gives "every good endowment and every perfect gift."(1:17) Before Jesus, we are all the same. We at best share in and reflect His glory. There is no need for distinctions when we see He is our one true source of glorious life. We can stop running after others for affirmation, stop honoring only those we think might be able to benefit us, and be open to receive blessings from God from the surprising places He desires to give them. What a freedom and a joy when we truly allow God to tell us who we are, when we allow Him to show us His presence and work in our lives right now. We often miss out on receiving fully and enjoying what He is doing in our lives, how He is sharing His glory with us, because we are looking for it--in all the wrong places, that is, any place outside of our relationship with Jesus Christ. BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "James, a servant of God St. James and his Epistle This Epistle, although Luther stigmatised it as an epistle of straw, has many claims on our regard. It is the first Christian document that was given to the world, the earliest of all the New Testament Scriptures: It is more like the writings of the Old Testament than any other contained, in the New, and forms a natural transition from the one to the other. To St. James the gospel of Christ was simply the true Judaism, Judaism fulfilled and transfigured. It was the law of Moses, which St. Paul called the law of bondage, transformed into the law of liberty. it was the beautiful consummate flower of which the old economy was the bud, the perfect day of which that was the dawn. The first special claim of the Epistle is, then, that it presents us with the earliest view of the truth as it is in Jesus which obtained in the Christian Church; and the second is, that it was written by that brother of the Lord who was the first bishop, i.e., the first chief pastor, of the first Christian Church, viz., the Church of Jerusalem. And this James the brother of the Lord had much, not of the mind only, but of the very manner of the Lord. The style of St. James is precisely that of his Divine Brother plain, simple, direct, pungent, and yet instinct with poetic imagination. The Epistle opens, as most of the apostolic letters open, by announcing the names of the writer and of the persons to whom it was addressed: James to the Dispersion. This was the ancient epistolary style in private as well as in public correspondence. We have many instances of it in the New Testament, as, for instance, in Act_23:26, Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor Felix. James had a history, and so had the Dispersion; and by his history he was marked out as the very man to write to the Jews who were scattered abroad. James was a Jew at heart to the day of his death, though he was also a Christian apostle. Who, then, so suitable as he to instruct men who, though Jews by birth and training and habit, had nevertheless embraced the Christian faith? After the death and resurrection of Christ he became the bishop and pillar of the Church in Jerusalema Church which was as much Hebrew as Christian; a Church which shook its head doubtfully when it heard that Gentiles also were being baptized; a Church from which there went forth the Judaisers 18. who dogged St. Pauls steps wherever he went, hindered his work, and kindled a tumult of grief and indignation in his heart. And these Judaisers carried with them letters of commendation from St. James, and were for ever citing the authority of the Lords brethren against that of St. Paul. It may be doubted whether he ever really approved the generous course St. Paul took. It is quite certain that, to the end of his life, he was as sincerely a Jew as he was a Christian. Till he was put to death by them, the Jews, the very Pharisees of Jerusalem respected and honoured him, although they hunted many of the Christians, and especially their leaders, to prison and the grave. Writing soon after James had passed away, an ecclesiastical historian tells us that he was holy from his mothers womb. He drank no wine nor strong drink, and no razor ever came on his head. He alone was allowed to go into the holy place of the temple, the shrine sacred to the priests, he was so long and often on his knees that they grew hard like a camels. When a religious crisis arose, and the Pharisees heard that many were going astray after Jesus, they came to James of all menthe brother of Jesus and the bishop of the Church!to beg that he would recall the people from their errors, so entirely did they regard him as one of themselves. On the feast-day they placed him on the front of the temple, and adjured him to tell the multitude, since many had gone astray after Jesus, what the true way of salvation was. They were thunderstruck when he gave testimony to the Son of Man as the Lord and Christ foretold by the prophets; but, as soon as they could believe for wonder, they rushed upon him, crying, Woe! woe! Even the Just One is deceived! They cast him down from the temple, and beat out his brains with a club. His testimony to Jesus as the Christ can hardly have been very zealous if the Pharisees regarded him as one of themselves, and put him forward to speak against the Son of Man. The fact seems to be that he never regarded Jesus as more than the Jewish Messiah, or the gospel as more than the fulfilling of the law. He did not see that, when a law is fulfilled, it gives place to a higher law. But whatever the defects we may discover in St. James, it is obvious that these very defects adapted him to be an apostle to the Jews. He may have quietly won many to the faith whom a man of a more catholic spirit would have alienated. At least he could help to make the men of Jerusalem better Jews; and that, after all, was the most likely way to make them Christians. But what sort of Jews were those to whom this letter was addressedthe Jews of the Dispersion?and wherein did they differ from the Jews of Jerusalem? When the Jews returned from their captivity in Babylon they left behind them the great bulk of their race. Only a few poor thousands returned; hundreds of thousands preferred to remain in the lands in which they had been settled by their conquerors. As they multiplied and prospered they spread, until they were found in most of the great centres of commerce and learning in the ancient world. So, too, the Jews who had returned to Judaea also multiplied and grew, till the land became too strait for them. Their fathers had been farmers and wine-growers, each tilling his own acres or dressing his own vines. But the sons were compelled by their growing numbers to build cities and to embark in manufacture and traffic. Meanwhile the great heathen empiresPersian, Syrian, Egyptian, Greek, Romanhad thrown the whole world open to them; and of this opening they were quick to avail themselves. It was inevitable that travel and intercourse with many men of many races should widen their thoughts. They could not encounter so many new influences without being affected by them. The influence they most commonly met, and to which they yielded most, was that of Greek thought and culture. Though they retained the faith and the Scriptures of Moses, they read them in a more philosophical and cosmopolitan spirit. Now, if we picture these foreign Jews to ourselvesthese twelve tribes in the Dispersion, as St. James calls them, just as we might speak of the greater Britain beyond the seaif we picture to ourselves these men, far from the land of their fathers,dwelling in busy, populous cities, where they were compelled to hold daily intercourse with men of other 19. creeds and customs than their own, where, so to speak, a larger, freer current of air tended to disperse the mists of local or racial prejudice, we shall readily understand that they were more accessible to new ideas, and especially to any new ideas which came to them from the land of their fathers, than their brethren who remained at home breathing the loaded atmosphere of their ancient city, into which the movements of the outside world could seldom penetrate. The Christian ideas, the good news that He was come for whom their fathers had looked, would be more impartially weighed by these Hellenised and foreign Jews than by the priests and Pharisees who dwelt under the shadow of the temple, and felt that, if Jesus should increase, they must decrease. Nor would the catholicity of the Christian faith, its appeal to men of every race, be so offensive to the tribes of the Dispersion as to the Jews of Judaea. (S. Cox, D. D.) The ministry of James I. A MINISTRY CONSCIOUSLY AUTHORISED BY GOD. The pledge of our soldiership, the credentials of our ambassage, are to be found chiefly within us, not without and around, II. MINISTRY AFFECTIONATELY ADDRESSED TO ALL. The true ministry never seeks to limit its love to one Church, or to square its sympathies to one sect. No scattering, either of denomination or distance, hinders the desire that all may be taught, comforted, sanctified, saved. III. A MINISTRY OCCASIONALLY WROUGHT BY WRITING. Some things are noticeable about the ministry of writing as compared with that of speech. 1. It is wider in its scope. 2. It is more permanent in its form. 3. It is frequently more easily discharged. Parents, friends, all who write to dear and most distant ones, can discharge a ministry thus. (U. R. Thomas.) Service the true idea of a Christian life The world is full of servants of one kind and another. 1. Many are servants through the force of their worldly position. 2. Through the weakness of their intellectual and moral natures. 3. Through the dominant force of an evil passion. 4. Through their effort to pursue a Christly method of life. By striving to bring our daily life into conformity with the Saviours, by endeavouring to become pure in our nature, spiritual in our ideas, reverent in our dispositions, and unselfish in our activities, we enter upon the highest service of which a human soul is capable. I. IT IS SERVICE DEDICATED TO THE SUPREME BEING OF THE UNIVERSE: James, a servant of God. 1. It is a service dedicated to God. 2. It is a service dedicated to the only Saviour of mankind: And of the Lord Jesus 20. Christ. 3. This service requires the divinest attitudes and truest activities of our moral nature. It must be (1) Sincere in its motives. (2) Pure in its effort. (3) Willing in its obedience. (4) Eternal in its duration. The moral relationships of the soul are deeper and more enduring than any other. 4. This service confers the highest dignity upon the moral nature of man. 5. This service presses itself upon our moral nature with the most emphatic claims. (1) That God is our Creator. (2) That Christ is our Saviour. II. IT IS A SERVICE DIRECTED TO TSHE MORAL CONSOLATION AND INSTRUCTION OF THE SORROWFUL. 1. James recognises the sorrowful condition and painful circumstances of those to whom he wrote. 2. The service of James was rendered effective by the ministry of the pen, III. IT IS A SERVICE INTENSE IN ITS CONVICTION AND PERSONAL IN ITS REALISATION: James. IV. IT IS A SERVICE MOST JUBILANT IN ITS INSPIRATION: Greeting. 1. It is jubilant because united to the highest source of joy and hope. 2. Because it has to console the worlds sorrow. 3. Are we all engaged in this service? (Joseph S. Exell, M. A.) Servants of God and Christ Men are the servants of God either generally or particularly. Generally, they are all the servants of Jesus Christ whosoever profess His religion and promise their service unto Him in the general calling of a Christian. Specially, they are called the servants of God and of Christ who in some chief calling do homage unto God and promote His kingdom. So princes in commonwealths, preachers and ministers in the Church of Christ, are servants of God and of Christ in special service. It we were princes, prelates, angels, yet this is the height of all glory, to rejoice in the service of Christ. Who are we, and what are our fathers houses, who can imagine greater glory than to be servants unto Christ? 1. Now, this name of servant must teach us humility, that we submit ourselves to Christ, whose servants we are, and for His sake and by His example to serve one another, whereunto He exhorteth (Mat_20:25-27); whereunto His example in washing His disciples feet serveth Joh_13:4-7; Joh_13:10; Joh_13:17). Submit yourselves one to another, deck yourselves inwardly in lowliness of mind, for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Hereof our profession and calling putteth us in remembrance, who are servants by calling, to serve God in spirit and 21. truth, and to serve one another in the fear of God. 2. By our service we are furthermore taught what we owe unto Christ Jesus our Lord, even all service, which is the end of our redemption and cleansing by Christ from our sins (Luk_1:74-75). Let us, then, in the fear of God, confess Him with our mouths, praise Him with our tongues, believe Him with our hearts, glorify Him in our works, and in all things serve Him as it becometh us; for (1) He hath made us, and not we ourselves; (2) He hath redeemed us, not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but by His own blood; (3) He sayeth us from death and delivereth us from peril and trouble; (4) He advanceth us to glory. 3. Servants ought to imitate such virtues as they find to shine in their masters. We are the servants of Christ; we are bound, therefore, to imitate His meekness, patience, humility, love, long-sufferance, liberality, kindness, forgiveness of offences, and the like virtues, which shone in the whole life of Jesus Christ. 4. Servants must attend upon their masters will, wait their leisures, rely upon their care for them, seek all necessaries at their hands; so we, the servants of Christ, must do His will in all things, wait His leisure patiently for our deliverance, depend upon His provided care, and in all our necessities have recourse to Him by prayer. 5. That St. James entitleth himself the servant of Christ, he doth not only intimate that he was the servant, the minister and ambassador of Jesus Christ, the Prince of all the princes of the earth, but also giveth us to understand how carefully he had executed that office unto him committed; and if we diligent]y peruse the writings of the apostles we shall find them no less, in consideration of their faithfulness, in performing their duties, than in regard of their high callings, to have termed themselves the servants of Christ. 6. In that he calleth himself the servant of Christ he teacheth us that as many as will be the true servants of Christ must addict themselves wholly unto His service, because no man can serve two masters, God and Mammon, Christ and Belial. 7. That he professeth in open writing that he was the servant of Jesus Christ, and that in those dangerous days when wickedness flourished and Christian religion was persecuted: it teacheth Gods saints that they must never be ashamed to confess Jesus Christ. (R. Turnbull.) A servant of God and of Christ James is not only Gods servant by the right of creation and providence, but Christs servant by the right of redemption; yea, especially deputed by Christ as Lord, that is, as mediator and head of the Church, to do Him service in the way of an apostle; and I suppose there is some special reason for this disjunction, a servant of God and of Christ, to show his countrymen that in serving Christ he served the God of his fathers, as Paul pleaded (Act_26:6-7), that in standing for Christ he did but stand for the hope of the promise made unto the fathers, unto which promise the twelve tribes, serving God day and night, hope to come. (T. Manton.) 22. Moral relationship better than carnal James, the Lords kinsman, calls himself the Lords servant. Inward privileges are the best and most honourable, and spiritual kin is to be preferred before carnal. (T. Manton.) Service 1. The truest relation to Christ is founded in grace, and we are far happier in receiving Him by faith than in touching Him by blood; and he that endeavours to do His will may be as sure of Christs love as if he were linked to Him by the nearest outward relations. 2. It is no dishonour to the highest to be Christs servant. James, whom Paul calls a pillar, calls himself a servant of Christ; and David, a king, Psa_84:10). 3. The highest in repute and office in the Church yet are still but servants. 4. In all services we must honour the Father and the Son also (Joh_5:23). Do duties so as you may honour Christ in them; and so (1) Look for their acceptance in Christ. Oh! it would be sad if we were only to look to God the Father in duties. But now it is said that in Christ we have access with boldness and confidence (Eph_3:12), for in Him those attributes which are in themselves terrible become comfortable; as water, which is salt in the ocean, being strained through the earth, becometh sweet in the rivers, that in God which, out of Christ, striketh terror into the soul, in Christ begets a confidence. (2) Look for your assistance from Him. You serve God in Christ (a) When you serve God through Christ (Php_4:13). (b) When you have an eye to the concernments of Christ in all your service of God (2Co_5:15). (c) When all is done for Christs sake (2Co_5:14). (T. Manton.) A servant He makes no mention of his apostleship. The explanation may be that it was not called in question, and so did not require to be vindicated or asserted. This title may have been a kind of official designation, indicative, not only of his personal character, but also of his ministerial calling, or it may simply have been expressive of his devotion to the work and will of God in common with all His true people. In either case it was of a simple, unassuming description. He comes down to a level with the rest of his brethren. He claims no distinction but what the whole of them, in substance, possess (Psa_116:16). And yet, while in this respect low, in another how high the title here taken! We never can get beyond it; no, not in a state of glorynot when at the perfection of our being. No creature, not even the archangel nearest the throne, can climb higher; nor does he desire. It is said of the redeemed inhabitants of the new Jerusalem, His servants shall serve Him. And of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here comes in the distinctively Christian element. The Old Testament saints might be, and often were, honoured by being called 23. the servants of God. James had much of the spirit which animated these ancestral worthies. In his character and habits he resembled one of the ancient priests or prophets. But by what he thus added he marked out himself and his fellow-disciples from all who preceded. The two parts were perfectly consistent, the two masters but one in reality. (John Adam.) A servant of God, &c. This title conveys more than the general notion of one who believes in and obeys God and the Lord Jesus Christ. The call he had received, the mission and special field of labour assigned him, are also embodied in the term. It is equivalent to the servant of the Lord of the Old Testament, a designation with which only a few of the members of the Hebrew Church were honoured, who were raised up by God for some specific work: the founding of a covenant, as in the case of Abraham and Moses: the inaugurating of some step in advance, or the introduction of some new phase or development of the system, as in the case of Joshua, David, and Zerubbabel. Thus St. James had a special service entrusted to him, which appears in this very Epistle to have been to make an appeal to a particular section of his brethren. (F. T. Basett, M. A.) An argument for the Deity of Christ If any modern teacher were to sign himself a servant of God and of Calvin, or of Arminius, should we not shrink as from a wanton blasphemy, and charge him with having spoken of a mere man as though he were the fellow of the Lord of hosts? Judge, then, what James meant when ha described himself as equally bound to the service of Jesus and of God. (S. Cox, D. D.) Scattered abroad The dispersion What scattering or dispersion is here intended? 1. Either that which was occasioned by their ancient captivities, and the frequent changes of nations, for so there were some Jews that still lived abroad, supposed to be intended in that expression, Will he go to the dispersed among the Gentiles? (Joh_7:35). Or 2. More lately by the persecution spoken of in the eighth of the Acts. Or 3. By the hatred of Claudius, who commanded all the Jews to depart from Act_18:2). And it is probable that the like was done in other great cities. The Jews, and amongst them the Christians, being everywhere cast out, as John out of Ephesus, and others out of Alexandria. Or 4. Some voluntary dispersion, the Hebrews living here and there among the Gentiles a little before the declension and ruin of their state, some in Cilicia, some in Pontus, &c. (T. Manton.) 24. God regards the afflicted God looks after His afflicted servants: He moveth James to write to the scattered tribes: the care of heaven flourisheth towards you when you wither. (T. Manton.) The dispersion James had in view Jews, not simply as such, but as Christians; that is, believers of his own nation. They were his special charge; and that it was to them he now wrote, is evident from the nature and design of the Epistle. They were the true Israel. They were the seed of Abraham, not after the flesh only, but also after the Spirit. They were the proper representatives of the holy nation; and as such may have been indicated by the language here used. While they were directly addressed, the Gentile converts were not excluded, for they formed with them one Church and community. Nor did the apostle fail to make most pointed references to the state of things among their antichristian brethrena state of things by which they were more or less injuriously affected. Their outward condition, as thus scattered abroad, was a kind of reflection of the spiritual condition of Gods people in all lands and ages. They are strangers and sojourners on the earth; they are wanderers, wayfarers, at a distance from home, and engaged in seeking a country. They are citizens of heaven; their Fathers house and native land are there; their inheritance and their hearts are not below, but above. Their present state is one of dispersion. (John Adam.) The dispersion The pilgrim troops of the law became caravans of the gospel. (C. Wordsworth.) Greeting Peace heightened into joy When Hebrew met Hebrew, the one saluted the other with Peace to you; for they had learned that the real blessedness of life was to be at peace with all the world, themselves, and God. But when Greek met Greek, the one saluted the other with Joy to you, the Greeks being lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of peace. Of course, when they used this salutation, they did not always recognise its full meaning, any more than we, when we say, Good-bye, always remember that the word means, that it is a contraction of, God be with you But St. James both compels his readers to think of its meaning, by continuing, Count it all joy when ye fall into manifold trials, and at once proceeds to put a higher, a Christian, meaning into the heathen salutation. His joy, the joy he wishes them, is not that pleasant exhilaration which results from gratified senses or tastes of which the Greeks were conscious when things went to their mind; nor that heightened and happy consciousness of the sweetness of life which they held to be the supreme good. It was rather the peace for which the Hebrew sighed; but that peace intensified into a Divine gladness, elevated into a pure and sacred delight. It was the joy which springs from being restored to our true relations to God and man, from having all the conflicting passions, powers, and aims of the soul drawn into a happy accord. It was that fine spiritual essence which radiates new vigour and delight through all the faculties and affections of nature when we stay ourselves no longer on the changeful phenomena of 25. time, but on the sacred and august realities of eternity. A peace all shot through and through with the rich exhilarating hues of gladness, this was the joy which St. James invoked on the twelve tribes of the Dispersion. (S. Cox, D. D.) EBC, "THE PERSONS ADDRESSED IN THE EPISTLE: THE JEWS OF THE DISPERSION. "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion, greeting." - Jas_1:2 THESE words appear to be both simple and plain. At first sight there would seem to be not much room for any serious difference of opinion as to their meaning. The writer of the letter writes as "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ," i.e., as a Christian, "to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion," i.e., to the Jews who are living away from Palestine. Almost the only point which seems to be open to doubt is whether he addresses himself to all Jews, believing and unbelieving, or, as one might presume from his proclaiming himself at the outset to be a Christian, only to those of his fellow- countrymen who, like himself, have become "servants of the Lord Jesus Christ." And this is a question which cannot be determined without a careful examination of the contents of the Epistle. And yet there has been very great difference of opinion as to the persons whom St. James had in his mind when he wrote these words. There is not only the triplet of opinions which easily grow out of the question just indicated, viz., that the letter is addressed to believing Jews only, to unbelieving Jews only, and to both: there are also the views of those who hold that it is addressed to Jewish and Gentile Christians regarded separately, or to the same regarded as one body, or to Jewish Christians primarily, with references to Gentile Christians and unconverted Jews, or finally to Gentile Christians primarily, seeing that they, since the rejection of Jesus by the Jews, are the true sons of Abraham and the rightful inheritors of the privileges of the twelve tribes. In such a Babel of interpretations it will clear the ground somewhat if we adopt once more as a guiding principle the common-sense canon of interpretation laid down by Hooker ("Eccles. Pol.," 5. 59:2), that where a literal construction will stand, the farthest from the letter is commonly the worst. A literal construction of the expression "the twelve tribes of the Dispersion" will not only stand, but make excellent sense. Had St. James meant to address all Christians, regarded in their position as exiles from their heavenly home, he would have found some much plainer way of expressing himself. There is nothing improbable, but something quite the reverse, in the supposition that the first overseer of the Church of Jerusalem, who, as we have seen, was "a Hebrew of Hebrews," wrote a letter to those of His fellow-countrymen who were far removed from personal intercourse with him. So devoted a Jew, so devout a Christian, as we know him to have been, could not but take the most intense interest in all who were of Jewish blood, wherever they might dwell, especially such as had learned to believe in Christ, above all when he knew that they were suffering from habitual oppression and ill- treatment. We may without hesitation decide that when St. James says "the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion" he means Jews away from their home in Palestine, and not Christians away from their home in heaven. For what possible point would the Dispersion ( ) have in such a metaphor? Separation from the heavenly home might be spoken of as banishment, or exile, or homelessness, but not as "dispersion." 26. Even if we confined ourselves to the opening words we might safely adopt this conclusion, but we shall find that there are numerous features in the letter itself which abundantly confirm it. It is quite out of place to quote such passages as the sealing of "the hundred and forty and four thousand out of every tribe of the children of Israel," (Rev_7:4-8) or the city with "twelve gates, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel". (Rev_21:12) These occur in a book which is symbolical from the first chapter to the last, and therefore we know that the literal construction cannot stand. The question throughout is not whether a given passage is to be taken literally or symbolically, but what the passage in question symbolizes. Nor, again, can St. Peters declaration that "ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for Gods own possession," (1Pe_2:9) be considered as at all parallel. There the combination of expressions plainly shows that the language is figurative; and there is no real analogy between an impassioned exhortation, modeled on the addresses of the Hebrew prophets, and the matter-of-fact opening words of a letter. The words have the clear ring of nationality, and there is nothing whatever added to them. to turn the simple note into the complex sound of a doubtful metaphor. As Davidson justly remarks, "The use of the phrase twelve tribes is inexplicable if the writer intended all believers without distinction. The author makes no allusion to Gentile converts, nor to the relation between Jew and Gentile incorporated into one spiritual body." Let us look at some of the features which characterize the Epistle itself, and see whether they bear out the view which is here advocated, that the persons addressed are Israelites in the national sense, and not as having been admitted into the spiritual "Israel of God". (Gal_6:16) (1) The writer speaks of Abraham as "our father," without a hint that this is to be understood in any but the literal sense. "Was not Abraham. our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son upon the altar?" (Jas_2:21) St. Paul, when he speaks of Abraham as "the father of all them that believe," clearly indicates this. (Rom_4:11) (2) The writer speaks of his readers as worshipping in a "synagogue," (Jas_2:2) which may possibly mean that, just as St. James and the Apostles continued to attend the Temple services after the Ascension, so their readers are supposed to attend the synagogue services after their conversion. But at least it shows that the writer, in speaking of the public worship of those whom he addresses, naturally uses a word () which had then, and continues to have, specially Jewish associations, rather than one () which from the first beginnings of Christianity was promoted from its old political sphere to indicate the congregations, and even the very being, of the Christian Church. (3) He assumes that his writers are familiar not only with the life of Abraham, (Jas_2:21; Jas_2:23) but of Rahab, (Jas_2:25) the prophets, (Jas_5:10) Job, (Jas_5:11) and Elijah. (Jas_5:17) These frequent appeals to the details of the Old Testament would be quite out of place in a letter addressed to Gentile converts. (4) God is spoken of under the specially Hebrew title of "the lord of Sabaoth"; (Jas_5:4) and the frequent recurrence of "the Lord" throughout the Epistle (Jas_1:7; Jas_3:9; Jas_4:10; Jas_4:15; Jas_5:10; Jas_5:11; Jas_5:15) looks like the language of one who wished to recall the name Jehovah to his readers. (5) In discountenancing swearing (Jas_5:12) Jewish forms of oaths are taken as 27. illustrations. (6) The vices which are condemned are such as were as common among the Jews as among the Gentiles - reckless language, rash swearing, oppression of the poor, covetousness. There is little or nothing said about the gross immorality which was rare among the Jews, but was almost a matter of course among the Gentiles. St. James denounces faults into which Jewish converts would be likely enough to lapse; he says nothing about the vices respecting which heathen converts, such as those at Corinth, are constantly warned by St. Paul. (7) But what is perhaps the most decisive feature of all is that he assumes throughout that for those whom he addresses the Mosaic Law is a binding and final authority. "If ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. If thou dost not commit adultery, but killest, thou art become a transgressor of the law". (Jas_2:9-11) "He that speaketh against a brother, or judgeth his brother, speaketh against the law and judgeth the law". (Jas_4:11) Scarcely any of these seven points, taken singly, would be at all decisive; but when we sum them up together, remembering in how short a letter they occur, and when we add them to the very plain and simple language of the address, we have an argument which will carry conviction to most persons who have no preconceived theory of their own to defend. And to this positive evidence derived from the presence of so much material that indicates Jewish circles as the destined recipients of the letter, we must add the strongly confirmatory negative evidence derived from the absence of anything which specially points either to Gentile converts or unconverted heathen. We may therefore read the letter as having been written by one who had been born and educated in a thoroughly Jewish atmosphere, who had accepted the Gospel, not as canceling the Law, but as raising it to a higher power; and we may read it also as addressed to men who, like the writer, are by birth and education Jews, and, like him, have acknowledged Jesus as their Lord and the Christ. The difference between writer and readers lies in this, that he is in Palestine, and they not; that he appears to be in a position of authority, whereas they seem for the most part to be a humble and suffering folk. All which fits in admirably with the hypothesis that we have before us an Epistle written by the austere and Judaic- minded James the Just, written from Jerusalem, to comfort and warn those Jewish Christians who lay remote from his personal influence. That it is Jewish Christians, and not unbelieving Jews, or Jews whether believing or not, who are addressed, is not open to serious doubt. There is not only the fact that St. James at the outset proclaims himself to be a Christian, (Jas_1:1) but also the statement that the wealthy oppressors of his poor readers "blaspheme the honorable Name by which ye are called," or more literally "which was called upon you," viz., the Name of Christ. Again, the famous paragraph about faith and works assumes that the faith of the readers and the faith of the writer is identical. (Jas_2:7; Jas_2:14-20) Once more, he expressly claims them as believers when he writes, "My brethren, hold not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons." (Jas_2:1) And if more be required, we have it in the concluding exhortations: "Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the LordStablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord is at hand." (Jas_5:7-8) Whether or no there are passages which glance aside at unbelieving Jews, and perhaps even some which are directly addressed to them, cannot be decided with so much certainty; but the balance of probability appears to be. on the affirmative side in both cases. There probably are places in which St. James is thinking of unbelieving Israelites, and one or more passages in which he turns aside and sternly rebukes them, much in the 28. same way as the Old Testament prophets sometimes turn aside to upbraid Tyre and Sidon and the heathen generally. "Do not the rich oppress you, and themselves drag you before the judgment-seats?," (Jas_2:6) seems to refer to rich unconverted Jews prosecuting their poor Christian brethren before the synagogue courts, just as St. Paul did when he was Saul the persecutor. (Act_9:2) And "Do not they blaspheme the honorable Name by which ye are called?" can scarcely be said of Christians. If the blasphemers were Christians they would be said rather to blaspheme the honorable Name by which they themselves were called. There would lie the enormity-that the name of Jesus Christ had been "called upon them," and yet they blasphemed it. And when we come to look at the matter in detail we shall find reason for believing that the stern words at the beginning of chap. 5. are addressed to unbelieving Jews. There is not one word of Christian, or even moral, exhortation in it; it consists entirely of accusation and threatening, and in this respect is in marked contrast to the equally stern words at the beginning of chap. 4, which are addressed to worldly and godless Christians. To suppose that the rich oppressors so often alluded to in the Epistle are heathen, as Hilgenfeld does, confuses the whole picture, and brings no compensating advantage. The heathen among whom the Jews of the Dispersion dwelt in Syria, Egypt, Rome, and elsewhere, were of course, some of them rich, and some of them poor. But wealthy Pagans were not more apt to persecute Jews, whether Christians or not, than the needy Pagan populace. If there was any difference between heathen rich and poor in this matter, it was the fanatical and plunder-seeking mob, rather than the contemptuous and easy-going rich, who were likely to begin a persecution of the Jews, just as in Russia or Germany at the present time. And St. James would not be likely to talk of "the Lord of Sabaot" in (Jas_5:4) addressing wealthy Pagans. But the social antagonism so often alluded to in the Epistle, when interpreted to mean an antagonism betw