James 1:1-4

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
Series: James (Acts)

Rusty's Notes

50 AD
Crisis in the Jewish Churches of Palestine

• In Palestine, the dispersed Jewish believers are suffering persecution from unconverted Jews and Gentiles in their cities.
• They are particularly being oppressed by the affluent.
• The limited agricultural land cannot support a growing population. So those deprived of land are forced to become hired laborers.
• As a result, rich landowners are robbing some Christians of their land.
• Some are being hauled into court by wealthy men who scorn their faith.
• At the same time, the influx of Hellenistic goods is causing a class of wealthy merchants to emerge.
• Consequently, some of the Christians are seeking opportunity to become wealthy as traders.
• Those in the church who are wealthy are being shown undue favoritism because the poor are afraid of offending them.
• In addition, the Jewish Christians hear vague rumors about the council in Jerusalem.
• They hear that the Gentiles and the Jews have positioned themselves against the Law of Moses, under the influence of Paul of Tarsus.
• They hear a very corrupted version of Paul’s teaching.
• They are told that Paul is preaching that good works have nothing to do with salvation.
• Believing that this is now the position of the Twelve, some of the Jewish Christians begin to live loose and worldly lives.
• They are hurting one another with uncontrolled and critical speech, discriminating against the poor, and giving preferential treatment to the rich.
• Some of the worldly believers are ambitious to be teachers.
• There is also sickness in the churches.
• The crisis reaches the ears of James (the Lord’s half-brother), and he is burdened to address it.[1]

James 1
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:
Which James is this?

• James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John. He was one of the most prominent to bear the name. He was a fisherman called by Christ to follow and become a disciple (Matt. 4:17–22). He and his brother John were nicknamed by Christ “sons of thunder” because of their impulsiveness (Mark 3:17; Luke 9:51–56). James was the first of the disciples to give his life for Christ. He was killed by Herod in 44AD (Acts 12:1–2).
• James, the son of Alphaeus. He was another of the disciples (Matt. 10:3; Acts 1:13), but very little is known about him. Matthew (Levi) is also identified as “the son of Alphaeus” (Mark 2:14), and some students conjecture that the two men might have been brothers. There is no indication that this James wrote the letter we are about to study.
• James, the father of Judas the disciple. He is an even more obscure man (Luke 6:16, where “brother” ought to be “father”). This Judas was called “the son of James” to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot.
• James, the brother of our Lord. He seems to be the most likely candidate for author of this letter. He does not identify himself in this way; humbly, he calls himself “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
• What qualified James to write such a letter was not his physical relationship to Jesus but his spiritual relationship.[2]
• That Jesus had brothers and sisters is stated in Matthew 13:55–56 and Mark 6:3, and one of His brothers was named James. (By “brother,” of course, I mean half-brother. Joseph was not our Lord’s father since He was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God.)[3]​
• James and the other brothers did not believe in Jesus during His earthly ministry (Mark 3:31–35; John 7:1–5).
• Yet we find our Lord’s brethren in the Upper Room praying with the disciples (Acts 1:14).
• What effected the change from unbelief to faith? First Corinthians 15:7 indicates that Jesus appeared to James after His resurrection!
• This convinced James that Jesus truly was the Savior, and he, in turn, shared this knowledge about Jesus to the other brothers.[4]

 

• This letter is attributed to James, the half-brother of Jesus –
• Mark 6:3 - Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they were offended by him.[5]
• Galatians 1:19 - But I didn’t see any of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.[6]
• James had a different mission than Paul. Whereas Paul was considered to be a church planter in the Gentile regions, James was ministering to the Christian Jews that were scattered outside of Palestine.

 

• In Acts the brothers of Jesus were among the disciples awaiting the Spirit at Pentecost (1:14).
• When Peter was delivered from prison, he requested that this James be alerted (12:2–17).
• James became dominant in the Jerusalem church in Acts.
• He seems to be chief among the elders in Jerusalem at the first council of the church (Acts 15:12–21).
• At his initiative the letter to the Gentile Christians was drafted (Acts 15:23–29).
• By taking Paul’s side in the controversy, James thwarted the Judaizing opinions prevalent in the Jerusalem church.
• Indeed, James is shown as Paul’s ally here and was among the elders who affirmed the results of Paul’s last missionary journey (Acts 21:18–19).
• The problem of Paul’s apparent “law-breaking,” however, was broached by James, not as something James believed but what others believed who were zealous for the law. This conservative movement was threatening the unity of the church.
• The accounts in Acts show James’s prominence in the early church and his fascinating and positive relationship with Paul.
• The situation at Galatia was tense, but nothing in the story should be taken to imply a rift between Paul and James or the Jerusalem church.[7]
• There were many Christian Jews in Jerusalem who still held to the Old Testament Law (Acts 21:20).
• The temple and its services were still in operation, and the full light of the Gospel of God’s grace had not yet dawned.
• We who have read Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews might be prone to judge these early believers; but we must not.
• They were saved people, but they were still in the shadows of the Law, moving out into the bright light of God’s grace.
• While there may have been differences in degrees of spiritual knowledge and experience, there was no competition between Paul and those who directed the Jerusalem church (Gal. 2:1–10).
• We have no record in the Bible, but tradition tells us that James was martyred in 62AD.[8]
• The story is that the Pharisees in Jerusalem so hated James’ testimony for Christ that they had him cast down from the temple and then beaten to death with clubs.
• The story also relates that James died, as did his Savior, praying for his murderers, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”[9]
• All of these problems had a common cause: spiritual immaturity.[10]

Imperatives of James:

1. We must be born again
2. We must examine ourselves with God’s Word
3. We must choose to walk by the Spirit (obey)
4. We must be prepared for trials & suffering

We must measure our spiritual maturity through the Word of God.
 
James 1
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:

• Since an attitude of service is what distinguishes biblical leadership, there is no contradiction between service and leadership.[11]

To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad.
Greetings.

• The Dispersion – “scattering of seeds”
• When the Jewish believers were scattered in that first wave of persecution (Acts 8:1, 4), it was really the sowing of seed in many places; and much of that seed bore fruit (Acts 11:19ff).
• Acts 8:1-3 1 Saul agreed with putting him to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him. 3 Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.[12]
• Christian Jews scattered throughout the Roman Empire would have needs and problems of their own.
• Being Jews, they would be rejected by the Gentiles; and being Christian Jews, they would be rejected by their own countrymen.[13]

 

• There are four essentials for victory in trials:
  1) A joyful attitude
  2) An understanding mind
  3) A surrendered will
  4) A heart that wants to believe.[14]

TRIALS AND MATURITY
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials,

• Trials are coming…
• John 16:33 – 33 “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” [15]
• I’ve got news for you: Satan fights us, the world opposes us, and this makes for a life of battle.[16]
• James did not say that a believer should be joyous for the trials but in the trials.[17]
• If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us.
• If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, we will not be able to “count it all joy.”
• If we live only for the present and forget the future, then trials will make us bitter, not better.[18]

 
3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

• Romans 5:3-5 - 3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. [19]

4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

• (A surrendered will)
• “Mature” (teleioi), often translated “perfect” or “finished,” is coupled with “complete” (holoklēroi, from holos, “whole,” and klēros, “part”) to give the idea of perfected all over or fully developed in every part.[20]
• God wants to make us patient because that is the key to every other blessing.
• The little child who does not learn patience will not learn much of anything else.
• When the believer learns to wait on the Lord, then God can do great things for him.
• Abraham ran ahead of the Lord, married Hagar, and brought great sorrow into his home (Gen. 16).
• Moses ran ahead of God, murdered a man, and had to spend forty years with the sheep to learn patience (Ex. 2:11ff).
• Peter almost killed a man in his impatience [21]
  
  
• In dealing with crisis… I have discovered that urgency is not always the answer.
• I am not the answer to your problem. We may help you with a solution, but I am never the answer to your problem.

Call me… but know that your faith is being tested and you grow in maturity and wisdom through your patience.

[1] Viola, Frank. (2004). The Untold Story of the New Testament Church. (p.87). Shippensburg, PA: Destiny Image Publishers.
[2] Moo, D. J. (2000). The letter of James (p. 48). Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 335). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 335). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[5] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Mk 6:3). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ga 1:19). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Richardson, K. A. (1997). James (Vol. 36, p. 41). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[8] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 335). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[9] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 335). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[10] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 336). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[11] Richardson, K. A. (1997). James (Vol. 36, p. 53). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
[12] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ac 8:1–3). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[13] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 335). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[14] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 337). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[15] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Jn 16:33). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[16] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 338). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[17] Blue, J. R. (1985). James. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 820). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[18] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 338). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[19] Christian Standard Bible. (2017). (Ro 5:3–5). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[20] Blue, J. R. (1985). James. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 821). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[21] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 339). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.