Bible Commentaries
James

James

None of the Circumcision epistles so clearly indicates the class to whom it is written as the letter of James to the twelve tribes in the dispersion. Its conflict with Paul's epistles is so pronounced that Luther rejected its authority, and endless attempts have been made to find a means of reconciliation, without coming to any satisfactory solution. Once it is apprehended that this epistle is for a different people and a distinct administration, all need of reconciliation vanishes and we are not tempted to tone down Paul or drag up James to a common level. The contrast between the ministry of James and that of Paul is graphically illustrated in their lives: Paul was born at a distance from the land of Israel, and had no relations with the Lord until after His ascension into heaven. James, on the contrary, was born of the same mother as the Lord, and lived in the land all his life. In Paul the spiritual comes to the fore, in James, the physical. The very name of James is suggestive. It is practically the same as Jacob, or Supplanter, who, in his career, exemplified the energy of the flesh, and whose name was changed to Israel when the flesh was subdued. The name was also applied to the nation when their crooked ways called for it rather than for the name Israel. Hence it may be taken to indicate the spiritual state of those to whom this epistle is addressed. In the early part of Acts Peter has his rightful place at the head of the apostles, but, even as early as Paul's first visit to Jerusalem, James had a prominent place, though he was not an apostle ( Gal_1:19 ). Fourteen years later he had risen to be one of the pillars in Jerusalem and was named before Peter and John ( Gal_2:9 ). Peter was afraid of some who came from James ( Gal_2:12 ). At the council in Jerusalem to consider the question of circumcising the nations and putting them under the law, James had the decisive word and formulated the decrees, which were hostile to the nations ( Col_2:14 ), and which were nullified when the present secret administration was inaugurated ( Eph_2:15 ). At Paul's last visit to Jerusalem James was apparently the only one worth mentioning in authority in the city. The Lord's chosen apostles have disappeared and in their position the people have placed one whose chief claim was his physical relation to our Lord. James rises in proportion to the depth of the nation's apostasy. So that, at the close of Acts we have two men who embody the two divergent lines, the downward trend of Israel and the upward trend of the nations. Paul repudiates all physical relationship to Messiah and enters the realm of spiritual blessedness among the celestials ( 2Co_5:16 ). James writes to adulterers and adulteresses ( Jam_4:4 ), to those going from city to city trafficking and getting gain ( Jam_4:13 ) , to the rich who are hoarding in the last days ( Jam_5:3 ). In this light we are able to understand the unusual approach to truth in this epistle. It begins with physical limitations and closes with physical healing. It teaches justification by works and law keeping. All these had their place in that failing economy, but let us beware that we do not adulterate the precious truth for the present with doctrines that primarily concern Israel in the last days. There are three Jameses mentioned in the Greek Scriptures, James, the son of Zebedee, the first martyr among the Twelve ( Act_12:2 ); James the Less, the son of Alpheus ( Mat_10:3 ); and the writer of this epistle.