Bible Overview: James
Notes
Transcript
Author: ______
Author: ______
James 1:1 (BSB)
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…
The Hebrew name for Jacob יַעֲקֹ֑ב (Ya’akov) was adapted to the Greek name Ἰάκωβος (Yakobos); later this name was adapted to the Latin Iacobus and Late Latin Iacomus (m substituted for b); it was adapted into French as Gemmes or Jammes and English adapted it to James.
Three men with this name appear in the NT. The only likely candidate is Jesus’s half-brother, who became the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. He was not a believer during Jesus’s ministry (according to John 7), but Jesus appeared to him afterwards and he became a leader in the early Church.
According to Church tradition, James was martyred in A.D. 62.
Recipients: Jewish Christians
Recipients: Jewish Christians
James 1:1 (BSB)
1 … To the twelve tribes of the Dispersion: Greetings.
It makes sense that if this is in fact Jesus’s brother James, the leader of the Jerusalem church, that he would address his letter primarily to Jewish believers.
I don’t think he necessarily meant to exclude non-Jews (clearly the teachings here apply to us as well!), but the church he was pastoring was primarily if not exclusively Jewish. So he was writing specifically to Jewish Christians who were spread abroad because of the persecution against Christians.
Date: A.D. 48
Date: A.D. 48
Probably written before the Jerusalem council of Acts 15.
That would make James to be likely the first NT letter, with the possible exception of Galatians.
Purpose: To exhort Christians to pursue a “perfect” or “whole” life where our actions match our values and beliefs.
This book nicely ties together the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels (Love God & Love Others) with the practical advice of the book of Proverbs.
Structure:
Chapter 1: Introduction with key words and ideas to be developed in the rest of the book
Chapters 2-5: 12 practical teachings on the Christian life of wisdom
Themes and Key Verses
Themes and Key Verses
Patient Endurance of Trials
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
4 Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.
8 You, too, be patient and strengthen your hearts, because the Lord’s coming is near.
Wisdom
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.
The Tongue
2 We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
5 In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,
8 but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
10 Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be!
Worldly Wealth
1 My brothers, as you hold out your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, do not show favoritism.
14 You do not even know what will happen tomorrow! What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
1 Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
Faith Demonstrated by Deeds
22 Be doers of the word, and not hearers only. Otherwise, you are deceiving yourselves.
23 For anyone who hears the word but does not carry it out is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror,
24 and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
25 But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
Application
The life of faith is a life of love toward God and others. This will practically change the way we act, talk, and think.