Sermon Tone Analysis

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, 

“To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: 

“Greetings.”[1]

Whenever we read the letters of the New Testament, we are likely to hurry through the opening words treating them as unimportant formal details.

Letter introductions in the ancient world usually contained more than mere names.

They describe the writer and recipients in ways that provide us with clues about the nature and purpose of the letter.

Reading carefully, we will be able to learn something about the writer, about the recipients and about the situation each faced and their abilities to address problems.

James makes it clear that he is writing a letter—not a narrative or a theological treatise.

Understanding that this is a letter, we are better equipped to evaluate what is written.

When we learn who the recipients are, we will be able to assess their situation and needs as they are addressed in the body of the letter.

Because this is a letter, the writer will move rapidly from one subject to the next.

Understanding these truths, we will be able to apply more accurately the teaching of the letter to modern readers.

Several questions immediately suggest themselves as I read these introductory words of James’ letter.

These questions, when properly answered, may well lead to rich blessings that would be otherwise missed.

First, it is appropriate to ask the identity of the writer of this letter.

Then, we will want to know whatever we can learn about his life and service among the people of the Lord.

We will also want to know to whom the letter was addressed.

Are the things included in this letter valuable for us who read it today?

Are there instructions we need as we review this letter?

These are legitimate and practical questions for everyone reading the letter.

In order to understand more fully the message of James during the coming weeks, I believe it beneficial for us to study carefully these opening words of the letter at this time.

Join me, then, in weighing the opening verse of the Book of James.

As we consider the words James penned, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, I urge us to pray, asking the Master to guide us to discover eternal truths to the praise of His glory.

*Identifying James* — “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,” is the introduction the writer of the letter employs.

James (*΄/Iákōbos/*, or Jacob) was a common Hebrew name.

There are multiple individuals bearing this particular name in the New Testament.

Among the individuals bearing this name were James the son of Zebedee [*Mark 1:19, 20*], one of the Twelve Apostles and brother of the Apostle John, James the son of Alphaeus, who was also one of the Apostles [*Matthew 10:3*], James the Younger [*Mark 15:40*], James, the father of the Apostle Judas [*Luke 6:16*], and James the half-brother of Jesus, a son of Mary and Joseph [*Matthew 13:55*].

Determining which of the various individuals wrote this letter is not particularly difficult.

Whoever “James” was, he was sufficiently well known that he did not need to identify himself beyond giving his name.

James the younger is mentioned only in passing, more by reason of the fact that he was the son of Mary, the wife of Clopas, who was present at the crucifixion.

And James the father of Judas is named primarily to distinguish his son from Judas Iscariot.

This effectively reduces our search for the author to one of three individuals known to us from the New Testament by the name “James.

James, the son of Zebedee, was the first of the Twelve to be martyred for the Faith.

He was beheaded in 44 a.d.

by Herod Agrippa I [*Acts 12:1, 2*].

He, together with his brother John, had presumptuously asked the Master for a position of prominence in the Kingdom.

They were first cousins to Jesus, their mother being the sister of Mary, and perhaps they thought they deserved by virtue of relationship positions of honour.

When they made their request, Jesus gave them what must have been a surprising prophecy concerning their futures.

He asked them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptised with the baptism with which I am baptised?”

Without thinking, they blustered, “We are able.”

They Jesus said, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptised, you will be baptised” [*Mark **10:35**-40*].

Indeed, the violent death of James fulfilled the dark prophecy Jesus gave.

As an interesting aside, an account by Clement of Alexandria (c.

155 to 220) states that when James went on trial for his life, his steadfast testimony led to the conversion of his accuser who, the story goes, was carried off with him to his execution.[2]

Dying so early in the history of the churches and not being recognised as having accomplished anything of significance beyond the immediate environs of Jerusalem, it is highly unlikely that James the son of Zebedee was the writer of the letter before us.

Nothing certain is known of James the son of Alphaeus.

Beyond the Gospels, he is not named.

Levi (Matthew) is identified as “the son of Alphaeus” [*Mark **2:14*], so it is possible that he and James were brothers.

For the purpose of our study, it is highly unlikely that this James was the writer of the book before us for the coming weeks.

Of the people named in the earliest books of the New Testament, this leaves James, the son of Mary and Joseph and half-brother of Jesus.

There are only two references to James in the Gospels [*Matthew **13:55*; *Mark 6:3*] where he is named with his brothers.

If the order of naming the siblings is indicative of age, James would have been the eldest of the half-brothers of Jesus.

He likely was not more than a year or two younger than Jesus, and would have grown up in the home.

During His life in the flesh, the brothers of Jesus did not believe in Him.

John writes, “not even His brothers believed in Him” [*John 7:5*].

Perhaps it was the result of sibling rivalry or perhaps familiarity had dulled His brothers to the need to listen to what He said, but the tragic truth is that being raised in the presence of the Son of God had no immediate effect on Jesus’ half-brothers.

After His resurrection, however, Jesus appeared to James [*1 Corinthians 15:7*].

It is likely that this appearance resulted in salvation for James.

Since “His brothers” are specifically said to have been present in the Upper Room [*Acts 1:14*], it is possible that James had been instrumental in bringing each of his brothers (Joses, Jude and Simon) to faith in Jesus as the Son of God, the promised Messiah.

Sometime after his conversion, James became pastor of the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem.

When Peter was miraculously released from prison, he instructed those meeting for prayer in Mary’s home to inform James, together with the brothers, of his release [*Acts **12:17*].

It was important that the Pastor of the congregation know what was happening.

At the Jerusalem Council, it is James who provides the summary statement [*Acts **15:13**-21*].

The entire account leads the reader to understand that it is James presiding over the Council and providing direction in the deliberations.

Later, when relating his various personal interactions with the Jerusalem church, Paul identifies James as an Apostle [*Galatians **1:19**; 2:9*], perhaps in recognition of his leadership.

Clearly, Paul saw James as a pillar in that congregation.

James apparently regarded himself as having a special ministry to Jewish Christians.

This becomes evident when we see Paul interacting with him in the final journey he would make to Jerusalem.

In *Acts 21:17-25*, we read, “On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.

After greeting them, he related one-by-one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

And when they heard it, they glorified God.

And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed.

They are all zealous for the law, and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs.

What then is to be done?

They will certainly hear that you have come.

Do therefore what we tell you.

We have four men who are under a vow; take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads.

Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.

But as for the Gentiles who have believed, we have sent a letter with our judgment that they should abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality.”

James earned the designation “the Just,” according to Hegesippus (/c./ a.d.

180).[3]

He received this appellation as the result of his faithful adherence to Jewish Law and his austere lifestyle.

Josephus relates that James suffered martyrdom in a.d.

61, when he was stoned under the authority of Albinus following the death of Festus.[4]

So, the writer is James, the brother of Jesus.

James identifies himself as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

I think you will agree that he shows great humility in this introduction.

He could have introduced himself as the Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Jerusalem, as an Apostle of the Lord (as Paul acknowledged), or even as the Brother of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why did he not identify himself as such?

James likely was showing that his authority had nothing to do with his physical relationship, but that he was rather appointed because of his spiritual relationship to Jesus.

James introduces himself first as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

His letter will be about this servant-Lord relationship in which all Christians are to persevere.

Along the way, true servants of the Lord will have to put their servanthood into practice in the midst of suffering, in choosing their relationship with material wealth, in controlling how they speak and in other life issues James will address.

At the very start of this letter, James identifies himself as having self-consciously accepted this humble way of life for himself.

He is not asserting his position; his identity is already known among the churches.

It is only his servanthood to the Lord Jesus Christ that matters to him here, for this is the theme of his letter: How shall we live as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ?

James identifies himself as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Unfortunately, we cannot actually recognise the import of what he wrote because of the dynamic nature of language with the passage of time.

In modern English, we make a distinction between “servant” and “slave,” but between these two poles was the concept of a */doûlos/*, a bondservant, one who has voluntarily sold himself into slavery.

There are at least four implications in the designation James appropriates to himself.

To be a bondservant implies */absolute obedience to the command of the master/*.