1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:\u00a0 Greetings.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n See Epistle Structure<\/a> article.<\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n \u00a0“James…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n For details of authorship please see the Introduction. I will be assuming here that the author is James of Jerusalem and kinsmen of Jesus.<\/p>\n “…servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n If the James here is the James identified above, this introduction speaks volumes about his humility. Rather than claiming his superiority of leader of the Church in Jerusalem or relation of Jesus, he simply identifies himself as a “servant”<\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n The Greek word used here is doulos<\/a> which means “bond-servant”, which is “one who has given himself up to another’s will”.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n He relates himself to Jesus not by flesh and blood.<\/p>\n “servant of God” was a title given to David, Moses, the prophets and now all Christians, especially Apostles.<\/p>\n The word “Lord” in Greek is Kyrios. In the LXX it is the word used for Yahweh, thus pointing to Jesus’ divinity.<\/p>\n “…scattered among the nations…”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n The word used here in the original text is\u00a0diaspora<\/a>. Originally Jews, now Christians.<\/p>\n 2-4. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,\u00a0whenever you face trials of many kinds,\u00a0because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n He says “when trials”, indicating that it’s inevitable. These “trials” might not just be religious persecutions, but also poverty.<\/p>\n The word “brothers” appears 15 times.<\/p>\n The “brothers” are Christians”.<\/p>\n “…trials of many kinds…”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This is extremely broad.<\/p>\n “…the testing of your faith produces perseverance…Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete”<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This is the sequence that James outlines.<\/p>\n Perseverance is not just passive endurance, but patience and steadfastness.<\/p>\n Go wants us to be “fully developed, complete, not deficient in any way”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5-8. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.\u00a0But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.\u00a0That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.\u00a0Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.<\/em><\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n He might be talking about “wisdom” in relation to the sufferring of which he has just spoken.<\/p>\n What is “wisdom”? Kingdom eyes. Fixes concupiscence. See Proverbs 1:2-3.<\/p>\n God “generiously” gives. He WANTS to.<\/p>\n The “waves” thrown up by the sea are surf cf Ephesians 4:14.<\/p>\n Someone who is of “two mintes” is unsure of whether to trust God OR himself. Inconsistent.<\/p>\n 9-12. Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position.\u00a0But the rich should take pride in their humiliation\u2014since they will pass away like a wild flower.\u00a0For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.<\/p>\n Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.<\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n The mention of “humble circumstances” again points to poverty being a trial. However he then talks about the lot of the “rich”, indicating that riches could also be seen as a trial.<\/p>\n He makes the point that riches are temporary.<\/p>\n In this passage uses a semetic contrast. The poor and the rich should have the same attitude. The problem of suffering experienced by righteous in contrast with the prosperity of evil is examined in the Old Testaments (Psalms and Job in particular), but only fully revealed in Jewsus Christ, where we find the redemptive value of suffering and heavenly reward.<\/p>\n Note he talks about “when” trials come, which again shows it’s inevitable.<\/p>\n The “crown” which is referenced is an atheletic crown.<\/p>\n 13-18. When tempted, no one should say, \u201cGod is tempting me.\u201d For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;\u00a0but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.\u00a0Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Don\u2019t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.\u00a0Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.\u00a0He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n God cannot be tempted by evil, the proof is in Matthew 4:1-7.<\/p>\n The phrase “attracted and seduced” is a fishing term referring to bait.<\/p>\n The sequence of sin here is the same as it was for Adam, David etc:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 19-21. \u00a0My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,\u00a0because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.\u00a0Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n “…”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 22-27. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.\u00a0Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror\u00a0and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.\u00a0\u00a0But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it\u2014not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it\u2014they will be blessed in what they do.<\/span><\/p>\n Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.\u00a0Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.<\/span><\/p>\n Questions:<\/p>\n Commentary:<\/p>\n 1. Controlled tongue (shows the heart) Questions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n 1:1 What doe you learn about the person who sent this letter? To whom is James writing?<\/p>\n 1:2 What does James tell those people to do? \u00a0What does that really mean? What do you think about that?<\/p>\n 1:3 What is the consejuence of considering trials to be “pure joy”?<\/p>\n 1:5 What is it that God can give to people? Who is it that should ask? why might it be just those people? What will God not tell you when you ask for this?<\/p>\n 1:6 What must you do when you ask God for something? What must you not do? When you doubt, what are you like? What do you think about ithat?<\/p>\n 1:7 What happens if you doubt? What would you think about that?<\/p>\n 1:9 What should the poor person do? What will God do for that person?<\/p>\n 1:10 What should the rich person be glad about? Why is that? What do you think about that? How does James describe the rich? Does that mean riches are bad?<\/p>\n 1:12 Whom does James say that God blesses? What reward will they receive?<\/p>\n 1:13-15 What do you learn about “trials” that tempt \u00a0you? So, what tempts you? What is the order of events with temptation and sin? Think of a sin of yours. What led you to do it? What bad results might follow such a sin?<\/p>\n 1:16-17 What is it that we must “not make a mistake” about? What do you learn about differences between God and the sun, moon, and stars?<\/p>\n 1:18 What is it that God chose to do for us?<\/p>\n 1:19-21 What do you learn about how you should listen? What happens when you become angry? How do you chagne as you get angry? How might you change the way you behave when you are angry?<\/p>\n 1:22 What mistake should you not make? How will you avoid that mistake? What will you do in a different way today?<\/p>\n 1:26-27 What do you learn about being “religiouws”? How does James describe the religion that our Father, God, accepts? How would someone know that you have true religion?<\/p>\n Introduction\u00a0<\/a>| Chapter 1 |\u00a0Chapter 2<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Chapter 3<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Chapter 4<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Chapter 5<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greeting 1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:\u00a0 Greetings. See Epistle Structure article. Questions: Who is the author of this letter? To whom is it being sent? In what way are we the recipients of this letter also? How does the author describe his relationship with Jesus?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":1693,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1705","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1705"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62085,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1705\/revisions\/62085"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/restlesspilgrim.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Trials & Temptations<\/h3>\n
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Wisdom<\/h3>\n
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Riches<\/h3>\n
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Trial & Temptation<\/h3>\n
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Receiving the word<\/h3>\n
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Doing the word<\/h3>\n
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\n2. Care of widows and orphans (corporal work of mercy)
\n3. Remain unstained by the world (meaning?)<\/p>\n