Brevity of Life

1. Introduction
Siblings of Famous People

y Roger Clinton half-brother of Bill Clinton. Made a living as a rock musician and had drug convictions y Maria Einstein sister of Albert Einstein y Peter Hitchens brother of Christopher Hitchens, renowned neo-atheist. Peter believes in God and is a member of the Church of England How would you feel if you are a brother or sister of a wellknown person? Would you bask in his fame? How will it affect your life
Situation

y James is in a similar situation. As a half-brother to Jesus Christ there are certain expectations y Let us see if he met the expectations as viewed from this epistle

2. Author of the Epistle

There are several authors attributed to this epistle Evidence Presented

Nominate some options as evidence y James the father of Judas (Act 1:13) No other information is known y James the son of Alpheus o He was one of the twelve apostle (Matthew 10:26) o He may have been the brother of Matthew (Mark 2:14) y James the son of Zebedee and the brother of John. One of the sons of thunder

o He was with Christ when Jairuss daughter was raised (Luke 8:51) o He was in the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2) o He was the first disciple to die for the cause of Christ (Acts 12:2) y James the Lord brother (Galatians 1:19) o Did not believe in Jesus during His earthly ministry (John 7:1 5) o Jesus appeared to Him after His resurrection o He became a believer after the resurrection (Act1:14) o He seems to have been the leader of the church at Jerusalem (Acts 15:13; 21:18)
Evaluation and Proof

y James the brother of the Lord seems to be the author y James, the brother of John was martyred too early in 44AD. The epistle was written between AD 45 50 y Evidence from the epistle itself- James the devout Jew is consistent with the heavy emphasis on genuine religious practice and ethical conduct apparent in the epistle y Authoritative tone of the epistle agrees with authority exercise by James in Acts 15:13; 21:18
Application

y Salvation is personal. Even the half-brother of Jesus needed to be saved y His affinity to the Lord did not automatically saved him from eternal damnation. y What is true for James also applies to us. y We need to have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ 3. Audience of the Epistle y The audience is Jewish. Paul uses the term twelve tribes to refer to the Jewish nation (Acts 26:7)
Expatriates from Palestine

y The words scattered abroad refer to those Jews who lived outside of Palestine y Greek word is diaspora, dispersed. Used same word when Jews were scattered after Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD

y Permanent - The ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom were in permanent exile. It is only the tribe of Judah who were able to return to Palestine. y Profession - Some of these Jews were expatriates, like Paul, whose family settled in Tarsus a city in Asia Minor or present day Turkey. They were traders and craftsmen who made a living out of Palestine yet they travel back to Jerusalem on certain Jewish festivals. o As a religious Jew, James felt pity for the Jews who did not have ready access to the temple. y Persecution - The Christian Jews were dispersed because of persecution. o Unhealthy to stay in Jerusalem o Stephens persecution from fellow Jews o Pauls mission in life before his conversion
Experiencing Pain

y The dispersed Christian Jews were experiencing pain and persecution. y External The persecution of the Christians was building up shortly after Christs death and Resurrection o Stephens persecution from fellow Jews scattered the Christians Acts 8:1 o Paul was on his way to Damascus to persecute other Jewish Christians (Acts 9) o Their lives were in constant threat. Roman government were cracking down on them o They were viewed as trouble makers because they preach the coming heavenly Kingdom which the Romans had misinterpreted as a rebellious plot. o Roman policy is appease the local rulers who happened to be the high priests. y Internal o The Jews were experiencing pain from the transition from Judaism to Christianity o Affected their personal lives and church fellowship o Impatient in difficult times (1:1 4f) o Not practicing what they preaching (2:14) o Not in control of their tongues (3:11) o Fighting and coveting (4:1) o Materialistic (5:1)

Application

The Jews were not the only one who suffered persecution. Foxes Book of Martyrs documented these persecutions up to 1800s The persecutions nowadays are worse y Christians in Muslim countries o Iraq o Afghanistan o Pakistan o Saudi Arabia y Christians in India persecuted by Hindus y Christians in Vietnam y Counting the Cost Salvation is free Living up to it is costly

4. Attitude of the Expatriates Let us drill down on the internal pain experienced by the Jewish Christians Transition from Judaism to Christianity has affected them and they developed an attitude which James is trying to correct
Exposure to Primal Instincts

y Term may have evolutionary undertones but it refers to mans natural tendency to sin y Greco-Roman pagan cultural is influential to the scattered Jews y The farther from Jerusalem, the worse the influence y In this context we expect the Jewish believers to face temptations y James 1:12 16 especially verse 14-15 comes to mind. y Mans sinful nature has the tendency to overcome if we are weakened by trials y It is easy for the Jewish Christians to just give up and walk away y It is easier for them to just succumb to their baser instincts
Equality not Partiality

y Amongst the issues raised by James is favouritism (James 2:1 12) y He is rebuking them for favouring the rich over the poor. y This partiality is natural but more pronounced in certain societies. NZ egalitarian society will find favour with James y It is admirable for NZ as a society to promote this value y The Jewish Christians then still have after-effects of the High Priests partiality to rich donors
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y Jewish society is stratified. Ones occupation determines his place in society. It is only natural in a society that recognises classes to be partial to the rich. y James argument against favouritism hinges on the beatitudes which he quoted in verse 5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? y In verses 6-7, he warned about the exploitation, about the rich abusing the court system and their propensity to blaspheme. y Not all rich behave this way as richness is indeed a blessing. It is the rich who seeks favours that you have to watch out for.
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Application

y The frailties of human nature that befell the Jewish Christians in the early days is not unique. y James warning applies to you and I y We are still subject to temptations and on certain occasions succumb to it y We must put ourselves in situations where we may be tempted. We have the liberty the freedom to flee from temptations. y Martin Luther couldnt have said it any better with his analogy. You cannot birds that flying over your head but you can stop them building a nest in your hair y Temptations are ever present, it is how you react that determines if it is sinful y Let your conscience decide

5. Authoritative and Exacting y Bible scholars have noted that James has an air of authority. y He has no hesitations in telling you what to do. y He tells it like it is and what it should be in a direct and frank manner. y A straight shooter
Exhorted like the Prophets

y It is said that James spoke with authority in this epistle like an Old Testament prophet
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y Statistics. 108 verses and 54 commands. Half of the letter is about imperatives y He really exudes authority without reservations. y He commands, rebukes and never apologises y He does not seem to have a soft spot like Paul y He just barrels through y Examples of this prophet like proclamations o James 1:16 and Jeremiah 9:6 dangers of deception o James 2:12-13 and Micah 6:8 judgement and mercy o James 3:6 and Isaiah 59:3 - the evils of the tongue y The warnings and rebukes are prophet like in their delivery
Expectations and Practice

y James purpose is not only to instruct in what to believe but in what we should do because of what we believe y James epistle lists the expectations from a believer. Believers must live their faith y They cannot just declare their faith and not live up to it y The proof of the pudding is in the eating y Faith must be manifested in our lives through good works y We are expected to be good because of our faith y The Jewish believers are rebuked not due to lack of faith but for the lack of manifestation of faith through good works y Good works are symptoms of faith. James 2:17 y Good works are like the speedometer in our cars. It is moving before we are under speed from the power of faith y Our good works speedometer must also move to demonstrate the power of faith in our lives y We must live up to the faith
Application

y Once in a while we need to be reminded of the choice we made, that is, profess our faith in Jesus Christ y James commands, rebukes and exhortations are constant reminders of the faith that we live by y Our lives are our own powerful testimony y We must count the cost of our faith in Jesus Christ y We cannot simply declare that we have Christ in our hearts and not live up to a Christ like life y Should we say one thing and live otherwise is hypocrisy y That is James point in this epistle, live up to it y Live your faith
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y It is sad but sometimes we hear people proclaiming that Jesus is their Lord and Saviour but their lives tell otherwise 6. Conclusion y The brother lived up to the expectations James was a late convert and was not even one of the original disciples though he may have shared childhood with Christ o Sometimes, it is our siblings who know us very well because they were witnesses to our lives o They knew how we lived out lives and we cannot hide anything from them o Jesus is his own best testimony. Though James was not a believer before Christs death and resurrection, the powerful testimony of Christs resurrection as He foretold is more than enough o This brother delivered and he made up for the days of his unbelief y The brother told us how to live James recognised the need of the Jewish believers o What was true then is still true now o We need to be constantly reminded on how to live as worthy followers of Christ o We must tell the world who we are through our lives and differences they witness:  Romans 12:1 we must be living sacrifices  Matthew 5:13 salt of the earth o We must be worthy spiritual brothers of James