Bible study begins in person every Tuesday night at 7pm. Livestreaming will begin shortly thereafter.
In today’s lesson, James described himself as a “servant of… the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). This author could have made a bolder claim, however, for he was the half-brother of Jesus. James is listed as number two of five brothers (Mark 6:3) and therefore in charge of his family’s inheritance after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
Although James did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah during Jesus’ ministry (John 7:5), a dramatic change took place after the resurrection of Jesus (1Cor.15:7). Acts tells us that the brothers of Jesus were part of the earliest fellowship in Jerusalem that became the church (Acts 1:14). All this to say that James has firsthand knowledge of who Jesus was and he could testify to the veracity of what Jesus stood for. Three things stand out as important to our investigation of the text this morning:
- Favoring the Wealthy (James 2:1-4)
- Favoring the Poor (James 2:5-7)
- Favoring the Neighbor (James 2:8-13)
Over 1,900 years ago, James gave definitive answers for how the church should live and behave. James offered these two ethical foundations—the royal law and the law of liberty—to guide the church. Both of these were learned from his half brother, Jesus.
Jesus did not treat people according to divisions of wealth or poverty, or perceived blessings or curses. James, his brother, did not either. Instead, James and Jesus show that God loves the poor, and we should too. This issue has not gone away in the nearly 2,000 years since James wrote, and we do well to listen to him today.
