Weiderholen Sie auf Deutsch.

I cannot tell you how many times at school I was told by Frau Sonnekalb, "Weiderholen Sie auf Deutsch" (Repeat in German).

So I have! "The Cup" has now been translated into German and "Der Kelch" was published yesterday on Kindle.

Many thanks to my cousin Andreas Krauße for checking my work.

Week 13 - The Author of James

Briefly this week we looked at the authorship of the book.

Unfortunately a good number of people were called James in the New Testament and some have used this confusion to make its author one of the two Apostles who were named James.  This was an attempt to support the perpetual virginity of Mary (which is not supported by Matthew 1:25) and to give Apostolic authority to the book.  But neither are necessary.

Instead James, as a brother, heard what Jesus taught, but unlike the disciples was not a believer.

John 7:5

For not even his brothers believed in him.

This persisted past the crucifixion where Jesus gave His mother Mary into John's care, because none of brothers were present (John 19:25-27).  But by the time of the ascension, his brothers were part of the fledgeling church (Acts 1:12-14).

Paul records for us what happened between those two events:

1 Corinthians 15:3-8

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.

Take then the book of James as the testimony of an eye witness of the Resurrection!  Not only is it our connection to the teachings of Christ, it is our connection to the resurrected Christ.  

Take it and repeat the echo that James did for us.

Update available!

For a number of years now, my habit has been to write in the summer and fall, and teach in the spring.  But I like folks having the book that first class, so I publish before hand.  

But as you would expect, the first time you teach the material the necessary updates abound.

Fortunately Kindle provides a mechanism to publish updates.  The updates are "minor" from their perspective so they don't automatically push them or make people aware of them.  You must go to your Amazon account, look for your "Your content and devices", select all the books that have updates, and click "Deliver".

Easy way to spot if you have the update?  The ninth chapter is now named "God's Purpose".

Week 12 - James 5:19-20

This is the last command of the book. It is to “know”.  James last command to his Jewish brothers scattered around the world was to know.  He wanted them to know the gravity of the loss of a soul. 

Many struggle with a lost relative, spouse or child and read expectantly for a three point plan to reverse their loved one’s path. But it is not there. The book of James ends without explaining how to “bring them back” (James 5:19). 

But James connects this passage to the previous paragraph by using the same word here to save (sōzō) the individual from the effects of sin as he did previously for the effects of illness.  There were six other words in Greek that he could have used for healing a person.  But instead of using a word which means to cure, James used the word to save.  

• When we are “raised up” (egeirō) we are saved from the effects of illness, including even our eventual death.
• When a person “turns back” (epistrephō) they are saved from the effects of sin, including eternal damnation.

The same God, who is in charge of death (Matthew 6:27), is also in charge of faith (Ephesians 2:8).

Folks, if there is a single core message of the book of James it is that God is God and we are not.  We can’t, on our own, save a person either from death or from damnation. 

Instead we are like Elijah, who showed that neither the quality or quantity of prayer is important -- only our persistence (Luke 18:1-8).  

Week 11 - James 5:13-18

We too often forget that death is not natural and that it is the result of sin (Romans 5:12).  This passage and a miracle by Christ clearly connect the two.

Matthew 9:2

And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

So James focuses healing on sanctification.  That sanctification is done by confession and a prayer of faith and then it memorialized by an anointing.  

James 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

It is easy to get distracted by the anointing and see it as the method of healing.  It is not.  The method of healing is prayer.  The anointing instead consecrates the individual as holy and sets them apart for continued service.

Leviticus 8:12

And he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him.

Earlier we divided the Beatitudes into two classes, where some the promise is instantaneous, while most the promise is so assured that the blessing is past tense ("Blessed are") but we for which we must be patient ("shall be").

The instantaneous Beatitudes are those that give us entrance into the Kingdom (Matthew 5:3; Matthew 5:10), by a contrite heart and a confession that may become subject to persecution.  Our instantaneous entrance to the Kingdom is memorialized in the waters of baptism by the speed at which the water evaporates.

Our passage this week also contains an assured promise but it is one of that second class, for which we must wait.

James 5:15

And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven

And that promise is memorialized in the oil of the anointing, which does not evaporate.  It serves as a reminder, that He will indeed raise us up and it is for that day we must wait (regardless if God providentially permits healing in the mean time!).

James goes on to explain that the result is not contingent on the individual offering the prayer.  A lot of translations insert the word "earnestly".  The Darby translation surfaces the Hebraistic phrase  (proseuchomai proseuchē):

James 5:17

Elias was a man of like passions to us, and he prayed with prayer that it should not rain; and it did not rain upon the earth three years and six months;

This ancient highlighter used by Jewish writers uses the verb and the noun form of the verb together for emphasis,  Another example would be the phrase from the Garden of Eden "surely die" (Genesis 2:17).  

However, the passages to which James is referring (1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:36-38; 1 Kings 18:41-46) do not describe “fervent” or "ernest" prayers.  They instead record terse prophetic declarations and brief prayers that are very much in contrast to the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:25-29), whose fervency included frantic dance and self-injury.  

So rather than it being an expression of effort, it is one of exclusivity (see Meyer's NT Commentary).  The only thing he did was pray, and though being a man just like us, the effect of his prayer was very powerful. 

Folks, we are like Elijah, so pray.

Week 10 - James 5:12

“But above all, my brothers, do not swear . . .”

James wrote this letter to his Jewish brothers scattered around the Mediterranean.  14 times he calls out to them with a particular command or concern.  Count it all joy, don’t show favoritism, show your faith by your works, . . .  many of them echoes of the Sermon on the Mount.

This one he labels as “above all”.  But because swearing oaths is not prevalent in our culture it seems oddly ordered as being the most important.

To understand why, hear Christ’s words from the mount:

Matthew 5:33-37

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

The first half of the Ten Commandments are about honoring God and protecting His name.  Christ calls loving God the greatest commandment. James then rightly condemns the act of usurping His sovereign authority over the future as supremely important. 

Then, James calls us to what is under our control — truth. The command (as we have seen many times is spoken in the imperative with the introductory “let”) is the verb “be”.

. . . let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no . . .

Truth is what all the other virtues are built.  One might say, it is the ultimate virtue.

Week 9 - James 5:6-11

Not again, we did James 5:6 last week!  Yes, but v7 contains the word "therefore" and points us back to why we should be patient.

James 5:6-7a

You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord.

Somehow the command to be patient is tied to the unwavering mercy that Christ demonstrates by not resisting even our present sin.  The sin that put Him on the cross continues just as He, the Lamb of God, patiently continues to stand slain for our redemption (Revelation 5).  This is the backdrop fo the command to be steadfast.

How patient should we be?  Well, I am sorry to say, we are asked to have the patience of . . . Job.  

But we have an advantage that Job did not.  We have seen the purpose of the Lord!

James 5:11b

You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

 Job’s steadfastness was without having seen Emanuel.

Job 9:33

“There is no arbiter between us,    who might lay his hand on us both.”

He had only one choice.  That to throw himself on God’s “purpose”.  Read his answer to God.

Job 42:1-6

Then Job answered the Lord and said:

“I know that you can do all things,

    and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

 . . .  

therefore I despise myself,

    and repent in dust and ashes.”

But you have seen God's purpose.  Jesus described it this way:

John 6:38-40

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Folks, this purpose will not be thwarted and it is why we can be patient.  No temporary loss, no temporary consequence of sin, no persecution (no matter the duration), will compare to that day.  

Be steadfast.

Week 8 - James 4:13-5:6

Having just finished explaining that you should not judge others, James encourages believers to judge themselves.  

“Encourage” is too soft a word.  The section grabs you by the lapels and spins you around, with the phrase “Come now!”(ago).  It is an arresting imperative.  It is spoken with a hard “g” (ahh-gay).

This section calls out those that boast about the future and those that fail to pay their workers properly.

To bring is closer to home, imagine a well-dressed church-going Bible-carrying person going out after worship on Sunday, and after sharing their plans for the week over lunch with friends, they skimp on their server’s tip!

To all believers, James says “Come now!” and explains our personal evil, even the “small stuff”, this way:

James 5:6
You have condemned and murdered the righteous person.  He does not resist you.

Commentators stumble over this verse because of its change of tense and number:

• If this verse described a particular event, both clauses would be the same tense (“He did not resist[past tense] you”).  
• If it spoke of a common type of sin, the number would be the same (“They did not resist you[plural]”).

Instead, it shows how our sin participates in the Crucifixion and is true evil.  

Romans 6:23
The wages of sin is death.

For the believer, to whom this letter is addressed, Jesus died for their sin.  He would not have been condemned without that sin.  For he was indeed “the righteous person[singular]".

It was for our sins, both past, present and future, that Christ died.  And He does so willingly.  The change of tense and number is purposeful.  He does not resist the condemnation of your present sin!

Matthew 5:4
“Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.“

Folks, come now, and mourn.

Week 7 - James 4:11-12

Echoing Jesus, James expands on the following in this week’s passage (James 4:11-12):

Matthew 7:1-2

“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

James explains in very direct terms that condemning a brother declares the Law of Liberty somehow insufficient. When we declare our brother guilty we are judging the efficacy of the sacrifice of Christ, that has made them free of guilt. 

James 4:11

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

To speak evil (katalaleō) of a person, rightly or wrongly, accuses them. In our passage, they, being a brother, are free of guilt so it can be rightly translated “slander” as the NIV has done. 

James goes on to speak of the non-believer:

James 4:12

There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

We all remember the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).  In it we are taught that a neighbor can be anyone of any faith or any nationality.  We are told not to judge them for a different reason. Simply, that we are not God. They may be dead in their sins, but is is not our position to judge. 

Yes there are positions of authority (Employer, teacher, elder, magistrate) that have the task of judging according to their respective standard.  This passage speaks to relationships outside those spheres, where we stand only on the level ground before the throne of God. 

In those relationships, we have one response:

1 Peter 3:16

having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

James 3:13

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

These two verses are tied together by the word behavior/conduct (anastrophē). It is the busyness of life, the “fog of war” one might say. 

Folks, let’s make sure our conduct is full of meekness to the next person, brother or not.

Week 6 - James 4:1-10

This week, echoing the Sermon on the Mount, James calls us a murderer and an adulterer (James 4:1-4).  Jesus had put it this way:

Matthew 5:21-22

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’  

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Matthew 5:27-28

“You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery.’

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

James calls it a "friendship" with the world (James 4:4).  It is a polite word indeed.  He is describing an adulterous relationship that stirs the deepest jealousy in God even while we are caught needing still to wash our hands (James 4:8).

Song of Solomon 8:6-8

Set me as a seal upon your heart,

    as a seal upon your arm,

for love is strong as death,

    jealousy is fierce as the grave.

Its flashes are flashes of fire,

    the very flame of the Lord.

Many waters cannot quench love,

    neither can floods drown it.

If a man offered for love

    all the wealth of his house,

    he[ would be utterly despised.

Fortunately, our lover still yearns for us and will graciously accept us back.  To do so, James echos three of the Beatitudes, when he asks us to "Let your laughter be turned to mourning" (James 4:9).

Matthew 5:3-5

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Who is it that we are mourning?  It is Christ.  We cannot ever forget the cost (Luke 19:42).

How will we inherit the earth?  The prince of this world will be destroyed (Ephesians 2:1-3).

Week 5 - James 3

This week was a bad one for teachers. We found that the tongue cannot be tamed by mankind. Unlike the rudder of the boat or the bit in the horses mouth, it can’t be controlled.  But it does have a similar multiplicative effect. It’s small spark can set ablaze a lot of well planted crops. 

James offers a different way. One he heard from his Master. 

Matthew 5:9

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

Instead of teaching by speaking. Teach by doing. 

James 3:13

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.

James rewrites the old adage “Those who can do; Those who can’t teach.” into “All teach by doing”.

He draws the distinction clearly:

James 3:16-17

For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. 

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

We can either be focused on self. Or on others. 

Folks, let’s be peacemakers. 

Week 4 - James 2:14-26

Last week, we saw James use the Greek equivalent of the Southern Phrase "Bless your heart".  He said that when they loved the rich person they "did well", when completely missing the mark of the completed Christian, who loves with impartiality.

This week he uses the phrase again.  

James 2:19

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

As ineffectual as well-wishing a hungry person, so too is belief (internal) that is not turned into faith (external), which can be only demonstrated by works.  James declared, seemingly contradicting Sola Fide:

James 2:24

You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

He used two examples to support this bold claim, over which much ink has been spilt, that Abraham committed his future nation into the hands of God by offering Isaac and that Rahab the prostitute committed her whole family, likewise, as she helped the spies.

James, as we know, was echoing what he had heard.  He heard, what Jesus taught on the Final Judgement (hear as a Beatitude):

Matthew 25:34-35

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

How is giving food demonstration of faith?  We believe we will still have enough!  

To understand this a little more we explored briefly the thief on the cross.  Promised by Christ that he too would be in Paradise that very day, we wondered what "work" he had opportunity to do.  We came to understand that his confession of Jesus as the Son of God was that work.

Romans 10:9

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

It requires both.  Said a different way, from the Celestial perspective, Satan is conquered when:

Revelation 12:11

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

While our works are mandatory. They are not meritorious. Our righteous remains as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), until we are justified by the completed work of Jesus Christ.  That, when we confess Him as Lord.  

It is only then that we are granted to be able to wear our righteousness as fine linen:

Revelation 19:7-8

Let us rejoice and exult

and give him the glory,

for the marriage of the Lamb has come,

and his Bride has made herself ready;

it was granted her to clothe herself

with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Folks, let's not be poorly dressed.

Week 3 - James 2:1-13

Last week we saw that there was one law that governs our interactions with others. It is the Golden Rule and it requires an ever-present mirror because we are prone to forget the standard. That standard is us (That sounded so politically incorrect I enjoyed writing it!)

Matthew 7:12

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

This week James writes how we should apply that law:

James 2:1

My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.

He goes to the heart of the matter and commands us to hold our faith without the sin of partiality.    In fact, he drives his Jewish audience to the reality that breaking this seemingly small rule puts them in violation of the whole law. 

James 2:8-9

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressor.

In step with James, I leave you with this echo from the mountain as your charge this week:

Matthew 5:44-48

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Folks, a complete Christian has the patience to receive their reward from the hand of God rather than through injustice. Yes, the opposite of ”impartial” is “injustice”.

Week 2 - James 1:19-26

In contrast to the 613 commandments in the Mosaic Law, Jesus taught only two: love God and love your neighbor.  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught:

Matthew 7:12

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

James echoes this by calling it the Law of Liberty and explains it using a mirror, within the context of comparing anger and meekness, within still a larger explanation of the perseverance required by a beatitude.

So why a mirror?  The world would have us replace the Golden Rule (which about what we want) with the Platinum Rule (which is about what they want).  While it sounds noble, a sinner's desire would be for us to support their sin (Romans 1:32).  Heaven forbid!

Instead James offers the Golden Rule as the solution to our anger.  In response someone else's actions, we need it to produce the meekness of knowing that we too needed, and still need, forgiveness.  

We should never approach anyone from our position of justification and adoption, but rather as the Prodigal Son, still covered with the filth of the pig pen.  We need a mirror and a good memory to remind us everyday of our former condition and our ultimate desire for love and forgiveness.  

The beatitude of James 1:12 is conditional upon perseverance, so James concludes the matter this way:

James 1:25

But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

So folks, your charge today (and every day) is love the unlovable, just as God loves us (Romans 5:8).  That rule is truly golden.

Week 1 - James 1:1-18

You need three important tools to explore the book of James:

• The construct of the beatitude (an accomplished blessing with an assured outcome),
• The construct of a command (spoken in the Greek imperative, but translated with the passive "let", where the omitted subject is us!),
• The parallel teachings of Christ (James listened and took on this ministry to share them). 

With those tools in hand, this week we looked at:

James 1:2-4

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

We saw the parallel with Christ’s overwhelming conclusion to the sermon on the mount where the word Jesus used for ”perfect”, James pastorally explained with the the word “complete”.

Matthew 5:48

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

We saw the command ("let/have") to us is to surrender to the work of patience. It must be a surrender so complete that it produces joy within the trial because of the assured blessing that will follow. 

How assured?  

We serve the “Father of lights”, who does not change — not even his shadow. 

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

So folks, we are called to be complete. To do so you must have an eternal perspective of patience grounded in the unchanging sovereignty of God on which all joy is based. 

Echoes of the Mountain

I struggled with the book of James.  

As a youth I memorized “. . . and he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:25), but tripped over what it meant.  Was it support for the Prosperity Gospel?  What does it mean to be “blessed” anyway?  And when do we receive this blessing?

I memorized “. . . faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:17).  I was on vacation last week.  I did not do much.  Is my faith now dead?  What was I supposed to be “doing” all week?  What must I do to have living faith?

Join me as we explore the letter James wrote to the scattered tribes of Israel.  I have titled this exploration "Echoes of the Mountain", because of the parallels between the Book of James and the Sermon on the Mount.  One will explain the other.