Spirituality Column #807

May 3, 2022

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Game Changer

By Bob Walters

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations. Greetings …” – James 1:1

James, 20^th book of the New Testament’s 27, for my money is on par with Proverbs of the Old Testament comprising two of the easiest books in the Bible to read.

By “easy,” I mean just about anybody can pick up advice from them, have a familiar, relatable modicum of understanding what they are saying.  Their meanings and language are pretty straight forward.  You don’t have to be particularly “religious” or a theologian to get the gist of wisdom and guidance they provide.  Leave Leviticus and Revelation to the pros; read Proverbs and James.  Don’t worry if Romans eludes you on the first go.

Having tried at various times in my life to read the Bible before I was truly a believer was frustrating.  I cannot track whether my faith or my belief came first, but when, suddenly, reading any part of the Bible made sense, that was my clue the Holy Spirit was actually flying the plane.  Baptized in November 2001, I then read Genesis-to-Revelation before the end of 2002.

Even when I didn’t understand, I knew what I was reading was true. Since then (age 47) it’s been my life’s journey to read and re-read – to pray, think, and absorb; contemplate, discern, and discover; study, investigate, and listen – the Bible’s many-hued depths of divine discovery.

Here’s what I know: Jesus doesn’t lie, the Bible’s always true, and God can do anything He wants.  One’s mind reels and soul bursts at the enormity of God’s being, creativity, and love.

But … James.  I was assigned to read a scripture passage – James 1:16-18 – in our E91 traditional service last month and it sparked an idea to present a post-Easter through June study on James in our weekly E91 Mustard Seed Bible Study.  It took me the first two full class sessions to get through the book’s first sentence quoted above, James 1:1.  Here’s why.

Despite the plainness of the intro, nobody knows who actually wrote James.  Yes, you’ll hear famous preachers insist it was James the Just, brother of Jesus, first bishop of Jerusalem: not James the Disciple, nor James the son of Alphaeus, nor James the father of Judas (not Iscariot).  The clue is in Acts 15:13-29 where James the Just writes to the Jewish dispersion (or diaspora, “scattered among the nations”).  But … who is James and when did he write “James”?

One school of thought insists James the Just wrote it in 44-49 A.D., making it the earliest New Testament book, that was “lost” for 50 years.  The other school – modern scholarship – insists someone else wrote “James” around 100 A.D. using not just James’ name, a common practice at the time, but also James’ thoughts, advice, wisdom, perspective, and will, penning it after James died to make it perhaps the latest New Testament book.  Doesn’t matter.

Fact is, James the book barely made it into the New Testament at all.  The earliest Church Fathers resisted it because it says little about Jesus … but volumes to the Jews.  The Book of James made the canon’s final cut in 367 A.D.  Centuries later Martin Luther, a “faith alone” guy, said it was a “letter of straw” for embracing the importance of faithful works. 

Again, no matter.  What took me two weeks to teach the first verse was explaining (1) who James was (I mean, “brother of Jesus”?), and (2) “The twelve tribes.”  There is a lot there.

It hit me as I prepared that we modern Christians think James was written to us about our modern sin. No, it was specifically addressed to Israel’s scattered tribes and Jesus believers who now had to deal with both their long tradition of the Law and their new saving faith in Christ.

Israel wasn’t dealing with a new God; it was dealing with a new Savior.  The game had changed.  James, who knew Jesus and saw Him resurrected, had much to say to Israel about their old faith that, shockingly, was now newly complete in Jesus Christ.  It was a lot to take in.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) promised Mustard Seed he’d get to verse 2 this week… Walters adds that any and all are welcome to attend the Mustard Seed Bible Study, Thursdays at 10:30 a.m., in the upstairs “Sun Room” at East 91^st Street Christian Church, Indianapolis.