Greetings From James - James 1.1 Series

I. There are certain realities of life common to all believers – 1:1-1:18.

A. Trials and testing will come and can be overcome -- 1:1-8.

Lesson 1.A.1: Greetings from James - James 1.1

Text: James 1:1 (KJV)

1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

Commentary

1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

James, a servant (or slave, or bond-servant) of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ - bonded to Him, i.e., in devotion and love. In like manner, St. Paul (Romans 1:1), St. Peter (2 Peter 1:1), and St. Jude, brother of James (James 1:1), begin their Letters. The writer of this has been identified with James the Just, first bishop of Jerusalem, our Lord's brother.

to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,

Or to the twelve tribes in the dispersion. To these remnants of the house of Israel, whose "casting away" (Romans 11:15) was leading to the "reconciling of the world;" whose "fall" had been the cause of its "riches;" "and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles" (James 1:12). Scattered abroad indeed they were, "a by-word among all nations" (Deuteronomy 28:37), "a curse and an astonishment" (Jeremiah 29:18) wherever the Lord had driven them. But there is something symbolic, and perhaps prophetic, in the number twelve. Strictly speaking, at the time this Epistle was written, Judah and Benjamin, in a great measure, were returned to the Holy Land from their captivity. However, numbers of both tribes were living in various parts of the world, chiefly engaged, as at the present day, in commerce. The remaining ten had lost their tribal distinctions and have now perished from all historical records. However, it is still one of the fancies of particular writers, rather pious than learned, to discover traces of them in the aborigines of America, Polynesia, and almost everywhere else; most ethnologically [The branch of anthropology that analyzes and compares human cultures, as in social structure, language, religion, and technology; cultural anthropology.] improbable of all, in the Teutonic nations[denoting the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family], and our own families thereof. Before the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and even the preaching of Christianity, Jewish colonists were found in Europe and Asia. "Even where they suffered most, through their turbulent disposition, or the hostility of their neighbors, they sprang again from the same undying stock. However, it might be hewn by the sword or seared by the fire. Massacre seemed not to affect thinning their ranks, and, like their forefathers in Egypt, they still multiplied under the cruelest oppression." While the Temple stood, these scattered settlements were colonies of a nation, bound together by varied ties and sympathies, but ruled in the East by a Rabbi called the Prince of the Captivity, and in the West by the Patriarch of Tiberias, who, curiously, had his seat in that Gentile city of Palestine. The fall of Jerusalem, and the end in addition to that of national existence, instead of added to than detracted from the authority of these strange governments; the latter ceased only in the reign of the Emperor Theodosius, while the former continued, it is said, in the royal line of David, until the close of the eleventh century, after which the dominion passed wholly into the hands of the Rabbinical aristocracy, from whom it has come down to the present day. The phrase "in the dispersion" was common in the time or our Lord; the Jews wondered whether He would "go unto the dispersion amongst the Gentiles" (John 7:35).

Greeting - Welcoming, hailing, salutation, acknowledgment.

James, the Disciple

The Apostle James was one of the so-called "Sons of Thunder," and was specifically named "James, son of Zebedee" and is sometimes called "James the Greater" because there were at least three other James' in the early church. James was called "James, son of Alphaeus," and another James was called "James the Just." The Apostle James was the Apostle John's brother, and James was the first Apostle martyred, probably around 44 AD. James was in the so-called circle of honor among the apostles and Peter and John, and they were privileged to be eyewitnesses of the Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-9). They were also among the privileged few apostles that witnessed Jairus' daughter being raised from the dead (Mark 5:37) and were with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt 26:36-37) on the night that Jesus was betrayed and arrested.

James, the Fisherman

When he called Peter, he later called the Apostle John and James, and all three were fishermen. Jesus intended to make them "fishers of men." The disciples that Jesus called were likely not very popular in society, especially among the religious leaders. Yet, their occupation provided a critical need for the community as fish were staples among Judea residents. They were looked down upon by the Jewish leaders, the Roman authorities, and even among the general population. These were not refined, polished men with excellent speaking skills but were probably looked down upon as country bumpkins or ruffians since their hometown was Capernaum. They would have been on the low rung of society that day; however, God has a history of calling and using men and women who the world has little regard for and thinks very little of.