Lesson Text: James 2:1-4 (KJV)
1My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
2For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
3And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
4Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
INTRODUCTION
This section assumes the rich and the poor’s understanding that appears at other places in James and reflects the influence of the reception of the poor by Jesus in the exhortation not to show partiality in the church. This portion of the letter has one central purpose; to condemn any practice of favoritism in the church. Such bias is foreign to the nature of God (Rom. 2:11) and should also be unknown among believers in Christ (2:1).
COMMENTARY
1My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
2For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
3And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
4Are ye not then partial [2] in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?[3]
This verse can be translated as either a question or a command, depending on how one understands the Greek negative particle, which begins the clause. If the verse is translated as imperative (authoritative), the negative may be taken with the verb as in the KJV (“have not the faith”); which is confusing, or it may be taken with the noun partiality as in the RSV. This is clear -- but the noun must then be pressed (pressured) so far as to translate it as a verb, showing partiality.
The most natural translation would take the negative to indicate a question that expected a negative answer, “You are not having faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. When you show partiality, are you?” Fortunately, the meaning of the verse is clear: prejudice and faith in God are incompatible.
Partiality is literally “to accept the face,” and the Greek term was used to translate the Old Testament to represent a Hebrew expression (Lev. 19:15; Ps. 82:2). The word indicates more than mere partiality and means improper partiality, favoritism, or prejudice. James confirms that such behavior is not appropriate for those who hold (have) faith or rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
The translation “The Lord of Glory” (or the glorious One) attempts to communicate the force of the original, which means either “our glorious Lord Jesus Christ” or “our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the glory,” and stresses the relation of glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. Glory referred to the lofty majesty and visible splendor of God in Judaism, and the application of this term to Jesus indicates the resurrected Christ and Lord, who radiates the divine glory.
James contrasts the magnificence of Jesus with the rich man’s superficial glory, consisting of the fine (white or brilliant) clothing and gold rings. A person’s dress constituted a badge of status and vocation in the first-century. The contrast between rich and poor was quite conspicuous in one’s clothing (Luke 15:22; 16:19). The poor man usually had only one work-stained garment. This shabby (dirty) clothing characterized a man as poor (inferior), and James illustrates the sin of prejudice by the way rich and poor are treated in the assembly. The magnitude of the sin is heightened by the first-century understanding of the wicked rich and the pious poor (1:9-11). James is not reporting an actual incident but constructing an example in diatribe style to expose sin.
“For if there come unto your assembly.”
The word translated “assembly” is usually translated synagogue because it is the usual word for the Jewish meeting place or the Jewish meeting itself. James’ use of verses 2-3 does not need to refer to an actual situation but certainly implies that this kind of behavior was a real problem. Poor people were being discriminated against, and in doing so, James says, “The believers manifest their evil thoughts” (2:4). James’ use of the word “synagogue” (NIV “meeting,” 2:2) may imply that he is thinking of a no worship gathering of the church (perhaps to judge between believers,”). Still, it is more likely that this is a Jewish-Christian term for the church, gathering for worship.
James has provided us with a hypothetical situation involving two men; one a Jewish Christian and the other is a wealthy Jew. It appears from this that the apostle is addressing Jews who attended this synagogue [1]. The word assembly does not express the original, and we cannot suppose that these synagogues were at this time occupied with Christian worship but that the Christian Jews continued to frequent them to hear the law and the prophets read, as they had formerly done before their conversion to the Christen faith. The ring on his finger and his splendid garb were proofs of the man’s wealth, but not his worth. His good moral qualities, or the righteousness of his cause, procured for him the respect that James speaks of.
“and there come in also a poor man.”
In ancient times petty courts were held in the synagogues; and the case here, probably assumed, was one of the judicial kind, where one of the two parties; was rich and the other poor, and the master or ruler of the synagogue, or he who presided over this court paid particular respect to the rich man and neglected the poor man. However, as plaintiff and defendant, they were equal in the eye of justice and should have been considered the same by an impartial Judge. The question posed here is based on the situation posed in verses 2-3, and the Greek construction indicates that the answer should be affirmative. The fact that they had made distinctions (wavered or doubted; 1:6) shows they had been departing from the practice of Christ and demonstrates their relating to persons such as judges rather than brothers (v. 1). They stand accused even as they act like judges because of the evil thoughts (sinful reasoning or motive) exposed in their partiality.
General Notes
[1] “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Heb. 10:25).
[2] “Partial,” “better,” “divided” between Christian duty and worldly interests.
[3]“judges of evil thoughts?” better, “evil thinking judges,” by showing undue preference to the rich man you judge, and judge wrongly, as to the relative merits of the rich and the poor man (see 4:11)
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