And To Think I Called Him "Crazy"
James 1:1
Preached by Pastor Tony Miano
Pico Canyon Community Church
October 29, 2000
Introduction: I’m excited about what we’re beginning this morning. I think our study of the Book of James is vitally important to the life and health of our church, especially in these early stages. As I mentioned last week, the Book of James is my favorite book in the Bible. Verses in this book have brought me the greatest encouragement in some of the darkest days of my life.
The Book of James, as we will see, is incredibly practical. The book addresses so many issues that are relevant to life in today’s society. Not only is practical and relevant, but it is also encouraging, challenging, and convicting. During our study of this book we will address such issues as authenticity in our faith. We will tackle issues like temptation, anger, gossip, favoritism, procrastination, dealing with wealth, church leadership, and the list goes on. We’ll take a serious look at an issue that differentiates biblical Christianity from every other religion—the relationship between faith and good works.
And we’re going to take our time. This might be the first time some of you have studied the Book of James, or any book of the Bible, for that matter. It’s important to me that I not simply preach to you, but that I also study with you. My hope is that we will grow together in our faith as we study this great book.
This morning we’re going to take a look at the historical background for the Book of James and we’re going to take a close look at the life of the author. We’re going to look at three phases of James’ life. Some of you may be able to relate really well to this. We’re going to look at James, the skeptical brother; James, the saved sinner; and James, the servant Leader. But before we do that, I want to spend a couple of minutes talking about a particular phrase.
This phrase, which is comprised of only three words, can cause the burliest of men to shudder. This phrase seems to negatively affect only the males of our species. Now ladies, just because this phrase seems to apply to men only, this illustration is representative of an issue that is important to both genders.
The three words in question seem to have a much greater effect on the male psyche when read, as opposed to being uttered. Simply saying these three words to a man will usually result in nothing more than a tilt of the head and an accompanied look of curiosity.
But have the average man read this short phrase on a pamphlet, box, or carton and you will almost immediately see his jaw tighten and large beads of sweat cover his forehead. “So, what’s the phrase?” You ask.
“Some assembly required!” I am going to share with you a story that is common to those men, like myself, who are afflicted with an aversion to the before-mentioned phrase. This common story, however, is of the type rarely shared publicly, and is usually reserved for conversations with only the closest of friends.
Several years ago, my oldest daughter, Michelle, was given a small plastic tricycle for Christmas. It came in a small box and the picture on the side showed a smiling little girl on a little tricycle. I was expecting to open the box and remove a ready-to-ride tricycle. Then a short phrase in small print on the side of the box caught my eye. “Some assembly required.”
With several relatives looking on, not to mention a little girl who was dying to ride her new toy, I purposed to get the bike together in record time. With the confidence of a master mechanic (which I’m not), I tore the box open. I emptied the contents onto the floor and picked up the single page instruction sheet. I glanced at the piece of paper, and then smugly tossed it aside. “I’m not going to waste my time reading the instructions on so simple a project.” I thought.
Before I knew it, an assembled bike sat before me. I cautiously scanned the living room floor, checking for those annoying extra parts that some manufacturers insist on putting in their products. To my surprise and relief, there were none.
As I reveled in my victory over “The Phrase,” I noticed that the finished product looked a bit strange. Then I noticed why. The handlebars were on backwards. My stomach knotted as I manipulated the little tricycle, all the while assuring the onlookers that it just needed a few minor adjustments.
After several moments, I picked up the instructions, found my mistake, and conceded defeat. Oh, don’t worry. My daughter wasn’t disappointed. By the time I finished tearing the bike apart, replacing parts, and putting it back together; she had a new toy to ride. The finished product, of course, cost almost twice what I originally paid for it. If only I had read the instructions!
I’ve entitled this message series “Some Assembly Required” because each of us is a work in process. Once we come to saving faith in Christ, we are not instantaneously changed into a perfect person. Although it’s true that once we receive the free gift of salvation, we are instantaneously grafted into the body of Christ, and the gift of eternal life can never be taken away, our life is still a process as we grow in our faith and try to be more Christ-like. As we grow in our faith, there is some assembly required.
Like the instructions we get with so many “some assembly required” projects, God’s word, as I mentioned last week, is our instruction manual for daily living. There are so many things that we put together through the course of our lives—household items, electronic equipment, Christmas presents—that we wouldn’t think of putting together without the instructions. Well, neither should we expect to put our lives in order without some sort of instruction. The life instruction for believers comes by way of God’s Word.
There are some, even within religious circles, that consider the Bible irrelevant and unnecessary to be followed as a guide for day-to-day living. But think about it. Think about the last project you put together in which you had to follow a set of instructions. How would the project have turned out if you skipped step #3? What would the finished project look like if you skipped step #1? Again, the Book of James will show us how relevant God’s Word is and how necessary it is for us to follow it, step-by-step.
Go ahead and open your Bibles to the Book of James. For those of you unfamiliar with the book, it’s toward the back of the New Testament, between the Book of Hebrews and First Peter. This morning we’re going to look at the very first verse of the book.
James, (1:1a)
As was the custom with letter writing some two thousand years ago, the author of this book, or letter, identified himself at the beginning instead of the end, as we see in letter writing today. But who was this James who wrote the letter we’re looking at? Over the centuries, there have been several theories as to the identity of the author. What debate remains has been narrowed down to only two possibilities.
The first one is that the writer of this letter was the apostle James, who was the brother of the apostle John. It is very unlikely that this James wrote the letter since he was martyred before the book was written. The other candidate, the one the majority of credible scholars believe wrote the book, is James, Jesus’ half-brother.
Now, if you are like me, raised in the Roman Catholic tradition, you may have difficulty believing that this is possible. The Roman Catholic tradition holds that Mary’s virginity was perpetual—she had no other sons and daughters after the birth of Jesus. Unfortunately, this tradition is contrary to the truths in Scripture.
And the evidence is overwhelming. For instance, Matthew 1:24-25 tells us this. And Joseph awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.
You’ll notice the verse says that Joseph kept Mary a virgin until she gave birth to Jesus. It does not say that Mary remained a virgin forever.
Luke 2:6-7 says this. While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
By the time Luke had penned his gospel account, the existence or nonexistence of Jesus’ siblings, children of Mary, would already be widely known. Had Jesus been Mary’s only child, why would Luke be so ambiguous by referring to Jesus as Mary’s “firstborn?” If Mary had no other children, why didn’t Luke write “only son?” The simple fact is that Luke chose his words in such a way as to maintain the integrity of the miraculous virgin birth while alluding to the fact that in His humanity, Jesus was part of a family—a family, as we will see, with as many as seven children.
Turn to Mark 6:1-6. Here, we are given the names of Jesus brothers. The first mentioned, and likely the oldest of the younger brothers, is James. There is no mention of the sisters’ names—probably because they were married. Remember, Jesus’ time of ministry didn’t begin until He was thirty. His sisters were probably old enough to be married and have children of their own.
There is a parallel passage in Matthew 13. Verses 56 say this. And His sisters, are they not all with us? The Greek word for “all” usually indicates three or more of whatever it is describing—in this case, Jesus’ sisters. Jesus was part of a big family.
Some have argued, particularly in Catholic circles, that the Greek word translated as “brothers” in these various passages is better translated “cousins.” Again, it’s the tradition of the Catholic Church that bolsters this opinion and not the clear interpretation of Scripture.
The Greek word in question is adelphos. The word may sound familiar to you. The city of Philadelphia is a combination of two words—phileo and adelphos. Phileo means “love,” and adelphos means “brother”—the city of brotherly love. It’s clear by the context and by the usage of the word elsewhere that adelphos means “brother.” The feminine form of the word is used later in the verse for “sisters.” There can be little doubt that James was Jesus’ half-brother.
To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad: greetings. (1:1c)
This letter was written from Jerusalem, where, by this time, James was serving as one of the leaders of the church. We’ll be looking at how that came about in a little bit. The letter was written some time before 49 AD, probably closer to 44 AD. One factor that has helped to narrow down the date of the letter is the fact that there is no mention of Gentiles anywhere in the letter. This means that the majority of believers at the time were Jewish by birth and the gospel had not yet reached much of the Gentile world.
“The twelve tribes” was a common reference to the nation of Israel. The fact that the recipients had been dispersed or scattered abroad implies that James was writing to all of the Jews who had been uprooted from their homeland and scattered to the four corners of the known world. However, since James probably wasn’t expecting his letter to be read all over the world, and since the letters were hand-carried to various regions, it’s more likely that James’ readers were Jewish Christians who lived just north of Israel.
James, the Skeptical Brother
I mentioned that James was one of the prominent leaders of the Jerusalem church when he wrote this letter. The road his life took to bring him to that point is an interesting one. You see, James was not always a follower of his big brother, Jesus. Turn to Mark 3:20-21.
And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal (Mk. 3:20).
The Greek language is often very vivid. We have two examples of that vividness in verse 20. When a writer wanted his readers to imagine themselves in the scene, he would use what is known as a historical present. A historical present is best described as a present tense form of a word used to describe a past event. The words “came” and “gathered” are translated this way.
Mark is telling us that the crowd did not simply trickle toward Jesus. They did not meander toward Jesus to see what He was doing or what He was saying. The crowd was huge and they were pressing in on Him as if they were a bunch of teenage girls pressing against the stage at a Backstreet Boys concert.
Think of the last time you went to a sold-out baseball game. With the last out, the throngs of people begin to make their way to their cars. You move with the pack, holding on to your son or daughter’s hand, moving your wallet from your back pocket to the front, and getting closer to people than you care to. The crowd was so large, and so intent on seeing or questioning Jesus, that He couldn’t even take a moment to have a piece of bread.
When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; (Mk. 3:21a).
There was now a commotion in the streets. The town was buzzing with talk about this prophet, this healer—this man of God. Word eventually reached the home of Jesus’ family. The verse tells us that his family “went out to take custody of Him.”
Now when we think of the word custody, we usually think of an arrest situation. Having been a deputy sheriff for thirteen years, that’s the way I most often thought of the word. Well, that’s what Jesus’ family planned to do to Him. They didn’t hate their big brother, they felt sorry for Him. It wasn’t that they wanted to take custody of Jesus because He had committed a crime. They wanted to place Him in protective custody, as it were.
for they were saying, “He has lost His senses” (3:21b).
On the Sheriff’s Department we have a code called “5150.” It stands for section 5150 of the Welfare and Institutions Code. The code gives us the authority to place someone into protective custody for 72 hours, for psychological evaluations, if we determine that the person is a danger to themselves, a danger to others, or gravely disabled. When we place someone in custody under 5150, we have to advise him or her that they are not under arrest and that they are being handcuffed for their safety and for our own.
This is what Jesus’ brothers wanted to do with Him. Like a deputy sheriff taking a 5150 into custody, Jesus’ brothers were willing to take Him by force in order to protect Him from Himself. They could not understand why Jesus would allow Himself to be placed in a position where He could not even eat. They thought that Jesus was spending so much time preaching and teaching that He was neglecting His own physical needs. It made no sense to them and they were worried about Him. They thought He was going insane.
Needless to say, James and the rest of the family, at least at this point in their lives, did not recognize Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. To them, He was little more than their big brother who wanted to serve God, but was probably a can short of a six-pack.
At some point, Jesus’ brothers, James included, had a change of heart toward their brother. But it wasn’t a change of heart for the better. Turn to John 7 and let’s look at the first five verses.
I think that the pity Jesus’ brothers once felt for Him had turned to anger because of all of the negative attention Jesus was probably drawing to the family. The brothers were now sarcastic in their tone toward their brother. Look again at the second half of verse four. The brothers say, “If You do these things.” The “things” they were referring to were the miracles of Jesus. The wording here implies that the brothers didn’t believe the miracles of Christ were authentic.
Verse five makes it very clear that James and his brothers were skeptical of Jesus. The tense of the word “believing” tells us that the brothers were very persistent in their unbelief. They refused to believe that their brother, Jesus, was the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
James was skeptical. Maybe some of you here this morning are skeptical, too. Maybe, like James, you look at Jesus as little more than a zealous teacher who was crazy enough to allow Himself to be put to death on the cross. Maybe, like James, you are skeptical because you refuse to believe anything you cannot fully rationalize in your own mind. Maybe you have other reasons.
James, the Sinner Saved
Fortunately for James, and I pray this will be the case for each of you here this morning that may have doubts about Christ, James did not remain a skeptic. James went from being a skeptical brother to a sinner saved.
Now, there is no mention of James’ salvation in any of the four gospel stories. In fact, as I read the four gospel accounts of the crucifixion, I noticed that the only member of Jesus’ earthly family that is mentioned as being present is His mother, Mary. The fact that none of Jesus’ siblings are mentioned suggests that they probably weren’t there.
It’s also interesting that Jesus commits the care of His mother to John, one of His disciples, and not to any of the men in His earthly family. Had James been a believer by this time, it would seem logical that Jesus would have given him the responsibility of caring for His mother, since he was the eldest of the remaining brothers.
So when did James give his life to Christ? Turn to I Corinthians 15. First Corinthians is the next book after the Book of Romans. In this portion of the letter, the apostle Paul is explaining the facts about Christ’s resurrection to the Corinthians. Let’s read verses 3-8.
When most people think of the resurrection account, they think of the two women who went to Jesus’ tomb to find it empty. They remember the story of Jesus appearing to the apostles and then coming back to prove His existence to doubting Thomas. But that’s not the end of the story. As we see in this passage, Jesus appeared to over five hundred people.
Just eight months prior, when they were trying to convince Jesus to return to the place where the Jews wanted to kill Him, James and his brothers were spiritually dead in their unbelief. I believe it was during one of these appearances that James acknowledged Jesus Christ as more than his older brother who died on the cross. I believe it was during one of these post-resurrection appearances that James bowed his knee to Jesus, acknowledging Him as his Lord and Savior.
After Jesus ascended into heaven many of the true believers, along with the apostles, made their way back to Jerusalem, to the upper room where the apostles joined Jesus for the last supper. Turn to Acts 1. Let’s read verses 12-14.
Here we see James as a new creature. II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” The old skepticism had melted away from James’ heart by this time. Here we see James on his knees praying not to his dead older brother, but to his very much alive and risen Savior.
James was a new man. Resentment was replaced by repentance. Antagonism was replaced by adoration. Prejudice was replaced by praise and thanksgiving. The Holy Spirit moved in James’ heart. The veil was lifted from James’ eyes. The truth according to man was replaced with the truth according to God the Father, through His Son Jesus Christ. James now saw Jesus as the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. He no longer looked at Jesus as the older brother who was too good to be true. His skepticism was replaced by salvation.
Like doubting Thomas, James had to see the resurrected Lord before he would believe. So where does that leave those in today’s society, and maybe some of you here tonight? Until Christ returns to take His church home to heaven, none of us walking on this earth will be afforded the opportunity that James and so many others received shortly after the resurrection.
In Jesus’ answer to doubting Thomas, we have an answer to the skeptics of our day. “Jesus said to him, ‘because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.’”
We live in a “show me” world. “Seeing is believing” is the battle cry for many people today. But it is by God’s grace we are saved, through faith. Like Thomas, James was fortunate to see the risen Lord. But Jesus said that those who do not see His physical body and believe would be blessed. The blessing is the free gift of eternal life that only comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
James, the Servant Leader
Well, we’ve seen James go from skeptic to being saved. But the Lord wasn’t done with James yet. James also became a servant leader. We first see James emerge as a Christian leader in Acts 12, some twelve years after Jesus’ resurrection and the scene of James in the upper room with the apostles. Go ahead and turn with me to Acts 12.
Let me set the scene. Chapter twelve recounts the time when King Herod threw Peter into prison. This is also about the same time that Herod had the apostle James, the apostle John’s brother, put to death by the sword. Herod was so paranoid about Peter that he had four squads of soldiers escort him to the prison. On top of that, Herod had Peter chained between two soldiers in the cell, with additional guards standing right outside the door. Today, we would call this maximum security.
Peter was awakened that night by an angel. As he got up, the chains that bound him fell away. The angel told Peter to get dressed and escorted him out of the prison. Peter went to a house where many of the believers were gathered. After he had convinced them that they weren’t seeing a ghost and he explained to them how the Lord helped him escape from prison, he told the group to go tell the leaders of the young church what had happened to him.
That brings us to verse 17. “But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, ‘Report these things to James and the brethren.’ Then he left and went to another place.” James was one of the recognized leaders of the church. The fact that he is the only one mentioned by name may allude to the fact that James was considered a leader among equals.
Now, turn a couple of pages over to Acts 15. Here we have the story of the first Council meeting among church leadership, in Jerusalem. There was trouble brewing amongst the believers. The issue was whether or not believers had to be circumcised according to Jewish custom, in order to be saved. Look at who is at the center of the decision-making process. Let’s look at verses 13-20. James had a considerable amount of influence in the Jerusalem church and he was widely respected.
James’ life was quite an incredible journey—considering where he started. James’ mission field was his own country. He served as a leader in the Jerusalem church for some 20 years. Paul, in I Corinthians 9, alludes to the fact that James was married. He had become a man of great respect and influence. He was highly regarded by the likes of Peter and Paul. In fact, Paul, in Galatians 2:9 refers to James as a “pillar” of the church. But above all else, James was a bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ.
James, the Bondservant of Christ
That brings us back to our text for this morning. Turn back to James 1:1.
a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ (1:1b).
The word “bond-servant” comes from the Greek word “doulos.” James is referring to himself with the lowest term on the scale of servitude. Although in Greek society this word denoted involuntary and permanent service, and was a negative term in every way, to James it meant something very positive. To James the word meant a life of voluntary service to His risen Lord.
James, known as “James the Just” by his Jewish contemporaries, never used his pedigree as the half-brother of Jesus as a means to prominence or notoriety. One ancient historian recorded that James, “used to enter alone into the temple and be found kneeling and praying for forgiveness for the people, so that his knees grew hard like a camel’s because of his constant worship of God. So, from his excessive righteousness he was called the Just.”
James knew from whence he came; from a skeptical young man, to one saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, to a servant of the Lord he once rejected as little more than his crazy half-brother. James, who once snickered at those foolish enough to follow his big brother, was now one of their leaders and mentors. James’ letter is so practical because his writing was a reflection of his own life. His letter was born out of a love for his people. James, the young man who denied that Jesus was God in the flesh for so many years, ultimately defended the deity of Christ to the point of death.
Historical writings maintain that James was martyred shortly before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Annas, the Jewish high priest at that time, ordered James to publicly denounce his faith. Many Jews were coming to faith in Jesus Christ and that didn’t fair well for the Jewish hierarchy.
Annas expected James to return to his skepticism. James refused. For that, he was marched up to the pinnacle of the temple and thrown to the dirty ground below. Those who participated in this attempt to put down this faith in Christ finished James off by stoning him as he lay dying in the dirt.
James did not die for an ideal. He did not die for a cause. He died for the Truth - the truth of the good news of Jesus Christ. He did not throw his life away for a religion. James, like so many others after him, would not die for something he knew was a lie. James knew that he could only be willing to die for his faith because Jesus first loved him enough to die for his sins. James knew that because of his faith in Christ, his place in heaven was secure for all eternity.
James was a man of a humble beginning and way of life. He was a man who was skeptical about whom God really was, who Jesus really was, how the Two could be One, and what difference it made to his life. He was a man who came to the realization that he needed a Savior. He was a man who came to the realization that the only way to eternal life in heaven was through Jesus Christ.
James realized that Christ died for Him to make his salvation possible. James was a man who asked God to forgive him for the years he denied Jesus Christ as Lord, and his slate was wiped clean. The result was a life of service devoted to Jesus Christ. James’ was a life not void of hardship and heartache as we can see by the violent way in which he died. But it was a life of purpose, meaning, and fruitfulness. James’ was a life that continues today, and for all eternity in heaven because of the saving work of Christ on the cross. James’ life was real.
James received salvation almost two thousand years ago the same way people come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ today. How much more relevance do we need? Yes, our society, the world we live in, is much different from the world that James lived in. However, the truth of God’s word remains the same.
The way to eternal life remains the same. Jesus Christ is still changing lives today the way he did for His younger brother all those years ago. Nothing is more relevant to our lives than our need for a Savior. Nothing is more relevant to our lives than where we will spend eternity.
The awesome thing is that the gift of salvation, by the grace of God afforded to James, is available to anyone who will call on the name of Jesus Christ and ask Him to be his or her Lord and Savior.
