James

I have been thinking a lot about James lately because I am doing an exegetical essay on James 2:14-26 for my New Testament class. I really like James because it’s a practical book. Martin Luther referred to the Letter of James as an epistle of straw. He said he could hardly find Christ in it. While it doesn’t have as high of a Christology as say, Paul (let’s not open a can of worms about whether James and Paul contradict each other just now…save that for a future post), who focuses on the cross and ressurection, I would counter that James embodies the teachings of Jesus. It is the practical extension of what Jesus himself taught. James 2:14-16 bears similarity to Matthew 7:21-23, where Jesus says “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” James is asking readers to not only recognize that God is one, and to have faith, but to put that faith into action by doing God’s will. Like a tree is known by its fruit in Matthew 12:33, faith is known by a person’s works in James. James is also reminiscent of the prophetic discourse of the Old Testament. The Old Testament prophets denounce piety without works. For example, Amos 5:21-24 rejects religious “festivals” and “solemn assemblies” where burnt and grain offerings are offered and songs are sung, and instead calls for justice and righteousness. Likewise, in Micah 6:6-8, it is shown that it isn’t the burnt offerings that God desires, but for one to “do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” James is definitely a confrontational book, but I like that it challenges the reader. Are we just paying God lip service and just saying we believe in Him? James says even the demons do that. Even going through the motions by attending church and saying rote prayers is not enough. We need to live out our faith by helping our brothers and sisters in need.