Dr. Richard L. Strauss
March 18, 1993
What do you think it would have been like to grow up in the home of Mary and Joseph in Nazareth, with Jesus as your big brother? Think about that just for a moment. Jesus did have younger brothers and sisters, you know. One day after He spoke in the Synagogue in Nazareth the people said, "Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary and his brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, and His sisters? Are they not all with us?" (Matthew 13:54b-55). There were other children in the family. And Jesus was clearly the oldest. He is called in Luke 2, "Mary's firstborn son" (Luke 2:7). What would it have been like living in that home?
Maybe some of you had big brothers or sisters who thought they were perfect. It wasn't that fun, was it? It was pretty tough on you. But Jesus was perfect. Now think about that for a minute! He was, even in His youth, absolutely perfect. And I would imagine it was pretty tough on the rest of the kids in that family. Wouldn't you think?
I want to talk about one of them today. Most evangelical scholars are convinced that one of Jesus' brothers was the author of this book--this New Testament letter we're going to study, that bears his name. The epistle of James.
Now there are several men named James in the New Testament. But Paul refers to one of them in Galatians 1:19 as "James, the Lord's brother." Technically, he was a half-brother, since Jesus had no human father. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This James, the Lord's brother, is undoubtedly the author of this book that we want to begin studying today.
You see James, the son of Zebedee, the brother of John--the sons of thunder. That James was beheaded by Herod the king in Acts 12 before the book of James was ever written, so that James couldn't have been the author. There was another James among the twelve disciples: James the son of Alpheus, called also James the Less. His name is found listed in that list of disciples in Acts 1. Never again is he mentioned in the New Testament. If he was the author of the book, certainly he would have identified himself more clearly than this: just James.
But James, the Lord's brother, as Paul called him, arose to a position of prominence in the early church and his name would have been instantly recognized by Christians everywhere in the early church. He is undoubtedly the author of this book. And since he is always mentioned first when Jesus' brothers are listed, we can assume that he was next in age to Jesus.
James Struggled with Doubts
What was it like for James? The first thing I want you to see is that he struggled with doubts. I mean, let's be honest about it. Not doubts about God; he had that all squared away in his mind. He grew up in a devout Jewish home and had been dedicated to the Lord, taught the Old Testament Scriptures and schooled in the tradition of Jews, and indoctrinated in the hope of the coming Messiah, and trained in a life of holiness and piety.
He believed in God. In fact, there is a tradition that says he was a Nazarite all of his life. If you remember the Old Testament law of the Nazarite, he touched no dead body, drank no wine, and allowed no razor to touch his head throughout his life. As a matter of fact, during the course of his life he was known as James the Just. James the righteous one. He had an outstanding reputation as a devout and Godly man.
His home was undoubtedly happy and harmonious. His older brother Jesus set the pace. He knew there was something different about him. He had to know. He saw things in Him that he didn't see in other people: a degree of goodness, gentleness, kindness, a humility, an unselfish consideration for other people. It far exceeded anyone else. Surely James watched and he listened, and he learned. After Jesus began His ministry, James actually accompanied Jesus on occasion. In chapter 2 of John, we find that Jesus' brothers were with Him on one of His journies. So James saw the miracles He performed and he heard Him teach. Did you know there are as many as 26 references, either direct or indirect, to the Sermon on the Mount, in this little five-chapter book of James. So James undoubtedly heard Jesus teach that sermon. He has included more of Christ's teaching in this little book--it's an amazing fact I read in one of the commentaries I studied--more of Christ's teaching in his little five-chapter letter than in all the other New Testament letters together. He certainly loved and respected Jesus.
But there was something missing. We learn what it was in John 7. Would you turn there in your Bible, please? It's important to learn where we begin here. This is the beginning. John 7:1, "After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, for He did not want to walk in Judea because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. His brothers"--there's James--"therefore said to Him, 'Depart from here and go into Judea that your disciples also may see the works that you're doing" (John 7:1-3). Didn't we just read that they wanted to kill Him in Judea? Now His brothers are telling Him to go there. "For no one does anything in secret while he himself to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world" (John 7:4). And then John appends this little note; don't miss it. "For even His brothers did not believe in Him" (John 7:5).
James didn't believe in Jesus. It wasn't that they didn't believe He was a good person; they knew He was. It wasn't that they didn't believe that He was sincere; they knew He was. It's just that they found it difficult to believe that He was the Son of God and the Messiah of Israel. That, they found difficult to believe. That should be understood very easily, for Jesus Himself said, "a prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house" (Matthew 13:57).
Things were probably fine until Jesus began His public ministry. Because, you see, that's when He started to oppose the traditions of the fathers and the oral law. That's when He started pointing out the inconsistencies of the religious establishment and the hypocrisies of the scribes and the Pharisees. James was a part of that system. And he couldn't understand Jesus' opposition to it. It bothered him. How could He be Israel's Messiah when He rejected Israel's heritage? So he struggled with doubts. It caused tension between them at times. We read through the gospel records and we see several times the tension between Jesus and His family.
Maybe some of you are struggling with doubts about who Jesus is, just as James did. That wouldn't be surprising. Maybe it stems back to your childhood, your relationship with somebody who claimed to be a Christian but was inconsistent in their testimony. It bothered you and it's put doubts in your mind about who this Jesus is and what the Christian faith is all about.
Maybe you've been religious, as James was, but you're still not sure that you can buy the whole idea that this Jesus is God the Son, God in human flesh, who came from heaven to this earth to provide eternal salvation for a lost and sinful human race. That, you just can't accept. And I can understand that. I mean, it does seem to be more than our modern scientific minds can fathom, but it is what the Bible teaches. And it is what Jesus claimed for Himself. And we either accept it or we relegate Him to the liar/lunatic classification--one or the other. Actually, our eternal destiny depends on our accepting who He said He was. You see, being religious isn't enough. We must believe in Jesus--something to this point that His brothers had not done.
The author of this gospel, the Apostle John, told us that very clearly. He said, "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18). Condemned already. You see, believing in the Lord Jesus is necessary to avoid any eternal condemnation. Believing in His name as John tells us to do in John 3:18 means believing in all He claimed to be.
I'm happy to report that James overcame his doubts and did put his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for his eternal salvation. And I'm of the opinion it probably happened on the day that he confronted the resurrected Christ. You see, in addition to the groups to whom Jesus appeared after His resurrection from the dead, He appeared to three individuals, only three: Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, and His brother James. And it was the Apostle Paul who told us about it in 1 Corinthians 15. I'd like you to turn over there in your Bible, please.
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. And after that"--here it is--"He was seen by James, then by all the apostles" (1 Corinthians 15:3-7).
James, His brother James. We have no idea when it happened, where it happened. It was obviously not accompanied by fanfare. All we know is that the Lord Jesus, in His grace, chose to appear personally to His brother James, after His resurrection. This became for James the most important event of his life. For the first time, in all probability, for the first time, he acknowledged the truth, that this Man--his own half-brother according to the flesh, the Son of his own mother while she was yet a virgin--had demonstrated conclusively that He was the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel predicted in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Had he thought back and remembered any inconsistencies in the life of Jesus, he surely could not have come to that conclusion. But he thought of none. And now Jesus verified His claims by His resurrection from the dead, and James believed. While the Bible doesn't say so clearly, we cannot help but believe this was the day his doubts were washed away. Th day he came before Jesus and confessed Him as Lord and Savior of the world, and his own personal Savior from sin. This was the day that James was born again. Born anew, which he talks about in his book, as we'll see. Because you cannot confront the reality of Christ's resurrection and remain neutral. Once you become genuinely convinced that He is alive, you have no alternative but to acknowledge He is who He claimed to be, and then to commit yourself to Him in faith. So if you're struggling with doubts--and it's quite likely that some are--I would encourage you to examine the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many have done this with the same result that occurred in James' life.
Just saying that reminds me of our friend Josh McDowell, who has preached here on several occasions. His testimony you've probably heard before. Josh was an unhappy university student searching for meaning in life, yet pretending to have it all together, when he met a group of Christians who challenged him to examine the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He accepted the challenge but he had one goal in mind: He was out to disprove the resurrection of Christ and refute the Christian faith. And after thoroughly studying the subject, he was forced to the conclusion that not only was Jesus alive, but His resurrection from the grave was the most fantastic event in all of human history. Josh put his faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and became an outstanding defender of the faith, as you well know.
Check it out. You can't remain neutral once you study the evidence and see that Jesus is alive. Now He probably isn't going to reveal Himself to you personally, physically, as He did to His brother James. But the evidence is there if you choose to examine it. And if you are honest, you will find it to be irrefutable. Jesus is alive! And because He's alive you can come to know Him--in a personal, intimate relationship that assures you of eternity in God's glorious heaven--just as James did. You can come to know Him as Savior from sin.
James Became a Leader in the Church
But James didn't stop there. I want you to see that he went on to become a leader in the church. He rose to leadership in the church. The change in his life was almost immediate. As soon as Jesus ascended back into heaven, you remember that the disciples, who had accompanied Him to the Mount of Olives, went back to the Upper Room. We read about it in Acts 1:14. I'd like to you turn to it.
These disciples, all of them listed there in the first before--"These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers" (Acts 1:14). Don't miss that. Isn't that amazing? Brothers. Plural. Is it possible that already James' faith had grown so strong since confronting the resurrected Christ that he was able to convince his other brothers of who Jesus was?
And that faith kept growing; it didn't stop. James was not one of those people who makes a so-called "decision for Christ" and then goes on and lives his life as though nothing happened. If Jesus is indeed God's Son who conquered sin and death, then He deserves everything we are and everything we have. Everything. And James gave Him everything. James gave his all.
I strongly suspect that he began to search the Old Testament Scriptures to see the hundreds of divine prophecies that had been fulfilled by his half-brother Jesus. There are hundreds of them. He got to know Him in a new light. Even though He had ascended back into heaven, James got to know Him in a new intimacy, with increasing faith and increasing devotion. He began to live his life to tell others about Him. And as a result, he emerged very quickly as a leader in the church in Jerusalem.
You remember the story of Peter being arrested and put in prison, and then being miraculously delivered by an angel? Do you remember where he went when he came out? He walked to the house of John Mark's mother, where they were having a prayer meeting praying for his release from prison. They were so surprised that he had been released that they didn't even let him in, you know, he stood at the door knocking. Remember that story? When he finally got their attention, do you remember what he said? The story is in Acts 12.
He said, "Go tell these things to James and to the brethren" (Acts 12:17). James. Go tell James. Already, you see, James had become a leader in the church--one worthy of the news that Peter had been delivered miraculously from prison.
Keep following the chronology of New Testament events. Three years after Saul of Tarsus met Jesus on the Damascus road, he went to Jerusalem to meet Peter. The story is told in Galatians 1. Please turn there.
Galatians 1:19. Paul went up to Jerusalem to meet Peter and he said, "But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother." He wasn't one of the Twelve, and yet he is called an apostle. He's already risen to that position of respect, and honor, and authority.
Drop down to Galatians 2:1. "Then after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me." Now this is what we call the "Jerusalem Council," which is described in detail in Acts 15. This is when the leadership of the church gathered together to decide what responsibility Gentile believers had to the Law of Moses. As you remember, some of the Pharisees who believed in Jesus were insisting that Gentile believers be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses.
Peter was against that and Paul was opposed to it, but I want you to see something down in verse 9. "And when James, Cephas [Peter], and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised" (Galatians 2:9).
James--that's not James the brother of John. That's James, the Lord's brother. He's already been identified back in Galatians 1:19. James is mentioned first. Even before Peter and John. And he is called a pillar of the church. That's a spiritual support. One who bears responsibility for the spiritual well-being of the church. You can see how this man is stretching and growing, and expanding in his faith. He's not sitting still. He's not spinning his wheels. He's moving on in his walk with the Lord.
As you recall, after everyone was heard at the Jerusalem Council (this is back in Acts 15), it was this very James who stood to his feet, summed up what had been said, and made the recommendation which the church eventually adopted: which generally was that Gentiles were not to be bound by the Law. He was the leader of the Jerusalem Council. He had come a long way from those days when, as the Apostle John described it back in chapter 7 of his gospel, "His brothers did not believe in Him." A long way. He is now the undisputed leader of the church in Jerusalem.
What an exciting thing! To see people put their faith in Christ as Savior, and then flourish and thrive spiritually. They get into the Word and they begin to study and apply it to their own lives, and to obey it, live in the light of it. Their character begins to take on a Christ-like quality. They begin to spend time in prayer. They share their faith with others. They develop their spiritual gifts and begin to exercise them in ministering to others in the body of Christ. They begin to take places of leadership in the church. And they become the source of spiritual strength and blessing to others.
Some of you are like that. You came to know Christ one day and you've never stopped growing since. It's just one step after another as your faith keeps expanding and unfolding. It's been growing--blooming and blossoming. That's the way it's supposed to be. That's the way God intended it to be. That's what brings glory and honor to Him. It's been an unfolding faith.
How sad it is, on the other hand, to see people profess faith in Christ, and then never move on beyond that point. They may attend church but they do little else than occupy 21 inches on a pew--more or less. Their faith never really blossoms and grows. Their walk with the Lord is rather drab and colorless and listless. Somehow or other, they've gotten stuck, spiritually speaking. They spend little or no time in the Word. Prayer is something that's just kind of foreign to them except to cry out for help once in a while. If their faith is genuine, there isn't a great deal of evidence to prove it. There just isn't much difference in their lives from when before they met the Savior, or much difference from other unbelievers around them.
Could I be describing your life? If so, would you look seriously at the life of this man James, and let it shake you loose from your spiritual mediocrity and set you on a path of dynamic spiritual progress? That's the way God wants it to be. If I have been describing your life, then you're just the kind of person that James was deeply concerned about, and just the kind of person to whom he ministered. And that's the last thing I want you to see. He ministered effectively to others.
James Ministered Effectively
He not only ministered in person, as the leader of the church in Jerusalem, but he ministered through this letter, which the Spirit of God has inspired and preserved for our spiritual encouragement. So let's turn to this letter. I just want to look at verse 1 this morning before we close. See how he begins his letter.
"James, a servant"--or a slave--"of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greetings" (James 1:1). It's just a very brief salutation but it tells volumes. Actually, it says something about his own humility, just by the way he introduces himself. I have to be honest with you. If I were the half-brother of Jesus, I probably would have told you in the first sentence of my letter. Not much doubt about it; I would have told you. What's he call himself? Slave of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it.
A slave. One whose will is totally submissive to the will of his master. One who has no will of his own but has yielded all to whom? To Jesus. That One he grew up with at home in Nazareth. That One he now recognizes as Lord, and God, and Savior. A slave of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then he addresses the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. That is, Christian Jews who had been dispersed among the surrounding nations. You remember after Stephen's death in Acts 7, there was persecution that broke out against the believers in Jerusalem, and they were scattered far and wide in Acts 8:1. James had been their pastor and he was concerned about their spiritual well-being. What he was hearing from them was not always good. So he wrote this letter to help them.
Some of them were experiencing some heavy trials and they were getting discouraged. They were being taken advantage of by the rich in some cases. Or suffering serious illnesses. There is evidence of that in the book. Some were yielding to temptation and falling into sin and bringing reproach on the name of their Savior. Some were becoming shallow and superficial in their walk with God; they were hearing the word but they weren't obeying it. Some were displaying favoritism and partiality, and lack of love toward certain individuals in the assembly. Some were letting their tongues get out of control. Some were dabbling in the things of the world and their Christian testimony was wearing thin. Some were planning their lives without even consulting the Lord. He wanted to help them work those problems out. Because, you see, he wanted their faith to be real. He wanted to see it be expressed in life. He wanted it to be a living, active, dynamic faith that affected every area of daily living.
I find it extremely interesting that the same problems these people were facing 2000 years ago, are the problems that many modern Christians are facing. Many of you are suffering from these same difficulties. So it is as if James were writing this letter to us today. It's that fresh. That relevant. It's as if he's asking, "Have you put your faith in the Lord Jesus as Savior. Is your faith real? Then let's see it."
Put it into practice. Put it into action. Let your faith affect every area of your life. Because, you see, faith that doesn't work in the grind of daily living isn't really worth very much.
Now I have to tell you, James' book is a little different from the other New Testament epistles, because James never stopped being a Jew. He never fully divorced himself from Judaism. His devotion to the Law is indisputable. One scholar I read said he presents a picture of pre-Pauline Christianity. In other words, there were further developments in the Christian faith as the Apostle Paul began his ministry, there's no question about that. That's not heresy, by the way, that's Biblical fact. But no one could ever, for a moment, question the reality of his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as his God and Savior. It was a faith that kept growing. It was a faith that found expression in every situation of life. He was a man of great faith.
As a matter of fact, he died for that faith in Christ. There is a tradition that says many of the Jewish rulers in Jerusalem were believing in Jesus, and the scribes and the Pharisees were becoming alarmed and they blamed James largely for this mass turning to Christ. So they took him to the wing of the temple and they ordered him to speak up and discourage people from becoming Christians. Instead, he took advantage of the situation to give a great testimony to the person of Jesus Christ. He said, and I quote, "Why do you ask me concerning Jesus the Son of Man? He is both seated in heaven on the right hand of power, and He will come on the clouds of heaven." Many of the people shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" The scribes and the Pharisees became so infuriated that they cast James down and stoned him to death right there at the temple. His faith was real, and was firm unto the end.
How is your faith? Is it genuine? Is it real? Is it growing? Is it unfolding? Is it touching every area of your life?
Is it touching your family? Your marriage? Are you a better husband because you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Are you a better wife because you've met the Lord Jesus? Are you a better parent because you know Him? Are you? Or hasn't your faith touched that area of your life?
Are you a better employee? Does your faith touch your job? I know Christians who say they don't like to hire other Christians because they found that the non-Christian workers are better workers than the Christian workers they hire. That's sad. Christians out to be the best employees on the face of the earth. Has your faith touched that area of your life?
How about school? Are you a better student because you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? If you're a Christian, has it affected your relationship with your friends? Your choice of entertainment and recreation? The way you dress? The language you use? Has it affected the way you make your plans? The way you spend your money? The way you handle stress? Does your faith make a difference in any of those areas? It should in all of them.
That's the message of the book of James, you see. Have you put your faith in Jesus as Savior? Then let your faith be real. Let it affect every area of life. Let's have a faith that works. Let's put it into action.
At the end of your outline I've asked a question: Does your faith in Christ make a difference in every aspect of your life? In what area of daily living do you need to work most on expressing your faith? Has the Spirit of God put His finger on some area of your life--today--that you have not yet allowed your faith in the Lord Jesus to affect? Write it down. Make a commitment that by His grace and through His power, you're going to allow Him to take control of that area of your life. Because you want your faith to be real.
Let's bow our heads prayerfully in His presence right now. If there is that area that comes to your mind that you know needs working on, would you commit it to Him? Name the specific area. Tell Him. Say:
Lord Jesus, I want You to take control of this area of my life. I want to yield it to you because I want to be the person You want me to be. I want my faith to be real.
Trusting Jesus as your Savior
If you came in this morning, back at the first point of this message, still struggling with doubts. Not really sure who Jesus was or is. Never having acknowledge your sin and put your faith in Him alone as your Sin-bearer and Savior--that's where you need to begin. Would you acknowledge that Jesus died for you, and that He rose again, and that He wants to forgive your sins and give you everlasting life? Oh, He longs to do that. But He isn't going to force that on you. That's your decision.
If you'd like to believe in Him today, may I suggest that you share that faith with Him right now, just in a quiet prayer in your heart, right where you sit. Tell Him something like this:
Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I know my sin deserves eternal condemnation. But thank You for paying that penalty on Calvary's cross for me. Thank You for dying in my place to pay for my sins. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive my sins. Give me eternal life, and take control of my life.
Closing Prayer
Lord, I pray that those who are unsure will make sure right now, and put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as their God and Savior. I pray that those of us who have made that decision in days past will renew our commitment to You and our desire to let that faith be expressed in every facet of daily living. In Jesus' name, amen.
Continue to JAS 02: Getting It All Together (transcript not yet available)