James, the brother of our Lord - A half-brother of our Lord ( Mt 13:55), who did not believe in his brother at first ( Jn 7:5). James, father of Judas the apostle - Even more obscure, one of the few references to him is Lk 6:16. In Jn 19:25, this Mary is called the wife of Cleophas, perhaps to be identified with Alphaeus. He may be "James the younger," whose mother, Mary, was among the women at Jesus' crucifixion and tomb ( Mt 27:56 Mk 15:40 16:1 Lk 24:10). James, son of Alphaeus - Another one of the apostles ( Mt 10:3 Ac 1:12), about whom very little is known. Together with John, they were nicknamed "Sons of Thunder" because of their impulsiveness (cf. James, son of Zebedee and brother of John - A fisherman called by Christ ( Mt 4:17-22) who later became an apostle ( Mt 10:2). There are four men who bear this name in the New Testament: That brings us to the next question: Why would God want us to respond to bad things in this way? The next two verses will answer that question.AUTHOR: James, who identifies himself as "a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ" ( Jam 1:1). I will call the growth and strength worth rejoicing over, even while it hurts." Why did this happen to me?" Or we can say to ourselves, "This is a bad thing, but I will get through it. When bad things happen, we can immediately say, "This is terrible. We may not be able to control our circumstances, but we can, apparently, control how we think about our circumstances. And yet, it acknowledges something important which we don't always admit: we can decide how we will describe any moment to ourselves. He's talking about how we categorize that moment when assessing our life as a whole. He's not talking about our immediate emotional response to a flat tire, or an illness, or the loss of a loved one. James is implying that we should enter our hardships as deposits into the checkbook of our life, not withdrawals. The word relates to organizing or collecting things. The word "count" is used in some translations instead of "consider." This is from the Greek hēgēsasthe, which is an accounting term. He tells us to "call it" joyful, to label it as a thing worth rejoicing over. He doesn't command Christians to "feel happy" when trials come. Also, we must notice what James does NOT say. To stop with this verse will create deep misunderstanding. Verses 3 and 4 provide crucial explanation for what James means. James means for believers to respond to troubles, regardless of size, by counting that experience as "joy." What in the world could that mean, and why would James write such a demanding thing to suffering people?Īs usual, context is key in understanding the meaning of Scripture. Many of James' readers were likely facing poverty and persecution, but he purposefully uses the words "trials of various kinds." Everyone experiences trials. Of course, that's exactly backwards from a normal human response to hardship. In essence, he says that we should find joy in bad things happening to us. He begins with a profoundly challenging command. Without warming up or giving comforting introductory words, James immediately launches into the foundation of his letter. Other authors, such as Paul, often open their letters with gradual introductions.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |