The Epistle of James
Part 4
The first three verses of our lesson today centers on a theme frequently found in Jewish literature…material wealth or lack thereof. In the Jewish mind, riches were a sign of God’s favor and poverty a sign of God’s disfavor. Seventy-seven times in the New Testament alone, the words rich, wealth or prosperity appear. In the Old Testament those same words appear 246 times. Material wealth was a significant factor in the stories of Job, Solomon, the Rich Young Ruler and the Prodigal Son.
How does God use material wealth in the lives of His children? Is it a curse or a blessing?
Does the Christian church today have a substantially different view of material wealth than was commonly held in the Jewish community during the first century?
In the story of Job, was his wealth a blessing or a curse?
In the life of Solomon, was his wealth a blessing or a curse?
In the story of the Rich Young Ruler, was his wealth a blessing or a curse? (Matthew 19:16-26)
In the story of the Prodigal Son, was his wealth a blessing or a curse? (Luke 15:11-32)
Our verses for today follow the instructions of James to rejoice in trials and be single-minded and he gives two contrasting examples…let’s look at James 1:9-11:
But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with a scorching wind and withers the grass; and its flower falls off and the beauty of its appearance is destroyed; so too the rich man in the midst of his pursuits will fade away. (NASB95)
Who is the brother of humble circumstances?
The Greek word is adelphos (ad·el· fos) and can mean a male sibling of the same two parents or of only one common parent; a countryman; all men; or a fellow believer. The context here leads us to understand this person as a fellow Jewish believer.
The Greek word translated humble circumstances is tapeinos (tap·i· nos) and means not rising far from the ground. As a condition, it means lowly, of low degree in economic or social status.
What does it mean to glory?
The Greek is kauchaomai (kow· khah ·om·ahee) and is most often translated glory…to boast or rejoice on account of or in a certain thing. In the context here, that certain thing is his high position.
The Greek word translated here as high position is hupsos (hoop ·sos) found only five other times in the New Testament. Twice it is obviously referring to measurement, as in height. The other three times it is referring to heaven…the context here draws us to the latter definition.
The REM (Robert E. Martin) translation reads: The fellow Jewish believer who has little of this world’s goods, should rejoice that he has an eternal position in heaven.
Who is the rich man?
The Greek word for rich is plousios (ploo ·see·os) and means abounding, abundantly supplied. Again, the context determines what is abounding or abundantly supplied. There’s a difference of opinion among commentators here. Some say that James always uses the word plousios (ploo ·see·os) to describe a non-believer. He is acquainted with believers who are wealthy, but does not describe them as rich (2:2; 4:13). In this passage, James is contrasting a person who is a believer, but has little of this world’s resources with a person who is not a believer and has an abundance of this world’s resources.
Other commentators believe that James is comparing a poor believer with a wealthy believer.
To what conclusion does this comparison draw us?
There are several possible conclusions, but the one I like best is that the poor and the wealthy are the way they are only temporarily and not for all of eternity. Poverty is just as fleeting as wealth.
The reversal of fortunes is a frequent story line in Jewish literature. When God acts, the low are raised up and the high are brought down. Joseph goes from prison to prominence; Nebuchadnezzar goes from throne to field. When God declares His values, human values are negated. This is how it will be at the end of the age. James wants his readers to rejoice in this coming reality and to recognize that "the way it is" is not "the way it will always be." The poor face one set of issues, the wealthy face another; both need to understand that what they "see" now is not what is real and eternal. James calls both groups to "see through" their present circumstances to the God behind it all.
The REM (Robert E. Martin) translation reads: And the believer who has an abundance of this world’s goods should be humbled by understanding that his riches are a temporary blessing from God and that his position in heaven will be no greater than the believer who is poor in this world’s goods.
Some of you may remember that in the introduction to the Epistle of James I said that there were some fifteen parallelisms with the Sermon on the Mount. Verse 12 is the first of them:
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12 NASB95)
When Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives and taught, he used the word blessed [makarios (mak· ar ·ee·os)] to describe several groups of people who, by their choices, would experience the bliss of heaven here on this earth. Here James uses the same word to describe a person who, because he perseveres under trial, will experience bliss in heaven. Notice his Old Covenant understanding that performance determines reward (Spiritual Capitalism).
The word makarios (mak· ar ·ee·os) is often defined as happy or fortunate. But it is the same word Paul used twice to describe God (1Tim. 1:11; 6:15)…does happy or fortunate describe God? There are at least two other definitions for makarios (mak· ar ·ee·os): held in reverence and honored in worship…now those sound more like a description of God.
Often a saying that begins with "Blessed…" is called a beatitude, because another definition for makarios (mak· ar ·ee·os) is beatific that means a state of utmost bliss. I believe that both James and Jesus were trying to convey something much more than happiness when they used the word makarios (mak· ar ·ee·os)…more along the line of experiencing something of heaven.
The word translated in the NASB95 as perseveres is translated endures in the King James and comes from hupomeno (hoop·om· en ·o) which comes from hupo (under) and meno (remains or abides). It pictures a person who does not run away when the weight gets heavy, but remains under the load.
The word translated in the NASB95 as trial is peirasmos (pi·ras· mos) and is most often translated temptation. But the word trial gives a more correct understanding of the intent of James to describe a person who passes a test.
What does James mean by once he has been approved?
He passed the test! When does one pass the test? Is everyone given the same test? What is the test?
Studying James makes me appreciate Paul’s understanding even more where the focus is on Jesus instead of on me.