James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings. (Jam 1:1)

In 2002, one of the greatest biblical archaeological finds came to light. It was a stone burial box, found in Jerusalem. First century Jews would use this method as a space-saving technique. The body would be placed in a sepulchre for a year or two to decompose, and then the bones would be gathered up and placed in a small limestone box or ossuary. This particular burial box was dated to the first century. But what made it sensational for Christians were the words written in cursive Aramaic on the side “Ya’akov bar-Yosef akhui diYeshua” or “James, the son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.” There are plenty of forgeries in the world of biblical archaeology, and there were thousands of Jacobs and Josephs in the first century. But none of the ossuaries found before ever include the name of the deceased’s brother. Something about the brother of this James was important enough to include His name. Unfortunately, the bones had long since been thrown out. If authentic, and I think the evidence leans in favour of it being authentic, we have in our hands the burial box of James, the half-brother of our Lord Jesus.

James the half-brother of Jesus, son of Mary and of Joseph, and the eventual pastor of the church at Jerusalem was the author of the epistle James. “James’ is one of the strangest English translations of a Hebrew name – the Hebrew name is Ya-acov, or Jacob, but through the Latin Jacomus, we ended up with James. There are four James in the New Testament, and it is easy to confuse them. One of them was the father of one of the twelve, Judas, and we are given his name only to distinguish that Judas from Judas Iscariot. A second was another of the twelve apostles, James son of Alphaeus. We know very little about him, except that tradition says he was martyred in Egypt. The third, and more famous James is the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, and the one we read of whenever Jesus took his inner three with Him – Peter, James and John. That James was killed by Herod in the year 44. That leaves only one other James who could have ended up as the pastor of the church in Jerusalem through the book of Acts, and the author of this epistle: James the half-brother of Jesus.

So who was this James? Why did he write this epistle? If we understand something of the story of James, we may have a better understanding of why he wrote this epistle, what its major theme is, and why it is so valuable to us.

I. James’ Family and Upbringing

We know from Matthew and Luke that after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph went down to Egypt to escape Herod’s attempts to kill Jesus. Once Herod was dead, they returned to Nazareth, a town so small that it is not even mentioned in ancient records outside of the Bible. There in Galilee, Joseph and Mary raised Jesus, and had several more children, boys and girls. We do not know the names of the sisters, but we know the boys were named James, Joses, Simon, and Judas.

Perhaps James was the second-born after Jesus. Their home life would have been happy, normal, and comfortable. Joseph was an artisan, and though they were not wealthy by the standards of the community, they would have been provided for. And all of the boys would have begun their education early. The Jews prized education. Josephus writes, “Our ground is good, and we work it to the utmost; but our chief ambition is for the nurture of our children.” It began at the knee of their mother, in personal instruction, in decorating the home, and in participating in the feasts. By age 5 or 6, the boys were off to the synagogue to be formally taught. Along with their religious education, they would have been taught a trade, likely the trade of their father, who was an artisan.

You have to wonder what it was like to have Jesus as the older brother. A brother who never sinned, never lied, never rebelled, never laughed at evil, was never foolish, never dishonouring, never disobedient. You wonder if comparisons were made, and jealousies and resentments built up. You wonder how it felt to have an older brother who always treated you with love, even though sometimes you didn’t love him at all?

James knew there was something different about his older brother. Perhaps Joseph and Mary told the siblings the story of Jesus’ conception, or perhaps they did not. We don’t know. We do know that James and his brothers did not believe that their older half-brother was the Messiah, certainly not at first.

II. James’ Unbelief in Jesus

54 And when He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 “Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses1, Simon, and Judas? 56 “And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. (Mat 13:54-58)

Here, very early in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus returns to preach in Nazareth. The response is proud indignation. You can tell that the people of Nazareth are offended that one of their own has broken the tradition of growing up in Nazareth, marrying in Nazareth, staying in Nazareth. Nazareth was a poor humble place, and if you knew your place, you stayed in poor, humble, Nazareth. You don’t get delusions of grandeur and start touring Israel, preaching in far-flung synagogues, preaching to crowds of thousands, and doing works that make you into a folk hero.

You can tell that more than likely, the sons and daughters of Joseph and Mary were still in town, or very nearby. They were doing the respectable, normal thing – carrying on the trade of their father, marrying and settling down close to home, taking care of their families. So what do you think James thought of his older brother, who for over twelve years had not married, and then suddenly, goes down to the Jordan river, gets baptised by this wildman John, and now says He has a ministry of preaching the kingdom of God? James did not believe in his older brother. He probably thought Jesus was neglecting His duty as the eldest son, especially since it seems by that time Joseph had died. He thought Jesus had become wild and eccentric, and was off on a crusade.

In fact, just six months before Jesus died, James still did not believe in him.

John 7:1 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews1 sought to kill Him. 2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand. 3 His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. 4 “For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For even His brothers did not believe in Him. (Joh 7:1-5)

In spite of all the miracles, in spite of the signs Jesus did, James and his brothers did not believe that their older half-brother was the Messiah. And you have to sympathise: think of how ordinary He must have seemed to them. He was just older-brother. However He was doing these signs, they knew Him! He was one of them!

So here they sceptically say to Him, if you really are who you say you are, then present yourself to everyone. How can people acknowledge you as the Messiah if you are hiding? Come on, if you are Messiah, then you have to proclaim yourself. Or are you afraid?

In fact, the family had become rather embarrassed about Jesus.

21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.” (Mar 3:21)

Jesus was clearly out of His mind, according to His family. He was getting into some extreme, eccentric religious fanaticism, thinking of himself in grand, apocalyptic terms. He just needed to be brought home, have a good meal, and get back into the routine of life in Nazareth.

But it was on this day that Jesus said something that probably cut James to the heart, and yet became the theme of the letter he would write. It must have made him so angry, and yet remained like an annoying pebble in the shoe, that later on the Holy Spirit would use.

31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers1 are outside seeking You.” 33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.” (Mar 3:31-35)

James and Joses and Judah are there with Mary, and ask to speak to Jesus. They imagine that because they are blood-relatives, they get special access to Jesus, and the crowd must just make way for them. They imagine that because they are family, they can move everyone aside, take Jesus by the arm, and escort him back to Nazareth. But what does Jesus say? My brothers and relatives are not those related to Me by blood. My relatives are those who do the will of God. Or to put it another way, My true relatives are those who have the same Father, as I do, and because of that, love what He loves, and hate what He hates. They do His desires: these are the ones closest to Me.

I can imagine James walking home from that event in a fury, feeling snubbed, offended, humiliated. I can imagine him deciding to hold his older brother at arm’s length.

III. James’s Conversion

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. (1Co 15:3-8)

In verse 5 we read that after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve, which would have included James the brother of John, and James son of Alphaeus. So then in verse 7, He was seen by James, which James can this be? It could only be James, the half-brother of Jesus.

Who knows what happened at that private, one-on-one meeting? Perhaps it was something like what happened to doubting Thomas – Jesus gently, lovingly confronting unbelief and overcoming it. I think it was in that moment that James came to see that older brother, Yeshua, was also, My Lord and My God. In that moment, he saw that for thirty-some years, he really wasn’t much of a brother to Jesus, because he had not been doing the will of the Father. He had been rejecting the Son of God, and therefore, rejecting the Father. He had depended on his own religious works, on his own background, on his family to be righteous. Now all of that crumbled, and he confessed himself a sinner, and confessed Jesus as Lord – as his Lord and His Saviour. James would from now on not think of himself as Jesus half-brother, but as Jesus’ follower. So when he writes his first lines of his epistle, he does not begin by saying, James, the half-brother of Jesus Christ. No, he writes, James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

James was one of those believers, like Paul, who seemed to go from baby to leader almost overnight. At the start of the book of Acts, Peter is leading the church in Jerusalem, but somewhere in the mid-thirties, James seems to take over.

Acts 12:17 But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place. (Act 12:17)

When there is a major dispute in the church over how Gentiles are to be integrated into the church, a council is held in Jerusalem. It is James, in Acts chapter 15, who gives his recommendation that is circulated to all the other churches.

In Acts chapter 21, it is James who asks Paul to publicly enact a Jewish custom to show that he is not opposed to the Law of Moses. James is clearly the most prominent leader of the church in Jerusalem.

But nowhere do we read that James attained this position simply because he was a blood-relative of Jesus. No, it was because he had become a spiritual-relative of Jesus, and one of the most zealous of them all. The key to understanding the person James, and the letter James is to remember those words of Jesus – who is my brother or sister or mother? James understood it, put it into practice, and became the leader of the church.

IV. James Burden

When James writes this epistle, what is his purpose? What is his primary intention? Some people feel that James is the New Testament version of Proverbs, just various maxims on wisdom and righteous living strung together with no real structure or design. I don’t think that’s the case.

While there isn’t structure the way we see it in Paul’s writings, James does have a central concern.

But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (Jam 2:18)

James is concerned with people who think they have a relationship with God, but do not have any evidence to show that. Just as James’ blood relationship with Jesus was not enough to give him eternal life, so no one else can claim to be in the faith without verifying fruit. Who is my brother and my mother and my sisters, said Jesus. Those who do the will of my Father. James has that burden: who is really holding the faith of Jesus Christ. Not simply people who are Jewish. James is a Jewish pastor in Jerusalem, and likely writing to Jews scattered outside of Israel. But being Jewish isn’t enough. Claiming a connection to Jesus, like James could have claimed is not sufficient.

James wants real, mature, interior religion, proved by external doing the will of the Father.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. (Jam 1:22-25)

9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? 12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh1. 13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. (Jam 3:9-13)

So James is going to give us several tests that we have this real, genuine faith that works. In chapter 1, he sets the stage by describing the purposes of these tests and trials. We then see how our faith is tested by our response to God’s Word in chapter 1:19-27. We see how our faith is tested when it comes to partiality in the church in chapter 2:1-13. We see how our faith is tested by whether it brings forth works in chapter 2:14-26. We see how our faith is tested by our use of our tongues in chapter 3:1-14. In chapter 4 and part of 5, we see how our faith is tested by whether we pursue worldly wisdom or God’s, especially when it comes to conflict with others, attitudes towards wealth and the future – where does our devotion lie? And chapter 5 closes by testing our faith in the matter of prayer.

And the bottom line is this: those who have been born from above, when their faith is tested, will bring forth fruit. They will mature. They will demonstrate true, inward religion. They will do the will of the Father in Heaven. They will not be friends with the world, which is adultery. Their true relationship with God will manifest in true works. To put it the way James puts it in chapter 1, they are not double-minded. They do not say they are one thing but act another way. They do not profess one thing, and practice another. They do not deceive themselves with hearing and no doing. They do not bless God and curse men, pray, but doubt.

James says to us, “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (Jam 4:8)

Choose the pure and undefiled religion before God.

So this epistle is going to do two things for us. One, it is going to force us to test the genuineness of our faith by our works. We are going to have to evaluate our salvation by God’s standard. And like the Sermon on the mount, which James references about 45 times in this epistle, God sets the bar high, forcing us to call out to God to do the work in us.

The second thing that this epistle will do is then give us practical wisdom and instruction for pleasing God. It tells us that true relatives of Jesus do the will of the Father, but then it also shows us what that looks like, regarding trials and wealth and relationships and prayer and speech, and conflict and wisdom.

This may be why James has been so loved by so many believers through the centuries. It is profoundly practical. There is a deep underlying theology of who God is, and His ways. But James is a practical pastor, and he gets straight to the point of how to live.

Did James live this out? James became so respected as the leader of the church in Jerusalem, that his title soon became James the Just. He was known for his practical righteousness. Some called him camel-knees, because it was reported that he prayed on his knees so much that he had developed large knob-like growths around them.

He had obtained such respect in Jerusalem that most of the city looked up to him.

Eusebius, the ancient church historian records how his life ended. In the year 62, the Scribes and Pharisees

“came, therefore, in a body to James, and said: “We ask you, restrain the people: for they have gone astray in their opinions about Jesus, as if he were the Messiah. We ask you to persuade all who have come here for the day of the passover, concerning Jesus. For we all listen to your persuasion; since we, as well as all the people, bear you testimony that you are just, and show partiality to none. Do you, therefore, persuade the people not to entertain erroneous opinions concerning Jesus: for all the people, and we also, listen to your persuasion. Take you stand, then, upon the summit of the temple, that from that elevated spot you may be clearly seen, and your words may be plainly audible to all the people. For, in order to attend the passover, all the tribes have congregated here, and some of the Gentiles also.”

To the scribes’ and Pharisees’ dismay, James boldly testified that “Christ himself sitteth in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven”. The scribes and pharisees then said to themselves, “We have not done well in procuring this testimony to Jesus. But let us go up and throw him down, that they may be afraid, and not believe him.”

Accordingly, the scribes and Pharisees… threw down the just man… [and] began to stone him: for he was not killed by the fall; but he turned, and kneeled down, and said: “I beseech you, Lord God our Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

And if so, then in his dying breath, James lived out the hardest command of the Sermon on the Mount – love your enemies. In his last moments, he did the will of the Father. James, a born again sinner in his last moments sought to be perfect as his Father in heaven is perfect. James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, was His bond-slave to his dying breath.

Let us then allow this wonderful book to test our faith, and if we are in the faith, to deepen our ability to do the will of our Father in heaven.