Mirrors were invented to reflect and correct mistakes. Think about how you use your mirror at home. Brushing your teeth, putting on makeup, fixing your hair. You would never look into the mirror, see your imperfections, and assume that you have a broken mirror. Rather, you would correct the flaws that you see in yourself. This is how the letter of James is meant to inform us. James helps us look at ourselves to see where we may be at fault in our walk with Christ. To better understand the message of James, we first need to understand who James is and the audience to whom he’s writing.
James challenges his readers not to be Christ-followers in word alone, but in action as well.
Authorship: James, a Servant
The letter opens up – “James, a servant of God of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). Believe it or not, this is the only place where the author identifies himself. Okay, but who is this James person? What qualifies him to address the church? Great questions! Many biblical scholars point out that there are only a few candidates in the New Testament named James. Only one would have been renowned enough to be recognized solely by his name. This is James, the half-brother of Jesus.
That’s right! The author is the half-brother of Christ Himself. (Half-brother because although James and Jesus shared the same mother, they did not share the same daddy). Imagine growing up with a brother who was foretold to be the Messiah. We actually see that during Jesus’ life and ministry, James – along with his other siblings – didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah (John 7:5). James only believed that his brother was God when the resurrected Jesus paid him a special visit (1 Corinthians 15:7).
As James looked into the eyes of his resurrected brother, he saw that he was wrong about Jesus, and that he needed to change his mind and heart.
In Acts and Galatians we learn that James rose to lead the church in Jerusalem until his martyrdom in 62 BC. As a leader of the early church, James was seen as an authority figure, and a source of guidance and wisdom for many of the apostles. He led the church in its infancy through many trials, persecutions, and arguments. James had, above all, a pastor’s heart for the people he was leading.
Recipients: The Dispersed Jews
As we continue to read James 1:1, we find that James wrote his letter “to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion.” In the Old Testament, God partnered with the nation of Israel to reach the world. The nation of Israel was made up of 12 tribes. While the tribes were indeed distinct groups, they were challenged to see themselves as being part of Israel, the covenant people of God. James, himself of Jewish lineage, is writing to a mainly Christian-Jewish audience. They have been raised with Jewish customs, practices, and beliefs, and have at some point recognized Jesus as the true Messiah.
James gives us one more identifier – he calls his audience the “tribes of the Dispersion.” In the Old Testament, this term was used to describe the Jewish people who were carried off into exile by Assyria and Babylon and scattered all over the world. Here in the New Testament, James is addressing a different type of dispersed people. We see in Acts that when Jews started to believe and follow Jesus, many different Jewish groups (like the Pharisees) began to brutally persecute them. This leads to a mass scattering of Christ-following Jews all over Palestine, and eventually the Roman empire (Acts 8:1-2).
Take a moment and consider this: You grew up as a Jew in Jerusalem. All your life you were told about the coming Messiah, who would set Israel free. One day you hear of a rabbi named Jesus. This rabbi, however, is not just any old teacher, but God Himself. He has come to be the long-awaited Messiah. When you share this news with your family, instead of celebrating with you and accepting Christ, they kick you out of your home and force you to run for your life. You thought following Jesus was going to make your life easier and better, but in reality you are now living in exile among the nations. This is quite possibly the real-life experience of the original readers of James.
This is the reason that James opens up his letter by saying, “Count it all joy my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). James sees a scattered, scared, and confused church that needs guidance. He sets out to encourage his readers to see suffering and hardship not as the absence of God, but rather an opportunity to grow.
James challenges his readers not to be Christ-followers in word alone, but in action as well. How we use our tongue, spend our money, and endure suffering all points to a faith that has produced action. If we have truly met Jesus through faith, then everything is going to change, just as it once did for James himself, when he came face-to-face with the reality that his resurrected brother was also his Messiah. Now, 2000 years later, James invites you, too, to take a look into the mirror. To see, to reflect, and to grow.
