James Post #1 - An introduction to the Book of James

Welcome to the very first post on this new Bob’s Bible Blog.  As indicated in my profile, I hope to publish a blog often regarding a passage of scripture to share the scripture as well as some personal thoughts regarding the Word we are sharing that day.  I’ve decided to start with the book of James and wanted to offer an overview today to get us all started.  In future posts I plan to work through James letter verse by verse.  This journey should take us a while so I hope you will stay with it and enjoy discovering, along with me, new insights into the awesome letter.  If you want to receive notification whenever I add a new post I think you can get that automatically by joining as a “follower” on the main blogsite screen.  So let’s get started.   

I love the book of James and have nicknamed it ‘Real Faith in a Real World’.  James pulls no punches.  He tells it like it is and isn’t afraid to step on the reader’s toes because he really wants everyone who reads his letter to ‘get it’.  I guess he figured that there wasn’t time to dance around or be ‘politically correct’ as so many are today.  I like James because he gets right to the point and lets us know, in no uncertain terms, what path a Christian should follow on a wide variety of topics experienced by all of us in our everyday lives.  James says to his readers something like, ‘there it is…now you gonna do it or not?’

The Letter of James is a General Epistle.  The word ‘epistle’ simply means ‘letter’.  This letter wasn’t written to a specific church but “To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations….”  (James 1:1 When an epistle was addressed this way, in contrast to many of them written to a specific group or church, it was meant to be read and passed around.  There was no mass communication or internet back then so this was the best way to get the word out.  It was sort of a ‘read this and pass it on’ kind of instruction.

The author of this letter was James.  Now there’s a big surprise!  In Matthew 13:55 we read that James was one of Jesus’ brothers.   “Isn’t this [Jesus] the carpenter’s son?  Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?”  The amazing thing about James being the brother of Jesus was how his opinion of Jesus changed.  In John 7:5 we read that James did not believe his brother, Jesus, was the Messiah.  “For even his own brothers did not believe him.”  It got so bad that Jesus’ family tried to take him home, thinking he was losing it.  In Mark 3:21 we read that they thought he was out of his mind.  You can read it for yourself.  “When his family heard about, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”  Can you even imagine that scene?

Contrast that with James attitude after Jesus’ resurrection.  He even begins this letter with the words “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (vs. 1)  James got it.  He called himself “a servant…of the Lord Jesus Christ.”  After Jesus resurrection he appeared to James (1 Cor. 15:7) and many believe that this was James conversion.  “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles….”  He became a leader in the early church and when this epistle was written, he is speaking as one of the main church leaders of the time.  It was James who led the great Council of Jerusalem where Paul came to present his ministry to the leaders of the church.   Tradition holds that James had the nickname of “Old Camel Knees” because of the time he spent on his knees in prayer.  Apparently, this practice caused his knees to become quite callous and ugly.  And here you and I sit and don’t even ‘bow the knee’ when we pray. 

 

 Well, that’s how we’ll start this new blog.  That’s plenty enough information for y’all for now.  If you want to read through James it’s really quite short and you can gain a lot of insight by just reading it through for yourself.  In the next post I’ll get started on the first part of the first chapter.  Here’s a quick suggestion as you read.  Before you start simply ask God to open your eyes to the meaning He has for you as you read this portion of His word.  I find that when I set my heart in the right attitude BEFORE I begin reading, it really opens my mind up to the Holy Spirit to seeing old, familiar passages with ‘new eyes’.  So thank you, once again, for taking the time to check out this new blog.  I look forward to having you work along with me through this great book and encourage you to become a “follower” on this page so we can stay connected.  Comment anytime you wish and I’ll do my best to respond if needed.  Otherwise I’ll share your comments on this blogsite so others can learn from your insights as well. God bless and, oh yes, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

(These are real camel knees, not James.  Just checkin' to see if you're awake yet.)