This morning I am looking at the book of James which is sometimes referred to as the book of practical Christianity. It is the only book in the New Testament that is written by someone who served primarily as the lead pastor of a church. While there were several people named James in the NT including two of Jesus twelve apostles, this James was not one of them but he was one of Jesus natural brothers. Jesus came from a large family which included as least seven to ten children where He had four half brothers and at least two half sisters (Matthew 13:55-56). His brothers were named James, Joses, Simon, and Judas usually given in this order. James is most often considered the eldest of the children of Mary and Joseph while Jesus was the oldest child in the family being the son of Mary and the son of God. Even though James grew up with Jesus, He did not always believe that his older sibling was anything special (John 7:3-5; Mark 6:3-6). It is difficult to know when he had his personal epiphany regarding Jesus, but after Jesus rose from the dead one of His first instructions was to send word to His brothers that He had risen (John 20:17). I am sure that after they saw Jesus risen from the dead there were no more doubts (I Cor. 15:5-7). James was with the followers of Jesus in the upper room and experienced the outpouring of the Spirit. He was well respected by the apostles in Jerusalem and eventually became the lead pastor of the Jerusalem church (See: Acts 12:17; 15:13; 21:18; Gal. 1:19; 2:9, 12). By the time we get to the writing of this book he had achieve his highest status as he noted in his opening verse, This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ (Jam. 1:1, Gk. doulos, lit. slave). Imagine that! He had been a son of Joseph and Mary; he had been a ringleader among the brothers of Jesus; he had been one of the first witnesses of the resurrection; he had been a person of note in the eyes of the apostles; he had been given a role as lead pastor of the very first church in the Book of Acts and now he was at the apex of his ministry as a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. As he writes this he is acknowledging that Jesus is not only his natural brother, but He is his master, his savior, the messiah and his God. James was a man who rose to become a slave and that is a good place to be when Jesus is your master. Jesus is Lord!
Posted on: Sat, 03 May 2014 13:27:06 +0000
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