At the age of 30, Jesus emerged from the small village of Nazareth in the region of Galilee; He was baptized by John; tempted in the wilderness; and then came to Galilee preaching that the coming kingdom of God is near. Jesus was one man from the obscure town of Nazareth, walking along the banks of the Sea of Galilee, calling only twelve men to follow Him, yet His message would change the world.
However, in the middle of the wilderness, fasting for forty days, with the dangers of wild beasts ever present and Satan (the adversary), tempting Him, Jesus overcame and “the angels ministered to Him.” The first Adam fell and the angel stood with a flaming sword to keep Adam and Eve out of the Garden and away from Tree of Life, but Jesus prevailed and has become the way, the gate, and the door to eternal life.
We thank God when the preacher shows up, and I’m always glad when the musicians and singers show up. I’m overjoyed when I see you coming through the doors on Sunday, but it isn’t until Jesus shows up that the healer is in the house. It isn’t until Jesus shows up that worship is more than songs, sermons are more than noise, and prayers are more than words. Jesus makes the difference. In His name prayers are answered, lives are changed and hope is restored. It just isn’t church until Jesus shows up.
God sent His Son—His one and only eternally begotten Son—into a sinful fallen world to tell us and to show us that He loves us. In fact, God loves us unconditionally. We don’t have to be good enough for God to love us; instead, God’s love shows us that if we have value in His eyes, then we should have value our own eyes. Apostle Paul said, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro 5:8). He loved us in the middle of our mess, in the face of our failures, and in spite of our sins. God’s love moved Him to make the ultimate sacrifice, a sacrifice with the power to pull us out of sin and into grace.
In closing, James reminds us of the power of prayer. This truth could not have come at a better time for first century believers, or for the twenty-first century believers. There is power in payer. Power to bring relief to those who suffer, power to heal the sick, power to forgive sin, and power to turn the heart of the wayward back to the Lord. James tells us that we don’t have to be a priest, a prophet, or an apostle to pray powerful prayers; we just have to live right and know who to call upon. The words “pray” or “prayer” occur seven times in eight verses, so prayer is clearly the theme of James at the end the letter.
Our victory is not dependent upon elections or economic conditions. Pandemic or no pandemic, I’m still singing my victory song because an old rugged cross was lifted up against the backdrop of the Jerusalem sky, and with His last breath Jesus declared, “It is finished!” The war has already been won, and this is my victory song!
Our verse is something of a summation of everything he has previously written. The Greek word oun, translated “therefore,” is a way of saying, “In light of everything I’ve said to this point, if you know to do good and you don’t do it, then to you … it is sin.” And we don’t want to be guilty of sin because apostle Paul warned that the “wages of sin is death” (Ro 6:23). Yet the Bible teaches that sin is both doing the wrong thing, and also refusing to do the right thing we knew we should have done.
In verse 13 James says, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit . . .’” The words “Come now,” are intended to draw attention to what he is about to say. It’s like saying, “Come on now . . . do you really mean that?” In this verse James highlights the presumptuous claims that follow. His illustration of foolish boasting is framed by a series of positive confessions about what a person boasts will happen.
Apparently, James heard that certain members of local churches were guilty of criticizing one another, slandering one another, and judging one another, so James writes in no uncertain terms that this is wrong. I believe James is telling us that it is wrong to think we know what another person is going through or understand the pain the drives their actions. It is wrong to assume we can see a person’s heart and know their motives. It is wrong to judge another person when we have never taken the time to talk with them, weep with them or pray with them. James addresses this issue head on in verse 11 and 12.
Have you ever been in a church fight? Church fights are the ugliest because we rightfully expect more from believers than we do from the world. I remember reading about a church fight in the Atlanta area a few years ago where the deacons changed the locks on the church doors and the pastor couldn’t get in on Sunday morning. Of course, the secular media love it when church people fight. It gives them the opportunity to mock Christianity and claim all Christians are hypocrites.
