Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of James 1:9
Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
9 11. Riches, and their perishableness
9. Let the brother of low degree ] The Greek joins the sentence on to the preceding with the conjunction which may be either “and,” or “but,” implying that there is a sequence of ideas of some kind. The train of thought would seem to lie in the fact, as shewn in our Lord’s words (Mat 6:24) that the love of mammon is the most common source of the “double-mindedness” which St James condemns, both in the poor and in the rich. The “brother” is used, as commonly in the New Testament as meaning one of the brotherhood of Christ. The word Christian had probably not as yet come into use in the Churches of Juda, and was, at any rate, used of the disciples by others rather than by themselves. “Of low degree” is, perhaps, somewhat too narrow a rendering. Better, he that is lowly or more simply “he that is low.” The contrast with the rich man shews that “poverty” is the chief feature in the low estate spoken of.
rejoice ] Better as elsewhere, glory, or exult.
in that he is exalted ] Better, in his exaltation. His lowliness instead of being a thing to be ashamed of, was his true title to honour. Christ had marked him out as an heir of the Kingdom (Luk 6:20; see ch. Jas 2:5). Man’s estimate of honour and dishonour is reversed by God.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Let the brother of low degree – This verse seems to introduce a new topic, which has no other connection with what precedes than that the apostle is discussing the general subject of trials. Compare Jam 1:2. Turning from the consideration of trials in general, he passes to the consideration of a particular kind of trials, that which results from a change of circumstances in life, from poverty to affluence, and from affluence to poverty. The idea which seems to have been in the mind of the apostle is, that there is a great and important trial of faith in any reverse of circumstances; a trial in being elevated from poverty to riches, or in being depressed from a state of affluence to want. Wherever change occurs in the external circumstances of life, there a mans religion is put to the test, and there he should feel that God is trying the reality of his faith. The phrase of low degree ( tapeinos) means one in humble circumstances; one of lowly rank or employment; one in a condition of dependence or poverty. It stands here particularly opposed to one who is rich; and the apostle doubtless had his eye, in the use of this word, on those who had been poor.
Rejoice – Margin, glory. Not because, being made rich, he has the means of sensual gratification and indulgence; not because he will now be regarded as a rich man, and will feel that he is above want; not even because he will have the means of doing good to others. Neither of these was the idea in the mind of the apostle; but it was, that the poor man that is made rich should rejoice because his faith and the reality of his religion are now tried; because a test is furnished which will show, in the new circumstances in which he is placed, whether his piety is genuine. In fact, there is almost no trial of religion which is more certain and decisive than that furnished by a sudden transition from poverty to affluence from adversity to prosperity, from sickness to health. There is much religion in the world that will bear the ills of poverty, sickness, and persecution, or that will bear the temptations arising from prosperity, and even affluence, which will not bear the transition from one to the other; as there is many a human frame that could become accustomed to bear either the steady heat of the equator, or the intense cold of the north, that could not bear a rapid transition from the one to the other. See this thought illustrated in the notes at Phi 4:12.
In that he is exalted – A good man might rejoice in such a transition, because it would furnish him the means of being more extensively useful; most persons would rejoice because such a condition is that for which men commonly aim, and because it would furnish them the means of display, of sensual gratification, or of ease; but neither of these is the idea of the apostle. The thing in which we are to rejoice in the transitions of life is, that a test is furnished of our piety; that a trial is applied to it which enables us to determine whether it is genuine. The most important thing conceivable for us is to know whether we are true Christians, and we should rejoice in everything that will enable us to settle this point.
(Yet it seems not at all likely that an Apostle would exhort a poor man to rejoice in his exaltation to wealth. An exhortation to fear and trembling appears more suitable. Wealth brings along with it so many dangerous temptations, that a man must have greater confidence in his faith and stability than he ought to have, who can rejoice in its acquisition, simply as furnishing occasion to try him: the same may be said of poverty, or of the transition front riches to poverty. The spirit of Agar is more suitable to the humility of piety, Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain, Pro 30:8-9. Besides, there is no necessity for resorting to this interpretation. The words will, without any straining, bear another sense, which is both excellent in itself, and suitable in its connection. The poor man, or man in humble life, may well rejoice in that he is exalted to the dignity of a child of God, and heir of glory.
If he be depressed with his humble rank in this life, let him but think of his spiritual elevation, of his relation to God and Christ, and he shall have an antidote for his dejection. What is the worlds dignity in comparison of his! The rich man, or the man of rank, on the other hand, has reason to rejoice in that he is made low through the possession of a meek and humble spirit which his affluence illustrates, but neither destroys nor impairs. It would be matter of grief were he otherwise minded; since all his adventitious splendor is as evanescent as the flower which, forming for a time the crown of the green stalk on which it hangs, perishes before it. This falls admirably in with the design of the Apostle, which was to fortify Christians against trial. Every condition in life had its own trials. The two great conditions of poverty and wealth had theirs; but Christianity guards against the danger, both of the one state and of the other. It elevates the poor under his depression, and humbles the rich in his elevation, and bids both rejoice in its power to shield and bless them. The passage in this view is conceived in the same spirit with one of Paul, in which he beautifully balances the respective conditions of slaves and freemen, by honoring the former with the appellation of the Lords freemen, and imposing on the latter that of Christs servants, 1Co 7:22.)
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jam 1:9-11
Let the brother of low degree rejoice
Humiliation and exaltation
I.
LET THE BROTHER OF LOW DEGREE REJOICE IN THAT HE IS EXALTED. When called to rejoice we expect a reason. Good cause may exist for joy; but unless we know it we cannot be affected by it. But in the injunction before us there is no want of true sympathy. A reason is assigned, Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted. The first thing here to be noticed is, that the humiliation and the exaltation cannot be of the same description. The one is temporal, the other spiritual–temporal depression, spiritual elevation. Their abasement as the children of earth and mortality is set in contrast with their exaltation as the children of God, and heaven, and eternity.
1. The poor of Christs people are exalted as to birth. The poorest believer is a child of God, by the redeeming purchase of Christs blood, and the regenerating power of His Spirit.
2. He is exalted as to character. This is inseparably associated with the former dignity. That birth itself is a change of character. It is a birth into a new life: a life of new principles, affections, desires, and a new course of conduct; and it is true exaltation–from the debasement of sin to the beauty of holiness–from the image of Satan to the image of God.
3. The brother of low degree is exalted in regard to his society. The poor Christian frequents no palaces; graces no parties of aristocratic fashion. But he has society which the world knoweth not of; society far higher than the highest to which this world, in its best estate, could introduce him. It is a society, indeed, which the world does not acknowledge, but it is honoured of God. They are the excellent of the earth, in whom is all His delight; and of whom He hath said, I will dwell among them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
4. The brother of low degree is exalted in power; in dominion; in honour. It is a spiritual power; not a power of spiritual oppression, but of self-subjugation and self-control; and the power that proves victorious over the mightiest of the enemies of mankind–the world, the flesh, and the devil.
5. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted in riches. The poorest believer is rich–rich in the present possession of all spiritual blessings, in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus; rich in the future hope of the inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away; and, in one all-comprehensive word, rich in having God Himself as the portion of his inheritance and cup.
6. The brother of low degree may rejoice in being exalted, when he surveys his prospects. These are transcendently glorious. They surpass all our feeble conceptions.
II. Pass we now to the CONTRAST. It is contrast only as to this world and to time; for the spiritual blessings and hopes of poor and rich in the Church of God are the same: But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away (Jam 1:10). Now, according to the testimony of the Bible–confirmed by a sad amount of experience–riches, operating upon the corruption of the human heart, are ever apt to produce in their possessor the spirit of pride and vanity; of self-confidence and self-elation. Even when the tendency does not, in any remarkable degree, manifest itself in the behaviour and bearing of the rich toward their fellow-men, it appears in a spirit of independence–of trust in their wealth, and boasting themselves of the multitude of their riches, and of a forgetfulness of God. Instead of being led by the gifts to the Giver, they forget the Giver in the gifts; and, in the use of them, place self before God. If such be the strength of this tendency, has not the Christian whom God, in His providence, has blessed with a large amount of this worlds good cause to be thankful when in spite of it he has, by the influence of the Divine Spirit, been made low? when, by that Divine influence, he has been made an exception to the atheistical tendencies of his riches, and kept in the spirit of humility and in the spiritual-mindedness of devotion to God?
The lowliness here made the ground of grateful joy consists essentially in two things, which ever accompany each other, and in their elementary nature may be regarded as one–namely, a sense of entire dependence on the God of providence for every temporal good, and a sense of equal dependence on the God of grace for all spiritual and eternal blessings.
III. Notice now the GROUNDS on which the rich brother is called to rejoice in his being made low. They are such as these–
1. The transitory nature of all the riches and honours of this world. Had the rich man not been made low, he might have drawn upon himself the temporary admiration of his fellow-men; and that would have been all: he should have passed away, and been no more seen; all his honours dying with him. He would thus, like other rich men, have had his portion in this life–a pitiful portion for an immortal creature!–and then have gone destitute into another world. Well for him, then, that he has been made low, for–
2. By this he has been brought into possession even here of better blessings than the world can furnish. His very humility is, as a creature and a sinner, his true honour; as it is the honour of the first archangel before the throne. In that humility, too, Jehovah has complacency. He obtains the smile and the blessing of Jehovah, and all the present joy, and all the soul-satisfying hope which that smile and that blessing impart. Which leads me to notice–
3. That the rich man who is thus made low, besides true honour and blessing from God in this world, becomes an heir of a richer heritage than any which he could ever attain to here, where all is corruptible and fading. It is by his having been made low that he has been , made meet to be a partaker of that inheritance. But for this he might have continued to enjoy his earthly riches and honours–clothed in purple and fine linen, and faring sumptuously every day -but he must have forfeited the inheritance above–the better country, even the heavenly. (R. Wardlaw, D. D.)
Poor and rich believers
I. THE TWO CLASSES OF PERSONS ADDRESSED.
1. Poor Christians. He calls the party addressed a brother, that is obviously a brother in the faith of the gospel, a member of the same spiritual family. It was thus Christians then spoke of, and to each other. They realised the endearing relationship which subsisted between them–a bond not of a merely figurative or formal nature, but most intimate. He is not simply a brother, but one of low degree–that is, in humble circumstances. James had called on them generally, irrespective of any distinctions among them, to count it joy when they fell into divers temptations, and now he specially presses this on the class here addressed. The brother of low degree, without wealth, without rank, without influence, without any of the coveted possessions or advantages of earth, is exhorted to exult.
2. Rich believers. Here he says simply, the rich, and as the other party was the man poor temporally, so this doubtless, and still more evidently, is the man rich temporally. And the person thus singled out represents not this class of people generally, but those of them who belong to the household of faith. It is still a brother whom he addresses. Both had reason to rejoice, notwithstanding the wide separation between them in all outward respects. The lowest and the, highest alike had matter of exultation. The gospel placed them on the same platform of spiritual privilege. In Jesus all classes meet add have a common heritage of blessing.
II. THE TWO GROUNDS OF BOASTING RECOMMENDED.
1. In the case of the poor brother, it is his exaltation. He is to rise above his outward poverty and the depression connected with it, and to glory in the elevation to which he has been raised, the treasures of which he has become possessed, as one of Gods people. Taken from the dunghill, he sits among the princes; and, high as he is already, he is advancing towards a height of glory, transcending not only his attainments, but even his conceptions. He is the heir of a portion, in comparison with which all the estates and dignities of earth are not worthy to be named. Well may the poor man lose sight of his low degree, rise far above all its privations, and exult in his being thus spiritually exalted. So far we have viewed the exhortation generally; but doubtless it carries a special reference to the temptations treated of both in the preceding and succeeding verses. The exaltation was closely connected with them; it resulted in no small degree from the suffering they involved. Such dispensations seem fitted only to reduce to a low degree. But they do the very reverse. They cast down, but they also raise up; they empty, but only in order to fill us with something far better. If they abase with one hand, they elevate with the other. For consider how they link us with, and assimilate us to the Lord Jesus. These trials purify and ennoble the character. Even Jesus was thus perfected.
2. In the case of the rich brother, it is his humiliation. But the rich, in that he is made low. The Christian is net to glory in his worldly elevation. That had been forbidden long before (Jer 9:23). It is not his being lifted high, but his being brought down, which is to constitute his ground of boasting. As the poor believer was to rejoice in his exaltation, the wealthy one is to rejoice in his humiliation. As the former of these terms must be understood spiritually, so must the latter; for it is only thus there can be a proper contrast, as is evidently intended. The natural tendency of wealth is to fill Inert with pride, self-confidence, vainglory. There is no more formidable barrier in the way of that poverty of spirit which is a fundamental characteristic of all Christs disciples. When, then, the affluent are delivered from this snare; when they are enabled to see the emptiness of all their treasures, and the danger which the possession of them involves; when they are made willing to take their places in the dust as sinners–to abase themselves before God, and walk without high looks and haughty bearing among men–they have good reason to rejoice, exult, glory. In this humiliation lies their defence against evils of terrible power and endless duration. This being made low is, not less than the other, the fruit of temptations and trials. These are often the means of bringing down those whose looks are high, and laying them in the dust of selfabasement. It is thus that many enter the kingdom. God employs painful dispensations of providence to awaken them out of their security, and to prepare them for submission to the doctrines of the gospel. James enforces the exhortation by the consideration that earthly riches are perishable, transitory in their nature, and that all who trust in them, identify themselves with them, are doomed to speedy destruction. (John Adam.)
Christian brotherhood
I. THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES ARE DIFFERENT.
1. Circumstances are no test of character.
2. Christians should be contented with their lot.
3. There are opportunities for the exercise of brotherly benevolence.
II. THEIR CAUSE FOR JOY IS THE SAME.
1. Not in external circumstances.
2. In spiritual triumph over circumstances. (U. R. Thomas.)
Discipline of change
I. CHANGE IS NEEDFUL FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NOBLER FACULTIES OF MANS NATURE. It keeps alive those faculties of mind and heart that are already active; rouses into activity those that are lying dormant; and hinders us from falling into mere routine and mental and moral barrenness.
II. CHANCE IS NEEDFUL TO KEEP US FROM FORGETTING GOD AND RELAPSING INTO CALLOUS SELF-CONFIDENCE. There is a painful truth in what David says–in our prosperity we think we shall never be moved. And we become self-indulgent, self-sufficient, and forgetful of God, and are only reminded of our duty to Him, and our dependence upon Him, when He hides His face, and breaks in upon our prosperity; when storm waves threaten to engulf us, we cry, Lord, save, or I perish.
III. CHANGES ARE NEEDFUL FOR THE FOSTERING OF SPIRITUAL LIFE AND GROWTH. If there are no changes in our religious life, or in the discharge of our religious duties, religion not infrequently relapses into mere formalism, machine work. To prevent this, and to rouse the soul to greater activity, God sends us changes. He stops the orderly machine–throws it out of gear, compels us to pause awhile and examine the various parts, and adjust them and start afresh.
IV. CHANGES ARE NEEDFUL TO SLACKEN OUR HOLD ON EARTH, AND STRENGTHEN OUR HOLD ON HEAVEN. By a thousand alternating lights and shades the mind has forced upon it the fact of the instability of terrestrial things, and the folly of setting our affections too firmly upon them; while at the same time, it is made to feel the need of some centre of stability where change is not, some rock of strength on which it may build without fear of coming storms. (W. Fox.)
Grave reverses a decisive test of character
Read fairly the words of St. James cannot fail to carry this plain sense to our minds: that the Christian brother who is poor in this worlds goods is to be glad when he gets rich in this worlds goods; and that the Christian brother who is rich in these goods is to be glad when God takes them away from him, since God will only take them away when it is for his good. And if we sincerely believe, as we profess to believe, spiritual good to be better than temporal good, and spiritual wealth to be far more precious than temporal wealth, I am persuaded that we should never think of taking these words in any other sense. For St. James is the most prosaic, the least mystical, of the New Testament writers. It is almost impossible to misunderstand him except by thrusting meanings into his words which never entered into his mind. But the verses do not stand alone. They are intimately connected both with the verses which go before and the verses which follow them. Directly he has uttered his opening salutation, the apostle strikes his key-note. In the salutation he had wished the Christians of the Hebrew dispersion joy–Joy to you. But what a wish was that for men whom their heathen neighbours hated because they were Jews, and their Jewish neighbour hated because they were Christians! How could men so miserable hope for joy? St. James teaches them: Count it all joy, &c. But what was this strange art of extracting joy from sorrow, honour from shame, gain from loss? St. James teaches them this also. Trials beget that patient and constant temper which makes a man mature, complete in character, so that he lacks nothing. If, then, they made perfection of Christian character their first aim, preferring it before all happy outward conditions, they would rejoice in any change of condition which put their character to the test and helped to make it perfect. So that these verses, taken quite literally, fall in with the whole scope of the apostles argument. With that argument in view it becomes impossible to take them in any other than this plain sense. The poor man is to be glad when he is tried by riches, remembering, however, that for him they are a trial; and the rich man is to be glad when he is tried by poverty, and to take comfort in the conviction that it is a trial by which God is seeking to make a man of him, rounded and complete in character, lacking nothing that he ought to have. The ruling thought of these verses is, then, that great reverses of fortune are a test of Christian character, and a means of Christian perfection; and that we ought not simply to bear them patiently, but to rejoice in them because they so test our character as to mature and perfect it. Yet no one will deny that the reverses by which such a character is formed are very searching trials, very hard to meet in a manly, still harder to meet in a Christian, spirit. When you see a poor good man suddenly made rich, are you not a little afraid for him, though, perhaps, in the same circumstances, you would have no fear for yourself? Do you not fear that he may lose in humility, in sobriety, in spirituality; that he will pamper his senses with unaccustomed luxuries; that his devotion to Christ and the Church may grow weaker? On the other hand, when you see a rich brother, who has been successful in business, and for many years has lived in luxury and ease, suddenly reduced to comparative penury: if he has to begin life again when the strength and sanguine hopefulness of youth are past, do you not fear for him? Do you not fear that his piety may prove to have been a mere adjunct of his prosperity; that his patience may fail him; that he may grow sour, irritable, suspicious; that he may fail to get any good from the evil which has befallen him; that he may confound misfortune with disgrace, lose his self-respect, and conclude that he has forfeited the respect of men because it has pleased God to bring him low? The shoe does not always pinch where our neighbours think it does. The most searching test in these great reverses is often, not in their direct, but in their indirect, consequences. A man, without being a hero, may have so much of goodness and of good sense as that a sudden access of fortune would make little difference to him, none in him, if he stood alone in the world: and yet it may pierce him and try him to the heart because others share it with him. He may have a vulgar wife, fond of show, or children who will give themselves airs, or friends who flatter him, or servants whose solemn, formal deference gives him a sense of importance; and by all these indirect influences his own standard of thought and duty may be insensibly changed and lowered. And the other man, the rich man who has been smitten with poverty, may be affected in a similar manner. To a sensible good man outward changes are of little moment save as they affect character and usefulness. How many a good fellow have we all known to whom the hard work and comparative penury of a reduced income has been a positive relief, and who would have snapped his fingers at Fortune and her wheel had he had no one to care for but himself, or had those for whom he was bound to care been likeminded with himself! But if he has a wife who frets or storms, or children who sulk or wrangle; if those immediately dependent upon him are too stuck up to work for their bread, and yet cannot eat their bread without a good deal of the best butter–then his trial may become very penetrating and severe. Are we to rejoice in such trials as these? Yes, even in these; for these, too, test our character and may help to make us perfect. St. James, indeed, speaks only of poverty and riches; but of course he includes under these terms whatever other changes or reverses they involve. And if a man finds his kind, pleasant wife changed into a fine lady by prosperity, or into a shrew by adversity; if a woman finds her once kind and manly husband turned into a fretful poltroon by misfortune, or into a lazy sensualist by wealth, these sorrowful changes are part of the reverses which have come upon them; they are among the consequences of having been lifted up or brought low; and in these also the apostle bids us rejoice. Before we can honestly give, or take, the apostles comfort, we must occupy his position, we must hold his convictions, we must rise to the full stature of men in Christ Jesus. St. James held that this world would soon pass away, and that we should still sooner pass out of it; but that there is another world in which we shall live for ever, and in which our conditions will be shaped by our character. In his view, therefore, the chief aim of every man was, or should be, to form in himself a character which would best fit him both for the life that now is, and for that which is to come. It mattered very little whether he was rich or poor in things which he must soon leave behind him: what did matter was that by the enjoyment or by the loss of these things he should be qualifying himself for, should be laying hold of, the life which is eternal. Whatever changes, whatever reverses, contributed to elevate, purify, complete the power and quality of his life, and stamp on it the characters of immortality, should therefore be welcome to him. (S. Cox, D. D.)
Human exaltation and humiliation
I. CHRISTIANITY TEACHES THAT MAN, HOWEVER LOW IN DEGREE, IS MAN STILL. The millions are not aware of the greatness of their nature. Spite of the fall, man still possesses intelligence, conscience, moral sensibility, and power to will. Redemption comes to him as an angel of light, and proposes to take the wanderer by the hand, and conduct him to the great Father–to glory and perfection.
II. CHRISTIANITY TEACHES THAT MAN, HOWEVER EXALTED IN POSITION, IS BUT MAN. It is as great an error in the rich to think too highly of themselves as it is for the poor to think too meanly of themselves. The spirit of many is, that pence make shillings, shillings make pounds, and pounds make men. How common, but how erroneous this! Christianity gives us the true idea of humanity. Only let its light enter the mind–then the poor, the degraded, the rude barbarian, the privileged Jew, the philosophic Greek, and the cultivated European, will feel that they are men, and but men. The one is exalted, the Other is made low.
III. CHRISTIANITY TEACHES THAT ALL MEN, INDEPENDENT OF CIRCUMSTANCES, ARE EQUAL. The brother of low degree and the rich are one in everything which constitutes man.
1. Physically (Gen 3:20; Gen 10:32; Act 17:26).
2. Morally. Our common depravity proves the oneness of the race.
IV. CHRISTIANITY TEACHES THAT MAN IS THE SUBJECT OF GREAT VICISSITUDES.
1. Riches are not of human, but of Divine disposal.
2. Riches and poverty are no proof of Divine pleasure and displeasure.
3. The only test of Divine approval or disapproval is moral character.
V. CHRISTIANITY TEACHES THAT THE EXALTATION OF THE POOR AND THE HUMILIATION OF THE RICH ARE SOURCES OF REJOICING. They now see their nature in the light of Christianity. Their errors are corrected; they now think of themselves as they ought to think; they now behold their equality with each other. Between them there is no feeling of superiority and inferiority. They rejoice in their common brotherhood and oneness. (J. Briggs.)
The true Christian temper
1. The people of God are brethren. They are begotten by the same Spirit, by the same immortal seed of the Word. They have many engagements upon them to all social and brotherly affection. Ah! then live and love as brethren. Averseness of heart and carriage will not stand with this sweet relation.
2. He saith of low degree, and yet brother. Meanness doth not take away Church relations. Christian respects are not to be measured by these outward things; a man is not to be measured by them, therefore certainly not a Christian. We choose a horse by his strength and swiftness, not the gaudiness of his trappings; that which Christians should look at is not these outward additaments, but the eminency of grace (Jam 2:1).
3. Not a man of low degree, but a brother. It is not poverty, but poor Christianity that occasioneth joy and comfort.
4. From the word –it signifieth both humble, and of low degree–observe, that the meanest have the greatest reason to be humble; their condition always maketh the grace in season–poverty and pride are most unsuitable. It was one of Solomons odd sights, to see servants on horseback, and princes going on foot (Ecc 10:7). A poor proud man is a prodigy of pride; he hath less temptation to be proud, he hath more reason to be humble.
5. God may set His people in the lowest rank of men. A brother may be , base and abject, in regard of his outward condition. The Captain of salvation, the Son of God Himself, was despised and rejected of men (Isa 53:3); in the original, the leaving-off of men; implying that He appeared in such a form and rank that He could scarce be said to be man, but as if He were to be reckoned among some baser kind of creatures; as Psa 22:6.
6. From that let the brother of low degree glory. That the most abject condition will not excuse us from murmuring: though you be abase, yet you may rejoice and glory in the Lord. A man cannot sink so low as to be past the help of spiritual comforts. Though the worst thing were happened to you, poverty, loss of goods, exile, yet in all this there is no ground of impatience: the brother of low degree may pitch upon something in which he may glory. Well, then, do not excuse passion by misery, and blame your condition when you should blame yourselves: it is not your misery, but your passions, that occasion sin; wormwood is not poison.
7. From that rejoice, or glory, or boast. There is a concession of some kind of boasting to a Christian: he may glory in his privileges. To state this matter, I shall show you–
(1) How he may not boast.
(a) Not to set off self, self-worth, self-merits; so the apostles reproof is just (1Co 4:7).
(b) Not to vaunt it over others (Isa 65:5).
(2) How he may boast.
(a) If it he for the glory of God, to exalt God, not ourselves (Psa 34:2).
(b) To set out the worth of your privileges (Rom 5:3).
8. From that he is exalted. That grace is a preferment and exaltation; even those of low degree may be thus exalted. All the comforts of Christianity are such as are riddles and contradictions to the flesh: poverty is preferment; servants are freemen, the Lords freemen (1Co 7:22). The privileges of Christianity take off all the ignominy of the world.
9. The greatest abasures and sufferings for Christ are an honour to us Act 5:41). (T. Manrope.)
Rejoicing in God
If any object here that St. James willeth the brother of low degree to rejoice when he is exalted, and the rich man when he is made low, which seemeth contrary to other Scriptures, where we are exhorted to rejoice only in God, as Jer 9:23-24; Php 4:4, hereunto the answer is easy. First, if we acknowledge whatsoever happeneth unto us to be from God, who both casteth down and lifteth up, then either in our low degree being exalted, or in our riches being humbled, to rejoice is to rejoice in that God sendeth, and so to rejoice in the Lord. Secondly, if again we look into our own wretched condition, who of ourselves have nothing, but whatsoever we have we have received it, then in the things which we have received moderately to rejoice is also to rejoice in the Lord, who is the Fountain of all graces and blessings. Finally, if we hold this as a ground and foundation that all good gifts flowing unto man grow of His mere favour and mercy, and not from any merit or desert of ours, then in the good blessings of God, of exaltation, advancement, glory, or other whatsoever, to rejoice is godly, Christian, and dutiful; and thus men rejoicing rejoice in the Lord. The Apostle James, then, in exhorting the brother of low degree to rejoice when he is exalted, and the rich in like manner when he is made low, is in all points answerable unto other Scriptures, wherein we are required to rejoice in the Lord, for thus for Gods sake, and in obedience of His commandments to rejoice, is to rejoice in the Lord also. (R. Turnbull.)
Chastening and reward
In the Old Testament worldly wealth is set forth as the reward of righteousness; in the New Testament poverty is commended and riches contemned. When mankind were in their infancy God rewarded them as infants; but on their attaining to years of discretion He sets before them worthier treasures than those things that perish in the using. When, therefore, Christians look on wealth as the reward of righteousness, they are as grown-up sons mistaking nursery toys for their inheritance. God has, as it were, opened our nursery door, and shown to us the splendid domain to which we are heirs, and bus bid us go forth and fit ourselves for the larger life. When, then, He puts away our toys, and sends us to school to learn the duties of the life before us, shall we, as silly children, sit down and cry over our banished plaything rather than submit to the discipline wherein we may learn how to acquit ourselves as men? Do we wish to go into the next stage of being mere milksops, having all to learn which we ought to have learned here? Earthly wealth is a thing of sight, and just in so far as it is loved and leaned on is it a hindrance to the development of faith. If we have grown accustomed to measure lifes enjoyment and lifes success by the money we possess, shall we notbe at a great disadvantage when we enter a sphere where money is unknown? Christians have been so swept along by the rush of the world after pleasures that wealth procures, that they are little aware of their unfitness for higher joys. (The Christian World Pulpit.)
Exaltation and humiliation
What is the meaning of the high estate () in which the brother of low degree is to glory, and of the being made low (), in which the rich man is to do the same? At first sight one is disposed to say that the one is the heavenly birthright, and the other the Divine humiliation, in which every one shares who becomes a member of Christ; in fact, that they are the same thing looked at from different points of view; for what to the Christian is promotion, to the world seems degradation. If this were correct, then we should have an antithesis analogous to that in 1Co 7:22. But on further consideration this attractive explanation is found not to suit the context. What analogy is there between the humiliation in which every Christian glories in Christ and the withering of herbage under a scorching wind? Even if we could allow that this metaphor refers to the fugitive character of earthly possessions, what has that to do with Christian humiliation, which does not depend upon either the presence or the absence of wealth? Moreover, St. James says nothing about the fugitiveness of riches: it is the rich man himself, and not his wealth, that is said to pass away, and to fade away in his goings. It is a baseless assumption to suppose that the rich man here spoken of is a Christian at all. The brother of low degree is contrasted, not with the brother who is rich, but with the rich man, whose miserable destiny shows that he is not a brother, i.e., not a believer. The latter is the wealthy Jew who rejects Christ. Throughout this Epistle Jam 2:6-7; Jam 5:1-6) rich is a term of reproach. This is what is meant by the Ebionite tone of the Epistle; for poverty is the condition which Ebionism delights to honour. In this St. James seems to be reproducing the thoughts both of Jesus Christ and of Jesus the son of Sirach (Luk 6:25-26; cf. Mat 19:23-25; Sir 13:3; Sir 13:20). But when we have arrived at the conclusion that the being made low does not refer to the humiliation of the Christian, and that the rich man here threatened with a miserable end is not a believer, a new difficulty arises. What is the meaning of the wealthy unbeliever being told to glory in the degradation which is to prove so calamitous to him? In the exhortation to the rich man St. James speaks in severe irony: Let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate; and the rich man–what is he to glory in?–let him glory in the only thing upon which he can count with certainty, viz., his being brought low; because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. Whether or no this interpretation be accepted it must be clearly borne in mind that no explanation can be correct which does not preserve the connection between the humiliation of the rich man and his passing away as the flower of the grass. This fading away is his humiliation, is the thing in which he is to glory, if he glories in anything at all. The inexorable because must not be ignored or explained away by making the wealth of the rich man shrivel up, when St. James twice over says that it is the rich man himself who fades away. (A. Plummer, D. D.)
The gospel exalting the humble Christian and abasing the rich
I. THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE GOOD THINGS OF THIS LIFE IS A FACT WHICH HAS OFTEN PROVED A STUMBLING-BLOCK TO PROUD UNBELIEVERS.
1. The poor Christian is here called a brother: and this title at once marks his real dignity. He has been adopted into the family of Heaven. He is a child of God, a brother of Christ, an heir of glory.
2. It is not only by the nobleness of their future and eternal prospects that the gospel exalts the poor: it equally exalts them as to their present condition and enjoyments. See how it raises them above all those little envyings and grudgings which are too often found in their station of life. It sets before them the true riches, and thus makes them indifferent about the things of this present evil world.
3. It exalts them above many of the cares of life. While others are running here and there for meat, etc.
incessantly crying, Who will show us any good? and suffering from continual fears of not being provided for–the Christian looks up to that bountiful Hand which has never failed him yet, and which, he knows, never will.
4. The gospel exalts the brother of low degree, even in his mind and ideas. Worldly learning has indeed its use; and it is a gift of God, for which those who possess it should be thankful; yet is it good for nothing to the owner, if he be at the same time destitute of that wisdom which cometh from above. It is recorded of a certain great scholar that he exclaimed on his deathbed, Alas! I have wasted my life in laborious trifling.
5. We might proceed to show, in several other instances, how the gospel, when received into the heart, improves and exalts the poor of this world–how it creates in them habits of industry, cleanliness, regularity, temperance, domestic affection, liberality, brotherly kindness, and every social virtue.
II. THE RICHER CLASS OF CHRISTIANS HAVE ABUNDANT CAUSE TO REJOICE IN THAT ABASEMENT WHICH THE GOSPEL BRINGS WITH IT.
1. Riches themselves are a dreadful clog upon the soul.
2. It is not riches alone that are hurtful to the soul; it is what accompanies wealth, or the higher stations of life, that is so dangerous.
3. Look, again, at the mode of life which prevails among the better classes of society, and there see what dangers surround them on every side. The leisure which the better classes enjoy gives the tempter many a fatal opportunity against them. This leisure must be filled up: for the human mind has an insatiable appetite; and while Satan does everything in his power to keep it from its proper nourishment, the bread of life, he always takes care, in the meanwhile, to supply it abundantly with the poisonous husks of worldly pleasure-in the shape of trifling and seductive books, fashionable parties, public amusements, &c.
If, therefore, at any time the grace of God touches the heart of one who is surrounded by these temptations–humbling him in true repentance, and bringing him to a genuine and active faith in Christ–how clearly do we then perceive the motive for the apostles exhortation.
1. Let him rejoice that he is made low in the spirit of his mind, and in his estimate of his own state and character.
2. In his estimate of the world, and his expectations from 2:3. Should God lay His chastening hand heavily upon the rich brother–to reduce him from affluence to poverty–to bereave him of the dear objects of his affection–to visit him with bodily pain and sickness–or even to bring upon him all these calamities together; yet, even then, he would have cause to rejoice–yes, to rejoice in that he is thus made low; for affliction is the peculiar mark of the Lords children; and sanctified affliction is one of the best and most profitable gifts His fatherly wisdom ever bestows on them. (W. Hancock, B. D.)
The rich in that he is made low
The rich brother
I. WEALTH IS COMPATIBLE WITH PERSONAL RELIGION. Some, in successive ages of the world, have been arrested by Divine grace amidst the splendour of high estate, and, feeling that these are but a paltry portion for a spirit fallen by sin and doomed to immortality, have sought a richer boon–a nobler birthright. Many, too, who were brought to Christ when moving in a humble sphere have, by diligence, honesty, and temperance, become the possessors of a considerable amount of worldly riches. And fearful though it be for a man to be rich before he is converted, and necessary as vigilance ever is, as to others, so not least to the rich believer, piety may flourish as truly in the sumptuous hall as at the cottage-hearth.
II. THE RICH BROTHER IS LOWLY. He knows the grandeur and purity of God, and he knows the weakness and corruption of his own soul. He feels how unsatisfactory earthly possessions are. He realises that decisive event which is sure to scatter mans accumulated treasures to the winds, and to lay all earthly honours in the dust. And as for the faith which brought peace and safety to his soul, and the piety that holds its dwelling in his heart, he is ready to exclaim (1Co 15:10).
III. THE RICH BROTHER IS HERE CALLED TO TRIUMPH IN HIS LOWLINESS. Christian humility, on the part of the wealthy believer, is a favourable symptom of his state. It is, according to an oft-repeated principle of Scripture, a prelude of future advancement in the scale of dignity and blessedness. It is an important qualification for a considerate distribution of wealth among the destitute. And finally, it is what the unsatisfactoriness, and transitoriness of earthly riches, and the weakness, as well as sinfulness, of their possessor, may well inspire. (A. S. Patterson, D. D.)
Riches
1. Riches are not altogether inconsistent with Christianity. Usually they are a great snare. The moon never suffers eclipse but when it is at the full; and usually in our fulness we miscarry (Mat 19:24). Plato, a heathen, saith the same almost with Christ, that it is impossible for a man to be eminently rich and eminently good. But you will say, What will you have Christians to do then–in a lavish luxury to throw away their estates? or in an excess of charity to make others full, when themselves are empty? No (see Mat 19:26; Mar 10:23-24). Riches in the having, in the bare possession, are not a hindrance to Christianity, but in our abuse of them. Your possessions will not be your ruin till your corruptions mingle with them. Under the law the poor and rich were to pay the same ransom Exo 30:15), intimating they may have interest in the same Christ. Riches in themselves are Gods blessings that come within a promise. Yea, riches with a blessing are so far from being a hindrance to grace, that they are an ornament to it (Pro 14:24).
2. A. rich mans humility is his glory. Your excellency cloth not lie in the splendour of your condition, but in the meekness of your hearts. Humility is not only a clothing–Put on humbleness of mind (Col 3:12)–but an ornament. Be decked with humility (1Pe 5:5). A high mind and a low condition are all one to the Lord, only poverty hath the advantage, because it is usually gracious. If any may glory, they may glory that have most arguments of Gods love. Now a lowly mind is a far better testimony of it than a high estate. And so before men, as Augustine said, he is a great man that is not lifted up because of his greatness. You are not better than others by your estate, but your meekness. The apostles possessed all things though they had nothing. They have more than you if they have a humble heart.
3. The way to be humble is to count the worlds advantages our abasement. The poor man must glory in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is made low. Honours and riches do but set us beneath other men, rather than above them, and do rather abate from than add anything to you; and it may be you have less of the Spirit because you have more of the world.
4. If we would be made low in the midst of worldly enjoyments, we should consider the uncertainty of them. Outward riches are so far from being the best things, that they rather are not anything at all. Solomon calleth them that which is not; and who ever loved nothing, and would be proud of that which is not?
5. The uncertainty of worldly enjoyments may be well resembled by a flower–beautiful, but fading.
(1) Though the things of the world are specious, yet they should not allure us, because they are fading. Flowers are sweet, and affect the eye, but their beauty is soon scorched; the soul is for an eternal good, that it may have a happiness suitable to its own duration. An immortal soul cannot have full contentment in that which is fading. When the creatures tempt you, be not enticed by the beauty of them, so as to forget their vanity. Say, Here is a flower, glorious, but fading; glass that is bright, but brittle.
(2) The fairest things are most fading. Creatures, when they come to their excellency, then they decay, as herbs, when they come to flower, they begin to wither; or, as the sun when it cometh to the zenith, then it declineth. Man at his best estate is altogether vanity (Psa 39:5); not at his worst only, when the feebleness and inconveniences of old age have surprised him. So the prophet speaketh of a grasshopper in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth (Amo 7:1). As soon as the ground recovered any verdure and greenness, presently there came a grasshopper to devour the herbage: the meaning is, a new affliction as soon as they began to flourish. Well, then, suspect these outward things when you most abound in them. (T. Manton.)
Improved by adversity
Many Christian people are like some evening primroses, for whose opening we watched with some friends the other evening. It was a common-looking plant, and the buds were tightly wrapped up so long as the sun shone, and gave but faint promise of the coming beauty. But the moment the sun disappeared, and the gloom of the coming night was threatened in the darkening twilight, they suddenly burst their bonds, displaying sweet blossoms that crowned the homely stock with golden glory. So there are many men and women whose lives are homely and hard and selfish, until their sun of prosperity sets, and the gloom of coming sorrow overshadows them, when, unexpectedly, under that touch of trouble, a hidden bud blossoms in beauty and a sweetness of spirit and character that crowns the whole stock of their lives with goodness and glory.
As the flower of the grass he shall pass away
The blade of grass
St. James plays the fabulist, or historian here, and narrates the sad end of a certain blade of grass. In whose field, then, did this grass grow? All the commentators reply, In that of the prophet Isaiah. St. James is here falling back on Old Testament words which would be familiar to the Jews for whom he wrote–words which his story would be sure to recall to their minds.
I. THE STORY OF THE BLADE OF GRASS (Isa 40:6-8). As we listen to the prophet, imagination stirs and works; we see the broad, pleasant field bathed in sunlight, fanned with sweet airs, thick with verdant grass, gay with the purely tinted, fragrant wild flowers which clothe the grass as with the robes of a king; and then we feel the fierce, hot blast sweep across the field, under whose breath the grass withers, the bright flowers fade, and all that teeming life, all that exquisite and varied beauty, is swallowed up of death. Who does not feel at times that that is a true picture of human life? And remembering how, in this field, every separate blade of grass and every fragile flower has its own little world of hopes and fears, joys and pains, who can fail to be saddened as he beholds them withered by a breath, their early promise unfulfilled, their goodliness not ripening to its maturity? All flesh is grass–all the great heathen races; but also this people is grass–a grass which withers like the rest. Like their neighbours, the Jews were in a constant flux, vexed by constant change. One generation came, and another went. The life, vexed with perpetual changes while it lasted, never continuing in one stay, was soon over and gone. Their only hope lay in obedience to the Divine Word, in appropriating that Word, in steeping their life in it till it became enduring as the Word itself.
II. THE MORAL OF THIS STORY. St. James is not content with a lesson so large and general as had contented Isaiah. He has a special purpose in view in telling the story which called up memories, prophetic and historic, from the past. As he had taken a single blade of grass out of Isaiahs broad field, so he selects one man, or one class of men, for special warning. The blade of grass reminds us that human life soon withers, that human fortune often withers even before the man dies. Yes; but it also reminds us that some men wither even while they retain the full vigour of their life, and their good fortune abides. The rich man withers in his ways, in his goings to and fro along the lines of his traffic, before his health is touched, before his wealth is touched. And therefore, argues St. James, the rich man should rejoice when his riches use their wings and fly away. The alternative the apostle places before him is this: Let the wealth wither that the man may live, or let the man wither amid the abundance of his wealth. It is a hard saying I but, before we reject it as too hard for practical use, let us clearly understand what it means. James had just said, Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is lifted up, but the rich in that he is brought low. Now, however much we may dislike the injunction, or part of it, can we deny that it is based on a true, on a Christian, view of human life? Are not sudden and large reverses of condition severe and searching tests of character? Does it not take a very good poor man to ride straight to God when he is set on horseback, and a very good rich man not to break down when he is brought low? Great reverses of fortune are very searching and conclusive tests of character. And can we expect a Christian teacher to bid us grieve over any reverse by which our character is tested, matured, perfected? The wealth and the poverty will soon pass, but the character will remain, and will determine our destiny. Does any one object, It may be easy enough for a poor man to be glad when he gets rich; but how is a rich man to rejoice when he becomes poor? You ask too much of us, more than it is in man to give. I reply: You are not speaking, and you know that you are not speaking, from the Christian point of view, in the spirit of Him who, when He was rich, for our sakes became poor. You are putting circumstances before character, transitory gains and pleasures before abiding and eternal realities. St. James himself felt that the latter half of his injunction was hard to flesh and blood; in demanding that the rich man should rejoice whenever he is brought low, he felt that he was imposing a very severe test on character, a very heavy strain on virtue. And that, I suppose, is why he told his story of the blade of grass, to which at last we come back. What he meant was, I think, to this effect: You remember the prophet Isaiahs field of grass, and how it withered beneath the scorching heat, so that the flower thereof fell off, and the grace of its form perished. The rich man is often like a blade of that grass. The sun of prosperity shines on him more hotly than he can bear; all the promise and beauty of his nature fade beneath the scorching heat; he withers in his ways, in the multitude and perplexity of his schemes and pursuits: his fortune grows, but the man decays, dies before his time, dies even long before he ceases to breathe and traffic. Douglas Jerrold, one of our keenest wits and satirists, has depicted a man made of money. He had only to put his hand into his breast to find it full of banknotes; but as he draws away note after note, he drains away his vitality; he dwindles and pines amid his vast schemes and luxuries month by month, till he wastes into a mere shadow, till the very shadow disappears. The picture is hardly a satire, it is so mere a comonplace. Every day we live we may see men dying of wealth, all that is manly, all that is fine and pure and noble in character, perishing as their fortunes grow. The warning comes home to us in this age as in few previous eras of the world; for our whole life is so rapid and intense, our business is such a strenuous and exhausting competition, we are solicited by so many schemes for our own advancement, or for the good of the town in which we dwell, or for the benefit of the commonwealth of which we form part, that it is almost impossible to make leisure for thought, for a quiet enjoyment of what we have gained, or for those religious meditations and exercises on which our spiritual health in large measure depends. We are literally withering away in our ways, so many are the paths we have to tread, so rapid the pace we have to maintain, so scorching and tainted the atmosphere we breathe. And hence, whether we are rich, or seeking riches, or are labouring with anxious and fretting care for a bare competence, we all need to take heed to the warning which speaks to us as to men; i.e., as to spiritual and immortal creatures, children of God and heirs of eternity. If we would not Suffer this world, which holds us by ties so many, so strong, and so exacting, to crush all high spiritual manhood out of us, we must set ourselves to be in this world as Christ was in the world. Let the mind that was in Christ be in us also; let us cultivate His preference of duty to pleasure, of service to gain, of doing good to getting good; and instead of withering away in our ways, we shall find every path in which we walk a path of life, a path that leads us home. (S. Cox, D. D.)
The metaphors of St. James
The metaphor here used of the rich man is common enough in the Old Testament. Man cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down, says Job, in his complaint (Job 14:2); and, As for man, his days are as grass, etc., says the Psalmist (Psa 103:15-16). But elsewhere, with a closer similarity to the present passage, we have this transitory character specially attributed to the ungodly (Psa 37:2). None of these passages, however, are so clearly in St. Jamess mind as the words of Isaiah (Isa 40:6-7). Here the words of St. James are almost identical with those of the Septuagint. Grass throughout is a comprehensive term for herbage, and the flower of grass does not mean the bloom or blossom of grass in the narrower sense, but the wild flowers, specially abundant and brilliant in the Holy Land, which grow among the grass. The scorching wind ( ) is one of the features of the Epistle which harmonise well with the fact that the writer was an inhabitant of Palestine. It is the furnacelike blast from the arid wilderness to the east of the Jordan. The fig-tree, olives, and vine (Jam 3:12) are the chief fruit-trees of Palestine; and the early and latter rain (Jam 5:7) points still more clearly to the same district. It has been remarked with justice that whereas St. Paul for the most part draws his metaphors from the scenes of human activity–building, husbandry, athletic contests, and warfare–St. James prefers to take his metaphors from the scenes of nature. In this chapter we have the surge of the sea (verse 6) and the flower of the grass (verse 10). In the third chapter we have the rough winds driving the ships, the wood kindled by a small fire, the wheel of nature, every kind of beasts and birds, of creeping things, and things in the sea, the fountain sending forth sweet water, the fig-tree and vine (verses 4-7, 11, 12). In the fourth chapter human life is a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (verse 14). And in the last chapter, besides the moth and the rust, we have the fruit of the earth, and the early and latter rain (verses 2, 3, 7, 18). These instances are certainly very numerous, when the brevity of the Epistle is considered. The love of nature which breathes through them was no doubt learned and cherished in the village home at Nazareth, and it forms another link between St. James and his Divine Brother. Nearly every one of the natural phenomena to which St. James directs attention in this letter are used by Christ also in His teaching. In some cases the use made by St. James of these natural objects is very similar to that made by our Lord, and it may well be that what he writes is a reminiscence of what he had heard years before from Christs lips; but in other cases the use is quite different, and must be assigned to the love of nature, and the recognition of its fitness for teaching spiritual truths, which is common to the Lord and His brother. But there is this great difference between Christs teaching from nature and that of St. James: St. James recognises in the order and beauty of the universe a revelation of Divine truth, and makes use of the facts of the external world to teach spiritual lessons; the incarnate Word, in drawing spiritual lessons from the external world, could expound the meaning of a universe which He Himself had made. In the one case it is a disciple of nature who imparts to us the lore which he himself has learned; in the other it is the Master of nature, who points out to us the meaning of His own world, and interprets to us the voices of the winds and the waves, which obey him. (A. Plummer, D. D.)
So also shall the rich man fade away
Fading splendour
I. We delight in pictures and emblems, for then the soul, by the help of fancy, hath a double view of the object in the similitude, which is, as it were, a picture of it, and then the thing itself. This was Gods ancient way to teach His people by types; still He teacheth us by similitudes taken from common objects, that when we are cast upon them, spiritual thoughts may be awakened; and so every ordinary object is, as it were, consecrated to a heavenly purpose. Well, then, let this be your field meditation; when you see them decked with a great deal of bravery, remember all this is gone in an instant when the burning heat ariseth.
2. Our comforts are perishing in themselves, but especially when the hand of Providence is stretched out against them. The flower fadeth of itself, but chiefly when it is scorched by the glowing, burning east wind. Our hearts should be loose at all times from outward things, but especially in times of public desolation; it is a sin against Providence to effect great things; when God is overturning all, then there is a burning heat upon the flowers, and God is gone forth to blast worldly glory (Jer 45:4-5).
There are three sins especially by which you make Providence your enemy, and so the creatures more vain.
1. When you abuse them to serve your lusts. Where there is pride and wantonness, you may look for a burning; certainly your flowers will be scorched and dried up.
2. When you make them objects of trust. God can brook no rivals; trust being the fairest and best respect of the creatures, it must not be intercepted, but ascend to God.
3. Worldly men pursue wealth with great care and industry. The rich turneth hither and thither, he hath several ways whereby to accomplish his ends. What pains do men take for things that perish! Do but observe their incessant care and unwearied industry, and say, how well would this suit with the heavenly treasure! It is a pity a plant that would thrive so well in Canaan should still grow in the soil of Egypt; that the zealous earnestness of the soul should be misplaced, and we should take more pains to be rich unto the world than to be rich towards God (Luk 12:21). Shall a lust have more power upon them than the love of God upon me? And when we see men cumber themselves with much serving, and bustling up and down in the world, and all for riches that take themselves wings and fly away, we may be ashamed that we do so little for Christ, and they do so much for wealth.
4. Lastly, again, from that in his ways, or journeys. All our endeavours will be fruitless if Gods hand be against us. As the flower to the burning heat, so is the rich man in his ways; that is, notwithstanding all his industry and care, God may soon blast him: they earned wages, but put it in a bag with holes (Hag 1:6), that is, their gains did not thrive with them. Peter toiled all night but caught nothing, till he took Christ into the boat (Luk 5:5). So you will catch nothing, nothing with comfort and profit, till you take God along with you Psa 127:2). (T. Manton.)
Delusive nature of riches
There is a fable of a covetous man who chanced to find his way, one moonlight night, into a fairys palace. There he saw bars, apparently of solid gold, strewn on every side; and he was permitted to take away as many as he could carry. In the morning, when the sun rose on his imaginary treasure, borne home with so much toil, behold I there was only a bundle of sticks; and invisible beings filled the air around him with scornful laughter. Such shall be the confusion of many a man that died in this world worth his thousands, and woke up in the next world not only miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Rev 3:17), but in presence of a heap of fuel stored up against the great day of burning (Rom 2:5).
How to be rich
Do all rich men know how to be rich? He does not know how to do anything who does that thing so that he brings it to its worst and not its best results. Is that not true? A man does not know how to sail a ship who steers it so that when it ought to go to Liverpool he brings it into Madagascar. Where is the ship of wealth then meant to sail? Her port is clear and certain–to generosity and sympathy, and fineness of nature, and healthy use of powers. What shall we say, then, of the man whose money makes him selfish and cruel, and coarse and idle, or any one of these bad things? There are many hard names which we may call him by, but the real philosophy of the whole matter, the comprehensive definition of it all, is this–he does not know how to be rich! He is a blunderer in a great art. Look at his opposite. Look at the man who takes money into the easy mastery of his character, appropriates it. He makes it part of him. The richer that he grows the more generous and sympathetic and fine and active he becomes. What can you say of him but that he does know how to be rich. I say of a man that he knows how to travel when he makes each new country, as be enters it, open its secrets and render up to him new interest and knowledge. I say of a man that he does not know how to swim when the water takes possession of him and drowns him in itself. So I say that a man does not know how to be rich when his money makes him its slave, and turns him into a coarseness like itself instead of being elevated and refined by the commanding spirituality of his human soul. (Bp. Phillips Brooks.)
Dying rich
What an awful thing it is to die rich! Imagine the Master auditing the account of a servant who has left behind a million! If that poor wretch who had but one talent was cast into outer darkness because he laid it up instead of using it in his Masters service, what will be the doom of those who, with their half millions and millions (while giving, it may be, a few thousands for decencys sake), have, year after year, hoarded up countless treasures which they could never use? Think of the poor saints pinched with cold and hunger! Think of the Redeemers cause languishing for the want of that filthy lucre which they hold with close-fisted selfishness! Yet listen to their talk! I am but a steward. I am not my own. Every believer in Jesus is my brother or sister. What a mockery! Will not this be the Masters language to many a professor: Out of thine own mouth will I condemn thee?
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 9. Let the brother of low degree] The poor, destitute Christian may glory in the cross of Christ, and the blessed hope laid up for him in heaven; for, being a child of God, he is an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Let the brother; i.e. the believer, (for to such he writes), all believers, or saints, being brethren in Christ, 1Co 16:20; 1Th 5:26; 1Ti 6:2.
Of low degree; the Greek word signifies both lowliness of mind and lowness of condition, (as the Hebrew word doth, to which it answers), but here is to be understood of the latter, {as Luk 1:48} but especially of such a low estate as a man is brought into for Christs sake and the gospels.
Rojoice in that he is exalted; either exalted to be a brother, a member of Christ, a child of God, and heir of glory, which is the greatest preferment; or exalted to the honour of suffering for Christ: see Act 5:41; Rom 5:3.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9, 10. Translate, “Butlet the brother,” c. that is, the best remedy againstdouble-mindedness is that Christian simplicity ofspirit whereby the “brother,” low in outward circumstances,may “rejoice” (answering to Jas1:2) “in that he is exalted,” namely, by beingaccounted a son and heir of God, his very sufferings being a pledgeof his coming glory and crown (Jas1:12), and the rich may rejoice “in that he is made low,”by being stripped of his goods for Christ’s sake [MENOCHIUS]or in that he is made, by sanctified trials, lowly in spirit, whichis true matter for rejoicing [GOMARUS].The design of the Epistle is to reduce all things to an equablefooting (Jas 2:1; Jas 5:13).The “low,” rather than the “rich,” is here called”the brother” [BENGEL].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Let the brother of low degree,…. By “the brother” is meant, not one in a natural, but in a spiritual relation; one of Christ’s brethren, and who is of that family that is named of him; of the household of faith, and is in church communion: and whereas he is said to be of “low degree”, or “humble”, this regards not the affection of his mind, or his conduct and deportment, he being meek and lowly, and clothed with humility, as every brother is, or ought to be; but his outward state and condition, being, as to the things of this world, poor, and mean in his outward circumstances, and so humbled and afflicted. This appears from the rich man, who, in the next verse, is opposed unto him, and distinguished from him; see
Ps 62:9 such an one is advised to
rejoice in that he is exalted; or to “glory in his exaltation”; in that high estate, to which he is advanced; for a person may be very low and mean, as to his worldly circumstances, and yet be very high, and greatly exalted in a spiritual sense: and this height of honour and grandeur, of which he may boast and glory, amidst his outward poverty, lies in his high birth and descent, being born from above, and of God, and belonging to his family; in being an adopted Son of God, and so an heir of God, and a joint-heir with Christ, and of the heavenly inheritance and kingdom; in the present riches of grace he is possessed of, as justifying, pardoning, and sanctifying grace; and in the high titles he bears, as besides the new name, the name better than that of sons and daughters of the greatest potentate, even that of a Son of the Lord God Almighty, his being a King, and a priest unto God, and for whom a kingdom, crown, and throne are prepared; and also in the company he daily keeps, and is admitted to, as of God, and Christ, and the holy angels: and this height of honour have all the saints, be they ever so poor in this world, who can vie with the greatest of princes for sublimity and grandeur.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But (). Return to the point of view in verse 2.
Of low degree ( ). “The lowly” brother, in outward condition (Lu 1:52), humble and poor as in Ps 9:39; Prov 30:14, not the spiritually humble as in Matt 11:29; Jas 4:6. In the LXX was used for either the poor in goods or the poor in spirit. Christianity has glorified this word in both senses. Already the rich and the poor in the churches had their occasion for jealousies.
Glory in his high estate ( ). Paradox, but true. In his low estate he is “in his height” (, old word, in N.T., also in Luke 1:78; Eph 3:1; etc.).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
But. Omitted in A. V. Introducing a contrast with the double – minded. The brother of low degree [ ] . Lit., the brother, the lowly one. Not in the higher Christian sense of tapeinov (see on Mt 11:29), but, rather, poor and afflicted, as contrasted with rich. Rejoice [] . Not strong enough. It is, rather, boast. So Rev., glory. Compare Rom 5:3; Phi 3:3.
In that he is exalted [ ] . Lit., in his exaltation. Rev., in his high estate.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) The brother of low-degree (in outward appearance or worldly goods), let rejoice or glory in that he is exalted, lifted up, or gained in wisdom in the Spirit, because of his earnest imploring of God in faith.
2) God has chosen to bless, pour out His blessings, on even the poor in spirit who intreat Him (Mat 5:3; Jas 2:5; 1Co 4:10-13).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9 Let the brother of low degree. As Paul, exhorting servants submissively to bear their lot, sets before them this consolation, that they were the free-men of God, having been set free by his grace from the most miserable bondage of Satan, and reminds them, though free, yet to remember that they were the servants of God; so here James in the same manner bids the lowly to glory in this, that they had been adopted by the Lord as his children; and the rich, because they had been brought down into the same condition, the world’s vanity having been made evident to them. Thus the first thing he would have to do is to be content with their humble and low state; and he forbids the rich to be proud. Since it is incomparably the greatest dignity to be introduced into the company of angels, nay, to be made the associates of Christ, he who estimates this favor of God aright, will regard all other things as worthless. Then neither poverty, nor contempt, nor nakedness, nor famine nor thirst, will make his mind so anxious, but that he will sustain himself with this consolation. “Since the Lord has conferred on me the principal thing, it behooves me patiently to bear the loss of other things, which are inferior.”
Behold, how a lowly brother ought to glory in his elevation or exaltation; for if he be accepted of God, he has sufficient consolation in his adoption alone, so as not to grieve unduly for a less prosperous state of life.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Jas. 1:9. He is exalted.Or, in his exaltation; in his high estate. Low degree does not suggest caste, but poverty involving humiliation.
Jas. 1:10. Made low.Or, in his humiliation. These experiences being especially adapted to each, can be rejoiced in as disciplinary.
Jas. 1:11.The verbs are in the past tense; therefore translate, The sun arose with the burning heat, and dried up the grass; and the flower thereof fell away, and the grace of its fashion perished (Isa. 40:6-8).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Jas. 1:9-11
Discipline comes out of Changed Circumstances.It was a time in which there were frequent sudden changes in social and business circumstances. In a commercial age some rapidly acquire riches; in an age of national unsettledness and religious persecution some as rapidly lose their all. It is often said that the hardest thing in life is to come down gracefully. It would show a worthier estimate of human nature if we were to say, The hardest thing in life is to go up gracefully. Many more cases of moral ruin attend the sudden increase of riches, and elevation of station, than attend the loss of wealth and place. Nevertheless, men are always willing to stand the moral risk of going up, and never willing to choose the moral blessings that may attend coming down. St. James impresses that both changes are moral testings. The man who is low may look upon his elevation as a testing of his moral character, out of which increased virtue should come. The man who is high should look upon his misfortunes as Divine discipline, having in it a mission of moral blessing for him. So he who goes up may sincerely rejoice in the going up, and he who comes down may rejoice in coming down, since God is so evidently adapting His gracious discipline to each one. It is an advanced Christian thought to which every one cannot hope to attain.
I. The caste principle is found in all society.It may take exaggerated forms in India, and exclusive trade forms in countries such as China, but it is an essential feature of the aggregating, nationalising, and civilising of men. By various affinities men are drawn together into sets, and find their spheres and pleasures in their sets. Every man is born into a class, and fits to his class. Within his class he gets his own particular level by his ability or his means. The caste principle must never be thought of as only evil. It is mingled good and evil, and may be good in an important sense when the members of the various classes are swayed by altruistic principles, and accept the duty of serving one another. Our Lord said, Ye have the poor always with you; and He might also have said, Ye have the rich also with you.
II. The caste conditions of society are subject to change.The rich are brought low, and the poor are exalted. Proof and illustration are abundant in history, and obvious to experience and observation. It may suffice to show
(1) that the accidents of life are constantly changing class conditions;
(2) the rewards of human enterprise are constantly changing class conditions; and
(3) Divinely ordered providences are also constantly changing class conditions. Poor Joseph becomes rich. Rich Job becomes poor. These are types with great followings.
III. The changed caste conditions of society are disciplinary agencies.And the discipline comes to both those who go up and those who come down, because
(1) in either case new associations have to be made, and to them the new life has to be fitted; and
(2) because the old life may be so seriously out of harmony with the new, that the work of fitting to the new may cost severe strain. It may mean earnest self-culturecutting off right hand, plucking out right eye. But discipline through Divine providences has this consolation in itit is meant to secure for us the highest good. It can only be our own fault if we miss that highest good.
The Crown of Life.This is a figure for the results accomplished in character, by the resolute, persistent, and heroic endeavour to live wisely and worthily and well. Such efforts are crowned with
(1) a spirit of firm endurance;
(2) an unshakeable steadfastness;
(3) a great tenacity of purpose; and
(4) a quenchless enthusiasm for the right, the true, the pure, and the good. Established and confirmed principles of character are the crown of life,the crown which God gives, though it seems to come in a natural way; the crown which is His recognition and reward.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Jas. 1:9. Pride in Disguise.There is no praise from the plain St. James for the pride which apes humility, nor for the affectation which loves to be despised.
The Anxiety of Riches.The rich man is in no sense to be envied, i.e. the man who trusts in his riches. He is a heavily burdened man. His anxiety concerns
1. The retention of his riches. His fear is seen in exaggerated form in the miser. The rich farmer was worried to know where to bestow all his fruits and his goods. The rich man is perplexed in these times to know how to put out his money safely, and has to be satisfied with small interest.
2. The use or misuse of his money. He may easily spend it in self-indulgences that bring ruin on himself, body and soul. He may easily neglect to help others with his wealth, and so bring down on himself the curse of the poor and the judgment of God.
3. The future, into which he can neither carry his riches, nor anything that his riches have obtained for him. In view of the worries that riches bring, we may wisely pray the prayer of Agur, Give me neither poverty nor riches.
Riches a Natural Acquisition.Man was born to be rich, or inevitably grows rich by the use of his faculties, by the union of thought with nature. Property is an intellectual production. The game requires coolness, right-reasoning, promptness, and patience in the players. Cultivated labour drives out brute labour.Emerson.
Jas. 1:9-11. Exaltings and Humblings.
I. The reasons for the rejoicing of the poor.I.e. of the pious poor. They are exalted
1. Inwardly, by the renewal of their nature.
2. Outwardly, by dominion over self.
3. In rank, by high dignity.
4. By communion with the best intelligences.
5. By the endowment of the best influences.
6. By raising them above the temptations of their condition.
7. By enabling them to adorn all the relationships of life.
8. By raising them to the most sublime felicity.
9. By inspiring them with bright hopes of immortality.
II. The reasons for the rejoicing of the rich.I.e. of the pious rich. 1. They are delivered from proud self-exaltation.
2. From the fictitiousness of worldly distinctions.
3. They are conformed to the image of Christ.
4. Able to realise heavens honours.
5. They have treasures laid up for them for eternity.
6. They are weaned from the world.
7. They are ascending by the cross to eternal bliss.Dr. J. Burns.
Jas. 1:10. The Emblem of the Grass.Describe the peculiarities of the grass in hot Eastern lands.
1. It shows well.
2. It fades suddenlyunder scorching wind and sun.
3. It is lost utterlyat least for the season, and until God sends the reviving rains.
Jas. 1:11. Rich Commercial Jews.In his ways; R.V. goings. There seems, moreover, looking closely at the text, a special fitness in its exact words; for they mean that the rich shall perish in their journeyings for the sake of gain; and to no people could the rebuke apply more sharply than to the Jews, the lenders unto many nations (Deu. 15:6), the merchants and bankers of the world.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE ANTICIPATION OF THE RICH AND LOWLY
Text 1:911
9.
But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate:
10.
and the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
11.
For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass; and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so shall the rich man fade away in his goings.
Queries
25.
How could a Christian be a brother of low degree? (To find the correct answer in this passage, search these few verses to find with what this brother of low degree is contrasted.)
26.
With whom is the high estate of this brother of low degree associated? (Php. 3:14)
27.
If this brother is poverty stricken, doing menial work that pays very little; and has met other personal misfortunes in his life, how can it be said he has a high estate? (Give several ways in which this estate is tremendous. You might want to look up estate in the dictionary.)
28.
If the rich man of Jas. 1:10 is a Christian Brother, then in what way is he made low?
29.
If the rich man is not a Christian, how is he made low?
30.
Which seems more likely, that this rich man is a Christian, or not? (Note what is to pass away. Will it be his riches that pass away and the man himself remain forever with Christ, or is it indicated that the man shall pass away with his riches?)
31.
Do you think riches are really a danger to most Christians? (i.e., if they had riches, do you think this might endanger their souls? see Jas. 2:1 ff, Jas. 2:6-8; Jas. 5:1-6; Luk. 1:48; Luk. 1:51-53; Luk. 16:19-31; Luk. 18:18; Mat. 6:19-21; Job. 24:22-24; Job. 27:19 ff.; Psa. 49:16-20.) What of you?
32.
Why do you think flower of the grass is used as an illustration, rather than the passing away of this earth? (Isnt it true that this earth shall also pass away?)
33.
See if you can find another expression for the term: Grace of the fashion of it.
34.
Does the phrase in his goings imply anything about when the rich man is likely to fade away? Do you think most people finish all the going they would like to do, or intend to do, before they die?
Paraphrases
A. 9.
But let the Christian brother who is humiliated by the circumstances of this life rejoice in what he has already received of the spirit and in what he is due to inherit from God.
10.
But the rich man (if he thinks he can!), let him rejoice in the fact that he shall have no inheritance because as any green herbage will wither away when scorched by the hot sun and dehydrated by the thirsty wind, he too shall wither away. (He cannot take it with him!).
11.
For when the boiling sun and the hot wind come, they wither the grass; and the flower of the grass wilts and falls, and the majestic beauty of its appearance is completely destroyed: in the same way shall the rich man with his experiences and fortunes perish while still on the move.
B.*9.
A Christian who doesnt amount to much in this world should be glad, for he is great in the Lords sight.
10, 11.
But a rich man should be glad that his riches mean nothing to the Lord, for he will soon be gone, like a flower that has lost its beauty and faded away, witheredkilled by the scorching summer sun. So it is with rich men. They will soon die and leave behind all their busy activities.
Summary
While the Christian can rejoice in heaven to come, the rich mans wealth will buy none of it. Although it may take a few years longer, his riches shall fade just as surely as the grass fades; and then he will have nothing.
Comment
Poverty is often a blessing, for the poor man in this worlds goods more easily recognizes his need of spiritual help. The rich man, feeling a sufficiency in material things, will often feel that he can buy his own way in any circumstance, Therefore, he will be reluctant to seek the favor of gifts from any man, and will be unlikely to seek grace from God. He is independent and self-sufficient. He will pay his own way. What he needs, he will buy, or with clever manipulations, take it from others. He does not ask for gifts because none wish to give to the man who already has a superfluous supply of this worlds goods. Although dying of spiritual starvation, he does not even know his hunger.
The brother of low degree is, no doubt, the Christian who has little of this worlds goods; but such a one is fortunate indeed. Being a Christian, he is saved, redeemed, reconciled, adopted, sanctified; he is a child of God, an heir of Gods heavenly fortunes, and a joint-heir with Christ. An innumerable host of heavenly creatures await him at home: Christ has gone ahead to prepare a mansion for him; his happiness will be complete, with no tears, sorrows, heartaches nor death. The riches of this world are nothing when compared with the chain of jewels, inherited by the Christian.
The rich man can go to heaven. It will not be because of his riches, but in spite of his riches. His wealth will be a constant source of temptations, for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. He doesnt have to love his money, however: he can love Christ first of all. Zachaeus was rich (Luk. 19:2). Many of Jesus friends seemed to be people of material success. Joseph of Arimathaea, Barnabas, Nicodemus, Mary (sister of Lazarus), and the women of Galilee.
The general tendency, however, is that explained in Mar. 10:25. It is so difficult for a rich man to overcome the temptations of his riches that he is unable to see beyond the love of his riches . . . except for the help of God. Yet with God, all things are possible. The will of man is so involved in Gods using the rich man, that much of Jesus teaching seems to be directed here. (See Mat. 6:19-34; Mat. 19:16-30; Luk. 12:15-21; Luk. 16:9-31; Mar. 10:24. Compare with I.
40.
If God cannot be tempted with evil, then how was Jesus tempted?
41.
Since God Himself tempts no man, harmonize this with the fact that Jesus was driven of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. (Mar. 1:12)
42.
Explain how the warning in Jas. 1:13 has a real vital purpose with most of us.
43.
What does God promise the Christian regarding the extent of his temptations? (see 1Co. 10:12-13)
44.
Does the source of temptation here contradict the general New Testament teaching that the devil tempts man to sin? How do you harmonize the two ideas? (Consider who we must really blame for our falling into sin.)
45.
For harmonious relationship of this teaching with the rest of the New Testament, compare Jas. 1:13-14 with Rom. 7:8; Rom. 7:10; Rom. 7:13; Rom. 7:17; Heb. 11:17, and 1Co. 10:9. Make a note of the common teachings in these passages.
46.
What is the contrast between Jas. 1:13; Jas. 1:15? (This has to do with responsibility for mans failure.)
47.
When two factors are united, they often cause particular results. there are three sets of double factors, with the results of each given. In Jas. 1:14-15. What are these three sets and the results of each?
Paraphrases
A. 12.
Happy is the man that remains faithful to God through temptations to sin, for in the end he shall receive that which the Lord has promised to such a one: the crown of life.
13.
No man should blame God when he is tempted to do wrong. God cannot be tempted to do wrong Himself, nor does He tempt any man.
14.
Rather every man should blame himself for his temptation, for such temptation is possible only through the lustful desires that are within him.
15.
When a man gives in to these desires to do wrong, sin results: and sin leads to death.
B.* 12.
Happy is the man who doesnt give in and do wrong when he is tempted, for afterwards he will get as his reward the crown of life that God has promised those who love Him.
13.
And remember, when someone wants to do wrong, it is never God who is tempting him, for God never wants to do wrong and never tempts anyone else to do it.
14.
But temptation is the pull of mans own evil thoughts and wishes.
15.
Then the evil thoughts lead to evil actions and afterwards to the death penalty from God.
16.
So dont be misled, dear brothers.
Summary
The devil, not God, tempts us to sin, and he does so only through our own desires to do evil. Thus, we should never blame God for the temptation to sin. God doesnt want us to sin, for He punishes sin with death.
Comment
Two destinies of man are set forth in this section: the blessed happy state of those who love God, and the state of death which is inherited by those who bear the penalty for sin. This happy (blessed) state is evidently a result of anticipation of the crown to be received, with this crown being symbolic of the high estate of Jas. 1:9 (see comments on this verse). Note, however, that this crown is a gift that is conditioned. It has been promised to those who love God, with this love evidently being demonstrated by endurance of temptation. If one is not willing to so demonstrate his love for God, then, he should not expect God to approve his workless faith.
The King James version when he is tried of Jas. 1:12 is not quite the correct meaning of the original. The idea is more than a trial . . . it concerns a person who, when tried, has been proved genuine. To take the test is not enough, the course must be passed! The idea of enduring temptation is that one bears the temptation and remains faithful. This does not necessarily mean that if one is overcome while he is fighting, he is lost. The basic question is: Whose side are you on? The Christian who errs hates his error, for he loves Gods ways. Even though he may have done wrong, he is still on Gods side, and he continues to fight sin. He desires to repent and seeks help from God. If he does not feed and support these spiritual desires, then he may be completely overcome by sin. Since errors must be overcome through repentance and a seeking of forgiveness from God, some who backslide never recover. The Christian who delays repentance and continues in sin, is walking with one foot (and possibly both) in hell, and there is no hope for him while he continues in such a state. (Heb. 6:6)
There are three or four basic reasons why the Christian must overcome his trials and temptations. (1) He loves God, and to sin violates this basic desire to please God. (2) He realizes that remaining faithful during temptation leaves one stronger than he was, and this may be a means of growing in spirituality and tenacity (patience). (3) He wants to avoid above all else the hopeless condemnation that awaits those who willfully continue in sin. (4) He looks forward with joyful anticipation to the crown of life to be received by those who do endure.
The hope for the crown of life expressed in Jas. 1:12 culminates a process described in Jas. 1:2-4. Note the progress: Jas. 1:2-4, temptation resisted leads to proving of faith; proving of faith leads to patience; and patience leads to hope for the crown of life (Jas. 1:12). Notice how this parallels the declaration of Paul.
James has in Jas. 1:12
Paul has in Rom. 5:3-5
1.
Temptation
1.
Tribulation
2.
Endurance (Proving of faith)
2.
Steadfastness
3.
Approved
3.
Approvedness
4.
Hope (for a crown of life)
4.
Hope
This explains one end of temptation, but in the remaining verses of this section, we see that temptation can go a second way. Thus, temptation, (1) when endured goes to approvedness and hope; and (2) when surrendered to it goes to sin and death. The difference is in the will of man. This section of Scripture is arguing the individual responsibility of man for sin. Man must not blame God. Nor can he lay the full blame on the tempter, for his temptation is only possible through the lust that is within him. The deadly character of sin, emphasized by both Paul and James, is all the more reason why man must know and face his responsibility in sin. Sin is not something of such little consequence that it can be ignored. Sin not only makes all the difference in the world, but all the difference out of the world! To deliberately close our eyes to our responsibility for our guilt, is to ignore the fact that Jesus died for us, Notice how both Paul and James emphasize this responsibility, by comparing Jas. 1:13-15 with Rom. 7:8; Rom. 7:10; Rom. 7:13; Heb. 11:17; 1Co. 10:9.
Since God tried Abraham in the offering up of his son (Heb. 11:17) some might argue that this contradicts the case that God tempts no man. Also, the fact that the Israelites made trial of the Lord (1Co. 10:9) seems to contradict the case that God cannot be tempted. These contradictions are not real, however. The Israelites did not tempt God to do evil, but rather to bring a just punishment upon them. Although Abraham was tried by God (i.e., his meeting the situation was a testing and proving of his faith), yet, if he had any temptation to do evil and not obey God, this did not come from God. This part, if any, came from within Abrahams own doubt, Thus, if Abraham walked in full assurance of faith, his faith was tried, but he was not tempted to sin. Any temptation to sin would spring from his own weaknesses, and not from any weaknesses in Gods character. Every choice laid before us is a testing of our faith. Every temptation to take the wrong course in such a choice comes from our own desires.
Temptation (peirasmos) is apparently a very inclusive term in this case. Paul speaks of that which was a temptation to you in my flesh, Gal. 4:14, with seemingly a morally neutral value, with a good significance, especially since the Galatians did not despise nor reject Paul because of feelings of natural repugnance that may have been aroused. Then again, Jesus asked us to pray not to be led into temptation; i.e., trials beyond our willful control, Mat. 6:13. Our own carelessness and disobedience can also be a source of temptation when we give in to the weakness of the flesh. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak, Mat. 26:41. This temptation covers also the definite devil-produced trials designed to lead us into sin. But they that are rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdition, 1Ti. 6:9. (cf. Luk. 4:13; Luk. 8:13). The word can even be descriptive of our temptation to try or challenge God. Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, like as in the day of the trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried me by proving me, and saw my works forty years, Heb. 3:8-9.
The universality of the possibility of temptation should humble every man of us. Each man is tempted when . . ., there are conditions under which any man has the possibility of temptation. This is true of a Christian, a long-time Christian, and a Christian who walks very close to God, even one after Gods own heart. Those who teach that a second work of grace so conditions us that we are beyond the possibility of temptation need to take a second look . . . a look at both the Scriptures and at their own lives! If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, 1Jn. 1:8. Even Jesus was tempted in all points as we are, Heb. 4:15. Paul said he had to buffet his body to bring it into subjection, 1Co. 9:27. Under no circumstances must we lower our guard against the possibility of temptation. With the help of God, we shall be overcomers: not because we have not sinned, but because we have no sin!
The grace of God through the blood of Christ so covers my sin that I can appear in Gods presence without sin, wearing the cloak of Jesus righteousness. That which I have overcome (sin) by Jesus blood, the new creature that I am must not love and seek for; but rather I must flee from it, heeding the warning concerning my own lustful desires, praying for strength and Gods leading, buffeting my body when necessary.
If I refuse to accept the warnings, it is not only possible, but likely, that I will be dragged off by my own lust, taken in tow by my own desires. Then, I will have no one to blame but myself. Satan, who tempts me, has no power over me that I have not given him, for I am able to endure it (1Co. 10:13) if I will to so resist.
There are certain things, or certain amounts, that I should not eat. This is true, not because God has so stated, but because I know it will harm the temple of my body, thus hindering my useful service for God. Yet, when I have overdone it, or have eaten that which would hinder my service for God; whom shall I blame? I do not like to eat boiled cows feet. Even though the cook has prepared a large pot of boiled cows feet, cooked and flavored to perfection, I would not be tempted to eat from the dish! However, if the dish were banana cream pie, topped with a huge scoop of ice cream covered over with whipped cream, I would have a desire to eat. . . . even if the dish followed a huge meal from which I had already overeaten! The devil has no power to tempt me, except there is the desire within me to partake. The desire to do wrong is my own. I cannot blame God for it, nor can I blame Adam for it. The natural forces about me may furnish the circumstances, the devil may cook the meal, God has created man, I received my body from my parents; but, the willful choice is of my own doing! I know my transgression, and my sin is ever before me, Psa. 51:3. I fall and sin, not because of external conditions, but because I choose to yield to that which is within. Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom. 7:24-25 a)
The figure of birth in Jas. 1:14-15 is very descriptive of the processes of sin. Two factors unite and give birth to a third. This whole process, if not stopped, results in the death-child. Notice the three unions: (1) grandfather lust within and grandmother evil without give birth to enticement, (Jas. 1:14); (2) father lust within and mother enticement give birth to sin, (Jas. 1:15 a); sin matures and being married to the law of God (The wages of sin is death, Rom. 6:23) gives birth to death, Jas. 1:15 b. Repentance and confession may avoid and break the process of sin (1Jn. 1:7-9; Act. 8:22), but if this sin process is not stopped, the child will be born!
Whether or not Jas. 1:16 is to go with that which went before, or with that which follows, might evoke some discussion. There is no reason, however, why this verse cannot be a bridge connecting both sides. Do not be deceived about the source of temptation on the one side, and Do not be deceived about the source of every good gift on the other. The expression thus serves to emphasize and repeat the warning that to be blind to the source of temptation would be to carelessly cultivate the process of death within us. How very important it is to know of a certainty that I am a sinner, personally and emphatically responsible before God, and as such, I am in desperate need of the gift of salvation. Thus, my heart is prepared for the verses to follow regarding the source of all good things.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(9) Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted (or, better, in his exaltation).There is no praise from the plain St. James for the pride which apes humility, nor the affectation which loves to be despised. If it please God to exalt, as of old, the humble and meek, then anew should be sung a magnificat to Him. The lowly-minded doubt of the Virgin Mary, How shall this be? (Luk. 1:24), was not reproved by the angel; while the question of blunt incredulity on the part of Zacharias was severely punished (Luk. 1:20), and this diverse treatment thus experienced was deserved in either case. Both doubted, yet quite differently, and she of the lower degree rejoiced most in God her Saviour for regarding the lowliness of His handmaiden (Luk. 1:47-48). Willingness thus for Christs service, whether it be great or little, is the right condition of mind for all disciples, and specially the young, with readiness, nay gladness, for duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call them. Pleasure will be naturally felt by most at the prospect of a rise in the world; but there are some finer spirits who fain would shrink from anything like exaltation; and to these the kindly Apostle writes that they may take heart, and not fear the greater dangers which of necessity accompany a higher call.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(9-11) Lowly-mindedness is the subject of the next paragraph. There is wide misapprehension of our state of trial: the poor and humble are apt to forget the honour thus vouchsafed to them, worthier in truth than the wealth of this world, which quickly fades away; and the rich and noble are often unmindful of the true source of their dignity, and that unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required (Luk. 12:48).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
9. This doublemindedness may arise, oppositely, either from one’s poverty or from one’s wealth. The poor man is averse from the gospel he approves from discontent, the rich from his pride. St. James sets the two face to face, and gives to each his due counsel.
Low degree A poor man, a labourer, or a slave.
Exalted As a child of God, heir of immortal hopes.
Made low As the poor in this world’s goods finds in the gospel an exaltation, raising his thoughts above his poverty with its discontent, so the rich may find in this same gospel a humbling power, (as well as a humbling association with humble people,) enabling him to feel how transitory is all wealth, how really poor he is without a better foundation.
In this lowliness he may rejoice, or glory, for it gives him an abiding riches infinitely more valuable than this world’s fading wealth. He shall (will) pass away That is, without the blessed being made low by the gospel.
His earthly wealth is vanishing as a fading flower under the sun-stroke. But his being made low by the gospel has brought him an immortal life, and an inheritance of an eternal patrimony. The humble poor being thus exalted, and the proud rich being humbled, both stand upon the same blessed gospel level upon which they may pray for the wisdom by which perfection may be attained. We prefer this view to the interpretation of Huther and Alford, according to which there is a contrast between the humble Christian and the wicked and withering rich man. The made low of this rich man is certainly a gospel humbleness into which the rich man is brought and may glory, as a salvation from the fate pictured in the words that follow. Even in our Saviour’s day there was a rich man to entomb him. And the other view pushes our apostle into an apparent Ebionism by which the being a rich man is in itself a sin. Note on Luk 16:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Trials Combined With Wisdom Are Intended To Bring Home To Men What Is Important To Them.
‘But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate, and the rich, in that he is made low, because as the flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass: and its flower falls, and the grace of the fashion of it perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in his goings.’
James now first introduces what is to be one of his themes, the contrast between rich and poor. The majority of Christians were poor, often made even poorer by becoming Christians, but there were inevitably rich people among them. And James could see that these people both often had a wrong attitude which was unhelpful, and were also in most danger of wandering from the truth, because their eyes and thoughts were fixed on other things which were in danger of taking possession of their lives. He thus makes it apparent that he is especially concerned about the way that the wealthy see life (see Jas 2:2-7; Jas 2:14-16; Jas 5:1-6) because it is clear that they do not recognise how temporary life and its riches are. This foolish attitude of men towards wealth was a constant theme of Jesus (Mat 6:19-21; Luk 12:13-21; Luk 12:32-33; Luk 16:19-31), and James clearly saw it as affecting many in the churches. It was an ever present danger, and had been so from the beginning (Act 5:1-11), for the problem is that possessions possess men, and if not controlled can absorb their whole attention. Later his concern will expand to treating the question of their attitude towards the poor. But here his concern is that if they are not wary they will fade away and die without having had proper regard for God’s ways because they are so tied up in their wealth. So his hope is that by such people being brought low by testings and trials they will be made aware of their transience.
The Christian brother who is poor, he says, can glory in his happy position. (Note the emphasis on ‘brother’. Both rich and poor are to remember that they are brothers in Christ). He is in a state which should be envied. For it is the poor in spirit who will receive the Kingly Rule of God (Mat 5:3). And he can glory in trials, for he has little to lose, and through them he is gaining a great reward (Mat 5:12). He is thus in line to receive the crown of life, that is, to inherit eternal life (Jas 1:12). For the believing poor all is gain. His way can only be upwards. James does not feel that the danger of backsliding is quite as great for him. All he must do is keep his eye on the goal.
But how different it is for the rich, for they can so easily be dragged down by their riches. They have so many things that may attract them away from Christ. They should indeed rejoice therefore when trials bring them low, for it will make them aware of the transience of riches, and remind them not to allow their riches to control their lives. For if they do not beware their riches will take over their souls, and will induce them to live accordingly, only for them to discover in the end that those riches are perishing and that they themselves will ‘fade away’ in their pursuit of them, rather than like the believing poor entering in triumph into the everlasting glory. So the rich who are wise will glory in their being made humble and being brought low, for in that lies their hope of escaping from the control and snare of their riches into the arms of Christ, and as a consequence receiving the crown of life. The detail provided demonstrates the fears that James has about the rich. He is fearful that their faith might not prove to be genuine and able to stand up to the snares of wealth. It is they whom he sees as in the greatest danger of being insincere.
‘In that he is made low.’ The rich man rejoices in being brought low because it reminds him of his transience. It reminds him that like ‘the flower of the grass’ he will pass away (compare Psa 103:15; Isa 40:6). For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass, and its flower falls, and ‘the grace of the fashion of it’ (its blooming beauty) perishes. Instead of continuing to bloom, it withers and dies. ‘So also will the rich man fade away in his goings.’ He too will ‘fade away and wither and die as he goes about his business’, that is he will if he fails to heed the message brought to him by his trials. His riches will not enable him to prevent it.
By “the flower of the grass” may be meant the blaze of gorgeous blossoms which accompany the first shooting of the grass in spring in Palestine, which soon dies away in the hot summer. Or it may simply signify the blooming of the grass itself, only for it to wither in the summer heat and die leaving nothing behind but the barren earth.
A similar picture of the vulnerability of the rich is found in Jas 4:13 to Jas 5:6, although there it inveighs against their behaviour towards the poor. So the believing poor rejoice in the blessings that are to be theirs, and the believing rich rejoice that God is keeping their eyes in the right direction by constantly bringing them low.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Humility: The Poor and the Brevity of Life – On two occasions in the epistle of James the Lord reminds us of the brevity of our lives (Jas 1:9-11, Jas 4:14). This reminder is placed within the message of the underlying theme of James, which is the perseverance of the saints. In Jas 1:9-11 we find an illustration in nature of the brevity of our lives. For we see how quickly it appears in all of its beauty, then it withers and dies within days.
Jas 1:9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
Jas 1:9
James opened his epistle by charging the believer count it all joy when he falls into divers trials. He now addresses the humble person and tells him to rejoice in his exaltation. Thus, believers are given a reason for rejoicing. How can a poor, lowly brother find a reason to rejoice? He will rejoice in the fact that he shall will find a way of overcome each and every trial, and eventually receive a heavenly reward (see Jas 1:12). He is an heir of the kingdom of God (Jas 2:5). This is the measure of his exaltation.
Jas 1:12, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life , which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
Jas 2:5, “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith , and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”
When pastor James tells his people to “count it all joy” in the midst of trials, he wants God’s people to look beyond the difficult circumstances of this life and look towards heaven. A believer’s joy does not have to depend upon earthly pleasures, which are temporal, but rather upon this precious relationship with the Heavenly Father. It is the degree of intimacy with the Father that will determine the degree of joy the lowly brother can walk in during this difficult life.
It is this humility that will open a man’s heart to the ways of God so that he can pray in faith and walk in the wisdom that will help him persevere in the midst of trials. We are told in Jas 1:21 to receive God’s Word in meekness. When we ask God for wisdom, we must be meek enough in heart to receive God’s Word as His reply to us. As we obey this word from God, which we call wisdom, we learn to walk by faith. Thus, the body of this Epistle explains this walk of faith. It is this faith that allows a man to access God in prayer as Elijah did for wisdom so that he can endure trials like Job. The author will then close this topic on faith in Jas 4:7-10 by asking us to submit to God and humble ourselves in His sight.
The motif of humility will under gird the central message of the epistle of James, which is perseverance through faith in God. We find the teaching on humility in Jas 1:9; Jas 1:21; Jas 4:6-10
Jas 1:10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
Jas 1:10
Php 3:19, “Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame , who mind earthly things.”
Jas 1:11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
Jas 1:11
Mat 6:28-29, “And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Jas 1:10-11 Comments Pride: The Rich and the Brevity of Life – In direct contrast to the humble person’s reason to rejoice in his heavenly hope (Jas 1:9), the rich, being synonymous with the proud in heart in this context, is told to rejoice in his short, temporal earthly possession, for they will soon vanish away.
Jas 1:10-11 Comments The Brevity of Man’s Life – The theme of Jas 1:10-11 is taken from Isa 40:6-8. This theme is repeated later in this epistle in Jas 4:14.
Isa 40:6-8, “The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth : because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
Jas 4:14, “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.”
This theme is repeated often in the book of Psalms (Psa 90:5-6; Psa 92:7; Psa 102:11; Psa 103:15-16; Psa 144:4).
Psa 90:5-6, “Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.”
Psa 92:7, “When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:”
Psa 102:11, “My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.”
Psa 103:15-16, “As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.”
Psa 144:4, “Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away.”
Other places in Scripture repeat this theme:
Ecc 8:13, “But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Responding to the Trial with Either Humility or with Pride – In our seeking Him, we must humble ourselves and receive the wisdom that God gives to us (Jas 1:9). Humility is the door that leads us to our destiny of joy (or rest) in the midst of trials. But the door of earthly riches gives only temporal benefits and will pass soon away (Jas 1:10-11). Though the proud will reject God’s ways, it is this wisdom that will bring us to victory (Jas 1:12). Trials and temptations offer us opportunities to demonstrate our love and devotion to God (Jas 1:12). When we yield to these earthly temptations we do so because of our own selfishness (Jas 1:13-14). The proud will find himself tempted into sin because of his fleshly passions and eventually be overcome by the trial (Jas 1:13-15), and this road leads to death (Jas 1:15). So, we are warned not to take this path of death (Jas 1:16). Jas 1:17-18 then tells us the reason we can safely humble ourselves to God’s Word, since only good things coming from God (Jas 1:17); and since He begat us with the Word of Truth to be a first fruits of His new creation (Jas 1:18), then he only has good plans for us. He also says this because he wants his readers to understand that the trials they are facing are not from God. It is not and never has been His nature to bring trials into people’s lives that lure them into sin. James has just stated this in Jas 1:13, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” Rather, God’s will for our lives is to partake of His eternal nature and kingdom, which is proven by the very fact that we have been born again as new creatures in Christ, longing for our complete redemption in glory, which James calls the “crown of life” in Jas 1:12. God’s purpose for us, even in the midst of trials, is to walk in the character of His first-born creatures (Jas 1:18). This is our divine calling within the context of the theme of the epistle of James, which is the perseverance of the saints by our works.
Outline Here is a proposed outline:
1. Humility: The Poor and the Brevity of Life Jas 1:9-11
2. Facing Temptations Jas 1:12-16
3. God is a Good God With Good Plans for Us Jas 1:17-18
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Jam 1:9-10. Let the brother of low degree rejoice, &c. “In nothing are the generality of men more apt to mistake, than in estimating the value of external circumstances; but let the principles of Christianity instruct you, my brethren, to correct that mistake; and in this respect, let the brother of low degree, of a poor and obscure condition, rejoice in his exaltation; let him think of his dignity as a Christian, and entirely acquiesce in his low sphere of life; for his circumstances do really give him such advantages for religion, by placing him under a shelter from many temptations, that he has a much fairer probability than others, of rising to some eminence in the heavenlyworld. On the other hand, if a true Christian be in worldly prosperity, he will be well aware how transitory that state is; and, far from confiding in it, he will contemplate on the certainty of his approaching humiliation in death, and on all the mortifyingcircumstances that attend it. Accepting these, with a total resignation to the divine will, he glories its the hope, that he shall one day complete his sacrifice
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jas 1:9-10 . James subjoins to the idea that the doubter should not think that he should receive anything, the exhortation to the lowly brother; non solum apponendo, sed opponendo gravius hortatur (Theile). At first view the natural sense is, with de Wette, Wiesinger, and most expositors, to take as the general idea, which is specified by and . According to this view, is not equivalent to , Mat 11:29 , but, in opposition to , must be taken in its proper sense: afflictus, particularly poor ; on the other hand, is the earthly rich , equivalent to opulentus, fortunatus, affluens rebus externis. The exaltation ( ), in which the brother of low degree is to glory, can naturally only be the heavenly dignity, which the Christian by his faith in Christ possesses, and whose future completion is guaranteed to him by the promise of the Lord; and, corresponding to this, by is to be understood the lowliness, which “belongs to the rich man as a Christian through Christ” (Wiesinger), which is essentially the same with his exaltation. There is nothing against this idea in itself; the same oxymoron would be contained in the expression, were we to say, according to 1Co 7:22 : “the rejoices in his , and the in his .” But the context is against this explanation: not only because the distinction of Christians into rich and poor would be here introduced quite unexpectedly, but also because Jas 1:2 ; Jas 1:12 show that the connection of the ideas in this section is the reference to the which Christians have to endure. Several expositors have assumed this reference in the idea ; thus, among moderns, Theile, whilst to the explanation of Morus: carens fortunis externis omninoque calamitosus, he adds: , Jas 1:2 ; , Mat 5:10 ; , 1Pe 3:14 ; but by this the simple contrast between and is destroyed; for then must be taken as the rich Christian who had not suffered persecution, which would be evidently meaningless. If, on the other hand, the rich man who shares the lot of persecution with the poor is to be understood (as Laurentius explains it: dives, sc. frater, qui ipse erat una cum paupere fratre in dispersione, direptionem bonorum suorum propter Christi evangelium passus; similarly Erasmus, Hornejus, and others), such a reference is not to be found in the idea in itself; if one puts it into the idea , so that by this is to be understood the suffering condition of persecution, in which the is placed, or by which he is threatened (Gebser: “he rejoices in his lowliness, into which he may be brought by persecution”), then there is no reason to find in the idea of poverty expressed. Thus, then, in this view the train of thought, referring it to , becomes indistinct and confused; and yet this reference is required by the context. But also what directly follows is against the idea of considering the as well as the as a Christian ( ); for, apart from the fact that such a rich man would require no such pressing intimation of the perishableness of riches as is contained in the following clauses, it is carefully to be observed that in the words , and in Jas 1:11 : . . ., the subject is and not , as that explanation would render necessary; Winer: dives non habet, quo glorietur, nisi ab humilitate sua, nam divitiae mox periturae sunt; so also de Wette, Theile, Wiesinger, and others. This change of the subject is evidently unjustifiable. James says, not of riches , but of the rich man , , , which evidently is only valid of the rich man who forms a contrast to . Brckner, in order to avoid the change of subject, explains it of “the rich man according to his external relations;” but this reference is not only arbitrarily introduced, but it weakens the train of thought. That such a bad sense should be given by the author to the idea , is evident both from chap. Jas 2:6-7 , where he represents the as the persecutors of the Christians, and from chap. Jas 5:1-6 , where they are threatened with condemnation; besides, the word is elsewhere used in the sacred Scriptures in a bad sense; comp. Luk 6:24-26 ; Isa 53:9 , where is parallel with ; Sir 13:3 : ; Sir 17:18 : ; . If stands in relation of contrast to , then the Christian condition cannot be understood by , or scarcely with Bouman: animi, nihil sibi arrogantis, modestia; but only the destruction described in the following words: . . ., into which the rich man on account of his pride has fallen; comp. Luk 6:24-26 . [56] The verb to be supplied is neither (Oecumenius, Estius, and others) nor , but (comp. Winer, p. 548 [E. T. 777]). This certainly does not appear suitable, but the expression of James has its peculiar pointedness in this, that the , to which the rich man is devoted, is indicated as the only object of his boasting. [57] To this irony (if it be called so) which already the author of the commentary on the Lamentations in Jerome’s works, and after him Lyra, Thomas, Beza, and others have recognised in our passage less objection is to be taken, as this was so natural to the deeply moral spirit of James, in opposition to the haughty self-confidence of the rich man opposed to the lowly Christian.
For a more exact explanation of these two verses, the following remarks may suffice. The connection of Jas 1:9 with the preceding is as follows: let the brother of low degree glory amid his temptations in his exaltation (Gunkel). The idea is neither exhausted by laetari, , 1Pe 1:6 , Mat 5:12 (Gebser), nor by commemorare, praedicare (Carpzov); it indicates rather glorying, proceeding from the confident assurance of superiority; Theile: notio gloriandi involvit notas 1 gaudendi, 2 confidentiae, 3 externe expressi.
, according to the above explanation, refers only to , not to , which rather forms the contrast set over against that idea. By is not indicated a kind of , but is the characteristic mark of true Christians. It is incorrect to take here as entirely equivalent to ; it goes beyond the idea of , indicating the Christian according to his entire lowly condition in the world, which also is not inapplicable to him who is perhaps rich in worldly wealth, especially as these riches have no true value for him. Comp. moreover, 1Co 1:26 : , . is the Christian, in so far as he is despised and persecuted by the world ( , Psa 74:21 , comp. 1Co 1:27 ), is inwardly distressed ( , , , 2Co 7:5 ), and walks in humility before God; the opposite of all this is comprehended in . On , Theile rightly remarks: sublimitas non solum jam praesens sed etiam adhuc futura cogitari potest = illa, quae in coelis perficienda in terris jam est. Incorrectly, de Wette understands by this “present exaltation;” as little also does indicate only “the stedfast courage of the Christian” (Augusti); and still less is it equivalent to divitiae, as Pott thinks, who finds only the thought here expressed: dives sibi videatur.
By is not to be understood the condition in which (Schneckenburger), but, according to the prevailing linguistic usage of the N. T., the object upon which the glorying is to take place; comp. Rom 5:3 .
The words announce wherein the of the rich consists. As regards the construction, it forms one simple sentence. Baumgarten incorrectly construes with , and considers , sc. , as a parenthesis, by which an epigrammatic sharpness is conveyed to the preceding sentence. The figure, which is further drawn out in Jas 1:11 , is of frequent occurrence in the O. T., whilst with the quickly fading grass and its flower is not only man generally (comp. Job 14:2 : ; Psa 103:15 : ; Isa 40:6-7 : , ; comp. 1Pe 1:24 ), but also specially, as here the ungodly [58] (comp. Psa 37:2 : , ; see also Psa 90:6 ), compared.
is here, not as in Isa 11:1 , LXX. translation of = germen, surculus (Hottinger), but the flower ; however, the combination is not found in Hebrew; in Isa 40:7 it is . , in the meaning of destruction, often occurs in the N. T. (so also in the Hebrew ); also in the classics: Soph. Trach. 69: .
[56] According to Lange, the expressions and are to be taken in a prophetico-symbolical sense, so that the first “designates the Jewish Christian and the Jew absolutely in their low oppressed theocratic condition as contrasted with the heathen world and the secular power, or still more exactly the theocrat, inasmuch as he deeply feels his condition;” the second, “again, designates the Jew and the Jewish Christian, inasmuch as he sees the hopeless situation of the Jewish people in a brilliant light, inasmuch as he is not only rich in the consciousness of his Jewish prerogatives, but also in chiliastic and visionary expectation,” etc. This interpretation requires no refutation.
[57] A similar connection is found in Phi 3:19 : .
[58] Lange observes: “This is not here the image of the ungodly, but is to be understood as a historical figure with reference to the decay of the O. T. glory!”
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
DISCOURSE: 2355
THE EFFECTS OF RELIGION ON THE DIFFERENT ORDERS OF SOCIETY
Jam 1:9-10. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: but the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
RELIGION certainly appears in some respects adverse to the happiness of men, inasmuch as it inculcates the daily practice of humiliation and contrition, mortification and self-denial. The injunction to cut off a right hand and pluck out a right eye, cannot, it might be thought, conduce to our comfort in this world, whatever it might do with respect to the world to come. But, if Christianity deprive us of some carnal joys (I should rather say, limit and refine them), it affords abundant ground for joy of a more exalted kind. It does not merely concede as a privilege, but prescribes as a duty, that we should rejoice evermore. To persons of every description is this direction addressed in the words before us; and the reasons upon which it is founded are declared. In conformity with the Apostles views, we shall shew,
I.
The effects of religion upon the different orders of society
We shall notice them,
1.
Upon the poor
[These are represented as exalted by Christianity. Not that they are raised out of their proper sphere, or have any right to assume consequence to themselves on account of their acquaintance with religion [Note: Ignorant persons are sometimes faulty in this respect; but St Paul strongly cautions all, and especially servants, upon this head. 1Ti 6:1-2.]: but they are exalted in their state and condition, their dispositions and habits, their hopes and prospects.
The poor are for the most part regarded in so low and mean a light, that a rich man would be ashamed to acknowledge them as related to him: yea, they themselves feel a very humiliating disparity between themselves and their opulent neighbours. But, when once they embrace the Gospel, and are made rich in faith, God himself is not ashamed to be called their God: he calls them his friends, his sons, his peculiar treasure: he gives them a name better than of sons and of daughters. They instantly become kings and priests unto God; and the very angels in heaven account it an honour to wait upon them, as their ministering servants. In short, being born from above, they are sons of God, and if sons, then heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. What an elevation is this! Surely, in comparison of it, all earthly dignities are no better than the baubles of children, or the conceits of maniacs.
When elevated thus, the poor begin to feel also dispositions suited to their state. While they are destitute of religion, they either riot in a licentious independence, without any regard to character, or, with a servility unrestrained by conscience, yield themselves willing instruments to any one that can reward their services. But when once they are taught of God, they learn primarily and solely to regard his will. We again say, that they will obey all the lawful commands of their superiors [Note: Rom 13:1-2; Rom 13:4.]; they will regard their authority as Gods, and do whatever is required of them, as unto the Lord: but their first inquiry will be, What does my God require? and, if urged to violate their duty to him, they will reply as the Apostles did, Whether it be right to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye: we ought to obey God rather than men [Note: Act 5:29.]. Nor have they a lower standard of action than the most polished Christian upon earth: if they are truly upright before God, the rule by which they walk is that prescribed by the Apostle [Note: 1Co 7:21-23.]; and what can the highest refinement suggest more? Here therefore their elevation again appears, inasmuch as their habits are no longer formed by interest or the caprice of men, but founded on, and assimilated to, the mind and will of God.
As to the hopes of the poor, they have little to stimulate their ambition. To provide for their present wants, and to lay up something for a time of sickness, is the utmost that the generality of them aspire to. But what glorious views does religion open to them! Truly, instead of looking up with admiration to the great and opulent, they rather stand on an eminence, from whence they can look down upon them with pity and compassion. What are the prospects of princes, to those which are unfolded to their view? They can look within the vail of heaven itself, and there see crowns and kingdoms reserved for them, yea, a seat upon the throne even of God himself. Who that contemplates this will not say that religion exalts the poor?]
2.
Upon the rich
[These religion humbles. It does not indeed despoil them of that honour which is due to their rank; (it rather confirms it to them [Note: Rom 13:7.];) but it humbles them in their own estimation, and in the estimation of others, and in the daily habit of their minds.
The rich are apt to arrogate much to themselves on account of their distinctions; and even before God to entertain high thoughts of themselves: Our lips are our own: who is lord over us? But let grace reach their hearts, and they no longer say, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; but, I am wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. And so far are they from despising the poor on account of the inferiority of their station, that they most gladly condescend to men of low estate, and love them truly as brethren, notwithstanding they are brethren only of low degree.
It is scarcely needful to say how much they are lowered also in the eyes of others. Only let them become true disciples of Christ, and it will soon appear that they have lost the esteem of an ungodly world. However wise or amiable they may be, the serpents seed will hiss at them. Though David was a king, and as eminent for piety as man could be, he was the sport of fools, and drunkards made songs upon him. If any qualities could have insured universal respect, the Lord Jesus Christ would have obtained it. But he was despised and rejected of men: and if they called the Master of the house Beelzebub, much more will they those of his household.
But though the contempt of men was once the most formidable of all evils, they are not much concerned at it now; for they are made poor in spirit, and consequently regardless of the indignities that are offered to them. They know what they deserve at Gods hands; and therefore they are willing to bear any thing from those whom He may use as instruments of his indignation or love. They are willing also that God should deal with them in any way he may see fit; and whether he give or take away, they are ready to bless his holy name. They are brought to a state of mind resembling that of a man subsisting upon alms: they come to their God and Saviour for gold, that they may be enriched; for eye-salve, that they may see; and for raiment, that the shame of their nakedness may not appear. They are contented, yea they are glad, to seek their daily bread at his hands, and to live altogether as pensioners on his grace and mercy. In short, as in their own estimation they are vile and guilty, so in the habit of their minds they are meek, patient, submissive, and dependent.
Thus, while the poor are elevated by religion, the rich are reduced and made low.]
And what shall we say of these diversified effects? Are they represented as adverse to our happiness? No: we are rather led to contemplate,
II.
The universal satisfaction which they are calculated to produce
That the poor have cause to rejoice in their exaltation, is obvious enough
[Think only what the poorest of the Lords people are privileged to enjoy
First, they have the most exalted of all characters.Though some few of the Lords people have been opulent, the generality have been a poor and afflicted people. The Apostles had little else besides a scrip and a staff; they were poor, though making many rich; and had nothing, though in some respects they possessed all things. When it pleased God also to send his only dear Son into the world, what was the state to which he appointed him? It was that of a poor man, who had not where to lay his head. And has not this dignified the condition of the poor? Yea, have they not reason to glory, in being so assimilated to their Lord and Saviour? The tribe of Levi had no portion allotted to them in Israel: but were they therefore less honourable than the rest? No: the Lord was their portion: and their want of earthly possessions was a favour conferred, and not a privilege denied. Thus it is an honour to the poor that they have their all in God: and though flesh and blood cannot receive the saying, it is really a greater honour to be fed like Elijah from day to day by the special providence of God, than to be living upon stores collected by the hands of men.
Next, they are in the most favourable of all states.Our adorable Saviour has determined this point beyond a doubt. He has declared, that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven: with men, he says, it is altogether impossible. The Rich Youth perished only because he would not sacrifice his earthly possessions: had he been a poor man, he would in all probability have followed Christ, and have been at this moment in heaven. Besides, a rich man is afraid of being thought singular, if he follow the Lord fully: he fancies that his situation obliges him to conform to the customs of the world: he is ashamed to associate with the Lords people: nor will he suffer any one to deal faithfully with him: but a poor man may follow his own ways, and seek instruction wherever he can obtain it; and nobody will trouble himself about him: his instructor also may, without compliment or circumlocution, come at once to the point, and declare unto him all the counsel of God. What an advantage is this for the obtaining of everlasting happiness; and what a solid ground of joy to all who possess it.
Once more; they have a sovereign antidote against all their disadvantages.Be it granted; they want the benefit of human learning: but they have the teachings of Gods Spirit. They want many earthly comforts; but they have the promises of the living God. Their afflictions may abound; but their consolations also abound by Christ. Whereinsoever they may be supposed to labour under any disadvantage, they have every thing that they need, treasured up for them in Christ Jesus; and out of his fulness they receive, in the time and measure which he knows to be best for them. Poor they may be in this worlds goods; but they are enriched with the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Now let the poor say whether they have not reason to rejoice. Surely if they estimate their state aright, they may well rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorified [Note: See Hab 3:17-18.].]
That the rich have equal reason to rejoice in their humiliation, is, though less obvious, not at all less true
[What a mercy is it to them, that they are brought to see the vanity of all their earthly distinctions. In their unenlightened state, they have no conception how contemptible those things are, which they suppose to be of such mighty consequence. What is a high-sounding title, or a large estate, to a man that in a few hours is about to launch into eternity? Yet that is the real condition of all: we are like the grass, which by the influence of the sun and rain is brought forth rapidly into gay luxuriance, but by an eastern blast is withered in an hour. Every thing we possess is perishing; and we ourselves also are fading away in the midst of our enjoyments [Note: This is particularly noticed in the text, and amplified in the verse that follows it.]. Ungodly men do not like to reflect on these things; but the true Christian delights to realize them in his soul: and he well deserves our warmest congratulations, who has learned to estimate earthly things by the standard of truth.
It is also a mercy to the opulent servants of God, that they are made to know wherein true honour and happiness consist. That which may be possessed by the vilest, as well as by the best of men, can never constitute the chief good of man. But to be restored to the favour of God, to live in the enjoyment of his presence, to possess his image on our souls, to glorify him in the world, and to be growing up into a meetness for his everlasting inheritance, this is honour, this is happiness: and O! what a mercy is it to see and feel this! Happy art thou, whoever thou art, that hast lost thy relish for earthly vanities, and art brought to set thine affections upon things above!
Finally, it is a mercy past all conception to have for their portion an inheritance that shall never fade. Were they instantly, and of necessity, to be deprived of all they possess, we should still bid them to rejoice that they were made low: for earthly riches, however great, are only dung and dross in comparison of the Christians portion. Let those who in this life took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, say, whether they found any reason to alter their minds, when once they reached the mansions of bliss? How small do their sacrifices now appear, how unworthy of a single thought! Blessed then indeed are ye who are enabled to forsake all and follow Christ: even in this world he promises you an hundred-fold; but what ye shall possess in the world to come no eye hath seen, or ear heard, or heart conceived.]
Address
[But what shall we say, either to the poor or rich, who are destitute of an interest in Christ? Shall we bid them rejoice? What cause of joy have the poor, who, after all their trials and privations here, shall have no part or lot with the saints above? or what ground of glorying have the rich, who will so soon be lifting up their eyes in torments, seeking in vain a drop of water to cool their tongues? Should we attempt to console any from a consideration of their present attainments or possessions, the prophet would rebuke our folly, and dash the cup out of their hands [Note: Jer 9:23-24.]. Be it known then to you all, that the poor must be exalted here, if ever they would be exalted in a better world; and the rich must be humbled here, if ever they would attain the true riches. The poor must be made partakers of a divine nature, before they can inherit a throne of glory; and the rich must be emptied of self, before they can be filled with all the fulness of God.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
Ver. 9. Rejoice in that he is exalted ] Gr. , in his sublimity, in that high honour of his, Joh 1:12 . This should make him hold up his head, but not too high; be cheerful, but not withal scornful. Laeti simus, sed non securi, gaudentes in Domino, sed caventes a recidivo. (Bern.)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
9 .] The connexion appears to be this: we must not pray before God, we must not be before God, double-minded; in our trials, we shall get no heavenly wisdom, if this is so. This double-mindedness, one soul drawn upwards to God, the other drawn downwards to the world, causes nothing but instability, and cannot result in that joy which is to be our attitude in trial. And it arises from misapprehension of our appointed state in trial: the poor and humble forget the exceeding honour thus done to them, which ought to be to them ground of boasting, far more worthy than (see below) the rich in this world have in their riches which shall so soon fade away: whereas ( Jam 1:12 ) he that is tried shall receive a crown of life from the Lord. But (contrasted with the above) let the brother (the Christian believer) who is low (poor and afflicted; not merely, low in station: this explanation goes with the view that below is Christian also) glory in his exaltation (which he has obtained by being admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings, and which he has further in reversion in the glorious crown of life hereafter, Jam 1:12 ):
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Jas 1:9-11 . An entirely new subject is now started, which has no connection with what has preceded; such a connection can only be maintained by supplying mental links artificially, for which the text gives no warrant. Jas 1:9-11 deal with the subject of rich and poor; they may be interpreted in two ways; on the one hand, one may paraphrase thus: Let the brother who is “humble,” i.e. , belonging to the lower classes and therefore of necessity (in those days) poor, glory in the exaltation which as a Christian he partakes of; but let him who was rich glory in the fact that, owing to his having embraced Christianity, he is humiliated ( cf. 1Co 4:10-13 ), “let the rich brother glory in his humiliation as a Christian” (Mayor) taking , however, as having the sense of self-abasement which the rich man feels on becoming a Christian. This interpretation has its difficulties, for it is the rich man, not merely his riches, who “passes away”; so, too, in Jas 1:11 ; moreover, if it is a question of Christianity, and cannot well both refer to it, since they are placed in contrast; this seems to have been felt by an ancient scribe who altered to in the cursive 137 (see critical note above), thinking, no doubt, of Jas 2:5 , It seems wiser to take the words as they stand, and to seek to interpret them without reading in something that is not there, especially as the writer (or writers) of this Epistle is not as a rule ambiguous in what he says; in fact, one of the characteristics of the Epistle is the straightforward, transparent way in which things are put. Regarded from this point of view, these verses simply contain a wholesome piece of advice to men to do their duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call them; if the poor man becomes wealthy, there is nothing to be ashamed of, he is to be congratulated; if the rich man loses his wealth, he needs comfort, after all, there is something to be thankful for in escaping the temptations and dangers to which the rich are subject; and, as the writer points out later on in Jas 2:1 ff., the rich are oppressors and cruel, a fact which (it is well worth remembering) was far more true in those days than in these.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Jas 1:9 . : it is noticeable that this word is only used in the Pauline Epistles, with the exception in this verse and in Jas 3:14 , Jas 4:16 ; it is used, generally, in a good sense, as here and Jas 3:14 , though not in Jas 4:16 . : see note on Jas 1:2 . : cf. Luk 1:52 , refers to the outward condition of a man, and corresponds to the Hebrew and , which like , can refer both to outward condition and character; the latter is the meaning attaching to . in Jas 4:6 . In Sir 11:1 we read: , . Cf. Sir 10:31 (Hebrew).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
the brother, &c. = the lowly (Greek. tapeinos. See Rom 12:16) brother.
rejoice. See Rom 2:17.
that he is exalted = his exaltation. Greek. hupsos. See Luk 1:78.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
9.] The connexion appears to be this: we must not pray before God, we must not be before God, double-minded; in our trials, we shall get no heavenly wisdom, if this is so. This double-mindedness, one soul drawn upwards to God, the other drawn downwards to the world, causes nothing but instability, and cannot result in that joy which is to be our attitude in trial. And it arises from misapprehension of our appointed state in trial: the poor and humble forget the exceeding honour thus done to them, which ought to be to them ground of boasting, far more worthy than (see below) the rich in this world have in their riches which shall so soon fade away: whereas (Jam 1:12) he that is tried shall receive a crown of life from the Lord. But (contrasted with the above) let the brother (the Christian believer) who is low (poor and afflicted; not merely, low in station: this explanation goes with the view that below is Christian also) glory in his exaltation (which he has obtained by being admitted into the fellowship of Christs sufferings, and which he has further in reversion in the glorious crown of life hereafter, Jam 1:12):
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Jam 1:9. , but let him glory) The best remedy against double-mindedness () or a divided soul. The word glorying occurs also, ch. Jam 2:13, Jam 3:14, Jam 4:16.- , the brother) James thinks it befitting to apply this title to the lowly rather than the rich.- , of low degree) poor and tempted.-, in his exaltation) The apostle proposes to speak of the lowly and the rich: he shortly afterwards treats of the rich, Jam 1:11; and then of the lowly, Jam 1:12 : being about to treat of each subject more fully in ch. 5. The design of the whole Epistle is, to reduce all things to an equable footing. Comp. ch. Jam 2:1, Jam 5:13. , blessedness, the crown of life, that fadeth not away.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Jas 1:9-11
INSTRUCTION TO THE RICH AND POOR
Jas 1:9-11
9 But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate: -From the consideration of trials in general (Jas 1:2-8, the writer, in this section, proceeds to the treatment of those specific problems which result from substantial change in one’s economic condition-from poverty to riches and from riches to poverty. So perfectly adapted to all of man’s needs is Christianity it enables the faithful child of God immediately to cope with all of life’s problems, however varied they may be. The circumstances of life are exceedingly changeful; one may indeed be rich today and poor tomorrow; and the poor may experience similar change in economic station thus rising to affiuence overnight. Such radical alterations in one’s mode of living resulting from such changes produce serious problems and often lead to much temptation. The faithful Christian will not allow his relationship to God to be affected by his financial fluctuations but will, in these very changes, find occasion to rejoice.
The one experiencing these changes in his economic situation is a brother. Contemplated is “the brother of low degree,” and also “the rich” (brother, understood.) Both are of the great brotherhood of which God is the common Father and Christ the elder brother. All are brothers in Christ. However great is the difference in their financial standing, they meet on a common level in the Lord. There are no caste systems in Christ. The disposition to elevate some to positions of eminence in the church and to relegate to the realm of obscurity “the brother of low degree,” is wholly opposed to the spirit of Christianity and exceedingly wicked in the eyes of God. (James 2 :lff.) Some of the most effective work being done for Christ today is by humble, sacrificing servants of the Lord who labor in his cause for sheer love of him, and without desire for public acclaim whatsoever. These, though they may not experience the heady thrill of notoriety characteristics of the more prominent brethren, will nevertheless shine above the brightness of the stars in eternity. (Dan 12:3.)
The brother “of low degree” is “to glory in his high estate.” The phrase, “of low degree,” is from tapeinos, meaning one of humble position, one who, because of external circumstances, has been brought low. While a brother in such a situation would feel some debasement, the emphasis is not so much on his inward attitude, as with reference to his oittward position. Being poor, he is low, in contrast with the rich, who occupy a high position in the world. The distinction which the inspired writer at this point emphasizes is in the financial standing obtaining between the rich and the poor.
When the brother of low degree is suddenly thrust into the position of a rich man, he is to “glory in his high estate.” Not simply or solely because he is now rich, not because he is now freed of the fretting problems which ever plague the poor in life, not because his affluence will now enable him to do more in the service of the Savior, but because he has successfully passed the test of faith which sudden riches afford, and now knows that his faith is genuine. We must not, in our study of this passage, disregard the force of the context in which these words appear. The general theme is trials. (Jas 1:2-18.) Trials lead on to patience, and patient endurance supplies the test by which the genuineness of faith is determined. One’s faith is never more severely tried than when its possessor suddenly becomes rich and affluent. A brother who has experienced this transition, may indeed “glory” (kauchastho, exult) in his successful change in economic condition inasmuch as his faith is still intact. Many disciples, who suffer great hardship and want, endure much persecution and remain devoted to the Lord will, on becoming rich and prosperous, find the temptations resulting from wealth so alluring and seductive that they surrender to Satan. There are, of course, many proper blessings resulting from prosperity. Poverty is not an unmixed blessing, nor are riches an unadulterated evil. There are extremely corrupt poor men, as there are also wonderfully good rich men. Both poverty and riches involve great temptation ; each has its peculiar dangers, but neither necessitates disobedience to God. Perhaps the safest course, for the Christian, is in moderation. Agur, the son of Jakeh, “the oracle,” made this request of Jehovah before he died :
“Two things have I asked of thee;
Deny me them not before I die:
Remove far from me falsehood and lies:
Give me neither poverty nor riches;
Feed me with the food that is needful for me ;
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah?
Or lest I be poor, and steal,
And use profanely the name of my God.” ( Pro 30:7-9.)
It is not the amount of money which one has which determines whether one is rich in the objectionable sense ; it is the attitude which one exhibits thereto. He who “trusts” in his riches is condemned because he expects his riches to accomplish for him only that which God can do. (Mar 10:24, see margin.) John, in his short missive to his friend Gaius, informs us how safely rich one may be : “Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” (3Jn 1:2.) The brother of low degree may indeed rejoice because his faith has endured the test of both poverty and riches ! Now possessed of a sizable store of this world’s goods, his horizons have been lifted, his potential for good enhanced and his responsibility increased. While he may not be able actually to do more good for the Saviour in his affluence, he is equipped to labor in fields fom1erly closed to him. He may, therefore, properly “glory” (exult) in his “high estate.”
10 and the rich, in that he is made low -The “rich” (brother) is likewise to “glory” (rejoice, be glad) that he is made low. That the rich man contemplated in the passage is a brother seems not open to serious question. Obviously, the inspired writer would not direct such an edict to the worldly rich, nor could he reasonably expect those of that class either to heed his admonition or to regard the loss of riches as an occasion for rejoicing. Men of the world regard the loss of riches as a major catastrophe.
When the stock market broke in the ill-fated financial crash of 1929, numbers of men, their entire fortunes wiped out in an hour, lost their reason and leaped from tall buildings in New York City to their deaths. Life to them without their former affluence was no longer desirable. Only a brother (a child of God) can see in financial disaster a blessing. Brought low by his losses, he is nevertheless in position-as a faithful disciple of Christ-to see the deceitfulness of riches (Mat 13:22), to know their evanescent nature, and to recognize their powerlessness to bring happiness to the human heart. The trial of the brother brought low is doubtless harder to bear than is that characteristic of the brother of low degree who has been raised to financial prosperity. The latter may indeed find, in his improved circumstances, occasion to rejoice; but it is most difficult for one who has seen his riches take wings to feel that in their departure he has experienced a great blessing! But, inasmuch as all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and who are called according to his purpose (Rom 8:28), in the wisdom which God will give him (verse 5), he will be able to see that since such has happened it must be for his good, and he can therein rejoice.
Such a one may thenceforth reason that (1) the loss of riches is, in his case, providential and therefore for his good; (2) his association with the world and with worldly men must thenceforth be less intimate ; ( 3) the burdens borne by men in the business world-which often operate to shorten life-have been lifted and he may expect to live longer ; and ( 4) he is in position henceforth to fix his attention more thoroughly on the things which endure. In so doing, he is now able to appreciate more fully Paul’s affirmation that true values are not those which are tangible and may be seen: “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal ; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2Co 4:18.) One of the most vital lessons in life to learn is that “a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.” (Luk 12:15.)
because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.-Not only are riches disposed to vanish, he who possesses them is not more enduring; as the tender, fragile flower of the grass appears only to be crushed or to wither so also does the rich man “pass away.” This verb, parele11setm, in the future tense, compounded from para, by, besides, and erchomai, to come or to go, denotes, in impressive fashion, the frailty of human nature, and rapidity with which men, however rich they may be, are made to pass from life. As a slender and delicate blade of grass withers and is gone, so the rich man passes by and is no more. Such a one is not to feel that the loss of riches is fatal; he, too, cannot long remain on the earth and would not therefore reasonably expect to retain his riches and to enjoy them forever. Inasmuch as his life here is “but for a moment,” let him recognize that, whatever his earthly circumstances, his riches are not essential to his happiness or well being here, nor can their loss in any fashion defeat him in his efforts to gain heaven and eternal life. The things of this life are so transient in nature that it is of little consequence whether we have abundance or are in want, provided we “put first things first,” and enthrone the Lord Jesus Christ in our hearts and lives.
(Note: Other interpretations proposed for this passage are, (1) the brother of “low degree” is, because he is a brother, to glory in his high estate ; i.e., because he is a Christian, he is to find in this fact occasion for joy whatever his outward circumstances may be. The rich brother is similarly to glory (exult) because, as a Christian he has accepted a state of humiliation which will operate ultimately for his good enabling him to be saved despite his riches. Objection: all brothers in Christ are on the same level; there is no respect of persons with God (Gal 3:28-29; Rom 2:11). Throughout the Epistle James deplores the disposition to create distinctions between brethren. (2) The rich man is not a brother at all but one who, because he is. rich, rejoices in the abandonment of life (through yielding to the allurements of the world) which his riches makes possible. Objection: Both classes are addressed in the same fashion as if they were equally related to the writer. The rich would see no occasion for rejoicing in the loss of possessions, nor would such be disposed to heed the injunctions issued. The context is against both of these interpretations. The objection, that elsewhere in the Epistle the writer condemn:; the rich, is to beg the question. That wicked rich men are elsewhere condemned does not necessarily require that the conclusion be drawn that James does so here, unless, of course, one subscribes to the view that the mere fact that one is rich means that one is wicked, an absurd conclusion, truly!)
We conclude, therefore, that both the poor and the rich, under contemplation in our text, are children of God; and, that it was James’ design to show that however changfog and changeable the outward circumstances of life may be, those who are faithful to the Lord tnay find occa.rion to rejoice and be happy. We thus le_arn that the rich and the poor both have their trials; and, while they are not the same trials, the road to heaven is not smooth for either. Each may, however, in spite of his peculiar temptations, find satisfaction in service to his Saviour, and ultimately receive eternal bliss.
11 For the sun ariseth with the scorching wind, and withereth the grass; and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.-Eastern peoples would be especially familiar with this illustration taken from nature. A scorching wind, called the simoom, frequently begins with the coming up of the sun ; and the heat which it brings is often so intense that the green vegetation withers and eventually dies. The “grass” of the passage (chorion) is from a comprehensive term for vegetation; and, “the flower of the grass” (anthos) does not refer to the bloom but to wild flowers which often grow up in the midst of the grass in Palestine. Lilies were by our Lord called “the grass of the field” in his Sermon on the Mount. (Mat 6:28; Mat 6:30.)
This blast of hot air, called “the scorching wind” in the text, comes in from the deserts east of the Jordan valley, and up from the burning sands of Egypt. The destructive character of “the east wind” is often mentioned in the Scriptures. “Yea, behold, being planted,. shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew.” (Eze 17:10.) “And it came to pass, when the sun arose, that God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and requested that he might die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live.” (Jon 4:8.) This entire section in James, appears to be based upon a quite similar affirmation from the prophet Isaiah : “The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the Hower fadeth, because the breath of Jehovah bloweth upon it; surely the people is as grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.” (Isa 40:6-8.)
Because of the extremely barren nature of much of the soil in Palestine, the scarcity of water and the scorching, burning winds, grass in that country remains green but a short time. Its fragile character and its short life afford au excellent illustration of the brevity of man’s existence on earth, and the rapidity with which men are cut down and are no more. As the tender grass withers and perishes in the burning blasts of the east wind, “so also shall the rich man fade away in his goings.” The figure is a familiar one: “Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down …. ” (Job 14:1-2.) ” As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.” (Psa 103:15-16.)
James has earlier shown (verses 2-4), that the loss of riches is not to be regarded as a catastrophe; on the contrary, one experiencing this is to rejoice in it, provided that his faith is sufficiently strong to enable him to endure the trial such an experience brings. Here, he emphasizes the fact that the rich will die as do other men as surely as the grass of the field withers and dies. He, too, will “fade away” (maranthesetai, future passive indicative of maraino, to extinguish a light, to put out a flame,) like a light which flickers and goes out, a vivid figure of speech for the suddenness with which life can vanish. Man is thus like a candle which, for the moment is seen, and then is snuffed out and is no more. Such a one will fade away “in his goings,” as he goes about his tasks, as the poorest do, he shall die, there is no difference between the rich and the poor in this respect. Like the flower of the field, today alive and beautiful, but tomorrow withered and sere, like a light which flames forth in brilliance one moment, and is out the next, so the rich man dies “in the midst of his goings,” and is seen no more.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
the brother: Jam 2:5, Jam 2:6, Deu 15:7, Deu 15:9, Deu 15:11, Psa 62:9, Pro 17:5, Pro 19:1, Luk 1:52
rejoice: or, glory, Jer 9:23, Jer 9:24, Rom 5:2, Rom 5:3, Phi 3:3,*Gr.
in: Jam 2:5, 1Sa 2:8, Psa 113:7, Psa 113:8, Luk 9:48, Luk 10:20, Rom 8:17, 2Co 6:10, Phi 3:14, 1Pe 2:9, 1Jo 3:1-3, Rev 2:9, Rev 5:9, Rev 5:10, Rev 7:9, Rev 7:10
Reciprocal: 1Sa 2:7 – bringeth 2Ki 14:10 – glory of this Job 5:11 – those Psa 49:2 – General Psa 86:1 – for I am Pro 18:23 – poor Isa 5:15 – the mean Isa 29:19 – the poor Jon 3:6 – and he arose Hab 3:18 – I will rejoice Mat 19:23 – That Mar 8:36 – profit Luk 3:5 – valley Luk 6:20 – Blessed Luk 16:20 – a certain Act 8:39 – and he 1Co 1:26 – not many mighty 2Co 10:17 – General 1Ti 6:17 – that they 1Pe 1:6 – ye greatly 1Pe 5:6 – that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jas 1:9. Low degree. Those in the humble or lowly walks of life may take satisfaction from the exaltation or honor of being a servant of Christ. That is the most dignified station or manner of life that any man can maintain.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jas 1:9. The meaning of this and of the following verse has been much disputed.
Let. The connection with the preceding is not obvious. It appears to be this: We must avoid all doubting of God in prayer, all double-mindedness; we must exercise confidence in Him, and realize His gracious dealings in all the dispensations of His Providence; and, whether rich or poor, we must place implicit trust in Him.
the brother: here evidently the Christian brother, because Christianity unites all those who embrace it into one holy brotherhood.
of low degreeliterally, who is lowly. The word in itself does not necessarily involve the idea of poverty; but here, where the contrast is with the rich, it must denote poor or afflictedthe poor brother. The majority of the early Christians were from among the poor; and it is probable that the unbelieving Jews by fines and extortions deprived their believing brethren of their goods. Poverty was a frequent form of persecution for conscience sake.
rejoice in that he is exaltedliterally, glory in his exaltation. Different meanings have been assigned to this phrase. The usual interpretation is to refer it to spiritual exaltation: Let the poor brother rejoice in the dignity and glory which as a Christian he possesses, in those spiritual riches which are conferred upon him, and in the crown of life which is in reserve for him. He is constituted a child of God and an heir of heaven. Doubtless many who were slaves in the world were the Lords freedmen. This dignity was a proper subject for glorying in, as it was conferred on them not because of their own merits, but from the Divine graciousness. May not the words, however, admit of a more extended and literal signification? The poor are permitted to rejoice when they become rich, because they are thus possessed of greater means of usefulness, and are the better enabled to promote the cause of Christ. Voluntary poverty is no virtue; money may be redeemed from the world and deposited in the treasury of the Lord.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Our apostle having finished his necessary digression concerning prayer, in the foregoing verses, returns now to his former argument, concerning bearing affliction with joy; and urges a strong reason here to enforce the duty, Let the brother of low degree; that is, such a Christian as is brought low by persecution and sufferings for Christ, let him rejoice that God has exalted him, and made him rich in faith, and an heir of the kingdom: nothing is more certain, than that the greatest abuses and sufferings for Christ, are an honour and exaltation to us; he adds, But let the rich rejoice in that he is made low, that is, when he loses any thing for Christ; as if the apostle had said, “Let the poor Christian rejoice, in that he is spiritually exalted, and the rich man rejoice, in that he is spiritually humbled; a rich man’s humility is his glory.”
Observe next, the apostle rendereth a reason why the rich man should have a lowly mind, in the midst of his flourishing conditon, because all the pomp and grandeur of riches fades like a flower; and he himself also is beautiful, but fading; fair, but vanishing: and he pursues this similitude of a flower in the eleventh verse, shewing, that as the flower fadeth presently before the heat of the scorching sun, so the rich man fades, and all his riches are both transitory and passing.
Learn hence, that it ought to comfort a Christian that suffers loss for Christ by persecution, to consider, that the things which he loseth for the sake of Christ, are things of a fading nature, which could not have been kept long by him, had they not been rent from him; by parting with that which he could not keep, he makes sure of that which he can never lose; well therefore may the rich man rejoice in his humiliation; Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, and the rich that he is made low.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Lessons From the Rich and Poor Brother In demonstrating the maturity brought by patient endurance of trials, James uses the example of the poor and the rich brothers. The Christian who is poor can rejoice in his poverty because he is rich in Christ ( Eph 1:3 ). The rich man in Christ should be humbled by the knowledge that all he has cannot buy an entrance to heaven. Instead of being independently wealthy, he is really dependent upon God for his wealth. This passage has much the same purpose as Paul’s message to the slave and the free man in 1Co 7:22 .
All of us need to realize this life is as temporary as the grass and flowers of the field ( Jas 1:9-11 ). Peter quoted from Isa 40:6-8 , when he wrote, “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever” ( 1Pe 1:24-25 ). Knowing wealth did not stop one from needing God and remembering the brevity of life, Paul directed Timothy to, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life ( 1Ti 6:17-19 ).
The wise place to lay up treasures is in heaven ( Mat 6:19-21 ). When one has laid his treasures in heaven, he will be “blessed.” Christians experience an inner peace, which is their joy or blessedness. It is not merely happiness which is brought on by good events around us, but an inner calm unaffected by outward events. Those who successfully overcome those trials which fall in upon them (verse 2) will receive the crown of life ( Jas 1:12 ; 2Ti 4:6-8 ). In this case, life is our victory wreath. Those who continue to endure prove by their lives that they love God ( 1Jn 5:3 ).
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Jas 1:9-11. Let the brother St. James does not give this appellation to the rich; of low degree Poor and tempted, or brought low by his sufferings for Christ, and humbled in spirit thereby; rejoice that he is exalted To be a child of God, and an heir of eternal glory; let him think of his dignity as a Christian, and entirely acquiesce in his low station in life, which will continue only for a short season, and which God has wisely appointed for his eternal good. Or, let him rejoice that he is thought worthy to be called to suffer for Christ, Act 5:41; Php 1:29. But the rich Let the rich rejoice in that he is made low Is humbled by a deep sense of his true condition, and brought to have low thoughts of all worldly excellences, and to be prepared for sufferings. The Greek is, , in his humiliation, as the word is rendered Act 8:33; where it is used to express the humiliation of Christ by his various sufferings. And as it is here opposed to , exaltation, in the preceding verse, it may signify the humiliation of the rich man, by his being stripped of his riches and possessions, of his liberty, and his being made liable to lose his life on account of the gospel. Here, therefore, the apostle advises the rich to glory when they lose the uncertain riches of this life, and are exposed to other sufferings, for the sake of truth and a good conscience, with the favour and approbation of God. For the sun, &c. Literally, For the sun arose with a burning heat, and withered the grass, and the flower fell off, and the beauty of its form perished. There is an unspeakable beauty and elegance, both in the comparison itself and the very manner of expressing it; intimating both the certainly and the suddenness of the event. So shall the rich man fade away in his ways In the midst of his various pleasures and enjoyments.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jas 1:9-11. The paradox of a bragging that comes of humility and faith is common to James and Paul: it starts from Jer 9:23 t The brotherhood which levels all differences into a glorious liberty, fraternity, and equality is the community of Gods faithful people. The rich man, as such, has only the common lot to expect: he needs to be lifted down, as the beggar is lifted up, to the place of eternal safety. James vividly expands the famous simile of Isa 40:6 from the conditions of Palestine: the easterly sirocco at sunrise (Mar 4:6) blasted vegetation (cf. Psa 103:16). The goings are trade journeys (cf. Jas 4:13)he is cut off while still on the move.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Verse 9
Exalted; in his privileges and hopes as a Christian.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Mr. D’s Notes on James
Jam 1:9-11
Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
Here we go again, one of those obnoxious commands – hey, poor people rejoice you are exalted. Well there must be more to the text than that.
This is a strange assemblage of words in my mind. James contrasts the brother of low degree with the brother that is rich, but at the same time communicates their equality in brotherhood yet points out the rich man only in coming death. They are both changed from the normally viewed status to the other’s. The rich man is then singled out for the gore – death, not that the lowly brother won’t also die – all humans of any degree die, but the rich man is singled out in the text. Some questions to ponder as we study.
Why is only the rich man’s end considered?
Why is the lowly’s end not considered?
Why is only the lowly to rejoice in his degree, since both end in their proper place?
Why is the rich man given so much information?
Might it be that the rich man needs to be educated on the fact that he is not going to outdo death, that his end is coming, while the lowly man knows all too well his end cometh? The lowly, if they know the teaching of the Lord know that they will be in a far better place in their end when it cometh. OR, more precisely, is James not talking about the lowly and the rich believers coming to their realization that they are equals, and that James is singling out the rich man that has not been humbled – the one that is going to wither as the flower. I suspect that this is the more appropriate line of thought.
Let’s consider the text and see where we find ourselves with these two examples.
Jam 1:9
Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
There is nothing surprising in the text that the English doesn’t bring out. The point is, the one that is of low degree will be raised up or exalted.
In short, this is a blanket statement that if you are of low degree, you will be exalted. This is something you can go to the bank with – it is safe and secure. It is not unlike the Lord’s words in Matthew five when He said, “5 Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Christ related later to His listener that He was of the same position and mind set. Mat 11:29 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.”
It might do well for us to consider these verses in light of our own lives. Are we really meek, are we really lowly, are we really Christ like? This is part of Christ likeness. Sure we are to be spiritual, sure we are to be well versed in the Bible, and sure we are to be all those things we think Christ likeness is, but part of that is ALSO meekness and lowliness. Do we really measure down to His level of living? Something to consider for sure.
Fuente: Mr. D’s Notes on Selected New Testament Books by Stanley Derickson
1:9 {7} Let the brother of {h} low degree rejoice in that he is exalted:
(7) He returns to his purpose repeating the proposition, which is, that we must rejoice in affliction, for it does not oppress us, but exalt us.
(h) Who is afflicted with poverty, or contempt, or with any kind of calamity.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
4. The larger view of circumstances 1:9-11
James had been urging his readers to adopt God’s view of their trials (Jas 1:2-4). Now he returned to this subject, broadened their perspective, and encouraged them to adopt His viewpoint on all their present circumstances.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Materially poor believers should derive joy from focusing their thinking on their spiritual riches.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Chapter 7
THE EXALTATION OF THE LOWLY AND THE FADING AWAY OF THE RICH-THE METAPHORS OF ST. JAMES AND THE PARABLES OF CHRIST.
Jam 1:9-11
IN this section St. James returns to what is the main thought of the first chapter, and one of the main thoughts of the whole Epistle, viz., the blessedness of enduring temptations, and especially such temptations as are caused by external trials and adversity. He adds another thought which may help to console and strengthen the oppressed Christian.
The Revisers have quite rightly restored the “But” () at the beginning of this section. There seems to be absolutely no authority for its omission; and we may conjecture that the earlier English translators ignored it, because it seemed to them to be superfluous, or even disturbing. The Rhenish Version, made from the Vulgate (Glorietur autem), is the only English Version which preserves it; and Luther (Ein Bruder aber) preserves it also. The force of the conjunction is to connect the advice in this section with the items of advice already given. They form a connected series. “Count it all joy, when ye fall into manifold temptations But () let patience have its perfect work But () if any lacketh wisdom, let him ask of GodBut () let him ask in faithBut () let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate: and the rich in that he is made low.”
The meaning of this last item in the series is by no means clear. Various interpretations have been suggested, and it is difficult or even impossible to arrive at a conclusive decision as to which of them is the right one. But we may clear the ground by setting aside all explanations which would make the brother of low degree ( ) to mean the Christian who is lowly in heart, {Mat 11:29} and “the rich” ( ) the Christian who is rich in faith {Jam 2:5} and in good works. {1Ti 6:18} Both words are to be understood literally. The lowly man is the man of humble position, oppressed by poverty, and perhaps by unscrupulous neighbors, {Jam 2:3} and the rich man, here, as elsewhere in this Epistle, is the man of wealth who very often oppresses the poorer brethren. {Jam 1:11; Jam 2:6; Jam 5:1}
What, then, is the meaning of the “high estate” () in which the brother of low degree is to glory, and of the “being made low” () in which the rich man is to do the same? At first sight one is disposed to say that the one is the heavenly birthright, and the other the Divine humiliation, in which every one shares who becomes a member of Christ; in fact, that they are the same thing looked at from different points of view; for what to the Christian is promotion, to the world seems degradation. If this were correct, then we should have an antithesis analogous to that which is drawn out by St. Paul, when he says, “He that was called in the Lord, being a bond-servant, is the Lords freeman: likewise he that was called, being free, is Christs bond-servant”. {1Co 7:22} But on further consideration thins attractive explanation is found not to suit the context. What analogy is there between the humiliation in which every Christian glories in Christ and the withering of herbage under a scorching wind? Even if we could allow that this metaphor refers to the fugitive character of earthly possessions, what has that to do with Christian humiliation, which does not depend upon either the presence or the absence of wealth? Moreover, St. James says nothing about the fugitiveness of riches: it is the rich man himself, and not his wealth, that is said to “pass away,” and to “fade away in his goings.” Twice over St. James declares this to be the destiny of the rich man; and the wording is such as to show that when the writer says that “the rich man shall fade away in his goings” he means the man, and not his riches. “His goings,” or “journeys,” very likely refers to his “going into this city to spend a year there, and trade, and get gain”; {Jam 4:13} i.e., he wastes himself away in the pursuit of wealth. But what could be the meaning of wealth “fading away in its journeys”? Evidently, we must not transfer what is said of the rich man himself to his possessions. It is a baseless assumption to suppose that the rich man here spoken of is a Christian at all. “The brother of low degree” is contrasted, not with the brother who is rich, but with the rich man, whose miserable destiny shows that he is not “a brother,” i.e., not a believer. The latter is the wealthy Jew who rejects Christ. Throughout this Epistle “rich” is a term of reproach. This is what is meant by the Ebionite tone of the Epistle; for poverty is the condition which Ebionism delights to honor. In this St. James seems to be reproducing the thoughts both of Jesus Christ and of Jesus the Son of Sirach. “Woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you, ye that are full now! for ye shall hunger.” {Luk 6:25-26. Comp. Mat 19:23-25} “The rich man hath done wrong, and is very wroth besides: the poor man is wronged, and he must entreat also An abomination to the proud is lowliness; so the poor are abomination to the rich” (Sir 13:3; Sir 13:20).
But when we have arrived at the conclusion that the “being made low” does not refer to the humiliation of the Christian, and that the rich man here threatened with a miserable end is not a believer, a new difficulty arises. What is the meaning of the wealthy unbeliever being told to glory in the degradation which is to prove so calamitous to him? In order to avoid this difficulty various expedients have been suggested. Some propose a rather violent change of mood-from the imperative to the indicative. No verb is expressed, and it is said that instead of repeating “let him glory” from the previous clause, we may supply “he glories,” as a statement of fact rather than an exhortation. The sentence will then run, “But let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate; but () the rich glorieth in his being made low”; i.e., he glories in what degrades him and ought to inspire him with shame and grief. Others propose a still more violent change, viz., of verb; they would keep the imperative, but supply a word of opposite meaning: “so let the rich man be ashamed of his being made low.” Neither of these expedients seems to be necessary, or indeed to be a fair treatment of the text. It is quite possible to make good sense of the exhortation, without any violent change either of mood or of verb. In the exhortation to the rich man St. James speaks in severe irony: “Let the brother of low degree glory in his high estate; and the rich man-what is he to glory in?-let him glory in the only thing upon which he can count with certainty, viz., his being brought low; because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.” Such irony is not uncommon in Scripture. Our blessed Lord Himself makes use of it sometimes, as when He says of the hypocrites that they have their reward, and have it in full. {: Mat 6:2; Mat 6:5; Mat 6:16}
Whether or no this interpretation be accepted-and no interpretation of this passage has as yet been suggested which is free from difficulty-it must be clearly borne in mind that no explanation can be correct which does not preserve the connection between the humiliation of the rich man and his passing away as the flower of the grass. This fading away is his humiliation, is the thing in which he is to glory, if he glories in anything at all. The inexorable “because” must not be ignored or explained away by making the wealth of the rich man shrivel up, when St. James twice over says that it is the rich man himself who fades away.
The metaphor here used of the rich man is common enough in the Old Testament. Man “cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down” ( : LXX), says Job, in his complaint; {Job 14:2} and, “As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more,” says the Psalmist. {Psa 103:15-16} But elsewhere, with a closer similarity to the present passage, we have this transitory character specially attributed to the ungodly, who “shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” {Psa 37:2} None of these passages, however, are so clearly in St. Jamess mind as the words of Isaiah: “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the breath of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; but the word of our God shall stand forever.” {Isa 41:6-7} Here the words of St. James are almost identical with those of the Septuagint ( ); and, as has been already pointed out, this is one of the quotations which our 1Pe 1:24.
“Grass” throughout is a comprehensive term for herbage, and the “flower of grass” does not mean the bloom or blossom of grass in the narrower sense, but the wild flowers, specially abundant and brilliant in the Holy Land, which grow among the grass. Thus, in the Sermon on the Mount, what are first called “the lilies () of the field” are immediately afterwards called “the grass ( ) of the field”. {Mat 6:28; Mat 6:30}
“The scorching wind” ( ) is one of the features in the Epistle which harmonize well with the fact that the writer was an inhabitant of Palestine. It is the furnace-like blast from the arid wilderness to the east of the Jordan. “Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the beds where it” Eze 17:10. “God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted”. {Jon 4:8} The fig-tree, olives, and vine {Jam 3:12} are the chief fruit-trees of Palestine; and “the early and latter rain” {Jam 5:7} points still more clearly, to the same district.
It has been remarked with justice that whereas St. Paul for the most part draws his metaphors from the scenes of human activity-building, husbandry, athletic contests, and warfare-St. James prefers to take his metaphors from the scenes of nature. In this chapter we have “the surge of the sea” (Jam 1:6) and “the flower of the grass” (Jam 1:10). In the third chapter we have the “rough winds” driving the ships, the “wood kindled by a small fire,” “the wheel of nature,” “every kind of beasts and birds, of creeping things, and things in the sea,” “the fountain sending forth sweet water,” “the fig-tree and vine” (Jam 3:4-7, Jam 3:11-12). In the fourth chapter human life is “a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (Jam 4:14). And in the last chapter, besides the moth and the rust, we have “the fruit of the earth,” and “the early and latter rain” (Jam 5:2-3; Jam 5:7; Jam 5:18).
These instances are certainly very numerous, when the brevity of the Epistle is considered. The love of nature which breathes through them was no doubt learned and cherished in the village home at Nazareth, and it forms another link between St. James and his Divine Brother. Nearly every one of the natural phenomena to which St James directs attention in this letter are used by Christ also in His teaching. The surging of the sea, {Luk 21:25} the flowers of the field, {Mat 6:28} the burning of wood, {Joh 15:6} the birds of the air, {Mat 6:26; Mat 8:20; Mat 13:4; Mat 13:32} the fountain of sweet water, {Joh 4:10-14; Joh 7:38} the fig-tree, {Mat 7:16; Mat 21:19; Mat 24:32} the vine, {Joh 15:1-5} the moth, {Mat 6:19} the rust, {Mat 6:19} and the rain. {Mat 5:45; Mat 7:25} In some cases the use made by St. James of these natural objects is very similar to that made by our Lord, and it may well be that what he writes is a reminiscence of what he had heard years before from Christs lips; but in other cases the use is quite different, and must be assigned to the love of nature, and the recognition of its fitness for teaching spiritual truths, which is common to the Lord and His brother. Thus, when St. James asks, “Can a fig-tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs?” we seem to have an echo of the question in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” And when St. James tells the rich oppressors that their “garments are moth-eaten; their gold and their silver are rusted,” is he not remembering Christs charge, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust do consume, and where thieves break through and steal”? But in most of the other cases there is little or no resemblance between the similes of Christ and the figurative use of the same natural phenomena made by St. James. Thus, while Jesus uses the flowers of the field to illustrate Gods care for every object in the universe, and the superiority of the glory which He bestows over that with which man adorns himself, St. James teaches thereby the transitory character of the glory which comes of riches; and while Christ points to the rain as illustrating Gods bounty to good and bad alike, St. James takes it as an illustration of His goodness in answer to patient and trusting prayer.
It is manifest that in this matter St. James is partly following a great example, but partly also following the bent of his own mind. The first, without the second, would hardly have given us so many examples of this kind of teaching in so small a space. St. John had equal opportunities with St. James of learning this method of teaching from Christ, and yet there are scarcely any examples of it in his Epistles. Possibly his opportunities were even greater than those of St. James; for although he was at most the cousin of the Lord, whereas St. James was His brother, yet he was present during the whole of Christs ministry, whereas St. James was not converted until after the Resurrection. But there is this great difference between Christs teaching from nature and that of St. James: St. James recognizes in the order and beauty of the universe a revelation of Divine truth, and makes use of the facts of the external world to teach spiritual lessons; the incarnate Word, in drawing spiritual lessons from the external world, could expound the meaning of a universe which He Himself had made. In the one case it is a disciple of nature who imparts to us the lore which he himself has learned; in the other it is the Master of nature, who points out to us the meaning of His own world, and interprets to us the voices of the winds and the waves, which obey Him.