Hi James and Ellen,
James was penned by a guy who was vexed with Jew Christ-follower guys and gals violating the norms of a new belief paradigm that his big ‘half-bro’ had single-handedly kicked off through how He lived His life, what He taught while He was living on planet Earth, what took place when His Jewish compatriots were led to have Him heartlessly suffer and ignominiously die while hung on and nailed to a cross and His perpetual victory over death when He arose alive from a sealed tomb – where His lifeless corpse had been entombed, to live again for another forty days on planet Earth. By the time that this chiding missive was penned – which was probably around 50 A.D., and which became known by the communiqué’s author’s name, James had become ascribed the titular head of the emergent Christ-follower movement. James was one of Jesus’ ‘half-bros’. Jesus had at least three other ‘half-bros’. Their names were Joses, Simon and Judas. Even through James explicitly communicates unconditionally accepting that his big ‘half-bro’ gave His life while hung on and nailed to a cross so that His blood would once and for all be an atonement payment for all the sins that a fallen angel – who is Satan, has been allowed by God to cause every guy, gal and kid who He is assigning to living on planet Earth to commit and which also had Him through His death remove works from any equation for the pursuit of eternal hope by opening up a grace door into the heart of a guy, gal or kid so that he or she – after putting into motion unquestioning faith that guarantees receiving the undeserved, unmerited gift of eternal life, James still resolutely and faithfully adhered to the Torah – which are the Jewish Law teachings. Even though James expressly directs his letter to the scattered Israelite or Jew Christ-follower guys and gals who your grandpaa believes had – because of the atrocious persecution that was specifically directed towards them, fled the city of Jerusalem – which is where it can be assumed that James made his home after his ‘half-bro’s’ ascension from planet Earth into heaven, the attitude and action expectations and/or mandates that James penned in his letter/book to the dispersed Israelite or Jew Christ-follower guys and gals will always be apropos.
Because of having a big ‘half-bro’ who did not have the capacity to say or do anything that would sound or appear vile, your grandpaa believes that James – during the years that he lived with his big ‘half-bro’ in the same small, rock-walled house, had to have wondered at times how his big ‘half-bro’ could communicate to others as eruditely as He did and how his big ‘half-bro’ could comport Himself with others as astutely as He did. As a young kid growing up in the town of Nazareth, James knew what it was like to endure daily hardships, to have very little possessions and to live in a supportive community. Over the fifteen or so years from the time that James began living with the knowledge that his big ‘half-bro’ was brutally murdered because of His teaching a message of truth and hope that was driven by faith and which contravened the Mosaic Law’s rules and regulations that were driven by works – which had been the spiritual worship norm for his fellow people group Israelite or Jew guys and gals for over 1,400 years and which guaranteed Israelite people group Pharisee and Sadducee leaders power, prestige and position, your grandpaa believes that James’ disappointment with and his bottled up frustration towards his fellow Israelite or Jew guys and gals – that is conveyed to your grandpaa in his letter/book, who had become born again, spirit filled adherents of his bro’s teachings because of how they were living their personal lives and how they were relating to others led him to write what he penned in his letter. James begins his five chapter letter by admonishing his readers to adopt an accepting mindset for the trials and tribulations that they were experiencing as he knew that tests and troubles were catalysts for learning how faith helps a guy and gal to persevere as Christ-followers. James then seemingly randomly insists that his readers be doers by proactively living out the Good News message instead of just listening to what was being taught and doing nothing with what they were hearing. James goes on to tell the readers and hearers of his letter/book to stop slighting the poor through how they were favoring the rich, he informs them that faith without works is insufficient, he warns them to never misuse their tongues, he enlightens them to the nature of the workings of true and false wisdom, and he rebukes them for their greed, lust and for making foolhardy business plans. James concludes his letter/book by exhorting the readers and hearers of his letter/book to be patient when suffering for whatever reason, he reminds them of the power of prayer when praying for every need and he asserts to them that he knows what it is like to experience joy while humbly doing Christ-follower service.
James’ commonsense take on the topics that he tackled in his letter/book to dispersed Jew Christ-follower guys and gals makes his letter/book a useful resource for how to live a Christ-follower life. Because of Who he grew up with, James was able to paint a word painting of what an authentic Christ-follower guy or gal is to look and act like. James wanted Jew Christ-follower guys and gals to live the kind of life that his big ‘half-bro’ embodied in His life. James willingly and candidly did what Christ-follower guys and gals should always do which is to confront wrong thinking and doing. James knew that joy and peace comes from living life like how his ‘big half-bro’ lived His life.
James