James chapter 1 part 1

After reading chapter 1:

*Verse one is the greeting of the letter, from James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who is this James? He could be any learned jewish man named James or he could be one of the
James mentioned in other parts of the New Testament.
1. James the brother of Jesus
2. James the son of Alpheus (possibly the same as James no. 1, but cousin instead of brother)
3. James the less (possibly the same James as no. 2.)
4. James the son of Zebedee

One problem with these particular Jameses is that they were probably common laborers or fishermen, not highly educated enough to produce this well written text in greek.

At any rate, there were two apostles named James. One the son of Zebedee, the other the son of Alpheus, who could also have been Jesus's cousin or brother. Clear as mud? We are not told which specific James wrote this letter, but lots of people like to believe it was the literal brother of Jesus. Another interesting tidbit, all of the "Jameses"are actually "Jacobs"  in the original greek- iakobos.
Jesus's name in greek appears to be synonymous with Joshua.

The letter is written to "the twelve tribes scattered among the nations." Literal greek- the twelve tribes in the diaspora. Is this a reason to think the letter may have been written after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E.? It was obviously written to Jews, not a group that had separated themselves from the Jewish faith. James seems to have believed that Jesus was the Jewish messiah or "christ." There are jews today that believe certain rabbis were the messiah. More about the messiah in Judaism.

Verse two says consider it pure joy brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of many kinds. Those "brothers and sisters" were Jews, as clearly shown in the greeting. James tells them in the first few verses that they should be glad they are having troubles. It is making them mature and complete, and producing perserverence. James appears to be trying to put a positive spin on a life which must have been pretty troublesome. This first section is packed with thoughts that many christians take very seriously:
1. God will give you wisdom if you ask for it.
2. When you ask of God, you must believe in order  to receive.
3. The poor are in a higher spiritual position than the rich and should be proud of their poverty.
4. Endurance under trial gets you the grand prize, a crown of life promised by Jesus to those who love him.
5. God doesn't tempt people, their own evil desires do that. Desire leads to sin, sin leads to death.
6. All good things come from God.
7. God doesn't change.
8. We (the Jews or followers of Jesus?) are the first fruits of all God created.

It seems clear that James is trying to convince his readers that no matter how bad things get, they are really well off because of their special status by virtue of being poor and having a hard life. Wisdom and endurance may be very helpful, but I don't see any virtue in poverty. Anyone can be poor. It takes no effort. When you desire to not be poor, but you are because of circumstances beyond your control, James appears to be implying that  that desire  may be evil which will lead you to sin and ultimately death. But we are all going to die anyway, aren't we? What exactly is a crown of life?