James returns to the keynote of “all joy” (v. 2) and uses the word
“glory.” The positive note of exultation is the mark of the true
Christian against the double-minded man. The pessimist is not a
representative of Christianity. The true optimist is not, however, blind
to the facts of life. He can glory in God in the midst of all sorts of
trials and conditions, whether in high or low estate. His joy is
independent of earthly estate. The “cotter’s Saturday night” may be as
happy as the one in the castle nearby. Class distinctions are no cause
for pride in a spiritual democracy like the church of Jesus Christ. We
need in Christianity no “princes of the church” in the Roman Catholic
sense. Pride of rank among the twelve disciples was a source of grief to
Jesus. The rich and the poor are one in Christ Jesus, and all are poor,
miserable sinners saved by grace.
Johnstone[52] calls this section “Rich Poor and Poor Rich.” That is true
and is the probable interpretation here. The humble[53] brother may,
after all, be the richest man in the church—rich in grace, in love, in
joy, in peace, in righteousness, in fellowship. This is “his high
estate,” which rises sheer above hovel or palace. Thank God that this
infinite wealth of the spirit is still open to the poor all over the
world who find the door of competency closed in their faces. The pious
poor is more than a phrase. It is often literal fact.
The papyri discoveries[54] bear eloquent testimony to the words of Paul
about the membership of the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 1:26-29). The
papyri letters and other documents are chiefly from the middle and lower
classes and reflect the actual life of the very people from whom the
gospel made most of its converts (fishermen, carpenters, publicans,
tentmakers, etc.). There were already some wealthy members of the early
churches, men like Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, Barnabas of Cyprus.
There were “not many mighty,” but there were some. There soon came to be
large numbers of slaves in the churches when the gospel spread among the
Gentiles. But already social problems of an acute nature were on hand
when James wrote. In fact, we see such problems in the early chapters of
Acts, when Ananias and Sapphira wished to get credit for a generosity
that they were not willing to show and when high feeling arose in the
distribution of the funds for the Aramean (Palestinian) and Hellenistic
widows among the Jewish Christians. At no point are people more
sensitive than about money.
So the rich brother is to be reminded of his humiliation, “in that he is
made low,” placed on a level with the “lowly brother.” They meet on the
level in Christ. Each is as high and as low as the other—no more, no
less. The rich man is not to glory over the poor man, nor is the poor
brother to cringe in the presence of the rich brother. This is the
democracy of faith, the universality of Christ.
The rich brother is in constant peril of pride of possession, and so
James reminds him of the fate of the beautiful flower of the grass which
springs up quickly and withers before the burning heat and falls off. It
is a striking adaptation of the language of Isaiah (40:6-8), using the
imagery for another purpose. 1 Peter 1:24 says: “All flesh is as grass,
and all the glory thereof as the flower of grass.” Christ brings all men
to their true level, the common humanity in us all, the sonship in him
that makes us heirs of heaven. Moffatt changes “his high estate” to
“when he is raised,” and “in that he is made low” to “in being lowered.”
He seems to understand that James refers to the possible ups and downs
of life. It will be easy for the lowly brother in that case to rejoice
when he becomes rich; but how about the rich brother when he becomes
poor?
Plummer (_in loco_) refuses to see a “brother” at all in the rich man,
but only one of the rich Jews who oppressed the early Christians, as in
James 5:1-6. But that gives an Ebionitic tone to the epistle. James does
indulge in irony, but he is apparently sincere in his picture here. The
rich brother will fade away in his goings, as if James has in mind a
salesman whose business dries up like a flower. Riches truly have wings
and fly away. They are sweet like the rose but soon vanish from us
forever.
IV
The Way of Temptation
James powerfully sketches the natural history of temptation if yielded
to and the glory of victory if overcome. The other sense (temptation) of
the word used for trial in 1:2 occurs here. Moffatt indeed takes trial
as the idea in 1:12 also (so does Hort _in loco_), but certainly in
verse 13 we have to say “temptation.” It is most likely that the idea of
temptation is present in 1:12. Here James returns to the discussion of
the other side of the blessing of trials, namely, the blessing of
temptation endured. As a matter of fact, he has not really digressed
from the subject. He merely discusses one aspect.