Here James speaks like one of the Old Testament prophets. His epistle,
while thoroughly Christian, is yet nearer to the standpoint of the Old
Testament prophets than any other book in the New Testament. “Cleanse
your hands, ye sinners.” The priests washed their hands before they
entered the tabernacle to worship (Ex. 30:19-21; Lev. 16:4). It was
natural for the language to be applied to moral purity: “I will wash my
hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Jehovah” (Psalm
26:6). See also Hebrews 10:22. So Pilate sought to emphasize his own
freedom from guilt by washing his hands (Matt. 27:24), if by so doing he
might also soothe his own conscience. It is now as it has always been:
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his
holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3 f.,
AV).
The clean hands signify little in a moral sense—however desirable for
sanitary and other reasons—unless the heart is also clean. Indeed, the
Pharisees came to make the cleansing of the hands a substitute for moral
cleanness (Mark 7:8 ff.). “Purify your hearts, ye doubleminded.” The
word for purification here is the common one for ceremonial cleansing
(Ex. 19:10), but the idea is figurative, as in 1 Peter 1:22 and 1 John
3:3. James seems to refer to Psalm 73:13. “Wash you, make you clean”
(Isa. 1:16). The double-minded (cf. James 1:8) must no longer halt
between two opinions. They must forsake the world and give God the whole
heart. It is a brave word for reality in religion and against the hollow
mockery of mere lip service.
In verse 9 we have a rather unusual exhortation for the New Testament.
The word for repentance does not mean sorrow but change of mind and
life. The need for a change implies sorrow for the sins of one’s life,
to be sure. But one may have sorrow and still not change his heart and
life. The thing that counts is the change, not the degree of the sorrow.
But, certainly, sorrow for sin is appropriate and natural for the sinner
who turns away from it. There is certainly room for the appeal to “be
afflicted, and mourn, and weep” (all aorists with a note of urgency in
the tense). One is reminded of the “woe” of Jesus in Luke 6:25. We have
here a call to the godly sorrow described in 2 Corinthians 7:10. There
is a time to laugh and a time to mourn; yes, and a time for laughter to
be turned to mourning and even for joy to be turned into heaviness, like
the poor publican with downcast eyes in the Temple before God (Luke
18:13). “The words express the contrast between the loud unseemly gaiety
of the pleasure-seeker, and the subdued mien and downcast look of the
penitent” (Oesterley).
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord.” This is the only proper
attitude for the sinner, whether saved or unsaved. See the same figure
in 1 Peter 5:6. The proud Pharisee in Luke 18:11 is the picture of all
that worship should not be.
“And he shall exalt you.” This is the law of grace, as is often stated
by Jesus: “Every one that exalteth himself shall be humbled; and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:11). But the man that
humbles himself before the eye of the Lord must do so because of real
apprehension of his own sin and need of forgiveness, not for the purpose
of future exaltation to be obtained by momentary self-abnegation. The
delicate balance of motives here is preserved. The promise will come
true only if the person really turns to the Lord with sincerity of
heart. Nothing is more needed today than this prostration before God.