Jesus, James, and the Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus amplified the law in the Sermon on the Mount. He pointed out that murder and adultery begin in the heart, and are a heart issue. I believe that the reason Jesus did this was to demonstrate that those Jews who thought themselves blameless by the law were really not blameless. I recently realized that James was using a Jewish hermeneutical device when he spoke of the law in James two. He was referring his readers to the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. He did this by using murder and adultery as the examples of law breaking. He knew that everyone had an issue with either anger or lust.

Mat 5:21-22  "You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, 'You shall not murder'; and 'whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.'  (22)  But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, 'You fool,' you will be liable to the hell of fire.

Mat 5:27-28  "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'  (28)  But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jas 2:10-13 NRSV "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.  (11)  For the one who said, "You shall not commit adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.  (12)  So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.  (13)  For judgment will be without mercy to anyone who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment."

So James begins with the idea that if a person breaks just one commandment they are then guilty of breaking the entire law. For years, I wondered why did he choose murder and adultery as his examples. My thought was that not many people murder or commit adultery and that there would be more universal commandments that most people would be guilty of breaking. Then, I recalled Jesus words in the Sermon on the Mount. He connected anger and murder and lust and adultery. I have for years believed that Jesus was amplifying the law to show that people were not capable of obeying the law, thereby gaining righteousness from the law. Of course, the Apostle Paul plainly stated that no one was capable of establishing their righteousness by the law, and he also stated that as a Pharisee, with regard to the righteousness from the Law he was blameless. He then followed that assertion with this. Php 3:7-9  "Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.  (8)  More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  (9)  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith." 

James addressed his letter to the Jews that were in the dispersion. By that, he meant all of the Torah Observant Jewish Believers that had been carried into captivity at the time of the Babylonian invasion and had remained dispersed and had not returned to Jerusalem or any part of the Israeli homeland. So, in his letter he was reinforcing the teaching that Jesus had given on the mount. This sermon of Jesus' was well known, and often rehearsed orally in their assemblies. And, like Paul, James was explaining the futility of trying to gain right standing with God based on obedience to the law. He uses the law aspects that everyone has problems with. The truth was that they could not even obey the first and greatest commandment, because they could not love with all their heart, mind, strength and soul one that they feared, but that is another post.

As I look closer at this epistle, I am seeing that James is far more graceful than most have been led to believe. He goes on in the above passage to mention the law of liberty. What law is that you may be thinking? The answer is that it is the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus." That is simply using the law in a way that sets one free from "the law of sin and death." It is using the law as a tutor to drive one to Christ for righteousness that is based on His faithfulness. Looking into the perfect law of liberty is using the hermeneutic taught by Jesus Himself. It is seeing Jesus, life, and redemption in every passage of scripture (John 5:39-40.) It is seeing the scripture as the testimony of Jesus, the Spirit of ALL prophecy. Read again Paul's words in Philippians three,  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith." Let me emphasize that Paul is thinking of the justification that comes from the faith/faithfulness of Christ (Gal 2:16.)

We do violence to scripture when we do not consider the grammatical and historical context. Historically one needs to be acutely aware of the intended audience of James' letter. It was to Torah Observant Jews, while the temple still stood that had placed their faith in the faithfulness of Jesus of Nazareth. James goes on in the above passage to remind his readers of the mercies of God. He points out that in God's program mercy triumphs over judgment every time! Think about that will you? God's mercy triumphs over His judgment. How does that work? Simple. Mercy triumphs over judgment because Jesus was triumphant over Satan.