1:1
The opening of the letter is fairly similar to other New Testament letters, though the “greetings” does not contain Paul’s “grace and peace”. However, like Paul, he describes himself as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now remember that James was the brother of Jesus, but he makes nothing of this, for he recognises that Jesus is the Son of God, the Lord of All. The letter is addressed to the “twelve tribes scattered among the nations”. This is probably addressed to the Jewish believers who were scattered around the Roman Empire.
1:2
James then dives straight into his teaching. There is no personal content to this letter, unlike in Paul’s letters. This is a very general purpose letter, not dealing with a particular circumstance, other than that of living the Christian life in the real world! James starts off by saying “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds”. This teaching was common to all of the New Testament. Becoming a follower of Jesus was virtually guaranteed to make your life more difficult in many ways, including threats of imprisonment or death. Much is true today for believers in many parts of the world, and it is likely to become increasingly true in the West. For a long time we have lived in abnormal circumstances, where being a Christian was sometimes even an advantage, though that has not been true for some time now.
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