Tiago 2
David Guzik · Citado em PreceptAustin
Tiago 2
Guzik points out that "We do well to remember that James wrote to a very partial age, filled with prejudice and hatred based on class, ethnicity, nationality, and religious background. In the ancient world people were routinely and permanently categorized because they were Jew or Gentile, slave or free, rich or poor, Greek or barbarian, or whatever. A significant aspect of the work of Jesus was to break down these walls that divided humanity, and to bring forth one new race of mankind in Him (Ephesians 2:14-15)." (Enduring Word Bible Commentary – James) Wiersbe is so right when he says "We are prone to judge people by their past, not their future....We do not enjoy sitting with certain people in church because they "are not our kind of people." Jesus was the Friend of sinners, though He disapproved of their sins. It was not compromise, but compassion, that caused Him to welcome them, and when they trusted Him, forgive them." (Bible Exposition Commentary) (Bold added) John Phillips on the impartiality of God/Jesus - God is neither partial nor prejudiced in His dealings with the human race. The color of a person's skin, the size of his bank balance, the number of degrees he has after his name, or the place he holds in the social hierarchy leaves God completely unimpressed. The Lord Jesus was as polite to the woman at the well (John 4) as He was to Nicodemus (John 5). He was as gracious to the woman who touched the hem of His garment as He was to Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue. He was as open to poor, blind Bartimaeus as He was to the rich young ruler. He had no "respect of persons." He was as honest and forthright with the Syro-Phoenician woman as He was with Pilate. He treated everyone with the same love, the same interest, and the same care and concern. He was not condescending when He was dealing with the publicans and sinners, and He was not cowed or compromising when He was dealing with those who occupied the seat of power. He gave the outcasts and the untouchables the same gentle, loving compassion that He extended to the scribes and the Pharisees. Sometimes the Lord did not approve of peoples' behavior, but He looked beyond that to the individuals and their deepest needs and treated them with dignity no matter what. (See Exploring the Epistle of James: An Expository Commentary - Page 68) Brian Bell summarizes James 2:1-13 - Over all theme: If you have true saving faith, you will practice impartiality. Also, we will see people in terms of character instead of clothing. You will not cater to the rich, nor ignore the poor. You will love each person for the sake of Christ. Christian love means treating others the way the Lord treats us & doing it in the power of the Spirit. Q: Are we free from the preoccupation with what people have rather than what they are? Q: Do we love & learn from the rich in faith? James made this a tightly constructed passage: 1st, he introduces a principle (Jas 2:1); then he illustrates his point (Jas 2:2-4); next he explains it (Jas 2:5-11); finally, applies it (Jas 2:12,13). Brethren (80)(adelphos from a = denotes unity + delphus = a womb) ) in classic Greek described the son of the same mother but in the spiritual sense is actually one born by the Spirit and in the the family of the same Father. And what James addresses now is a "family issue." Faith (pistis) is more literally "the faith" (ten pistin) so points to objective aspect of faith, that is, what is believed or what one place their faith in. In this passage "the faith" speaks of fatih in the objective sense rather than the subjective sense. In other words, Subjectively faith is the personal persuasion, conviction, belief in the truth, veracity, reality of something. "Clearly objective genitive, not subjective (faith of), but "faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." (A T Robertson) Objectively faith is that which is believed (usually designated as "the faith"),that is the doctrine believed which ultimately is embodied in the Gospel. Are you confused? The main point is these are believers and James underscores this by identifying himself with the readers when he says Jesus is "OUR" glorious Lord Jesus Christ. They did not just say "Jesus Christ is Lord," but "Jesus is MY Lord." See Study of "the faith (pistis)". Glorious (1391)(doxa from dokeo = to think) in simple terms means to give a proper opinion or estimate of something. Glory is something that is a source of honor, fame, or admiration. It describes renown, a thing that is beautiful, impressive, or worthy of praise. It follows that the glory of God expresses all that He is in His Being and in His nature, character, power and acts. Doxa is the word used by the Septuagint (Lxx) translation of Ex 24:16 - "The glory (Septuagint = doxa) of the LORD rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud." It is worth noting that God's glory is past (Ex 24:16), present (Jn 1:14+, fulfilling the prophecy of Isa 40:5), and future (Titus 2:13+ at His Second Coming, also fulfilling the prophecy of Isa 40:5) and in the New Heaven and New Earth (Rev 21:23+). Paul writes about "the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Cor 2:8) See also Glory of God, Shekinah glory cloud LORD of glory, we adore Thee, Christ of God, ascended high; Heart and soul we bow before Thee, Glorious now beyond the sky; Thee we worship, Thee we praise, Excellent in all Thy ways. Mighty King, with glory crowned, Rightful Heir and Lord of all: Once rejected, scorned, disowned, E'en by those Thou cam'st to call: Thee we honour, Thee adore, Glorious now and evermore. Lord (Master, Owner)(2962)(kurios from kuros = might or power, related to kuroo = to give authority) primarily means the possessor, owner, master, the supreme one, one who is sovereign (used this way of Roman emperors - Act 25:26+) and possesses absolute authority, absolute ownership and uncontested power. Kurios is used of the one to whom a person or thing belonged, over which he has the power of deciding, the one who is the master or disposer of a thing (Mk 7:28) Jesus (2424) Iesous is transliteration of the Greek Iesous, which in turn is the transliteration of the Hebrew name Jehoshua (Yehoshua) or Jeshua (Yeshua) which mean Jehovah is help or Jehovah is salvation. Stated another way the Greek Iesous corresponds to the OT Jehoshua (Yehoshua) which is contracted as Jeshua (Yeshua). In the Gospels the single Name Jesus (Iesous) is used as His personal Name and is found 538 times. In the Epistles Jesus is usually (but not always - e.g., Ro 3:26; 4:24; 1Cor 12:3; 2Cor 11:4; Phil 2:10; 1Th 4:14; Heb 7:22; 10:19, etc) used in combination with Christ or Lord (see next paragraph). Jesus is known by Christ alone some 44 times in the Gospels. Looking at the entire NT we find Jesus in several combinations… Jesus Christ (137x in 134v) Christ Jesus (91x in 86v) All except one use (Acts 24:24) are by Paul. Lord Jesus Christ (63x in 63v). Lord Jesus (without Christ) (38x in 38v) Jesus the Christ occurs in Acts 3:20. Jesus is the Christ (Acts 9:22, cp Acts 17:3). Jesus was the Christ (Acts 18:5, 28). Jesus Christ the Nazarene (Acts 4:10). Jesus Christ our Lord (Ro 1:4) One of my favorite (older) choruses is Jesus, Name Above All Names - YouTube Jesus, Name above all names, Beautiful Savior, glorious Lord. Emanuel, God is with us, Blessed Redeemer, Living Word. Christ (5547) Christos from chrio = to rub or anoint, consecrate to an office) describes one who has been anointed with oil, one who has been consecrated. The majority of the NT uses refer to Jesus (exceptions = "false Christs" - Mt 24:24, Mk 13:22). Christos describes one who has been anointed, symbolizing appointment to a task. It is used here as the title "Anointed One" and is the Greek synonym for "Messiah." Christos is used in the Septuagint describing everyone anointed with the holy oil, especially the priesthood (Lev. 4:5+, Lev 4:16+) and it is also a name applied to those who were acting as redeemers like Cyrus. (See also Messiah - Anointed One) Gilbrant writes that "Hamilton suggests a fourfold significance to such anointing (“māshach,” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 1:530): (1) separation unto God, (2) authorization by God, (3) divine enablement, and (4) the coming Deliverer. In regards to this final use he says, “Though this association with the term māshach is not as prevalent in the OT as often supposed, the prospect of a righteous, Spirit-filled ruler is increasingly discernible in the OT (cf. Isaiah 9:1-7+; Isa 1:1-5+; Isa 61:1)” (ibid.). It was probably because of his role as a deliverer of God’s people, selected by the Lord for His purpose, that Cyrus, a Gentile emperor, was given the title of “messiah, anointed” (Isaiah 45:1). However, long after Cyrus, God’s people were still promised Messiah the prince, the one to fulfill all of the Biblical promises (Daniel 9:25,26+)." (Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary) Personal favoritism (4382)(prosopolepsia from prósopon = face + lambáno = receive) literally means "face taking", “receive face” (e.g., judging the book by its cover, judging the person by externals, not internals), the accepting of one's person. The idea is looking to see who someone is before deciding how to treat him. The idea is judging by appearance and on that basis giving or not giving special favor and respect. It pertains to judging purely on a superficial level, without consideration of a person’s true merits, abilities, or character. The Oriental custom of greeting was to bow one's face to the ground. If the one being greeting accepted the person, the one doing the greeting was allowed to lift his head again. The accepting of the appearance of a person was a Hebraic term for "partiality". In summary, the idea behind prosopolepsia is that one judges on the basis of externals or pre-conceived notions, and shows partiality or favoritism. In practice it as here in James it meant to make unjust distinctions between people by treating one person better than another. See: Impartial - God's Attribute A T
Tiago 2
Guzik - When we choose people by what we can see on the surface, we miss the mind of God. Remember that Judas appeared to be much better leadership material than Peter. (Enduring Word Bible Commentary – James) Poor (ptochos) is the same noun Jesus used in the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3+) but the meaning there was poor in spirit, while here the reference is to the economically poor. The word ptochos is the more severe of the two Greek words for poor, not penes (the working poor who have little) but ptochos(the destitute, the beggar, one who crouches and cowers) and is used of Lazarus in Luke 16:20+. The world often regards the financially poor as “inferior,” but James 2:5 shows that God’s evaluation is entirely different. God has often chosen those who are “poor in this world” to be “rich in faith” and “heirs of the kingdom.” This does not mean every poor person is saved, or that no rich person is saved, but it does show a general pattern: those who enter the kingdom by grace through faith are more often among the lowly, needy, and unimpressive in the eyes of the world than among the powerful and self-sufficient. Paul teaches the same principle in 1 Corinthians 1:26–29, where God chooses “the foolish,” “the weak,” and “the things that are not,” so that “no man may boast before God.” God delights to save in such a way that all human boasting is excluded and all glory goes to Him alone. F B