Remember, we are taking a chronological journey through theBible. Our next stop after Galatians, which may have been written in AD 48-49,
is the book of James, which may have been written before AD 50.
So, before we
read the very practical book of James, let’s do a mini bio of the man. He was
likely the 2nd born son of Joseph and Mary (Matthew 13:55), and he
and his brothers were not believers during Jesus’ ministry (John 7:5). I wonder
if James was jealous of his older brother, and I wonder if Mary had a hard time
not playing favorites. James did become a believer, however, the day he met his
brother who had come back from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
James then became the leader of the church in Jerusalem,
which was made up mostly of Jews who believed in Jesus. James took the lead at
the Council in Jerusalem (Acts 15), agreeing with Peter, Barnabas, and Paul
that the Gentiles should not be required to follow the entire Jewish law. James
helped draft a letter from the Council to the Gentile churches. The letter said
that the Holy Spirit did not want to burden the new believers. The only laws
they were asked to follow were to “abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from
blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality” (Acts15:28-29). These were necessary to avoid because they were common pagan
rituals. The Jerusalem Council wanted the Gentiles to keep their worship pure.
You and I can be thankful that James spoke up, because he
paved the way for us to be grafted in to God’s chosen people. I think you and I
are going to enjoy his writings!
**Several of my notes today came from my NIV Study Bible. I encourage you to find a good study Bible. I also love using biblegateway.com, which is where all my links will take you.
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