Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? 2 You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do not possess because you do not ask. 3 You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 4 Adulterers! Do you not know that to be a lover of the world means enmity with God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a lover of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose that the scripture speaks without meaning when it says, “The spirit that he has made to dwell in us tends toward jealousy”? 6 But he bestows a greater grace; therefore, it says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 7 So submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you of two minds. 9 Begin to lament, to mourn, to weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. 11 Do not speak evil of one another, brothers. Whoever speaks evil of a brother or judges his brother speaks evil of the law and judges the law. If you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save or to destroy. Who then are you to judge your neighbor?
Faults of the tongue and false wisdom lead to strife in the community. James did not want conflict in the Christian community and explained the root causes. Conflict arises from a lack of control of internal needs and selfish desires. James explained that the nature of conflicts within the community stems from coveting what others have which leads to envy and even physical violence. Some in the community do not get what they desire because they do not ask God for it through prayer and if they do ask they ask for the things that would satisfy their evil desires, not to do God’s will. If they seek to fulfill their selfish worldly desires, they would be unfaithful to God and be considered “Adulterers.” The Old Testament covenant between God (the faithful husband) and Israel (the bride) was often referred to as a marriage bond because it was deep and intimate. When His people were unfaithful, they were considered adulterers (Jer. 3:8-9). In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the bridegroom (Mt. 9:15) and the Church as his bride (Eph. 5:25-32). God’s spirit that lives in us is jealous and demands our faithfulness, commitment, and devotion.
God resists the proud but bestows grace upon the humble so Christians must submit to God and resist evil which will flee from them. The more they resist evil the more they will draw closer to God and God will draw closer to them. They must purify themselves so that they are cleansed of all sinful behavior and double-mindedness. They should repent and mourn for their sinfulness and have a conversion of heart instead of pursuing worldly pleasures. James assures them that God will lift up those who humbly submit to Him. Some in the community were disparaging or judging others. Jesus warned against judging others, (Mt. 7:1-2). James warned them that in speaking against their brother, they contravened the second great commandment of the Law (Mk. 12:31). Only God can grant life or take life away; Anyone who presumes to judge puts himself in the place of God.
Almighty God, in your mercy, grant us the wisdom to avoid strife and the desire to seek you with pure hearts and submit to your will. Forgive our sins and strengthen us so that through faith and perseverance we may rejoice in your eternal glory. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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