A. Teachers and Bridles [1] Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness. [2] For we all make many mistakes, and if any one makes no mistakes in what he says he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. [3] If we put bits into the mouths of horses that they may obey us, we guide their whole bodies. [4] Look at the ships also; though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs.

   B.  Little Tongue, Great Consequences [5] So the tongue is a little member and boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire! [6] And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is an unrighteous world among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature, and set on fire by hell. [7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by humankind, [8] but no human being can tame the tongue -- a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [9] With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the likeness of God.

 C.  The Tongue and Its Evils and Its Good Works  [10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brethren, this ought not to be so. [11] Does a spring pour forth from the same opening fresh water and brackish? [12] Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a grapevine figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. [13] Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good life let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. [14] But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. [15] This wisdom is not such as comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish. [16] For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. [17] But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. [18] And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

III JAMES 3 - COMMENTARY OF THE CHURCH FATHERS ON SELECTED PASSAGES

A. Teachers, Bridles and Rudders – James 3:1-4

   Bede: “In the days of the Apostles there were many who were eager to go out preaching the Word of God but who lacked proper instruction. One of them was Apollos, who preached Christ perfectly well but who for some reason know only the baptism of John. But because he was a wise person, it was not long before a teacher appeared and led him into greater truth, which he readily accepted and thus became even better at his preaching task. There were others who were much less skilled who went to Antioch from Judea and told people there that they had to be circumcised according to the law of Moses if they wanted to be saved, a message which gave orthodox preacher much trouble. It is this second kind of teacher that James wants to remove from office, so that they will not be a hindrance to those who are trying to preach the gospel in the right way. For just as someone who serves well obtains a good report, so someone who tries to usurp the right to teach when he is not prepared to do so deserves greated punishment than the one he would have received if he had kept his wickedness to himself” (Concerning the Epistle of St. James).

  Cyril of Alexandria:  “The effective proof of a sound mind and perfect thought is to have nothing faulty on our tongue and to keep our mouths closed when necessary. For it is better to be guided by worthy speech, which is able to know and express the fullness of all praise. For the most useful talent is to be able to speak wisdom when talking about how to live well. Foolish talk should be foreign to the saints” (Catena).

  Augustine: “Note that the comparison is taken from the beasts which we are able to tame. The horse does not tame itself, nor does a man tame himself. A man is need in order to tame a horse, and in the same way, God is needed in order to tame a man.” (Commentary on the Sermon on the Mount 52,2).

B.     Little Tongue, Great Consequences – James 3:5-9

  Basil the Great: “If you love life, fulfill the commandment of life. ‘The one who loves me,’ said Jesus, ‘keeps my commandments,’ and the first command is this: ‘Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking guile.’ For the sin which is caused by the tongue is very active and many-sided, being active in wrath, lust, hypocrisy, judgment and deception. Do we need to recall the many names which are given to sins of the tongue? For from it come slanders, coarse jokes, idiocies, irrelevant accusations, bitterness, swearing, false witness – the tongue is the creator of all these evil things and more” (Catena).

  Chrysostom:  “Therefore, guard the tip of the tongue, for it is like a majestic stallion. For if you but a bit in its mouth and teach it to walk in order, it adapts to this and is satisfied. But if you let it run wild, it becomes a vehicle of the devil and his angels” (Catena).

C.  The Tongue and Its Evils and Its Good Works – James 3:10-18

 Hilary of Arles: “The spring is the heart of man, the flowing stream of water is his speech, and the opening through which is his mouth. The sweet water is sound doctrine, while the bitter water is just he opposite” (Tractate on the Letter of James).

  Bede: “Not only is it impossible for sweet and bitter water to come out of one and the same fountain, but it is also true that if the two get mixed, it is the bitter which will affect the sweet, not the other way round. Put blessing and cursing together, and cursing will win out every time. Bad habits corrupt good manners, and wicked talk has the same effect” (Concerning the Epistle of St. James).

 Cassiodorus:  “The mature faithful should not have any bitterness or jealousy in them, since such things are not given by God but are conceived by diabolical fraud. For where there is jealousy there is strife, disloyalty and every kind of evil which divine authority condemns” (Summary of James).

 Origen: “You shall rejoice in the morning, that is, in the world to come, if you have gathered the fruits of righteousness by weeping (for your sins) and labor (for the good) in this world” (Sermon on Genesis 10,3).

IV JAMES, CHAPTER 4 – THE TEXT

  A. Evil Passions – Enemies of God 

   [1] What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? [2] You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [3] You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. [4] Unfaithful creatures! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

 B. God Desires Your Repentance

    [5] Or do you suppose it is in vain that the scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us"? [6] But he gives more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." [7] Submit yourselves therefore 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 men of double mind. [9] Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to dejection. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you.

  C. Do Not Be Judgmental

 [11] Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. He that speaks evil against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. [12] There is one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you that you judge your neighbor?

  D. Trust God, Do What is Right

[13] Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and get gain"; [14] whereas you do not know about tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. [15] Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and we shall do this or that." [16] As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. [17] Whoever knows what is right to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

V JAMES 4 - COMMENTARY OF THE CHURCH FATHERS ON SELECTED PASSAGES

  A. Evil Passions – Enemies of God – James 4:1-4

   Bede: Your passions are at war in your members whenever your hands or your tongue or some combination of your bodily parts obeys the promptings of your depraved mind. It is also possible that the passions mentioned here are in fact good desires, pointing towards the riches and benefits of God’s kingdom. On account of these and many other such things there is often a struggle between good and evil going on in our minds” (Concerning the Epistle of St. James).

  Didymus the Blind:  “The Savior said, ‘Ask and you will receive. Everyone who asks will receive.’ How can it be then that some people pray but do not get what they ask for? To this it must be answered that if someone comes to prayer in the right way, omitting none of the prerequisites for intercession, he will receive everything he asks for. But if someone appears to be going beyond the permissible bounds laid down for intercession, he will appear to be asking for something in the wrong way and therefore will not obtain it” (Commentary on James).

  B. God Desires Your Repentance – James 4:5-9

   Severian of Gabala:  “What this means is that the Spirit in us tends toward fellowship with God. He turns us away from the love of the world and gives us ever more grace” (Catena).

   Clement of Rome: “Scripture says that God resists the arrogant but gives grace to the humble. We should associate with those to whom God’s grace has been given” (Letter to the Corinthians 1,30-2-3).

   Ceasarius of Arles:  “Let us fight as hard as we can, with the Lord’s help, against that most harsh captivity of the soul [which is the devil’s ability to divert our thoughts away from spiritual concerns]” (Sermons 77.7).

   Bede: “Draw near to God in humility, by walking in His footsteps, and He will draw near to you in his mercy, setting you free from all anxiety. For nobody is far away from God in physical distance; the problem is one of attitudes and emotions. For the person who is anxious to do what is right is always near to God, whereas the one who is lost in his wickedness is far away from Him, regardless of where either one happens to live” (Concerning the Epistle of St. James).

  Hesychius:  “It is a blessed thing to humble oneself before Lord. . . . Whenever we are thus humbled, eve if we are tempted by demons and even if we are attacked by those who hate virtue, we have God to deliver us, as long as we do not forget his law or curse Him in our sufferings” (Catena).

C.    Do Not Be Judgmental – James 4:11:12

  Cyril of Alexandria:  “Every wicked act dulls the sense of our thoughts and gives birth to arrogance. For although it is necessary for each one to examine himself and behave according to God’s will, many people do not do this, but prefer to mind the business of others. If they happen to see others suffering, it seems that they forget their own weaknesses and set about criticizing them and slandering them. They condemn them, not knowing that they suffer from the same things as the people they have criticized, and in so doing they condemn themselves. The wise Paul writes exactly the same thing: ‘If you judge another in something, you condemn yourself, for the one who judges does the same things’ [Romans 2:1]. (Catena).

  Theophylact:  “Who would endure having to live under a law which he despises? Therefore do not be a despiser of the law, says James, and do not look for some other legislator, who will prescribe the opposite. For there is only one lawgiver, God, who can both condemn and deliver sinners” (Commentary on James) 

D.    Trust God, Do What is Right – James 4:13-17

   Oecumenius: “James does not take away our free will but points out that everything we do is part of a wider pan which is governed by God’s grace. Even if we are able to run around and get on with the business of this life, we must not attribute this ability to our own efforts but accept that we can do these things only by the blessing of God” (Commentary on James).

 Oecumenius:  “James says this in order to indicate just how fleeting and empty our present life is. He wants to make us ashamed of the fact that we spend all our time engaged in its vanity, and in the evils of this age and in things which, as soon as they are accomplished, disappear, and all our labor vanishes with them” (Commentary on James).

  Chrysostom:  “James is not trying to take away our freedom to decide, but he is showing us that it is not jus what we want that matters. We need God’s grace to complement our efforts and ought to rely not on them but on God’s love for us. As it says in Proverbs –‘Do not boast abut tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth’” (Catena).

  Augustine:  “Does the one who does not know how to do good and does not do it commit a sin? He certainly does, but the one who knows what is good and does not do it sins more grievously” (Adulterous Marriages 9).

All Quotations are from: Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: new testament, Ed. Gerald Bray, Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, vol.XI, pp. 35-53.

VII. CLOSING PRAYER – FROM THE GREAT CANON OF ST. ANDREW OF CRETE

    “O lover of humankind, who desires that all persons be saved, in Your goodness call me back and accept me in repentance. Give ear to the groaning of my soul, and accept the tears that fall from my eyes. O Savior, save me! Amen” (Canticle Two).