To the Twelve Tribes

James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad: Greetings (James 1:1).

James addresses his letter to the twelve tribes scattered abroad. This statement tells us a lot about how the early Christians viewed themselves, and the ethnic nation of Israel. James, and his early Christian brethren, understood that the Christian Church, made up of Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, was the true Israel, the Israel of God. The phrase, “the twelve tribes scattered abroad” refers to what historians call the Diaspora. Diaspora can, in modern usage, refer to the dispersion of any ethnic group from their original homeland. In the Biblical context, however, the Diaspora refers specifically to the dispersion of the Israelites beyond Israel. The people of Israel were carried off into exile when the Northern Kingdom, and later the Southern Kingdom, were destroyed in the 6th century BC. A large population of Jews continued to live outside of Israel even after they were given leave to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.

So, to whom is James writing? He calls the readers, “my brethren” in verse two. Certainly James, the half-brother of Jesus, would feel a kinship with his people according to the flesh, just as St. Paul did. St. Paul wrote that he would choose to be damned if it meant salvation for his fellow Jews. James’ letter is, above all else, about faith in Christ, and how that faith manifests itself in everyday life. Faith that does not bear the fruit of good works is dead. It is no faith at all. This is not a letter written to people who did not believe in Christ. This letter was written to give guidance and admonition to Christians, not primarily as a tool of Evangelism intended to convert non-believers, at least in the same way as, for instance, Peter’s Pentecost sermon. Why is this important? There are many people who believe that the ethnic Jewish people enjoy special status with God as His chosen people, by virtue of the fact that they are Jews. This is similar to what the Pharisees taught, and they were soundly rebuked by Our Lord. The Pharisees calmed to be true Israelites - Abraham’s children, and children of God. Jesus tells them that they are, rather, children of the devil. “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here,” Jesus tells them. The Pharisees are not Abraham’s offspring because they do not have faith in Christ. They have the physical blood line, but they reject the promise. There is an entire branch of Christianity that teaches God will remove Christians from the earth via rapture, so that God can gather all the Jews in Israel, just prior to the end of all things. Once so gathered, they will undergo a mass conversion to Christ, and thus, it is taught, all the Jews will be saved, right before the Last Judgment.

This one verse in the epistle of James, however, shows that the early Christian church did not see things that way. They understood, as the rest of scripture teaches, that not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. They understood that it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s children. This teaching is sometimes derogatorily called replacement theology. Scripture, however, is clear. There are not two peoples. Israel, God’s chosen people, is not comprised of a specific ethnic blood line. It is the Body of Christ: all those, Jew or Gentile, who have been brought to penitent faith in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. This was true in Old Testament times, just as it is true In New Testament times. The Old Testament faithful looked forward to the coming of the promised savior, as Jesus said Abraham rejoiced to see Jesus’ day; the New Testament faithful trust in Jesus who has come, died, risen and ascended, to atone for our sins and justify us before God the Father. Just as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness; therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.