From: Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
Faithfulness to the Law: God’s Closeness to His People
[6] Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding
in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes will say, ‘Sure-
ly this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ [7] For what great nation
is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we
call upon him? [8] And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinan-
ces so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?
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Commentary:
4:1-8. Having recalled the main events in Israel’s journey from Sinai-Horeb on-
wards, in which God’s special providence was evident, the text now stresses the
privileged position of the Hebrew people, chosen as they are by God from among
ll the nations of the earth, and enabled to draw near to him in a close relationship
quite beyond the experience of the Gentiles.
The passage acts as an advance exhortation to fidelity to the Law, the core of
which will be recorded later on (5:1-6; 6; 12:1-28:68); it may have been inserted
in the course of a revision of the book. The main argument it makes in favor of
keeping the Law is the fact that God is so near his people and so accessible to
them (vv. 7-8).
4:6-8. The theme of these verses is typical of Wisdom writing. The very life of
Israel, shaped as it is by obedience to the Law, will be an eloquent lesson for all
other nations. This message, open and out-reaching, implies a universal mission
for the chosen people, a message which looks far ahead and will find its fulfill-
ment in the future spread of the Church throughout the world.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
From: James 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27
The Source of Temptation
Doers of the Word, Not Hearers Only (Continuation)
[27] Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit
the orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the
world.
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Commentary:
12. These words, which expand on the idea contained in verses 2-4, echo our
Lord’s own words: “Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and
utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for
your reward is great in Heaven” (Matthew 5:11-12). The simile of the crown — a
mark of victory and kingship—is used to convey the idea of definitive triumph with
Christ: the Lord will appear crowned in glory (Revelation 14:14); the Woman of
the Apocalypse, symbolizing the Church and the Blessed Virgin, is also des-
cribed as crowned (cf. Revelation 12:1); and this reward is promised to those
who stay true to God in this life (cf. Revelation 2:10; 3:11). It is also to be found
in other New Testament passages to convey the idea of the ultimate reward of
Heaven (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:25; 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Peter 5:4).
This means that Christians should not be depressed or cowed by the difficulties
which God permits them to experience; on the contrary, they should see them
as a series of tests which with God’s help they should surmount in order to re-
ceive the reward of Heaven. “The Lord does not allow His followers to experience
these trials and temptations unless it be for their greater good,” St. John of Avila
comments. “He disposed things in this way: endurance in adversity and strug-
gle against temptation prove who His friends are. For the mark of a true friend is
not that he keeps you company when times are good, but that he stands by you
in times of trial [...]. Companions in adversity and later in the Kingdom, you should
strive to fight manfully when you meet opposition that would separate you from
God, for He is your help here on earth and your reward in Heaven” (”Audi, Filia”,
29).
13-18. These verses identify the source of the temptations man experiences:
they cannot come from God but are, rather, the effect of human concupiscence
(verses 16-18).
Sometimes temptation means putting a person’s faithfulness to the test; in this
sense it can be said that God “tempts” certain people, as happened in the case
of Abraham (cf. Genesis 22:1 ff). However, here the reference is to temptation in
the strict sense of incitement to sin: God never tempts anyone in this way, He
never encourages a person to do evil (cf. Sirach 15:11-20). Therefore, we cannot
attribute to God our inclination to sin, nor can it be argued that by endowing us
with freedom He is the cause of our sin. On the contrary, the natural and super-
natural gifts we have received are resources which help us act in a morally good
way.
14-15. St. James’ teaching is that the source of temptation is to be found in our
own passions. Elsewhere he says that the world (cf. 1:27; 4:4) and the devil (4:7)
are causes of temptations; but to actually commit sin the complicity of one’s own
evil inclinations is always necessary.
Concupiscence (”desire”), here as elsewhere in the New Testament (cf., e.g., Ro-
mans 1:24; 7:7 ff; 1 John 2:16), means all the disordered passions and appetites
which, as a result of original sin, have a place in men’s hearts. Concupiscence as
such is not a sin; but rather, according to the Council of Trent, “since it is left to
provide a trial, it has no power to injure those who do not consent and who, by the
grace of Jesus Christ, manfully resist”; and if it is sometimes called sin (cf. Ro-
mans 6:12 ff) it is “only because it is from sin and inclines to sin” (”De Peccato
Originali”, 5).
Using the simile of generation St. James describes the course of sin from the
stage of temptation to that of the death of the soul. When one gives in to the se-
duction of concupiscence sin is committed; this in turn leads to spiritual death,
to the soul’s losing the life of grace. This is the opposite process to the one de-
scribed earlier (cf. verses 2-12), which begins with trials (temptations in the broad
sense: cf. note on 1:2-4) and ends up in Heaven; whereas in this passage, the
process also begins with temptation but because of sin ends up with the death
of the soul. John Paul II describes the process as follows: “Man also knows,
through painful experience, that by a conscious and free act of the will he can
change course and go in a direction opposed to God’s will, separating himself
from God (”aversio a Deo”), rejecting loving communion with Him, detaching
himself from the life-principle which God is, and consequently choosing “death”
(”Reconciliatio Et Paenitentia”, 17).
16-18. “The Father of lights”: a reference to God as Creator of the heavenly bo-
dies (cf. Genesis 1:14 ff; Psalm 136:7-9) and, in the symbolism of light, as the
source of all good things, material and, especially, spiritual. Unlike heavenly bo-
dies, which change position and cast shadows, there is no variation or shadow
in God: no evil can be attributed to Him (cf. verse 13), but only good things.
“First fruits of His creatures”: Christians, who have been recreated by God by
“the word of truth” (the Gospel) already constitute the beginning of the New Hea-
ven and the New Earth (cf. Revelation 21:1) and are a sign of hope for all mankind
and for the whole of Creation (cf. Romans 9:19-23).
19-27. In the previous verse the sacred writer referred to the effectiveness of “the
word of truth”. Now he makes the point that although the Gospel has this effec-
tiveness, it is not enough just to hear it: we need to listen to it with docility (ver-
ses 19-21) and put it into practice (verses 22-27). Further on he will emphasize
this connection between faith and works (cf. 2:14-26).
21. “First he calls”, St. Bede comments, “for the cleansing of mind and body from
vice, so that those who receive the word of salvation can live in a worthy manner.
A person who does not first turn his back on evil cannot do good” (”Super Iac. Ex-
positio, ad loc”.).
To listen docilely to the word of God one needs to try to keep evil inclinations at
bay. Otherwise, pride — deceiving itself with all sorts of false reasons — rebels
against the word of God (which it sees as a continuous reproach for a habit of sin
it is unwilling to give up).
22-25. Sacred Scripture frequently exhorts us to put the word of God into practice:
“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a
man who built his house upon the sand” (Matthew 7:26; cf., e.g., Ezekiel 33:10-
11; Matthew 12:50; Romans 2:13; James 2:14-26).
The comparison of the man looking into the mirror is a very good one: the word
of God is frustrated unless it leads to examination of conscience and a firm reso-
lution to mend one’s ways. Those who are doers of the word will be “blessed”;
our Lord says the same thing when He describes as blessed those who “hear
the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28).
St. James’ counsels in this passage are a clear call for the consistency a Chris-
tian must seek at all times. Pope John Paul II comments: “These are very se-
rious, very severe statements; a Christian should always be genuine, should ne-
ver be content with words alone. The mission he has received is a delicate one:
he should be leaven in society, light of the world, salt of the earth. As time goes
by, the Christian becomes more and more aware of his commitment, and the
difficulties it entails: he discovers he has to swim against the tide, he has to bear
witness to truths which are absolute, yet invisible; he has to lose his earthly life
in order to gain eternity; he needs to feel responsible not just for himself but also
for his neighbor — for whom he should light the way, and edify and save. However,
he realizes that he is not alone in all this [...]. The Christian knows that not only
did Jesus Christ, the Word of God, become man to reveal saving truth and re-
deem mankind; He has also chosen to stay with us on earth, mysteriously re-
newing the sacrifice of the Cross by means of the Eucharist and becoming spiri-
tual food for the soul and accompanying it on its journey through life” (”Homily”,
1 September 1979).
26-27. St. James now gives some examples of what doing “the word of truth”
(verse 18), that is, the Gospel, means—controlling one’s tongue, being charitable
and not letting oneself be stained by the world.
The Old Testament often refers to widows and orphans as deserving of special at-
tention (cf. Psalm 68:5; 146:9; Deuteronomy 27:19), and the first Christians made
arrangements for the care of widows in the early communities (cf. Acts 6:1ff; 9:39;
1 Timothy 5:3ff). Concern for widows and orphans is included in the works of mer-
cy (”by which the temporal or spiritual wants of our neighbor are relieved” (”St.
Pius X Catechism”, 943), which our Lord will take into account at the Last Judg-
ment (cf. Matthew 25:31-46).
“World” here has the pejorative meaning of “enemy of God and of Christians” (cf.
also 4:4; and other passages of Scripture, e.g., John 1:10; 7:7; 16:8-11; Ephe-
sians 2:2; 2 Peter 2:20); one needs to be constantly on the alert to avoid conta-
mination...
“God and the Father”: this is the literal meaning of the Greek. In New Testament
Greek the term “God” when preceded by the definite article normally means not
the divine nature but the person of the Father. In this case by adding the words
“and the Father” St. James does not mean another, distinct Divine Person: he is
simply making explicit the meaning of the term “the God”. It could also be trans-
lated by the paraphrase “before Him who is God and Father”.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.