OVERVIEW: James picks up the theme of wisdom from the first chapter and discusses it in greater detail here. True wisdom is a gift of God, and therefore it reflects his character. By your humble and wise actions show who you are (BEDE). People who boast or who display signs of jealousy and selfishness do not have God’s wisdom but a false imitation that comes from the world, the flesh and the devil. This false wisdom is a lie that leads to every kind of evil practice, and Christians must do their utmost to avoid it. God’s wisdom has many important features, but it is most noticeable when it brings peace within and among believers. Bitterness and jealousy are demonically conceived (CASSIODORUS) and taint everything they touch (BEDE). As long as the soul seeks earthly glory, it is deprived of spiritual grace (BEDE). As filth blinds, so does ambition (CHRYSOSTOM). Gracious wisdom, born of pure thoughts (BEDE), comes from above, not from our power (AUGUSTINE). Having labored in this world, rejoice in the harvest of righteousness in the world to come (ORIGEN). Those who desire peace sow the earth with the best seed and by their daily actions gain an increase that entitles them to inherit the fruits of righteousness in eternal life (BEDE).
BY YOUR GOOD LIFE SHOW YOUR WORKS. BEDE: Just as James has imposed silence on unworthy teachers and on those who want to obtain a teaching post without having the right qualifications of right living and circumspect behavior, so he also exhorts those who are wise and self-disciplined, or who at least think they are such, to demonstrate that fact by living out what they profess more than by trying to teach others. For someone who lives in a humble and wise way will give more evidence of his standing before God than any number of words could ever do. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.1
JEALOUSY ELICITS STRIFE. 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.2
SEEKING EARTHLY GLORY. BEDE: Paul also says: “The unspiritual man does not know the things which come from the Spirit of God.”3 Contentious and proud wisdom is rightly described as earthly, unspiritual and devilish because as long as the soul seeks earthly glory it is deprived of spiritual grace and remains cut off from God. For now it thinks only what comes naturally to it since it originally fell.4 It is persuaded by the delusion of an evil spirit to do things which are wicked and harmful. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.5
FILTH AND AMBITION BLIND. CHRYSOSTOM: Let us cleanse the eyes of our souls of all filth. For just as filth and mud blind the eyes of the flesh, so too worldly concerns and discussions about moneymaking can dull the hearing of our minds more effectively than any filth, and not only corrupt them but do wicked things as well. CATENA.6
JEALOUSY TAINTS EVERYTHING IT TOUCHES. BEDE: The heart is like a root and contains within itself all the fruit of the action which proceeds from it. Someone who operates from a spirit of jealousy and strife will do nothing which is not tainted with evil, however good it may appear to others. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.7
NOT FROM OUR POWER. AUGUSTINE: This is the wisdom which tames the tongue, descending from above, not springing from the human heart. Would anyone dare to snatch it away from the grace of God and, with overweening pride, place it in the power of man? ON NATURE AND GRACE 16 (17).8
BORN IN PURE THOUGHTS. BEDE: The wisdom from above is pure because it thinks only pure thoughts, and it is peaceable because it does not dissociate itself from others on account of its pride. The other virtues mentioned here are the common possession of any wise person, and they will manifest themselves in a life full of mercy and other good works. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.9
REJOICE IN THE HARVEST TO COME. ORIGEN: You shall rejoice in the morning, that is, in the world to come, if you have gathered the fruits of righteousness by weeping and labor in this world. SERMONS ON GENESIS 10.3.10
SOW THE EARTH WITH THE BEST SEED. BEDE: Everything we do in this life contains within it the seed of future reward. Paul says the same thing when he writes: “Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap.”11 Therefore it is rightly said that the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. For the fruit of righteousness is eternal life, which is the reward for good works, so that those who desire peace and implement it sow the earth with the best seed there is, and by their daily actions gain an increase which entitles them to inherit the fruits of life in heaven. The reprobate also reap what they sow, because they will also receive their just reward at the judgment. But that reward will not be the fruits of eternal life, but corruption, because they will reap the eternal punishment due to the corruption in which they passed their lives on earth. CONCERNING THE EPISTLE OF ST. JAMES.12