James values patient endurance highly. As an example to his contemporaries he sets both the ancient prophets and Job, the hero of the biblical book of the same name. Of course, the inevitability of suffering was more than once warned about...
James values patient endurance highly. As an example to his contemporaries he sets both the ancient prophets and Job, the hero of the biblical book of the same name. Of course, Jesus Himself also warned His followers more than once about the inevitability of suffering. And if we take into account that the persecutions being discussed were understood more as the norm of Christian life than as isolated episodes, it becomes clear that one must prepare to endure, and to endure for a long time. But the matter still does not, apparently, come down only to the inevitability and practical necessity of patient endurance. In fact, on what does patient endurance depend at all? In principle, short-term suffering, even intense suffering, is often easier to bear than prolonged suffering, even when the prolonged suffering is not so intense. There is nothing surprising here: the resources of a healthy human organism are usually quite great, and with the proper motivation their short-term mobilization has the corresponding effect, sometimes allowing a person to endure even what had previously seemed unbearable. Of course, such motivation can be faithfulness to Christ, but not only that: emotional uplift, intellectual conviction, and religious exaltation are also possible. One cannot say that all this has nothing to do with spiritual life, for it presupposes a conscious choice and following a decision once made. But such spiritual life still does not go beyond the bounds of the world that has not yet been transformed. When, however, the matter concerns faithfulness to Christ and relationship with Him, one must speak directly of the life of the Kingdom, for relationship with Him is possible only in the Kingdom. And here we receive, in essence, an inexhaustible resource that allows us to endure difficulties and trials not merely for that short period during which human strength, not so very great after all, is exhausted, but for a long time, for which no human strength would suffice. That is why the apostle values precisely patient endurance during trials so highly: he bears witness to the quality of the spiritual life of the one who endures these trials. To a quality conditioned by the fact that his life, although it still takes place partly in our transforming but not yet fully transformed world, is nevertheless determined not by the laws of this world, but by the laws of the Kingdom.
5
5:9 Murmur not one against another - Have patience also with each other. The judge standeth before the door - Hearing every word, marking every thought.
5:10 Take the prophets for an example - Once persecuted like you, even for speaking in the name of the Lord. The very men that gloried in having prophets yet could not bear their message: nor did either their holiness or their high commission screen them from suffering.
5:11 We count them happy that endured - That suffered patiently. The more they once suffered, the greater is their present happiness. Ye have seen the end of the Lord - The end which the Lord gave him.