BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

As a genre title, “wisdom literature” sounds great. But it punches hard—delivering raw reality that rocks every faint heart. Grotesque suffering grounds Job’s wisdom story. Qoholet’s pained refrain calls all of life “hevel, hevel!”—“meaningless, meaningless!”—in Ecclesiastes. And while Proverbs is more upbeat, it repeatedly forecasts dismal destruction for those who deny wisdom. Now, take some hard-biting wisdom literature and add some of Jesus’ best material. That’s the book of James.

You’ll see in the video that James, also called Jacob (Greek: Yacobos, from the Hebrew: Ya’akov), opens with traditional greetings but quickly delves into punchy exhortation that reads more like collected Jesus-wisdom literature.

James details practical wisdom to guide right-relating ways of life, compelling the reader to care for their neighbors. If you say, “I have faith in God!” but then hoard wealth, neglect those who need assistance, and ignore God’s way, then your faith is dead. Not less. Not weak. Dead. Language like that feels like an elbow to the gut. You can’t not pay attention.

Chapter 1 introduces James’ main ideas for the letter, including themes such as tangibly loving others, caring for the poor, and sincere devotion to God. He populates the rest of his letter like a collection of mini-speeches, biting and clever, one-liner after another. Think of the book of James less like one of Paul’s letters and more like an anthology of aphorisms: short, truthful, wise teachings.

James exposes social favoritism as direct opposition to God (Jas. 2:1-13), which parallels Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:46-48. As Jesus taught and lived, the goal is to love each human being as a miraculous creation of God—everyone, not only those who deserve it. No human being has what it takes to judge another as unworthy of love or life.

So leave the judging to God. Keep on graciously blessing everyone. Then comes the zinger. “For judgment is merciless for the one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment” (Jas. 2:13). Ouch—and amen. The sting serves the same purpose as each of James’ wisdom sayings and his entire letter: to prod God’s people toward wholehearted devotion to Jesus.

Reflection Questions

• Meditate on James chapter 1. What parallels do you see to Proverbs? What about the Sermon on the Mount? What does this reveal about God’s enduring wisdom?
• God gives wisdom to those who ask in faith (Jas. 1:5-8). Where in the Hebrew Bible have you seen this same idea communicated or this same thing take place? What could this mean for those who desire wisdom?