April 3 Daily Devotional

Scripture for Day 93—James 5:1–6

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. ² Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned; you have murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.

Devotional:

Instead of putting your hope in the uncertain riches of this present evil age, put your hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. Make sure that you are in Christ. Only Jesus can save you from the guilt and power of sin. There is safety in Christ. "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life" (John 3:36a). But apart from Jesus, there is no safety whatsoever. "…but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:36b).

Look closely at v. 6—"You have condemned and murdered the righteous man. He does not resist you (or, Does he not oppose you?)" "The righteous man" or "the righteous one" is singular. In this verse, God identifies a singular victim. Ultimately, the Lord Jesus Christ is the only truly innocent victim in all of human history. The good news for you and me is that he volunteered for that victim status. Why? In order to pay the debt that sinners owe, to satisfy God's justice and quench his wrath. Having accomplished that great end, it was impossible for death to hold him. He was resurrected and exalted to the highest place. Now, the exalted Christ identifies himself with his suffering people. When Saul of Tarsus was persecuting the church, the exalted Christ confronted him and asked, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9:4).

In terms of grammar, verse 6b can be translated either "He does not resist you" or "Does he not resist you?" But the context leads me to prefer the latter. James 4:6 states that "God opposes [the very same word is translated "resist" in James 5:6] the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Both grammatically and contextually, it makes sense to me that now he says, in effect, "You rich are proud. Does God not oppose (resist) you?"

Therefore, "as for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life." (1 Tim. 6:17–19).

Click here for background on the author of Are You For Real?: Meditations in the Epistle of James for Secret or Family Worship.