Paul and Jesus

The letter of James has other important connections to the message of Jesus beyond these characteristic ethical teachings. James knows about the practice of anointing the sick with oil, as Jesus had practiced and taught his disciples (Mark 6:13; James 5:14). Jesus had taught that one is forgiven of sins and “justified” before God through repentance and prayer—that is, directly calling upon God. James wrote that confession of sins and prayer were the way to salvation (James 5:15–16). This is in keeping with Jesus’ teaching in the Q source. Jesus related a story in which two men were praying in the Temple, one who was proud of his righteousness and the other who considered himself so unworthy he would not even lift his eyes to heaven. The latter one struck his breast and cried out “God be merciful to me a sinner.” Jesus declared “this one went up justified before God rather than the other” (Luke 18:14). This is in keeping with the general Jewish understanding regarding forgiveness of sins. As the Psalms express: “Have mercy upon me O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy blot out all my transgressions and cleanse me from my sins” (Psalm 51:1). Judaism does not teach “salvation” by human merit as sometimes assumed, but rather that all human beings are “justified” by grace, finding forgiveness from their sins by repentance and prayer—“calling upon the name of God” (Joel 2:32). Even the animal sacrifices of the Jewish Temple were never understood to atone for or cover sins unless one first turned in faith to God and asked for grace and forgiveness (Psalm 51:16).

What we get in the letter of James is the most direct possible link to the Jewish teachings of Jesus himself. James is quite sure that the “Judge” is standing at the door, and that the kingdom of God has drawn very near (James 5:9). He warns the rich and those who oppress the weak that very soon the judgment of God will strike. James seems to be directly echoing and affirming what he had learned and passed on from his brother Jesus. It is important to note that James did not directly quote Jesus or attribute any of these teachings to Jesus by name—even though they are teaching of Jesus. For James the Christian message is not the person of Jesus but the message that Jesus proclaimed. James’s letter lacks a single teaching that is characteristic of the apostle Paul and it draws nothing at all from the traditions of Mark or John. What is preserved in this precious document is a reflection of the original apocalyptic proclamation of Jesus—the “gospel of the kingdom of God” with its political and social implications.

If we move outside the New Testament, there is another major witness that has surfaced in recent times that allows us to trace more clearly the trajectory of this forgotten message through earliest Christianity. A text known as the Didache was discovered in 1873 in a library at Constantinople, quite by accident, by a Greek priest, Father Bryennios.³³ This document dates to the beginning of the second century A.D. or even earlier, making it as old as some of the books included in the New Testament canon. Indeed, among certain circles of early Christianity it had achieved near-canonical status.

The word Didache in Greek means “Teaching,” and the document gets its name from its first line, which functions as a title: “The Teaching of the Lord through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations.”³⁴ The work is divided into sixteen chapters and was intended to be a “handbook” for Christian converts. The first six chapters give a summary of Christian ethics based on the teachings of Jesus, divided into two parts: the way of life and the way of death. Much of the content is similar to what we have in the “Sermon on the Mount” and the “Sermon on the Plain,” that is, the basic ethical teachings of Jesus drawn from the Q source. It begins with the two “great commandments,” to love God and love one’s neighbor as oneself, as well as a version of the Golden Rule: “And whatever you do not want to happen to you, do not do to another.” It contains many familiar injunctions and exhortations, but often with additions not found in our Gospels:

Bless those who curse you, pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. (1.3)

If anyone slaps your right cheek, turn the other to him as well and you will be perfect. (1.4)

Give to everyone who asks, and do not ask for anything back, for the Father wants everyone to be given something from the gracious gifts he himself provides. (1.5)

But it also contains many sayings and teachings not found in our New Testament gospels but that nonetheless are consistent with the tradition we know from Jesus and from his brother James:

Let your gift to charity sweat in your hands until you know to whom to give it. (1.6)