||    The Orthodox Faith (Dogma)    ||    Family and Youth    ||    Sermons    ||    Bible Study    ||    Devotional    ||    Spirituals    ||    Fasts & Feasts    ||    Coptics    ||    Religious Education    ||    Monasticism    ||    Seasons    ||    Missiology    ||    Ethics    ||    Ecumenical Relations    ||    Church Music    ||    Pentecost    ||    Miscellaneous    ||    Saints    ||    Church History    ||    Pope Shenouda    ||    Patrology    ||    Canon Law    ||    Lent    ||    Pastoral Theology    ||    Father Matta    ||    Bibles    ||    Iconography    ||    Liturgics    ||    Orthodox Biblical topics     ||    Orthodox articles    ||    St Chrysostom    ||   

The Teaching of James and Jesus

Several times in the Letter of James we hear the voice of Jesus. The Lord's words are never quoted verbatim, but many instructions read like paraphrases of the teachings of Jesus, especially those preserved in the Gospel of Matthew. The majority echo sayings from the Sermon on the Mount in Mt 5-7. Below are some of the more obvious parallels.

Jas 1:4     "And . . . that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Mt 5:48     "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Jas 1:5     "[L]et him ask God, who gives to all men generously. . . ."

Mt 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given you. . . ."

Jas 1:22     "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only. . . ."

Mt 7:24     "Every one . . . who hears these words of mine and does them. . . ."

Jas 2:5     "Has not God chosen those who are poor . . . to be . . . heirs of the kingdom . . . ."

Mt 5:3     "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Jas 2:13     "For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. . . . "

Mt 5:7     "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

Jas 3:18     "And the harvest of righteousness is sown . . . by those who make peace."

Mt 5:9     "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

Jas 5:2-3     "[G]arments are moth-eaten . . . gold and silver have rusted . . . laid up treasure . . . ."

Mt 6:19     "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures . . . where moth and rust consume. . . ."

Jas 5:10     "As an example of suffering and patience, brethren, take the prophets. . . . "

Mt 5:12     "[F]or so men persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Jas 5:12     "[D]o not swear . . . but let your yes be yes and your no be no . . ."

Mt 5:34, 37     "Do not swear at all . . . Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'. . . ."