02.02. Chapter 2 - Verse 15, 16
James 2:15-16. If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily bread, and one of you say to them, Depart in peace, be you warmed, be you filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things that are needful to the bodiy, what doth it profit?
If a brother or a sister.—The apostle compareth faith and charity, and showeth that pretences of faith avail no more than pretences of charity. By brother or sister he meaneth Christians, united together by the bond of the same profession, terms oft used in that sense in this epistle. Be naked; that is, ill-clothed; so nakedness is often taken: so 1 Corinthians 4:11, ‘We suffer hunger, we are naked;’ that is, destitute of necessary apparel. So Job 22:6, ‘Thou hast stripped the naked of their clothing;’ that is, the ill-clothed are brought to worse poverty by thy extortion. So when men have not a decent garment, or be coming their state, 1 Samuel 19:24. Saul prophesied naked; that is, without the vestment of a prophet. And destitute of daily bread; that is, not only of moderate supplies, but such as are extremely necessary. They have not from hand to mouth, or wherewith to sustain life for a day. Christ calleth it, ἄρτον ἐπιούσιον, ‘present bread,’ Matthew 4:11. Under these two notions of nakedness and hunger, he comprehendeth all the necessities of the human life, for these are the things utterly necessary. Therefore Christ saith, ‘Take no thought what ye shall eat, or where with ye shall be clothed,’ Matthew 6:31; ‘And if we have food and raiment, let us be therewith content,’ 1 Timothy 6:8. And Jacob promiseth worship if God would give him ‘bread to eat, and raiment to put on,’ Genesis 28:20. Till the world grew to a height of luxury, this was enough.1 The bill of provisions was very short, ‘food and raiment.’
1 ‘Cibus et potus sunt divitiæ Christianorum.’—Hieron. And one of you say to them; that is, that hath ability otherwise to do them good; for else good wishes are not to be despised; and some can only give a cheap alms, prayers, and counsel.
Depart in peace.—A solemn form of salutation,2 which is as much as, ‘I wish you well.’ See Mark 5:34; Luke 7:50, and Luke 8:48.
2 See Luke 2:29, and 2 Kings 5:19, where only is a salutation, not an allowance or grant of his request; yea, Naaman’s words imply a resolution rather than a case and request. Be you warmed, or be you filled.—After the general form, he cometh to instance in good wishes, suitable to the double necessity forementioned: ‘Be warmed,’ that is, be clothed; it is opposed to ‘naked.’ So Job 31:20, ‘The poor were warmed with the fleece of my sheep.’ The Septuagint have it, ἐθαρμάνθησαν ἀπὸ κουρὰς ἄμνων μοῦ, ‘Be filled;’ that is, I wish you food to sustain your hunger.
Notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; that is, when you are able; otherwise a hearty wish is of use and acceptance. So ‘a cup of cold water’ is welcome, Matthew 10:42; and it is not reason that ‘other men should be eased and we burdened,’ 2 Corinthians 8:13. His chief aim was to shame the rich, that thought to satisfy their duty by a few cheap words and charitable wishes; which offence was as common as pretence of faith, as appeareth 1 John 3:18, ‘Let us not love in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth.’
What doth it profit? that is, the poor; the belly is not filled with words, or the back clothed with wishes. This is but like that mad person that thought to pay his debts with the noise of money, and instead of opening his purse, shaked it. The poor will not thank you for good wishes, neither will God for saying you have faith. The points are these:—
Obs. 1. That an excellent way to discover our deceitful dealing with God is to put the case in a sensible instance, or to parallel it with our own dealings one with another. You will not count words liberality, neither will God count pretences faith: this is the reason of parables; matters between God and us are stated by instances of like matters between man and man. The judgment hath best view of things when they are carried in a third person, and is not so blinded and perverted as in our own case. David could determine, 2 Samuel 12:1-31, ‘The man that doth this shall die the death.’ If the case had been represented in a downright reproof, no doubt he would have been more favourable. Again, by this means they are made more plain and sensible; for heavenly things, being represented in an earthly form, come clothed with our own notions. We can see the sun better in a basin than in the firmament, and interpret heaven’s language when it speaketh to us in the dialect of earth. Well, then, use this art, put the case in a temporal matter: Malachi 1:8, ‘Offer it now to the governor; will he be pleased with thee? or will he accept thy person?’ Would men account this fair dealing, to come with a gift so sickly and imperfect? So sometimes suppose the case your own: would I be thus dealt withal? Thus Christ made the Pharisees to give judgment against themselves, Matthew 21:1-46. Those that despised, abused, persecuted the messengers, killed the son, saith Christ to them, ‘What will the Lord of the vineyard do with them?’ They answer, Matthew 21:40-41, ‘He will miserably destroy them, and let out his vineyard to other men.’ So will God do to you, saith Christ, Matthew 21:43. And thus God appealeth to the Jews upon a parable, Isaiah 5:3, ‘Judge between me and my people.’ We shall soon see the irrationality of our inferences in divine matters when we put the case in terms proper to human affairs; as when ‘grace is turned into wantonness,’ how absurd and illogical is the consequence, when we infer carelessness of duty out of the abundance of grace? It is as if you should say, My master is good, therefore I will offend him and displease him. Thus you may do in many cases, especially when the word giveth you the hint of a metaphor; only take heed you do not reason thus in the matter of believing and expecting mercy from God, lest you straiten free grace, which is not dispensed ‘after the manner of man,’ 2 Samuel 7:19. God will accept a returning prostitute, which man will not, Jeremiah 3:1. Otherwise it will be of special use to shame us with neglect, to open a gap to conviction, to shame us with the absurdity and irrationality of our inferences in matters of religion.
Obs. 2. From that if a brother or a sister. God’s own people may be destitute of necessary outward supports: Hebrews 11:37-38, they ‘of whom the world was not worthy,’ ‘wandered about, destitute, afflicted, tormented.’ It is true David saith, Psalms 37:25, ‘I have been young, and now am old, yet never saw I the righteous forsaken, or their seed begging bread;’ but either he speaketh merely upon his own experience, or asserteth that they were not forsaken though begging bread; or else he speaks of the shameful trade of begging, which among the Jews was a token of God’s curse; as Psalms 59:15, ‘Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.’ So, ‘let them be vagabonds,’ Psalms 109:10. Certainly the Jews had more of the carnal and outward blessing of the covenant than believers under the gospel, it being more suitable to their dispensation.
Obs. 3. Bare words will not discharge or satisfy duty. Good words are good in themselves, and do become a Christian mouth, but they must not be rested in. Some cannot go so far in profession as good words, religious conference, and holy discourse. Words argue that you have a knowledge of duty; and bare words, that you want a heart for it.
Obs. 4. More particularly observe, that a few charitable words are not enough. Some men’s words are fierce and cruel, others ‘love in word and in tongue,’ 1 John 3:18; but this is not enough. Words are cheap, compliments cost nothing; and will you serve God with that which costeth nothing? Words are but a cold kind of pity; the belly is not filled with words, but meat3 nor is the back clothed with good wishes. Words are but a derision; you mock the poor when you bid them ‘be warmed, be filled,’ and do not minister to their necessities. Nay, it is a kind of mocking of God: Galatians 6:7, ‘Be not deceived, God is not mocked.’ He speaketh of such as would fain be accounted liberal and charitable, but it was only in words and excuses.
3 ‘Venter non habet aures.’