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James 5:8b–9
“Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door.”
Taking personal vengeance is a temptation for those who suffer unjustly, and no doubt the members of James’ original audience who were being exploited by wealthy non-Christians at times felt that they should repay their oppressors in kind. As we have seen, however, the Apostle James counsels patience and not vengeance, for the Lord Jesus Christ is sure to return and will do a far better job of establishing justice than we ever could (James 5:1–8a). Having established the certainty of the Lord’s coming as a basis for patience, James in today’s passage looks to the nearness of Jesus’ return as an encouragement to endure suffering.
James writes that we must “establish [our] hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (v. 8b). Here we see an expectation that the return of Jesus could happen at any moment, and indeed the nearness of Christ’s second coming has always been a part of the Christian faith. Of course, it has been almost two thousand years since James wrote, which seems like a long time to wait for something that was near in the days of the Apostles. Yet regarding the nearness of Christ’s return, we need to think in terms of a sequence of events, not the passage of time. To say that the Lord’s coming is near is to say that it is the next milestone event to happen in the outworking of God’s plan of salvation. In other words, what comes next in the redemption of creation is the return of Jesus. Many individuals, of course, have come and continue to come to saving faith between our Lord’s ascension and His coming again, but with reference to our Creator’s salvation of the entire church, only Jesus’ second advent to consummate His kingdom remains. Thus, His return is near and could happen at any moment, even though from a temporal perspective, we do not know if it will happen after another hour, day, month, year, century, or millennium.
In light of the nearness of the Lord’s coming, we are to establish ourselves in the faith, knowing that we can endure suffering because Jesus will reward us (v. 8b). We also are not to grumble and complain against each other because the Judge is soon to appear (v. 9). When we face hard times, we are apt to lash out at those close to us, so James’ words are a needed warning. After all, our treatment of one another will be taken into account when the Lord graciously evaluates our works. If we lash out at others, our reward will be less than it would be otherwise (see 1 Cor. 3:10–15).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Even if we are not being exploited by non-Christians, we can still face challenges because of pressures at work, at school, and elsewhere. These challenges can make us prone to be impatient with and lash out at our friends, families, and fellow Christians. Let us ask the Lord to grant us patience and to help us understand how the nearness of His coming enables us to endure our suffering without hurting others.
For further study
- Numbers 13:1–14:38
- Proverbs 19:13
- Philippians 2:14–16
- Revelation 22:20
The bible in a year
- Joshua 3–4
- Luke 2:1–21