But let the brother of low degree glory in his elevation,
James turns from trials and wisdom to two believers sitting side by side: one has nothing, the other has plenty. He tells each to boast in what the world would hide — so what does a poor man already have to boast about?
The verb here is not the ordinary word for being glad. One writer sets the two words apart, and notes where the older Authorised Version blurred them:
Everywhere else it means "rejoice", or "be glad"... But the verb ought not to be confused, as the Authorised Version does, with kauchaomai, "I boast", as in Romans 5:2, 11; Philippians 3:3; James 1:9; James 4:16.
So James does not tell the lowly man to cheer up. He tells him to make his boast — to point at something and say, this is what I have.
The verse sits in a passage about testing. Money and rank both offer a way around the trial:
(Verses 9-11). We may also try to find a way of escape from trials through social position or riches. As Christians we should rejoice that our standing before God does not in any way depend on social position in this world. Let the brother in a humble position in life rejoice that Christianity has lifted him into a new spiritual position, far above all the glory this world can offer. In that position he has fellowship with Christ and His people now, and he will share in the glory of Christ in the world to come.
The lift is not a promotion in this world, and it has a mirror image for the man with money:
So the lowly brother can boast in his elevation, because the glorified Christ is not ashamed to call him brother. And the rich one can boast in his humiliation, in fellowship with Him who emptied and humbled Himself to the death of the cross. Whatever our natural place, we are now by grace not of the world, as Christ is not of the world. So we can read glory in the humblest believer, and the wealthy and honoured can write nothingness on what human nature values highly. For as the Lord said, what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God (Luke 16:15).
One writer points out who is set opposite the lowly brother:
He contrasts "the lowly brother" with "the rich", and not, as we might have expected, with "the brother of high degree". The rich, as James uses the term, mean the unbelieving rich. They were the leading men of wealth, influence and religious reputation for holiness, and almost every one of them was in deadly opposition to Christ.
Other commentators read the rich man as a believer who boasts in being brought low. On this they differ.
Time is the test of any boast, and only one kind survives it:
The lowly brother boasts in his exaltation. The gospel fills up the valleys as surely as it levels the mountains. This exaltation is not for a moment and does not pass away, while the earthly things that lift men up must pass. So the rich man, if he really is a man of faith, boasts in his humiliation — in the mercy of God that has made him aware how quickly everything here passes, so that even in the things he has he is only Another's steward. If the things do not die, we die out of them; and how quickly the beauty fades even from what still exists! There is only one unfading inheritance, where everything is eternally as fresh as at the beginning.
This is not a private consolation. It changes who sits with whom:
The lowly brother is exalted to have fellowship with Christ and to share His glory. However humble he may be, he becomes, even in this world, the companion of all the brothers and sisters... The rich own them as brothers, and they meet together at the Lord's table as possessors of the same privileges. They rejoice together. The poor man rejoices in his exaltation, because Christ is not ashamed to call such people "brothers". The rich man boasts in that title far more than in all the titles that belong to him in the world... The one who takes the lowest place will be great in the kingdom of God.
- Boast, don't cope. The word is not "cheer up" but "make your boast" — the poor believer has something to point at.
- Boast because lifted. The exaltation is not a better job or address; the glorified Christ is not ashamed to call him brother. The rich man's mirror boast is in being brought low.
- Boast because levelled. The gospel fills the valleys as surely as it levels the mountains, so rank stops deciding anything before God.
- Boast because lasting. Every earthly thing that raises a man passes; this exaltation does not — there is only one inheritance that never fades.
- Boast out loud. The proof is visible: rich and poor own each other as brothers and sit together at the Lord's table.
and the rich in his humiliation, because as [the] grass's flower he will pass away.
James writes to believers under trial. Here he sets two opposites side by side: the poor believer glories that God has lifted him up, the rich that God has brought him low. The second half is the strange one. Why should losing standing be a reason for joy, and what does a fading flower have to do with it?
The pairing is deliberate. Wealth and poverty are both passing circumstances, and God does not rank people by them.
Everything built on a passing set of circumstances is doomed, and has nothing to do with the nature of God, which the Son of God has revealed in truth and grace. So God reverses the judgment of the world in all these matters.
The rich man's low place is not just loss. It puts him in company with his Lord.
So the lowly brother can glory in his elevation, for the glorified Christ is not ashamed to call him brother. And the rich one can glory in his humiliation, in fellowship with Him who emptied and humbled Himself to the death of the cross. The wealthy and honourable can write nothingness over what human nature values highly.
There is also an exchange in it: one kind of riches for another.
Let the rich rejoice that God has brought them low as regards the possessions and glory of this world, and has brought them to share in the unsearchable riches of Christ. Compared with Christ and His glory, the riches and glory of this world are only flowers that fade and perish. When the apostle Paul found Christ in the glory, he counted these earthly advantages as loss. So when a Christian boasts in birth and social position, he boasts in the very thing that Paul poured contempt on in his own case.
Commentators differ. Some read him as a believer who still has wealth but no longer counts it his own.
So the rich, if he really has faith, glories in his humiliation. He glories in the mercy of God that has made him aware of how quickly everything here passes. In the very things he has, he is only Another's steward. He too has been given a higher exaltation, and that makes him content to let the earthly one pass, as he knows it will.
Others take the contrast in the verse as the clue, and hear a warning instead of an encouragement.
He contrasts "the brother of low degree" with "the rich," and not, as we might have expected, with "the brother of high degree." The rich, as James uses the term, means the unbelieving rich. These were the leading men of wealth, influence and religious standing, and almost every one of them was in deadly opposition to Christ. Great they might be in the eyes of their fellows, but they were like grass in the sight of God.
The sun completes the picture. The beauty is real, but it is short.
On the other hand, God knows how to bring the rich low by His wise governmental dealings, often through persecution. It may not be easy to rejoice in this. But many have done so, and have found that the spiritual blessing which follows far outweighs all loss in this life. How good it is for a rich man to remember that the flower of the grass is beautiful, yet it is only come and gone. Such is the boasted prosperity of man. The burning sun — the heat of trial in the world — withers the grass, which is mankind in general, and reduces the lovely flower, the rich and noble, to an ugly death.
This changes how rich and poor sit together.
The rich own them as brothers, and they meet together at the Lord's table, sharing the same privileges. They rejoice together. The poor man rejoices in his exaltation, for Christ is not ashamed to call such people brothers. The rich man glories in that title much more than in all the titles that belong to him in the world. The world despises that title and counts it for nothing. But he knows that the glory of this world passes away like the flower of the grass.
Neither man can obey this verse by looking at his circumstances. Both need faith.
Faith makes things real. It lifts us above the circumstances of life... The rich believer can rejoice in faith in his trials, that he is made low, that he can suffer loss. He realises that all his riches are only for a moment, but that he has an inheritance that does not fade away.
- Reversal. God overturns the world's ranking. He lifts the low, brings the high down, and tells both to rejoice at it.
- Exchange. Losing worldly standing is not bare loss. The rich man trades it for a share in the unsearchable riches of Christ.
- Fellowship. The rich man does not go low alone. He glories in it beside the One who emptied Himself to the death of the cross.
- Expiry date. The flower is beautiful, and it is brief. The sun rises, and prosperity is gone with it.
- Table. The proof is rich and poor meeting as brothers, with the wealthy man valuing that name above every title the world can give.