5. "[Here] on earth you have abandoned yourselves to soft (prodigal) living and to [the pleasures of] self-indulgence and self-gratification. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter."Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31, has much to do with this verse. The rich man lived in splendor, while Lazarus, covered with sores, longed to be fed with the crumbs from the rich man’s table. After death, their roles were re- versed... the rich man in agony of the flames of hell, but Lazarus was comfortably in Abraham’s bosom. The point, not that all rich people go to hell or that all poor people go to heaven, but the irony of greed... the irony in not turning to God and all He says. The Bible is clear that there are godly rich people and there are ungodly poor people. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-9).
6. "You have condemned and have murdered the righteous (innocent man), [while] he offers no resistance to you."
The word “condemned” refers to the legal system used to take advantage of the poor. By bribing judges or by hiring powerful lawyers, the rich wrongfully take land or houses from the poor, and force them into a lifetime of slavery and greater poverty. If you confront them, the rich protest, “It was all legal... we didn’t break any law!” But what is technically legal is not always morally right... is it? While we may never kill someone for the sake of our own financial gain, but hurting others - Jesus calls murder, and for our own financial gain is pathetic.
Notice the righteous man does not resist the rich man. It's not wrong to take legal means to protect yourself or your assets from a greedy, unprincipled person, but as James reminds us, the poor are no match for the rich.
Let's pick up with James verse 5:7 next time.
I love you.
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