James 5:6

‘You have condemned, you have killed the righteous one.

He is not resisting (or ‘opposing') you.'

‘The Righteous One' is a New Testament term for Jesus. See Acts 3:14; Acts 7:52; Acts 22:14. That does not, however, mean that we are to see this as a sudden direct reference to Jesus, although there certainly appears to be a good case for suggesting that Jesus is in mind, for James is probably recalling Peter's sermon in which he cried out to the people in the Temple, ‘You denied the Holy and Righteous One ---and killed the Author of Life' (Acts 3:14). Compare also Stephen's words, ‘the Righteous One Whom you have now betrayed and murdered' (Acts 7:52). James' words are very similar, ‘You have killed the Righteous One'. What we should rather see here therefore is God's people depicted in terms of being one with the Righteous One. The rich and powerful had killed the Righteous One, and now they had killed His people, thus ‘killing' Him again (compare Acts 9:4). And the people, like the Messiah Himself, did not resist them. They did not think in terms of violent retaliation, but like their Master received it as from God. The phrase ‘he is not resisting you' is a striking climax to the whole poem, bringing out the continual savage behaviour and false attitude of the rich, in stark contrast with the unresisting contentment of the poor. It took away any justification for their behaviour. It was a true picture of the churches' response to persecution, intended to shame those who were responsible. And their very non-resistance emphasises the deserving of the rich to receive their deserts. Like their Master the righteous had said, ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.' It was God Himself Who had determined the rich men's destiny.