‘And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying,'
Once all had listened to the long account of what God had done through Barnabas and Paul, there was silence. They had been given much to think about. And there must have been a feeling of great relief when James, the Lord's brother spoke up. They would know that he would give a balanced view, showing full respect to the Law of Moses.
The gathered assembly had listened with great respect to Peter, for they knew that he was one of those who had been chosen by the Lord Himself to be a guarantee and interpreter of truth, and had received a special anointing for that purpose. They were aware that along with the other Apostles he had been given the authority by Jesus to ‘bind things' on earth (Matthew 18:18), that is, to determine what should bind God's people and what should not. Thus they had recognised that he had had the right to speak authoritatively.
They had listened to Barnabas and Paul, for Barnabas was their own representative whom they had sent to oversee affairs in Antioch, and they now knew Paul as a brother beloved. But they were not all convinced that the enthusiasm of these two might not have carried them too far.
But with equal respect to that shown to Peter would they listen to James, and some, who were not quite certain about Peter, would listen to him with even more respect. They well knew his holy life, and why he was named ‘James the Just'. They knew that he obeyed the law of Moses to the full, more than they all. They knew how much time he spent praying in the Temple. And they knew that he had been brought up with Jesus in his daily life, and had once known Him as a brother, and now knew Him well as his Lord. His words certainly had to carry special weight. Furthermore he was unquestionably one of the leading elders of the Jerusalem church, very much admired and looked up to, and very influential because of what he was. We can imagine a hush falling on the assembly, as he rose to speak. All knew what the crucial effect of this man's words would be.
‘Men, brethren, hearken to me.'
He called on them now, as his ‘brothers', as those who were beloved in the Lord and precious to both His Lord and himself, to listen to what he had to say. There could be no doubt that his words would carry great weight. No one would be able to accuse James of having been carried away by new ideas and of not giving due respect to the Law. He was firmly rooted in the old as fulfilled in the new, and none was more faithful to both than he.
The picture we have of James here ties in with the James of the epistle. Very fervent for the Law and yet very clear on central Christian principles.