‘My brothers, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, with respect of persons.'
James commences by drawing their attention to the fact that the glory of our Lord, Jesus Christ, is far above that of any other. He is our Lord, set above all things (Acts 2:36; Ephesians 1:20-22); He is Jesus Who will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21), He is the expected Messiah, the enthroned Christ (Acts 2:35), but above all He is the Lord of glory (compare 1 Corinthians 2:8 where it is closely associated with the poor and weak Christians of this world described in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 25:31), the possessor of all things, the One Who is over all in splendour, the One Who will come as judge. It is a pointed reminder in the light of what is to follow. Beside Him the glory of the rich man fades into insignificance, and the true glory belongs to those who are rich in faith and heirs of the Kingly Rule of God over which He presides in glory. To them will be the glory. By this means the writer immediately set their minds on things above (Colossians 3:2).
In the Old Testament ‘the glory' can have a number of meanings, but its prime significance is in describing the glory of the Shekinah, the revelation of YHWH in blinding light (Exodus 16:7; Exodus 16:10; Exodus 24:16-17; Exodus 33:22; Exodus 40:34; Leviticus 9:6; Leviticus 23; often in Numbers; Deuteronomy 5:24; and so on) Whom no man has seen or can see because He dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). Indeed in the Psalms He is ‘the King of glory' (Psalms 24:7-10), and ‘the God of glory' (Psalms 29:3), good parallels with ‘the Lord, Jesus Christ, of glory', and YHWH's glory is regularly referred to by the Psalmists. When the glory of YHWH left the Temple in Ezekiel it was a sign of His rejection of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 11:23) to which the glory would never return. When it would re-enter the Temple it would be to a heavenly Temple (there is no suggestion anywhere that it should be built. It was already there in vision. Only the altar was to be built in the new earthly Temple as a contact point with it) situated on a mountain outside Jerusalem in what was an idealised picture (Ezekiel 40:2; Ezekiel 45:1-6; see Chapter s 40-44). In Zechariah 7:13 it was the coming king, ‘the Branch' who would ‘bear the glory', that is, would enjoy royal honour as the representative of YHWH. Thus to be the Lord of glory was to represent YHWH, the King of glory, both as revealing Him to man and as ruling on His behalf. But it also meant more. It meant that He had returned to His Father to receive the glory that had been His before the world was (John 17:5)
A secondary meaning of ‘the glory' was as indicating the possessions and prosperity of a man or a of nation (e.g. Isaiah 17:3-6; Jeremiah 13:18; Jeremiah 48:18). Thus the Lord ‘of glory' might be seen as signifying Him as the Possessor of Heaven and earth (Genesis 14:22) and as over the angels. But no doubt the primary idea here is to relate Him to the glory of YHWH (compare John 17:5), and to act as a contrast to the ‘glory' of the rich man with his golden ring and his fine clothes.
‘My Brothers.' James wants them continually to realise that he writes not as a superior but as a brother to his beloved brothers and sisters. Compare James 1:2; James 1:9; James 1:16; James 1:19; James 2:5; James 2:14-15; James 3:1; James 4:11; James 5:7; James 5:9; James 5:12; James 5:19. By this he stresses that they are all ‘sons of God' and on an equality with each other. In other words they are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).