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In this larger group of strife-prone business people, James singles out the wealthy. He laments for them because he sees what they do not see. He looks at their accumulated treasures, whether food, cloth, or metal, stored up as security against an unpredictable future. On the outside all looks good, but on the inside there is taking place the slow processes of decay, larva-feasting, and rust. When the day of need arrives, they will thrust their hands into worthless powder.
The rottenness of the fruit is matched by the rottenness of the human heart. Like an OT prophet, James lashes out at the injustice of the rich. Sadistically they have withheld pay from their workers, leaving them hungry and in want. But they have revelled and caroused in disgusting self-indulgence. The terminology James uses suggests sheep frisking about in rich pastures, well-fed and fattening. Unknown to them, the day is approaching when they will be slaughtered. So also is the destiny of these sensate, insensitive, successful businessmen.
James’s concluding statement in the description surprises the reader: “You have condemned and murdered innocent men who were not opposing you.” Translators generally agree in using the plural, but the Greek word is singular—innocent man. Is it simply a coincidence that the same word was on the lips of the centurion who was in charge of the crucifixion of Jesus? “Beyond all doubt,” he said, “this man was innocent” (Lk 23:47, neb). Then, curiously, James shifts from the past tense (“condemned,” “murdered”) to the present tense: “He does not resist you.” James does not say that these oppressed workers are Christians, but they may well be, since he is pleading their cause. Their spirit of surrender, their refusal to fight (4:1) portrays them in the image of Jesus Christ.