College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
James 3:3-5
A BIG THING IN A LITTLE PACKAGE
Text 3:3-5a
Now if we put the horses bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also.
Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth.
James 3:5 a.
So the tongue also is a little member and boasteth great things.
Queries
192.
The application of the illustration in James 3:3 is not stated. What is the application?
193.
How can the horses bridle be compared to human speech?
194.
Why the also of James 3:4?
195.
Was the illustration of a very large ship applicable to the average person at the time this was written?
196.
How do the rough winds lend force to the illustration?
197.
What verb of James 3:4 is identical to James 3:3?
198.
What is the meaning of impulse?
199.
How can the ship's rudder be compared to human speech?
200.
What is the import of the word so?
201.
What great things are here accomplished by the tongue?
Paraphrases
A. James 3:3.
A small bridle in a horse's mouth has such great power over the horse that with it we can turn his whole body.
Note how the same thing also applies to the steering of large ocean vessels. It is a very small rudder that turns the huge ship around, even in the face of strong winds.
James 3:5 a.
In the same way the tongue is a small part of the body, but it can accomplish very great things all out of proportion to its size.
B.*James 3:3.
We can make a large horse turn around and go wherever we want by means of a small bit in his mouth.
And a tiny rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot wants it to go, even though the wind is strong.
James 3:5 a.
So also the tongue is a small thing, but what terrible results it can cause.
Summary
Our tongue comes in a little package but it can do big things.
Comment
James evidently had the horse illustration in mind when he used the term bridge in James 3:2. Little girls, in particular, seem to like horses. Perhaps there are psychological reasons. The horse's body is very muscular and magnificent in comparison to the little girl's frail body. Yet all this power and magnificence can be controlled by a little girl with reins in her hands.
Such a simple illustration makes the point quite clear. When we have controlled the direction of the horse's mouth, we have controlled the direction of his entire body. There is no need to make the application to the tongue and our own bodies, for any creature who could speak could also understand the meaning.
Our action, however, is often as though we did not understand. We so glibly and carelessly use the tongue, as if it were of no consequence whatsoever. It seems such an inconsequential matter to boost our own size in our minds by cutting our fellow man down to size with our tongues. Little do we seem to realize that when our tongue takes a base and destructive direction, that our soul is taking the same direction. We act as if we had no knowledgethinking that our tongue can be filthy and full of corruption yet ourselves remain pure and angelic. Do we really get the point of James-' illustration? When you find the direction in which a man's tongue is pointing, you have found the direction in which the man himself points!
Behold, that is, take note of this second illustration that the point will be well-driven home. Behold the same thought is avidly and clearly demonstrated by a fresh illustration. Behold the furniture of the same room in the house, but through a different window. On land and sea we have the same truth illustrated. No man can plead ignorance. No man can rightly claim the teaching is too complex nor the doctrine too philosophical. We stand naked and ashamed in the clear light of our own understanding. But this is not a sight we can glimpse and immediately flee. The Holy Spirit will not allow us. The simplicity of the truth dramatizes its importance. Even as the demons believe and shudder, we are forced to understand and tremble.
The great ship of the sea that holds so many people is not a strange thing to Biblical times. Jonah himself was with a large number of sailors on an ocean-going vessel in a storm. Likewise Paul was caught in a storm in the midst of the Mediterranean Sea. There were 276 persons on this boat. (Acts 27:37). So James speaks of a great ship turned about by a very small rudder, much like a paddle that protruded from a porthole from the rear of the vessel. Some of the larger boats had twin rudders that were coupled together, and two men could turn the large vessel about. How many tons, or hundreds of tons, could be turned with a twenty-five pound rudder? The illustration now begins to overwhelm us as we apply it to the power of the tongue!
Note also that the large ship is turned about at the impulse of the steersman. The rudder is not a wild thing of its own, thrashing about helter skelter and sending the boat every which way. There is a steersman who directs the boat according to his desire, his inclination, or impulse. So the tongue says James! The whole object of this discourse would be pointless if man were unable to do anything about his own tongue. These things ought not so to be says James.
Can we imagine one day standing before Jehovah in the judgment and saying Lord, please excuse me for I couldn-'t help it. I was thinking noble and clean thoughts while my tongue lashed forth within my mouth forming its filthy and trashy discourses. I listened in horror as I heard my tongue destroy the reputation and undermine the work of the very men I loved. I close my mouth with all my power, but the powerful tongue cries forth knocking teeth on its way to spill venom all about me.
No, when James is speaking of the tongue and all its power, he is also speaking of the desire of the steersman who directs it. I can-'t blame the rudder, for I-'m on the other end!
The little member of the body. the tongue, weighs far less than a pound! Yet its power is so great that it not only turns about my whole body, but it can turn about the bodies of countless others. Families have been broken by a single tongue. Churches have been split and died because of the venom of a single tongue. Rehoboam's loose tongue split a kingdom and started a war!
Jotham told of the bramble (in his fable) who with its tongue boasted great things, promising to devour those who refused to take refuge under its shade. The bramble boasted great things, but it was an idle boast. The tongue can also boast of its power, but rest assured it is not an idle boast! Lest we would think it is really not so bad, the Holy Spirit leads us to consider the terrible destructive forces that can be unleashed. Even as the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, much more so can the tongue unleash a world of iniquity. Though it comes in a little package, it works a very big thing!