James 1:24Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Apostle added doing to hearing, because hearing the law alone is not sufficient for the soul's salvation. Hearing must also be confirmed by doing.

"And immediately forgot what he was like." So also the man who learned from the law of Moses why he was born, namely that he was created for the glory of God and according to the image of God the Creator, yet did not follow this in deed. He acted like the first man.

By these words the Brother of God shows that a superficial hearing of the law is easily forgotten, but action is not. Therefore action must follow the hearing of the law, so that instead of forgetfulness we may receive salvation.

Saint Mitrophan, interpreting this saying, says that the Brother of God here likens vain and useless contemplation of a mirror to teachers and disciples of the divine laws who do not fulfill them.

For the contemplation of a mirror is a nonexistent shadow and an entirely ineffectual occupation, having no confirmation in reality.

So also the word spoken by such teachers, and likewise heard by such disciples, is cast into the air and disappears. It does not form a real hypostasis in these teachers and disciples.

As if recalling the Lord's preceding and other comparisons about those who hear the word of truth in different ways, for example after the Sermon on the Mount (see Mt 7:24-29), the Apostle James also speaks through an example.

He depicts those who hear the word of God but do not fulfill it by an example familiar to all. A man looks in a mirror, goes away from it, and easily forgets the features of his face.

But whoever looks deeply into the law and considers its demands, its perfection, and its spirit, unlike the law of bondage, will not be a forgetful hearer of it. He will become its doer, and blessedness will be his portion here and in heaven.

The holy king and prophet David spoke especially often about the blessedness of fulfilling the law (see Ps 1:1-2; cf. Josh 1:8).

"For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing the face of his being, the natural features of his face, in a mirror. He observed himself, went away, and immediately forgot what he was like."

The one who hears the word of truth but does not fulfill it is like one who looks in a mirror and then forgets what he noticed there.

People usually look in a mirror to see whether there is any spot, dirt, or anything that distorts the natural features of the face.

Cleanly people, when they notice a spot or dirt in the mirror, immediately wash it off. Others, indifferent to their appearance, may notice uncleanness on it, but do not care to remove it.

They depart from the mirror as though they had never approached it and had never looked into it.