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but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother. (Galatians 1:19)
Friday! Dear Reader, why do we make a big deal about Friday? Well, how much time do you have? For many, the end of the work week! For some pastors, it's their day of Sabbath (day off)! Whatever day makes you happy, seek to bless the Lord and make Him happy!
"The enemy who became the friend," is how one scholar begins his treatise on James, Jesus' brother. As we have studied this week, King David was the youngest of 8 brothers. Joseph, the one with the technicolor coat, was the youngest of his brood; and on Sunday I mentioned in my sermon how annoying younger siblings can be to us older, wiser, smarter, better looking... Okay, I'm getting us ready for today's devotional.
James was not one of the original 12. Yet, we know him to have been the president of the Jerusalem Church, and he was a martyr for the faith. And we include him in the list of Apostles, because of what Paul wrote in today's passage. Suffice it to say we do not know much about this follower of Jesus. One thing we do know is that he first said NO to Jesus. We should remember he was part of the clan who came to regard Jesus as being mad, as in crazy. James was among those who wanted to take Jesus home to care for Him. (Mark 3:31-33). We also can read in John 7:5 where John says, "neither did His brethren believe in Him." Also, in Matthew 10:36, Jesus says, "A man's foes shall be they of His own household," words Jesus spoke from personal experience. Ouch.
James had a change of heart. When the Apostle Luke listed those present after the death of Jesus, the Resurrection, and the Ascension, he includes the brothers of Jesus (Acts 1:14). Later, as the question of Gentiles coming into the Christian faith, it is James, who in a clear-thinking, clear-speaking voice that settled the issue to allow them in. A clean indication that he had become the leader of the Jerusalem Church. (Acts 12:17). Later, when Paul comes to Jerusalem with the collection for the poor, it is James who meets him. On his very first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion, Paul met with James and Peter.
Beyond the New Testament, we have two accounts of how James died. Josephus, the Jewish historian records that between Festus, the Roman governor, and the arrival of Albinus the next governor, Ananus, the high priest took advantage of the transition to do as he please, which included holding a judicial council and brought James before it, on the charges of having violated the Law, so James and others were ordered to be stoned. (Antiguities of the Jews, 20, 9, 1). Hegesippus, a Christian historian, wrote a fuller account of James' death. He writes that James lived such a life of holiness and piety that he was respected by all. He never ceased to follow the Jewish Law, and Christians and Jews alike, respected him and regarded him a saint. The account states, "He was holy from his mother's womb; wine and strong drink he drank not, nor did he eat flesh; no razor touched his head; he never anointed himself with oil; and he used not the bath." His knees were hard as a camel's because he was so constant in prayer and in his pleas for God to forgive his people. His piety led people to call him James the Just, and Oblias, which means The Bulwark of the People.
This story makes it clear that the Jewish authorities did not realize where James stood in his belief. What alarmed them was the large number of people who came to him to become Christians. This led them to plead with James to "restrain the people who are led astray after Jesus... for we all have confidence in you. Stand in the wing of the Temple that your words may be heard by all the people." During Passover, as the city was crowed, they place James in the wing of the Temple, but his message was not as they had expected. "Why do you ask me concerning Jesus the Son of Man? He is now sitting in the heavens on the right hand of the Great Power, and He is about to come on the clouds of Heaven." The Jewish leaders grabbed him and threw him down the pinnacle of the Temple, stoned him, and one of them ran up to him and clubbed his head, and James' brains came out. The fact remains that the man who once considered Jesus as the enemy, died for Him. From contempt to content in Jesus.
As James' life was renewed by the Resurrection, so should ours. We can leave behind that which separated us from the Son of Man, and become one of his most faithful followers.
PRAYER: Loving God, for the testimony and faith of James, we give You thanks. Increase our faith to move from that of yesterday which separated us, to the faith of today, of right now, to become better and more faithful disciples. This we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. Dear one, Take up your cross, follow Jesus!
Eradio Valverde
