No 4

(James)

James is the least prominent of the Lord’s closest inner circle; he is the older brother of John. He never appears alone in the Gospels and is always paired with John. The only time he is mentioned alone is in the book of Acts when he was martyred by Herod “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” (ch12:1,2). He does however occupy an important place in Scripture. He along with Peter and John accompanied Jesus when He raised Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37). James was present when Jesus’ glory was manifested on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17:1). James was among four Disciples who questioned Jesus privately on the Mount of Olives (Mark 13:3). He was also included with Peter and John when the Lord prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:33). Although Scripture does not give too much information about James, Jesus Himself called him and his brother “Boanerges” which means “Sons of Thunder” (Mark 3:17); James was undoubtedly a passionate person. The place where his passion was most strongly demonstrated was in the Gospel of Luke when Jesus was preparing to go down to Jerusalem for the final Passover. Jesus passed through Samaria, a region that was normally avoided by all Jews because the Samaritans were a mixed race; this angered James and John very much - “And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?” (Luke 9:54). Their reference to Elijah was very significant because it was in this region that Elijah had demonstrated to King Ahab, in a very graphic manner, that the God of Israel was the supreme God of the universe. (1 King 18:21-38).

Often times when a person is as passionate as James was, overconfidence sets in and sin can be the result; their mother requested that her two sons be given a very prominent place in heaven, next to Jesus (Matt 20:20-24). James wanted a place of honor and, instead he got a place of suffering. James is a good example of how zeal and passion, when it is surrendered to the Holy Spirit, produces strong testimony of God’s grace.