24 Feb Resources | Who Was James

“This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…” — James 1:1

1. James was the brother of Jesus.

There are three men named James in the New Testament: James, the son of Zebedee, one of Jesus’ closest disciples (Mk. 1:19; Acts 12:2); James, the son of Alphaeus (Mk. 3:18; 15:40); and James, the son of Mary and Joseph and half-brother of Jesus. Long-standing tradition attributes the writing to James, Jesus’ younger brother, as James the son of Zebedee was martyred too early for him to have been the author of the letter (AD 44) and so little is known of James, the son of Alphaeus. Still, more than mere tradition leads us to believe it was indeed Jesus’ younger brother who wrote the Book of James. Paul knows this James as “the brother of the Lord” (Gal. 1:19) and we see in Matthew 13:54-55 that Jesus had several brothers, including James:

54 He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” 55 Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.”

2. James was not initially a follower of Jesus.

One of the first times we even see James mentioned in the Bible is when he and his other brothers so disbelieve Jesus that they try taking him away from the crowds, telling everyone that he’s out of his mind:

20 One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. 21 When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said.

Then some time later we see that disbelief turning into disdain and mockery, as they goad Jesus on to promote himself at the same time Jewish leaders were seeking to kill him — hardly an endorsement of his ministry:

1 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. 2 But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, 3 and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! 4 You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” 5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

3. James’ life changed when he met the resurrected Jesus.

So how is it that this man who once didn’t even believe in Jesus end up writing one of the books of the New Testament we now consider part of the divine Scripture? Somewhere along the way, James turned from being a skeptic and became a servant. We find out what caused that shift in 1 Corinthians 15:

3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. 4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. 5 He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. 6 After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. 7 Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles.

After dying and being resurrected from the dead, Jesus began making appearances to people who had been a part of his life. But in the middle of this list of people whom the resurrected Christ appeared to — most of them being his followers — we see James. James went from mocking Jesus to believing in him because of this encounter with the resurrected Christ. After this meaningful moment, James would go on to spend the rest of his life proclaiming to the world that his own brother, Jesus of Nazareth, truly was the Messiah.

4. James became a “pillar” of the early church.

After coming to see Jesus as Lord, James’ newfound faith brought about a radical change in his life. Chronologically the next time we see James in the writings of the New Testament, the Apostle Paul is referring to him as a “pillar” of the church along with Peter and John (Galatians 2:9). In the Book of Acts, he is seen leading the young church in Jerusalem. When Peter is miraculously released from prison he tells his friends to hurry to let James know what had happened (Acts 12:16-17). Finally, in Acts 15, we see James as the one at the helm of the conversation when the church leaders convene for the Council of Jerusalem, where they discuss the nature of faith and works in salvation.

5. James was martyred for his faith.

Though we do not get the details of James’ death from the Bible, the writings of ancient historians Josephus and Eusebius are helpful to round out his life’s portrait. James is said to have been killed by Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem who were demanded that he publicly retract his belief that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Rather than denying that his older brother was Lord, James testified that “Christ himself sits in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven.” In response, he was stoned to death and thus martyred for the faith he had once ridiculed.

James’ Faith, Our Faith

The words of James will pointedly call for an overhaul in the way we live. He’ll press into us and cause us to evaluate things like how we respond to difficulty and hardship, how we handle money, and the way we wield our words. James’ words show he is convinced that when God changes you on the inside, a natural change in your actions will follow.

And the reason he speaks this way is because that’s exactly what happened to him. For James, faith changed everything — not just what he believed, but how he lived. He became defined and directed by the words of his brother, Jesus, and this transformation — this life of integrity where our outside matches our inside — is what God wants for us. Where our faith would so radically alter our identity that it permeates everything we do, as every sphere of our life comes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

James will help get us there.