James, a Servant of God

February 4

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing,” James 1:1-4

According to historical research, James, who here counts himself a ‘servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,’ could easily have elevated himself in the esteem of his readers by saying, ‘James, the brother of Jesus, who grew up with Him and knew Him intimately within the home of our mother Mary and my father Joseph.’ But he did not.

James, the brother of our Lord did not equate a temporal relationship above the high honor that was afforded to him—that of being a ‘servant’ of our God and Lord and King. Further, he declared that believers are to recognize the long-range purpose of the trials they face, that being the perfection of their faith so they will lack nothing required by God of those who He promises shall one day rule and reign with Him.



What do we know of James, the brother of Jesus? Historians of antiquity tell us that James' influence became so strong that even some of the Jewish rulers believed, which horrified the scribes and Pharisees who became afraid that all the people would flock to Jesus as the Christ.

Because of his strict observance of the Law, many of the Pharisees thought they could enlist James to discourage the people from believing in Jesus. They asked him to stand at the pinnacle of the temple on Passover and speak to an assembled crowd. James agreed, but his motivation was not to dissuade the people from faith in Christ but to affirm the rightness of belief in Him as their Messiah.

As James stood at the top of the temple, the religious leaders shouted questions to him from below such as, "Oh, righteous one, in whom we are able to place great confidence; the people are led astray after Jesus, the crucified One. So declare to us, what is this way, Jesus?"

James was ready to take full advantage of this opportunity and his words are memorable: ”Why do you ask me about Jesus, the Son of Man? He sits in heaven at the right hand of the great Power, and He will soon come on the clouds of heaven!”

The Pharisees, realizing their blunder, began crying out, "Oh! Oh! The righteous one is in error!"

Their next act is purported to have been to push James down from the temple, hoping to intimidate the crowd by seeing that even one held in esteem would be slain for extolling the Messiah-ship of Jesus. As the people continued to shout in affirmation of the words of the brother of the Lord, the angry leaders reached the place where James stood, and threw him from the pinnacle of the temple, but the fall didn't kill him.

He rose to his knees and began to pray for them. "I beg of you, Lord God our Father, forgive them! They do not know what they are doing." His words reflect those of Jesus on the cross, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do,” Luke 23:34, and remind us that we, too, if called upon to do so, must suffer as Jesus did—with love for those at whose hands we agonize.

The Pharisees on the ground began to stone him as he prayed, while those from the roof rushed down to join the execution.

One of the priests, a son of the Rechabites mentioned by Jeremiah the prophet (in chapter 35:1-19), shouted, "Stop! What are you doing! The righteous one is praying for you." But, it was too late. A fuller (i.e., launderer) took out one of the clubs that he used to beat clothes and smashed James on the head, killing him with one blow.

What do we know of James? We know that we, like him, must one day die. If we are called upon to relinquish this mortal life because of our faith, may we follow his example of proclaiming the truth of the Lord—even unto our last breath.