St. James, the Greater, Apostle and a Son of Thunder (Remembrance Day July 25)

"For which of you intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost whether he has enough to finish it, lest after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, saying 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'...So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:28-33

There is a weakness in the Church of America because the strong calling of the gospel has been watered down to become palatable to our self-centered society. It has been remade in the image of man's interests and ambitions in order to attract people to it. It has been toned down so as not to offend, it has been updated to include the latest trends, it has been packaged and marketed along side of a dozen other self-improvement fads whose only aim is to make people feel good about their self image. And in so doing it has become a sword without an edge, no longer able to cut and divide righteousness from wickedness, the sacred from the secular. The calling of the gospel, just as the sword without an edge, has become a museum piece, a memento of Christianity, which has lost its effectiveness to separate. We have tried to "become all things to all men" (I Corinthians 9:19-23) in order to make the gospel big enough for everyone. But here we have erred. The gospel has always been big enough for everyone, for Christ died for the sins of the world. It is the entrance into the gospel, its calling, that we have really objected to. We judge it much too narrow a way for it requires us to come to the gospel on the Lord's terms, not ours. The Lord is clear in John 10:1 "he who does not enter...by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Those that have entered by another door do not possess true Christianity. But in every age, in every people, there have been those that have heard the calling of the gospel as a sword that pierced their heart, and have not been ashamed by it; those who have purposed in their hearts to enter by the Lord's door, and who have never once held back having once crossed the threshold. Such a man was James, the son of Zebedee.

He is called "the Greater" by the Church to distinguish him from James, the son of Alphaeus, another of the Apostles. We know that he was the son of Zebedee and brother of John the Apostle as it records in Matthew 4:21-22 (it is believed that he was the elder brother since he is always named first in any mention of the two brothers together). Salome, one of those women who ministered to the Lord until the end, is named as his mother by a comparison of Matthew 27:55-56 with Mark 15:40-41. We also know that he was one of the first disciples called while he sat mending the fishing nets with his family. The scripture simply states that when "He (Jesus) called them (James and John, his brother) ... immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him." There is little doubt that James embraced without hesitation the calling of Lord when it came. But what of counting the cost to see if he was able to finish what he had begun, as our opening scripture exhorts us? For the answer to that we must glean from other accounts in the pages of scripture.

Scripture records that Jesus called James and his brother Boanerges, a Hebrew word which when translated means "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). As the thunder is the herald for the approaching storm, so perhaps this name characterized the zealous and impetuous nature which the Lord saw at a glance within James. In Luke 9:49 it records that John (perhaps in consort with his brother for he uses the word "we") forbade one casting out demons in Jesus name because he did not "follow with us". And in Luke 9:54 we see the brothers rebuked for wanting to call down the fire of judgment upon the Samaritans that refused to show Jesus hospitality on the road to Jerusalem. Surely we see a burning evangelical zeal for the Lord, one severe in temperament at any perceived sleight of the Master. Had he counted the cost while listening to the demands of Jesus' teachings and judged himself to possess what he had heard? The Lord's words in Luke 9:55-56 indicate that there was still more to count "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of." Scripture also relates that both the brothers and their mother made bold to request from Jesus the honor that one would be seated at His right hand, and the other at His left when He entered into His kingdom (Matthew 20:-28 and Mark 10:35-45). Once more the son of thunder was called to account. "You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" With all his heart he replied "I am able" although he could not yet know fully the bitter dregs that the cup contained. The Lord's answer to him was prophetic "You will indeed drink My cup...."; and we later read in Acts 12:1-3 that "about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the Church. Then he killed James, the brother of John with the sword..."

Was this man of God able to finish what he had begun so many years earlier on the Sea of Galilee? History judges for us. Eusebius, writing in his history of the Church (Book II; 9:2-3) around 325 AD, quoted from Clement of Rome concerning the death of James. So profound was the testimony and demeanor of James before his accusers, that the one who had led him to judgment became a Christian in that very court of Herod and the two were beheaded together. Before the sword fell, the accuser asked James to forgive him, and at that moment when all earthly accounts had come due for the Apostle, James, no longer filled with a spirit of unguided and restless zeal, but now filled up with the Spirit of Jesus, His Master, answered "I wish you peace", and kissed him in brotherly charity. The first of the Apostles to be martyred, James, the Son of Thunder, counted the cost of following Jesus and was not found lacking at the end. In his life and death he showed the words of Jesus Christ to be true...."what you hear in the ear, preach (or perhaps thunder?) from the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body...." (Matthew 10:27)

So, what of us? What call does the blood of James spilled out before the heathen king place upon us? Have we counted the cost? Are we even now striving forward with all of our heart to uphold Jesus Christ and His Kingdom? Of such men of the gospel the Scripture proclaims "they overcame him (Satan, the great dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and that they did not love their lives to the death." ( Revelation 12:11) Such is the cost that the gospel call demands of us. When the Lord bids us follow, may we unhesitatingly spring up, leaving all behind that would hinder us. And when He asks us, "are ye able?" may we with James be not ashamed to say with all the faith our heart can muster "I am able", or, if lacking that, let us as least proclaim, "I am willing Lord, make me able."