St. James [the Just], Brother of Jesus and Martyr
Dear friends in Christ. Today we remember a very important figure in the early Church, but one about whom there is some uncertainty—St. James, also called St. James the Just. He is called “the brother of the Lord/ of Jesus.” In today’s Gospel, we read the people of Jesus’ hometown thought Jesus was just too common to be a prophet, let alone the Messiah: Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Here is a listing of Jesus’ brothers—including James. So, did Jesus really have siblings? Today’s Gospel seems to say so. But did Mary and Joseph have other children—or were these “brothers” like St. James perhaps stepbrothers of Jesus, sons of Joseph from a previous marriage, or perhaps even cousins?
That’s where the ambiguity comes in. By “brother” we would first of all think of a full biological sibling. But in the Bible the word “brother” has a wider usage. For example, although Lot was Abraham’s nephew, Lot is called his brother [Gn. 14.14]. In Ruth, a cousin is referred to as “brother” [Ruth 4.3; another example: 2 Ki 20.9].
Luther held to the perpetual virginity of Mary, in the Latin of the Smalcald Articles [I, 4], part of our Lutheran Confessions, calling her: “the pure, holy, and always Virgin Mary.” Our Synod’s great theologian, Franz Pieper, wrote about 100 years ago [11, 308]: “If the Christology of a theologian is orthodox in all other respects, he is not to be regarded as a heretic for holding that Mary bore other children in a natural manner after she had given birth to the Son of God.” Then after giving a long defense of Mary’s perpetual virginity even pointing to today’s Gospel saying that it is not decisive on this question, goes on to say: “Since the question is a purely historical one, it is best not to spend too much time on it.”
Long story short, the St. James we remember today is, however you slice it a brother of Jesus. But what’s interesting is what St. John reports early in his Gospel [7.2-5]: For even [Jesus’] brothers did not believe in Him, and that includes St. James—at first. But St. Paul [1 Co 15.7] singles out St. James as one of those to whom Jesus specifically appeared after His resurrection. St. James was then part of that group associated with the apostles [Ac 1.14]. Later he became very prominent in the Church, even being called [Gl. 2.9] a pillar of the Church. St. Paul visited him on his first visit to Jerusalem after his conversion and then again on his last visit to Jerusalem [Gl 1.19; Ac. 21.18]. When the angel rescued St. Peter from prison, Peter told the Christians to tell James [Ac 12.17]. Of course, in today’s first reading, we hear St. James presiding over the Jerusalem Council and it is he who renders the verdict that the Gentile converts are not to be forced to follow Jewish customs.
The Fourth Century Church historian, Eusebius, writes: “This same James, whom early Christians surnamed ‘the Just’ for his outstanding virtue, was the first to be elected to the bishop’s throne of the church in Jerusalem” [2.1]. Eusebius refers to James’ death in 62 AD: he was thrown down from the parapet of the temple and when that didn’t kill him, he was beaten to death with a laundryman’s club.
Our text today is from the epistle St. James, Brother of our Lord, the first bishop of the Jerusalem Church wrote. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion. The twelve tribes in the Dispersion—those are the Christians who early on had to flee Jerusalem with the persecution unleashed beginning with the stoning of Stephen [Ac 8]. Since this is very early on in the history of the Church, it possibly makes St. James’ epistle the very first book of what would be the NT. Many of that Church in Jerusalem, numbering at that time many thousands, fled in that persecution. But, the good bishop, St. James, cares for them and their souls, writing this letter to them to strengthen them in the true faith showing itself alive by a life of good works. In short, the epistle was written to a Church under trial and that’s why it still serves us well today—for throughout the NT era, the Church will always be in trial and each Christian will have his/her times of particular trial. In the midst of trials what are we as Christians called to do?
1. The first thing we are called to do in trial is to suffer. Trials do not sneak up on God as if there’s nothing He can do about them and thus nothing we can do about them. Instead, we have no idea what/ how many trials the Lord has turned away from us; we have no clue to how much evil the devil wanted to work but the Lord stopped him. So this means that what we do suffer on account of our faith in Christ is something that God has called us into. He has allowed it for a reason only He in His divine wisdom and love knows. Why did these Christians that St. James first wrote to have to endure the sufferings and trials they had to—even at the hands of their brothers? Why do we endure what we do on account of our faith? Only the Almighty Lord our loving heavenly Father knows.
Our text: Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. What the devil intends to work by rocking our lives and causing us all sorts of suffering and trials on account of our Christian faith is that we renounce/ turn away from our faith in Jesus. After all, the logic is easy—if you put a spoon of hot soup in your mouth and you burn your mouth, you spit out the soup so you don’t burn your mouth any more or your throat as it goes down. If our Christian faith/ living out our Christian faith is difficult or causes difficulty—the devil wants us to think—renounce it, get rid of it. But what does St. James here call on us to do? Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. He calls on us to do the opposite and rejoice in our spiritual warfare that the Lord is now calling us into. It would be foolish to rejoice in being called into suffering if there were no benefit to us. But by faith we know—and in our text—we see that when the Lord calls us into suffering on account of the faith, it serves a good purpose for us and so we can count it all joy. Each trial that we fall into shows us where our heart is—is it on the Lord and His word and promise, or is it only set/ focused on this life? In short, each trial shows whether we are prepared for heaven. Each trial, then, is a mirror to look into, it is a time of honest and serious reflection/ pondering: where is my heart/ my treasure? Am I ready for heaven?
We can count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds because in times of trial faith is forced to listen more carefully to the word of God and to take it more seriously. Trials reveal our weaknesses. And they are a joy for us because, used rightly, they drive us away from ourselves and our weaknesses and to the Lord and His strength. That’s the patient endurance St. James talks about: for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. We can stand and face the various trials that come upon us holding to the Lord’s word and promises to us in Jesus. Our faith is not in our faith but in Jesus and His work for us. We know that in Jesus our sins are forgiven us and we are God’s dear children—no matter what we may think or feel. Here He works that steadfastness/ patient endurance as we are assured of His grace, mercy, and finally heaven. We can endure any/everything if we are certain of God’s grace to us in Jesus and an open heaven. Faith is certain that God does not neglect His dear Christian.
But Jesus knows that we are frail, sinful, flesh and blood. That’s why He gives us His holy word and sacraments. Through His word, His Holy Spirit strengthens us in the faith and gives us the comfort and encouragement we need in the midst of the battle. In our baptism we have the outward, definite assurance that no matter what the trial makes it look, we are the Lord’s, that He has washed away our sin and made us a member of His holy family—a true sibling of Jesus, like St. James. In the Blessed Sacrament of His Body and Blood, Jesus comes to us giving us His very body and blood uniting with us, forgiving sin and strengthening us for the trial so that we don’t fight in our own strength but in the Lord’s.
2. In time of trial on account of the faith, not only does the Lord call on us to suffer—and that for our spiritual benefit—but in the time of trial we are called on to pray. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. What a glorious promise—even in the midst of trial and suffering, in hour helplessness, precisely when Satan intends to rock and destroy our faith—we are assured of God’s help. Therefore let us ask Him!
If any of you lacks wisdom... Here we may very well know the truths of the holy Christian faith, but in times of trial we may not see how they all fit together; we may not be able to see how we can apply God’s grace and Christ’s work to our situation. And that’s why we pray to the Lord for wisdom, His wisdom. And as we pray, we listen for our Lord speaking to us in His holy Word; we are diligent in our reading and studying His word. We listen to our Lord as He comes and tells us that this is His body and His blood given and poured out for the forgiveness of sin. We hear Him as He tells us we are His dear children and He is our dear Father working all things—even this trial—for our good. He gives us wisdom to recognize and see His grace in the midst of the trial—and this is only possible as we first see our own weakness. When we pray in the midst of trial for wisdom, we are relying on the promise of God—But let him ask in faith, with no doubting; we are not relying on our works or supposed worthiness. The trial we are enduring strips us of any pretense and holds before us only God’s promise to hear our prayer. Here is faith at its finest as in trial we are called to pray, in faith in the Lord. As He promised, He will give us the wisdom, He will enable us to endure and in the end work that trial to our spiritual good.
3. And then, finally, as Christians in the midst of trial we are called upon to boast: Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Again, in the midst of trial we are called upon to boast. Even though we may be lowly in the eyes of the world in general or more specifically because of our trial/ suffering, we are to boast because of our high position/ status as Christians—forgiven our sin, heirs of heaven with Jesus as our brother. We are so blessed that the Lord, even through trials, is working to strengthen, purify and keep us in the one true saving faith. In trials as we may suffer loss—bodily or wealth, like these Christians that fled Jerusalem in persecution—we realize the temporary character of these things and boast in the heavenly, eternal things that are ours in Jesus, as a reward of grace: Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
St. James, our Lord’s brother and a martyr, teaches us here that when we fall into various trials, the Lord is calling us to suffer, to pray and to boast. INJ Amen