Who was James? 11/07/2022

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings. [James 1:1 NIV]

[Photo by Karren McPherson]

James does not give us many clues about who he is and his role in the church in the first century. He simply describes himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. The scholars have tried to identify him from the 40 references to James in the New Testament.

I have taken too much time reading what the commentators say about this and I am not sure that every reader of the Day Share blog would find this interesting or relevant. However, there is some value in looking at this briefly for two reasons. Firstly, this James was not a nonentity or a nobody even though he is happy to introduce himself simply as a 'servant.' Secondly, knowing a bit more about him helps us to understand his letter better.

It is generally agreed that the James who wrote this letter was the James who was a leader of the church in Jerusalem. His name is mentioned in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles several times. He demonstrates wise leadership and is well-respected in the early Christian Church. He did not need to say too much about himself in the first verse of his letter because he was already well-known. You remember that Peter was miraculously released from prison and he paid a visit to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark.

Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were greatly astonished. He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and then related how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place. [Acts 12:16‭-‬17 NET]

A few chapters later, we find the same man in action dealing with the pressing issue which was affecting the Church in the first century - how to deal with Gentile conversions.

After they stopped speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has explained how God first concerned himself to select from among the Gentiles a people for his name. “Therefore I conclude that we should not cause extra difficulty for those among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things defiled by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood. For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times, because he is read aloud in the synagogues every Sabbath.” [Acts 15:13‭-‬14‭, ‬19‭-‬21 NET]

James is settling a controversial issue with a clear statement of compromise. The Jews were having difficulty accepting that Gentiles with all their reputation for immorality and sinfulness should be accepted as part of the new Church. In Acts 21, Paul paid a visit to James and explained to him about his service and what God had done among the Gentiles (Acts 21:18-19). Paul refers to this same James in his letter to the Galatians.

But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. [Galatians 1:19 NET]

Later in the same letter James as well as Peter and John are described as pillars of the church (Galatians 2:9, 12) Notice that this James is spokesman for the Jewish Christians. He is also making pronouncements as a leading figure in the mother church in Jerusalem and he is respected enough to arbitrate to settle contentious issues. And yet, he simply describes himself as a servant of God.

You will have noticed that Paul describes this James as 'the Lord's brother.' Many commentators are in agreement that this can be taken at its face value. He was a son of Joseph and Mary so that makes him a half-brother of the Lord because we know that Joseph was not the birth father of Jesus. So this was another claim to fame. He had ample reasons to be boastful but his letter is direct but it strikes us as the work of a humble man.

It is interesting that he became the pillar of the church in Jerusalem and played an important role in the first-century church, including writing this circular letter. James was part of a large Jewish family which included James (Yakov), Joses (Yosef), Judas (Yehuda) and Simon (Simeon) as well as Jesus (Yeshua) - the Hebrew names are in brackets. Mark also mentions sisters but he does not supply us with their names. So there were at least 7 children. It is reckoned that Joseph died and left Mary a widow and that might explain James's references to pure religion being equated with caring for the poor and the widows (James 1:26-27). John's Gospel informs us that Jesus own family did not believe in Him ( John 7:5). This might explain why Jesus, as he was about to die on the cross, handed his mother to the care of John the beloved disciple (John 19:26 - 27). But by the day of Pentecost, there has been a dramatic change and the brothers are part of the 'inner circle of disciples' [Scott McKnight: The Letter of James (The New International Commentary on the New Testament)]. What brought about this 'Damascus Road experience?' Paul refers to a unique revelation of the risen Christ to James, his brother in the flesh (1 Corinthians 15: 7). This provides a clear explanation for the sudden change of heart from a sceptical family member to a committed follower of Jesus. However, James is still a Jew at heart and this is apparent in his letter. The next Day Share will deal with the timing and the recipients of this letter.

In closing, I need to make clear that there are other interpretations of the authorship of this letter. I have provided a table to illustrate the variety of views on the authorship of this letter. I have chosen to follow the commonly accepted view that the writer of this letter was the brother of the Lord and the leading apostle in the church in Jerusalem.

Commentary	Author of this letter	More detail
John MacArthur: The MacArthur Bible Commentary	James the oldest half-brother of Christ	Of the four men named James in the NT, only two are candidates for authorship of this epistle. No one has seriously considered James the Less, the son of Alphaeus (Matt. 10:3; Acts 1:13), or James the father of Judas (not Iscariot) (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). Some have suggested James the son of Zebedee and brother of John (Matt. 4:21), but he was martyred too early to have written it (Acts 12:2). That leaves only James, the oldest half-brother of Christ (Mark 6:3)......
Warren W. Wiersbe: Be Mature - James (Growing Up in Christ)	James, the brother of our Lord	James, the brother of our Lord is the most likely candidate for author of this letter. He does not identify himself in this way; humbly, he calls himself "a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." Matthew 13: 55-56 and Mark 6:3 - Jesus had brothers and sisters and one of His brothers was named James. Really half-brother - Joseph was not the Lord's father.
Richard Bauckham: Eerdmans Bible Commentary on the Bible - James	James, the brother of Jesus	Generally agreed work is attributed to James the brother of Jesus. References: Mark 6:3; Acts 12:17; 15:13-21; 21: 18-25; Galatians 1:19; 2:9, 12; Jude 1. This is the only James who could be identified purely by the description in James 1:1.
Scot McKnight: The Letter of James [Eerdman]	James, the brother of Jesus	There are really only three possibilities for “James” the author of this book: (1) the brother of Jesus wrote this letter; (2) the brother of Jesus, though the letter was written by someone else in his name; (3) someone else whom we do not know about. McKnight argues in favour of the first option.
Harper Collins Commentary	Not likely to be the brother of Jesus	the brother of Jesus probably did not write this text. He presents the following as evidence of this: Author's proficiency in Greek Use of the Septuagint Memory of James was widely revered in the early church - his name may have been used by another writer to preserve his legacy Letter's lack of reference to developed ecclesiastical structures Practical Old Testament morality Echoes of the teachings of Jesus (probably drawn from oral tradition, he suggests) Suggests it originated in Palestine early on
J Sidlow Baxter: Explore the Book	James the son of Alphaeus - a cousin of the Lord. According to Sidlow Baxter James's mother was a sister of the Lord's mother but seemed to have the same name, Mary	James the “son of Alphæus”;John xix. 25 plainly says that Mary, the wife of Cleophas, was “sister” of our Lord’s mother. By clear parallel, Matthew xxvii. 56 gives this Mary as “the mother of James and Joses.” By further parallel, Mark xv. 40 calls this James “James the less” (i.e. in stature). This James, son of Cleophas or Alphæus (and therefore our Lord’s cousin), was one of the twelve apostles (Matt. x. 3; Mark iii. 18; Luke vi. 15). This apostle-cousin James reappears with the apostles in Acts i. 13, and (surely, with no hint otherwise) in xii. 17, xv. 13, xxi. 18. We conclude, therefore, that the James whom Paul calls our Lord’s “brother” and an “apostle” in Galatians i. 19, ii. 9, 12, must be the same James.
Jamieson, Fausset and Brown: Commentary on the Whole Bible	James the son of Alphaeus and Mary , sister of the Virgin Mary (seems strange two sisters with same name).	James who wrote this Epistle (according to most ancient writers) is called (Galatians 1:19), "the Lord's brother." He was son of Alpheus or Cleopas (Luke 24:13-18) and Mary, sister of the Virgin Mary. Compare Mark 15:40 with John 19:25, which seems to identify the mother of James the Less with the wife of Cleopas, not with the Virgin Mary, Cleopas' wife's sister. Cleopas is the Hebrew, Alpheus the Greek mode of writing the same name.