James, the Brother of Jesus: Patron Saint of Late Believers
If you grew up with Christian family members but were weak in the faith yourself, James, the brother of Jesus, might be your patron saint! Think about it: James grew up with Jesus, observing his wisdom and goodness. He had personal access to the mind of the maker, an inside track to the Savior’s strength. But still, James did not believe. As Jesus put it: “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household” (Mark 6:4).
What finally convinced James was an encounter with the resurrected Jesus. Jesus had to become not more familiar to James, but less; then James could see Jesus in an entirely new light, and believe. Though James was a late believer, he became a church leader, serving as the bishop of Jerusalem and writing one of the New Testament’s greatest books. Most significantly, James played a decisive role in welcoming Gentiles into the church. As a late believer, James saw firsthand how God can draw all people to himself, even those who seem far off.
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Jesus Had a Brother?
It’s easy to miss the fact that Jesus had brothers and sisters. The Christmas story focuses on Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus, and most of our art of the Holy Family does the same. The gospels themselves don’t tell us much of Jesus’ boyhood, when we’d learn more about his siblings. And, most significant for this article, none of Jesus’ brothers become his close disciples during his life on earth.
But the scriptures do repeatedly speak of Jesus’ brothers and sisters, across all four gospels and in the letters of Paul. Matthew and Mark name the brothers from the mouth of the people of Nazareth, when they are shocked by Jesus’ wisdom:
Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 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? And are not all his sisters with us?
Matthew 13:54-56
Notice, however, that none of these brothers were included in Jesus’ twelve disciples (The disciples who share first names with Jesus’ brothers come from different families—ie., James the son of Zebedee and James the son of Alphaeus). In fact, Jesus repeatedly downplayed his natural siblings in favor of his spiritual family:
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Luke 8:19-21
The context for Jesus’ teaching was not just the priority of obedience to God, but also the fact that Jesus’ family did not believe. The gospel of John is characteristically direct here:
For not even his brothers believed in him.
John 7:5
James the Late Believer
In Paul’s account of Jesus’ resurrection, he gives an explicit record of Jesus’ appearance to James:
He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
1 Corinthians 15:4-8
It’s interesting that James and Paul both appear late on this list, since both were late believers in Jesus Christ. We often contrast James and Paul because their letters emphasize different things, but in this respect they share the same story. Both were far off from God until they were called by the grace of the resurrected Christ.
For most late believers, I think James is the more relatable of the two. Of course there are the occasional converts who, like Paul, were actively persecuting the church before they repented and turned to Christ. But most are like James: they have some acquaintance with Jesus but remain lukewarm, believing one moment and doubting the next, unwilling to obey when obedience gets hard. I suspect that James was speaking from experience when he counseled that we pray in faith, without doubting:
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.
James 1:6-8
What finally brought James out of his double-mindedness was the appearance of the resurrected Christ, the Lord of the sea who had conquered even the storm of death. Finally, James could see that Jesus was more than his brother. He was indeed the son of a carpenter, but he was also the Son of God.
James the Bishop of Jerusalem
Though James had no significant role in Jesus’ ministry before the Lord’s crucifixion, he played a major role in the church’s emergence and development. He was with the disciples in Acts as they gathered in the Temple to receive the Holy Spirit:
All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Acts 1:14
After Pentecost, James became a principal leader in the Jerusalem church, acting as an early bishop. We don’t know how James arrived in this position, but presumably his lifelong personal relationship with Jesus played a role. This role is implicit in several references to James: Peter in Acts 10, Paul in Galatians 1, and Jude in Jude 1.
The Council of Jerusalem
We see James’ leadership role most explicitly at the Council of Jerusalem, when early church leaders gathered to decide whether Gentiles could join the church. A group of former Pharisees argued that Gentiles must first undergo circumcision (ie., take on Jewish identity under the sign of the Old Covenant). In response, Peter argued that the Holy Spirit has come upon the Gentiles just as it came upon the Jewish apostles. Paul and Barnabas also shared the news of Gentile communities receiving the gospel.
The last person to speak is James, and he gives the final word:
After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree…”
Acts 15:13-15
James then quotes Amos to show that the Old Testament had prophesied the inclusion of Gentiles. He establishes that this is now being fulfilled. Then, most strikingly, James concludes his speech with an authoritative judgment:
Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.
Acts 15:19-21
Notice the irony: James grew up hearing Jesus read Scripture on the Sabbath in the synagogue. Moreover, in that same context, some years earlier, the people of Nazareth, including James, had not believed in Jesus because he was too familiar. But James knew the God who still gave him grace and mercy, who revealed himself through the resurrected Christ and poured out his Holy Spirit.
Now this same Christ was giving the same Holy Spirit to a new generation of Gentiles. James was the right man, in the right place, with the right position and experience. One late believer welcomed a whole community of late believers: a faithful Jew welcoming the Gentiles into the faith. James’ own faith in Christ eventually led to his own martyrdom, with the scribes and Pharisees in Jerusalem beating him to death with a fuller’s club after throwing him from the pinnacle of the Temple.
Spiritual Brothers and Natural Brothers
As we commemorate James, the brother of Jesus, let’s remember that James had to repent and believe before he could rediscover his brotherhood with Jesus. In other words, a shared set of parents was not enough to sustain the fraternity between James and Jesus.
And so it is with us. The differences that develop between natural brothers and other family members are resolved only when we all submit to the same Lord. To be restored to each other, we must first turn to God.
Surely James spoke from his own experience in the closing lines of his letter. It is the happy witness of a late believer, inspiring us also to seek and save the lost:
My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.
James 5:19-20
Image: St. James, Brother of the Lord. Miniature from the Menologion of Basil II, Constantinople (985 AD). Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.
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