The Metamorphosis of James the Brother of Jesus
James 1:1
Introduction
James’ passion bleeds out over the words that he uses. He has the passion of a sincere Jewish Christian and may well be called the Amos (after the prophet) of the new covenant. It is thick with pastoral encouragement, and pastoral rebuke. On this excursion into the book of James we begin first by looking at the life of this man chosen by God…
There are four different James’ that are recorded in the NT that could be the writers of this Epistle (letter): 1) James the Son of Zebedee, brother of John who was one of those closest to Jesus (Peter, James and John); 2) James the son of Alphaus who was also known as James the Lesser; 3) James the father of Judas, (not Isacriot); 4) and James the brother of Jesus who eventually became converted and in charge of the church in Jerusalem. Of the four only two seem probable at being the writers and that is James the son of Zebedee and James the brother of Jesus. James the son of Zebedee was the first of the apostles to die a martyrs death in 44AD (recorded in Acts 12:1,2 Now 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), which was before this letter was written and therefore it is fairly unanimous by scholars that the author is James the brother of Jesus.
This morning we will look at James the brother (the cynical and concerned brother), James the believer (in his conversion, His filling with the holy Spirit and His leadership in the church) and James the bondservant (Bonded to Jesus, to serve and to death).
1) The Brother
a) Cynical
i) We know that James was the brother of Jesus from Galations 1:19 “But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother”
ii) To say that James and Jesus were different would be the ultimate understatement… they were as a different as two brothers could be and it wasn’t until his brother’s death that they would have a commonality…
iii) James and his brothers had a different take of their older brother. As Jesus roamed about the land preaching and doing miraculous signs and wonders you have to wonder what does Jesus’ family think about all this
iv) We find some interesting insight on the family and what they thought about Jesus
v) John 7:1-5 Verse 5 says His brothers did not believe in Him. Verse 5 tells us about the spirit His brothers were talking in when they gave Jesus that great advice.
vi) The Jews sought to kill Him Judea, but his brothers told Him to go where? Judea
vii) Maybe even sought His death, for Jesus did not want to go to Judea for the Jews sought to kill him, but His brothers told him to go there… Like Jospeh?
viii) Sibling rivalry is brutal. Kids are often jealous because they think one child is getting more attention. When jealousy results in name-calling or mockery… You may be on one end or the other and it is wrong behavior…
ix) We may have family members who have not yet bowed their hearts before the Almighty God and accepted His gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ… and having rivalry between you and them is not going to draw them in any quicker.
x) Jesus told us it would be this way Matt 10:34-39… His experience…
xi) His brothers were obviously skeptics about the claims that their brother and His disciples were making. They had a cynicism that seeped in their hearts and spilled out towards their brother and they also had great concern…
b) Concerned (He has lost His mind)
i) Look at Mark 3:20-21 The Greek definition for “His own people” means His family. They thought Jesus had lost it. They may have misinterpreted His zeal for mental imbalance
ii) If you look at verse 31 as well His family sought to speak to Jesus right in the middle of His teaching His disciples Matt 12:46 says “they were wanting to speak with Him” and it wasn’t to invite Him to Sunday supper
iii) They were concerned and verse 21 tells us they had plans to seize Him and drag Him away by force
iv) “Hey Jesus come out here we want to talk to you” but Jesus knew there hearts He wasn’t about to go out there into that.
v) Were they trying to protect Jesus from a fate they saw Him steering Himself into or were they just trying to protect themselves and their family name.
vi) There is no doubt in my mind that some of these brothers and sisters got a little riding form the Jewish leaders about Jesus and perhaps they were getting tired of it. Yet they thought they being apart of a solution while making themselves apart of the problem.
vii) And in the middle of the family meetings about what to do about big brother Jesus, is James. James: Jesus’ brother…
viii) In these three years, that James probably thought was were the worst years of his life, because of big brother Jesus, Jesus would make himself real to James and James would move him from brother to believer.
2) The Believer
a) James becomes a believer
i) The inevitable happened to their brother. Jesus’ ministry cost Him his life
ii) An may be they thought “well, there it is over”, maybe they grieved
iii) It is the outcome of all that that should move us greatly, for the brothers were not forgotten.
iv) 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 Jesus who saw over 500 after He rose took time to see His brother James. James saw his brother risen from the dead (then converted)
v) Of all the people that Jesus saw He made room to see His younger brother and it is there that we can trace the conversion of James to. It doesn’t seem that James converted up until this point but it was the resurrection of his brother that convinced him
vi) We see in James 1:1 that he is closely connected with the “Lord Jesus Christ”
vii) James makes mention of all the names of the Savior:
(1) He is Lord who will one day return in glory to this world.
(2) He is Jesus God come to earth in human form.
(3) He is Christ the anointed one who fulfilled God’s purposes by dying for us.
viii) I thought I knew God, but I didn’t know Jesus… My mother would naively say “o, he knows…”, but I didn’t.
ix) In James’ time it was quite a statement to say Jesus is Lord. It was blasphemy to the Jews and to the Romans it was treason against the authority of the emperor.
x) But to those who followed it was a statement of true belief, who cares how our government views us, who cares how our employer views us, who cares how our peers see us.
b) James becomes filled
i) James became a believer, but also a spirit filled believer
ii) For we notice in Acts 1:12-14 In the upper room with the other believers praying continually and we see in verse 14 that Jesus’ brothers are also their and that does not exclude James… All of them denied and became believers
iii) And with James up there with every one praying what are they doing? Waiting. Waiting for what? The wind.
iv) Acts 1:4-5 Waiting for the Holy Spirit as Jesus told them to do
v) Jesus told them to wait for the Spirit was about to be poured out on these believers.
vi) They would all experience the outpouring together along with their mother
vii) And when the wind came rushing through His brothers were not passed over for their cynical behavior
viii) When the fire poured out from heaven and settled on the heads of those people in that room His brothers were not forsaken they were forgiven and James was a part of that burning with the fire of the Holy Spirit… James a Spirit filled believer who became a pillar in the church and a leader in one of the most important of the churches
c) James becomes a leader
i) Acts 12:17, 15:13-17, 21:18-25 eludes to James’ the leadership of the church in Jerusalem.
ii) A place not known for it’s prominence, but more from it’s persecution
iii) From the breathing hate of Saul… to the harassment of King Herod it seemed like the church at that time was not the place to be if you wanted to be somebody, if you wanted to be recognized.
iv) And James was more than a leader of the church he became a spokesman for the church (Acts 15:13-17).
v) From cynical concerned brother to a Spirit filled believer in Jesus to a leader in the church…
vi) But there was another line that James desired to cross it is a hard line it is a defining level the level of bondservant
3) The Bondservant
a) Bonded to Jesus
i) Not a bondservant of my brother Jesus, but a bondservant of my Lord Jesus Christ
ii) The first verse of the New Testament books often tell us the writers identity and how the writers perceived their roles. (Apostle, bondservant, prisoner)
iii) James wrote with humility. He wrote as bondservant not using titles to impress. Such as:
(1) James the brother of Jesus (Gal 1:19),
(2) James the leader of the Jerusalem Church (Acts 15:13-17, 21:18-25)
(3) James the apostle, real authority does not need to promote itself.
iv) Did James ever cringe at his own words when he stated James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation for when he has been approved he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him
v) Remembering that he was one of those who didn’t act lovingly toward his brother
vi) James will give us the impression that it is not accepting Christ as Savior that is the climax to our lives it is what you do with it… It is that link to Christ by serving Him… by making yourself one of His…
vii) Ex 21:5-6 Shed light on the part of the bondservant “But if the servant plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or to the doorpost, and his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.”
viii) James is making the statement that he, more than loves his brother, but he loves his Master and that he has no desire to go free he is bonded to Jesus.
ix) His ear has been pierced to the house of God and he is not going anywhere.
x) James did not start his letter by saying James the saved but James the bondservant a servant bound. He was bonded to Jesus and bonded to serve.
b) Bonded to serve
i) He was a servant to his church by serving the believers… I am sure he served the believers with encouragement through his writings as well as teaching.
ii) Scattered believers
(1) James writes his letter to those who are scattered
(2) To Jewish believers who have been set to flight we can see this shown in Acts 8:1-8
(3) Saul was after the believers, he was after the church of Jerusalem in which James was a Leader of
(4) How heart breaking it would be to see our church scattered because of the government (Revival Praying by Leonard Ravenhill Illustration page 130)
iii) Scattered by persecution
(1) It took one leader of a movement to create a “havoc of the church” it took one man’s passion to send people running to send people scattered
iv) It was not the role of being Jesus’ brother that gave James authority it was humility and servant-hood. Anyone who is in a place of leadership wants a servant not a name-dropper.
v) There was a quality in James that gave him his position not a requirement by status.
vi) James made sure that it was known that he was not to be the authority figure that replaces Jesus now that He is gone.
vii) But James acknowledges Jesus’ resurrection and His life still with us by proclaiming he is a servant of someone who is alive and not of someone who is dead.
viii) James was bonded to Jesus bonded to serve and bonded to death…
c) Bonded to death
i) Thousands of believers died a martyrs death, because they would not take back their statement “Jesus is Lord”. A statement that James makes… (v.1)
ii) Is our proclamation; “Jesus is Lord” a threat or can the world tell that we just don’t take it that seriously?
iii) In the early church people backed up their statement with their lives today it is merely a cliché, a slogan or a bumper sticker.
iv) It used to be that people raised their finger in the air and would proclaim “One Way”. Now it seems people aren’t quite sure…
v) James himself was stoned to death by the scribes and Pharisees for refusing to renounce his commitment to Jesus (Josephus a historical writer in Jerusalem during this time: Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [or, some of his companions]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned.).
vi) James knew that to be what he purposed in his heart to be, his fate would be like that of the rest
vii) But he was a bondservant and he was willing to pay the price as a bondservant
viii) He loved his brother, but more importantly he loved his Master…
Over the next several months we will be in James… And this brother in Christ and brother of Christ has a lot to say to us and to the church. Will you make this book a priority in meditation and reflection, in study and prayer as we move through this book together and glean everything that God has for us.
We are becoming disciples one book at a time
Conclusion Challenge:
James moved from the cynic to the believer to the bondservant and my question is just simply this which are you?
Perhaps you are the Cynic who desire to move to the level of believer
You can be a Christian and still have the veil of cynicism and I say veil because that is exactly what it does it veils your eyes from seeing Jesus clearly. You may be so cynical that Jesus can’t use you, because you have let man’s mistakes and abuse of what is Godly cloud your judgement.
Jesus has a profound effect even on the most cynical. Jesus can raise up even the hardest hearts. Sometimes conversion can come as easy as showing someone the resurrected Christ. It melts the heart of the cynic.
Perhaps you are the believer who desires to move to the level of bondservant
Willing to give up all and count the cost of following Him.
I talked earlier about having a sibling you’re against. Maybe it is time to break that and mend that area in your life.
