In The Service Of The Master – Part 4
The Twelve Men Who Shaped The World – Session 4
James
Matthew 10:1-4
Have you ever known someone whose aggressive, ambitious personality just rubbed you the wrong way? Have you known someone who was so self-seeking that you couldn’t help but hope something humiliating would happen to them, just to teach them a lesson? Have you known someone whose pushy self-promoting got in the way of your own goals and ambitions, humble as they were? Have you ever known someone who was just plain loud about everything, especially about what they believed in? Well, that was how James and his younger brother John were seen by others, and especially James.
When we first meet these two together, they are mentioned as the sons of Zebedee, fishing together with the other pair of brothers, Simon and Andrew (Mark 1:14-20). There are some specific things that we can discern from this passage about the environment that James and John grew up in and how it helped to mold them into the men they were when Jesus called them away from their careers to follow Him instead.
We see in these verses that they worked with and for their father, Zebedee, and that he was a wealthy enough and successful enough fisherman that he had hired men. This was not the norm along the Sea of Galilee. Most of the fishermen worked as part of a family business, or as part of a cooperative endeavor. Zebedee of Galilee was unusual; he was exceptional; he was a cut above the rest. His boys were raised to see themselves in the same light. Their mother thought that they were quite special, too. Perhaps she was an even greater motivator for them to see themselves as above the rest.
Turn to two passages and you will see what I mean. First, turn to Matthew 20:20-28. Mark that, and then turn to Mark 10:35-45. Let’s read both of these passages.
In the passage in Matthew 20, we find the mother of James and John approaching Jesus and asking Him to give places of special honor and recognition to her sons, places so lofty that her request caused a major stir among the disciples. Let’s read it.
When you first read this, don’t you find it reminiscent of the stories you’ve heard about mothers of child stars in Hollywood or what are known as “pageant moms”, the ladies who begin training and investing in their toddler daughters to become beauty queens? Salome – Mrs. Zebedee – seems to be cut from that same cloth. Forget the others that are around; forget what the Master may have planned. Surely He can see just how special and unique and gifted her boys are! There are character flaws and behaviors that are quite common among parents like her. They try to run everything, and they run them with an agenda toward ensuring that their offspring receive preferential treatment and special recognition, the key places in the spotlight. They can be extremely mercenary in their approach to matters that affect their children, and all of this is usually fueled by their own desire to be recognized as the special power behind the “gifted one”, the one who has been specially gifted by God to birth this paragon. Life revolves around their success through the success of their children. Notice that she says, “these two sons of mine.” Quite a telling remark in this context, don’t you think?
Now, what do you think was the effect of this and their father’s business success in relation to how James and John viewed themselves? Probably pretty much the same way that most children who are spoiled and mollycoddled and made to think they are God’s gift to mankind view themselves. It is interesting to note that Mr. Zebedee disappears from the Sacred Text. Many believe that he may have passed away during the time of Jesus’ ministry on earth. Later, when the fishermen return to the Sea of Galilee after Jesus’ resurrection and go back to fishing, the flavor of the text indicates that the boat they use belongs to them, not someone else. In any case, Dad fades away and Momma rises to the forefront in their lives. It may have been the case all along anyway.
We know that Salome was one of the women who gave aid and support to the ministry of Jesus and His disciples. Perhaps she thought that would help secure her sons a place of importance in Jesus’ kingdom. Jesus tells her that she just doesn’t understand what the cost would be for such places of prominence.
We must give her credit, however. Just as being with Jesus altered the character of almost everyone who came in prolonged contact with Jesus, Mrs. Zebedee became a devoted follower of Jesus. Mark makes note that she was there when Jesus was taken down from the cross and that she was one of the women who had spices prepared that Resurrection Morning to take to the tomb (Mark 15:47-6:1-8), and she even entered the empty tomb that day and was told by the angel that “He has risen.” Whatever she had been like, Jesus completely changed her into a gentle, dedicated servant, like her youngest son.
Glance over at the parallel text in Mark 10. In this account of the incident, it is the brothers themselves whom Mark tells us make the request of Jesus. Is this a contradiction? I think not. I think the lads heard their mother make the request, agreed that it was a great idea, and then took it up as their own request. My primary reason for saying this is the response the other ten have to the conversation.
I think it could have gone something like this:
“Jesus, You know how special my boys are – after all, everybody does. Command that they will be the vice-president and prime minister of Your kingdom someday. You won’t regret it, and they so deserve it.”
“That’s right, Jesus; Mother’s right. We should have those places. We are the best and the brightest, a cut above the rest. We are the most qualified for and deserving of those positions.”
Jesus, in both accounts of this conversation, very pointedly asks the brothers, “Are you able to drink that cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”
“Sure we are, Jesus.” Oh, how easily self-promoting, ambitious people will promise anything to get their way!
Then Jesus says, “The cup that I drink, you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it is prepared.”
“Oh, you’ll drink what I drink and be immersed in what I am immersed – you surely will suffer as I am about to suffer and be rejected as I am going to be rejected. But, even then, I will not give you the places you ask for. Those places have been reserved for others, and they will receive them from the Father Himself.”
All that pushy self-promotion got them – what? Just an acceptance by Jesus of their promise to endure and a guarantee from Him that the price the said they could pay would be exacted from them. That’s all – they didn’t get what they were after, but got promised what God already had in store for them.
We need to be keenly aware of the precept: God has a purpose and a plan and it will be fulfilled, no matter what we think or want or do.
The rest of the disciples all “became indignant with the two brothers.” Peter and Andrew and the rest didn’t get upset with Mrs. Zebedee. They got agitated – indignant – with James and John.
“What?! Who do you two think you are?! I’m more qualified than either of you!”
“Oh, yeah? Well, I’m more deserving than you three put together!”
“Bah! I’m better suited than the whole bunch of you!”
And so it went; each of them seeking the place of prominence, seeking the limelight, wanting to be seen by all that they were the greatest. Vying for position in the eyes of the Master. Now, most business and life models use a pyramid to picture the climb of success, with fewer and fewer people on each level and greater and greater numbers of people falling below and beneath. Eventually one claws and scratches their way to the top, over the corpses of their fallen foe, and reaches that pinnacle of success and is in that position of special uniqueness and power and recognition that they have worked so hard for and are so deserving of.
The kingdom of God works more like an inverted pyramid, with the truly great being closest to the bottom, gladly serving greater numbers of people whom they place above themselves. Quietly serving alone many times, without need of recognition, glad that there are increasing levels of people above them who deserve greater recognition than they do, thankful to be a stepping stone for others; that’s God’s way. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself.” That is the economy of the Kingdom.
How are you doing? How do you see yourself at this moment? I’m probably more uncomfortable with this truth that you are. It is very convicting to see your own tendencies reflected in the character of those whom you know are behaving badly – those who have unrighteous attitudes or impure motives.
Now, this ambition gained quite a hold on James. Not as strongly did it grip John, for he had a naturally gentler, kinder, more loving spirit about him. He was still bent toward self-aggrandizement and being a bit uppity. Yet, James seems to have been much more so, primarily because he lacked the richer, gentling attributes of his brother.
Look for a moment at Luke 9:46-56.
Jesus has just settled another dispute among the disciples (all of them again) about which of them might be the greatest in the kingdom. Then John comes to Jesus, showing off about how discerning he is and how protective he is of what is right because he forbade someone who was casting out demons using Jesus’ name, but who wasn’t part of their little group. John gets admonished. Then, a short time later, Jesus is headed toward Jerusalem and sends messengers ahead of Him through Samaria announcing His coming. There, villagers refuse to give any hospitality or any kind of welcome to Jesus or His followers. Look at the reaction of James and John in verse 54.
You probably know the story of Elijah calling down fire out of heaven to consume two companies of Samaritan soldiers on two occasions, one right after the other, in 2 Kings 1:1-17. I believe, as many scholars do, that this is what James and John are referencing by their question to Jesus here. They again are showing off: “See how knowledgeable we are about Your Word? See how knowledgeable we are about our history, especially between us and the Samaritans? See who our hero is?”
Jesus is not at all impressed, and tells them so. It seems that He frequently has to tell these two to take a second look at the spirit that they approach people with. It isn’t the Spirit of God; it isn’t in a spirit of servanthood and humility; it isn’t in a spirit of help and comfort. They want to gather the unbelievers together and burn them to a crisp, to see them destroyed for their evil and unbelief. Ever feel like this? Hard to admit, but I must confess that I have. Is that the way of the Savior? Not at all. His way is to be at the very point of that inverted pyramid, absolutely alone, serving all of mankind in a way and at a level that no one else could ever attain to. Remember His admonishment of James and John over the Samaritan issue, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives; but to save them (Luke 9:55-56).”
Let’s read Mark 3:17. This is another of the lists of the Twelve disciples that we’ve spoken of before. We’ve been focusing on the raw materials that Jesus had to work with to create a group that would transform the entire world for the gospel. Here we see that Jesus gave James and John a nickname, too, just like He had to Simon. He called them Boanerges, which means “Sons of Thunder.” The word Boanerges can mean “Sons of Tumult”, or “Sons of Commotion”. This indicates that Jesus was well aware of these two young men’s personalities and reputations. In fact, they may have been His cousins, because the Scriptures tell us that their mother was the “sister of Mary”, and many scholars believe that it is a reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
What comes to mind when you think of thunder? What does the sound of thunder make you feel? How easy is it to carry on normally in the midst of a thunder storm? Do you want people to associate your everyday approach to life with thunder? Do they anyway?
In any case, James and John are two young men who are fiery of temper, quick to assert themselves, and well known for being at the center of any commotion or hullabaloo or trouble taking place in their vicinity. And, if they aren’t the cause of it, they’re definitely going to finish it. They added high-spirited and headstrong flavor to the group of Twelve. Jesus was able to harness and focus their fiery personalities, gentling one and pointing the other like a laser.
James is always mentioned in connection with his little brother John. Very little is said about him outside of the gospels, except at the time of his death. That is in Acts 12:1-2. Here we are told that Herod Agrippa, one of the grandsons of Herod the Great and the successor to the Herod who had presided over one of the mock trials that Jesus was put through, had taken prisoner several of the Christians because he wanted to gain favor with the Jews. Dr. Luke notes that of all the captives at his disposal, Herod decided that James was to be put to death. And, not just put to death, but beheaded. In-your-face James had spoken out about the vengeance of God perhaps once too often, once too loudly, and Herod wanted him shut up for good. In verse 3, Luke tells us that it “pleased the Jews”. That would indicate that they wanted him shut up, too.
Have you ever known someone whose demise, even socially, would have “pleased” the crowd? Someone who people would be delighted to see go away because they were so grating, so in-your-face and quick to point out what was out of order and out of God’s will? Then you’ve known a James – and a Jeremiah, and Isaiah, an Ezekiel, a Hosea, a Zephaniah, a Zechariah, and Amos, an Obadiah, a Moses, and a John the Baptizer.
So, James has the distinction of being the first of the Twelve to be martyred and the only one of the Apostles whose death after Jesus’ ascension is mentioned in the New Testament. The James who wrote what we know as the book of James in the Bible was written by Jesus’ half-brother James, not by James the brother of John. The James who is mentioned throughout the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament as the leader of the Church at Jerusalem is also the one who is the half-brother of Jesus. This other James, the brother of John, is little mentioned and little known, but was remarkable enough for Jesus to include in His closest and most intimate circle of companions.
What significance do you think James “the brother of John” really had amongst the first group of disciples, known as The Twelve? Jesus evidently thought there was some significance to him because Jesus handpicked him to be part of the inner circle of three, along with Simon Peter and his own brother John. Perhaps want he had most to offer was a kind of strength that Peter and John needed to have bolstered in their lives. Surely his death just before Peter’s arrest by Herod had to help embolden Peter to face his own potential execution.
I believe that for some of us, there is a need in our lives for someone who has the brashness and the vigor of a James; someone who is unashamed of their gifts and talents and abilities, unashamed of the facts of who and what they are and how God has used them and is using them. Are they arrogant and boastful, or are they actually more honest than many of the rest of us? We must keep in mind that false humility is actually the height of pride and self-seeking self-promotion. If someone is gifted in a certain way and God has used them to do certain things, is it wrong for them to say so? Granted, how they say it matters, but is it honest or even helpful for them to deny the truth? Or, is it more that we might have a tendency at jealousy, like the rest of the disciples, that that person has been singled out for something special that we would like to be known for or that we think we are just as equipped or better qualified to do?
We really do need James’ in our lives and in our fellowships. The Church of Jesus Christ has far too many milquetoast mealy-mouths who are afraid to brag on Jesus, afraid to warn people of the impending judgment that all unrepentance faces, far too many who are always being more careful of how they appear to others than of what the moment may require.
James may be brash and prickly, but he has an unwavering strength that only once backed down. He, like the rest, ran away that fateful night in the Garden of Gethsemane. But, also like the rest, he returned and was restored in his place within the fellowship. This should give all of us hope, just as the restoration of Peter should.
“Jesus, do you want us to call down fire from heaven on these heathens? They refuse to repent and worship You; or are You going to be patient with them a while longer?”
“Lord, I’m doing good stuff for You. Can I have a better position, a bigger ministry; or do I need to just be content with where I am and settle down some more?”
“Lord, I’m sorry I am not as patient and long-suffering with people as You would have me be, and I know that You’re working on that in me. I just wish they would understand that You died for their sins and they need to knock it off.”
There is nothing wrong with this kind of fervency and honesty. Obviously, there is a place for it in the working of the kingdom, or Jesus would not have chosen men like this. Granted, it must be sanctified as it was with them during their walk with Jesus and afterward, but He didn’t take it away from them. It might get you beheaded, but at least you would be serving Jesus Christ with the passion and the fire that He created you with.
So, dare I say? “Let the thunder roll.”
