Glory to the Triune God, the Almighty Father, Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, One True God. Amen
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus
The Indian Orthodox Church celebrates the Feast of St. James, Son of Alphaeus on 23rd Oct every year. He was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and his name appears in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. He is often identified with St. James the Less. Let us try to know a bit more about this blessed Apostle, who is sometimes confused to be the brother of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Identity
Identification with James, the Less
St. James, as he is identified with James the Less, he is distinct from James, son of Zebedee. He appears only four times in the New Testament, each time in connection to his mother. (Mark 15:40) refers to “Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses”, while (Mark 16:1) and (Matthew 27:56) refer to “Mary the mother of James”.
Since there was already another James (James, son of Zebedee) among the twelve apostles, equating James son of Alphaeus with “James the Less” made sense. (James son of Zebedee was sometimes called “James the Greater”).
St. Jerome identifies James, son of Alpheus with James the Less writing in his work called The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary the following:
Do you intend the comparatively unknown James the Less, who is called in Scripture the son of Mary, not however of Mary the mother of our Lord, to be an apostle, or not? If he is an apostle, he must be the son of Alphaeus and a believer in Jesus, “For neither did his brethren believe in him.”
The only conclusion is that the Mary who is described as the mother of James the Less was the wife of Alphaeus and sister of Mary the Lord’s mother, the one who is called by John the Evangelist “Mary of Clopas”
Papias of Hierapolis, who lived circa 70–163 AD, in the surviving fragments of his work Exposition of the Sayings of the Lord relates that Mary, wife of Alphaeus is mother of James the Less:
Mary, mother of James the Less and Joseph, wife of Alphaeus was the sister of Mary the mother of the Lord, whom John names of Cleophas, either from her father or from the family of the clan, or for some other reason
Therefore, James, son of Alphaeus would be the same as James the Less.
Relationship to Jesus, Mary and Joseph – Younger brother, Step brother or Cousin of Jesus?
- Jesus’ brothers – James as well as Jude, Simon and Joses – are named in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 and mentioned elsewhere. James’s name always appears first in lists, which suggests he was the eldest among them. In Jewish Antiquities (20.9.1), Josephus describes James as “the brother of Jesus who is called Christ”. Across the various references of the brethren of Jesus in all the Gospel accounts, it is often confused that Mary and Joseph had other children apart from Jesus.
Clement of Alexandria (AD 150-215), Tertullian (AD 160-220) and Helvidius (AD 380) were among the theologians who thought that Mary had children other than Jesus. But St. Jerome in his tract The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary, as an answer to Helvidius, asserts that the term first-born was used to refer to any offspring that opened the womb, rather than definitely implying other children. Luke’s reporting of the visit of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to the Temple of Jerusalem when Jesus was 12 years old makes no reference to any of Jesus’ half-brothers.
- According to the Protoevangelion of James (a 2nd century apocryphal gospel also called the Gospel of James or the Infancy Gospel of James), James was the son of Joseph—along with the other ‘brethren of the Lord’ mentioned in the scripture—from a marriage prior to his betrothal to Mary. In this case, James was one of Joseph’s children from his previous marriage and, therefore, Jesus’ stepbrother.
The bishop of Salamis, Epiphanius, wrote too in his work The Panarion (AD 374-375) that “…James (brother of Jesus) was Joseph’s son by Joseph’s first wife, not by Mary…” He adds that Joseph became the father of James and his three brothers (Joses, Simeon, Judah) and two sisters (a Salome and a Mary or a Salome and an Anna) with James being the elder sibling. James and his siblings were not children of Mary but were Joseph’s children from a previous marriage. After Joseph’s first wife died, many years later when he was eighty, “he took Mary (mother of Jesus)”. According to Epiphanius the Scriptures call them “brothers of the Lord” to confound their opponents.
One argument supporting this view is that it would have been against Jewish custom for Jesus to give his mother to the care of John (who is not at all suspected to be a blood relative of Jesus) if Mary had other living sons. This is because the eldest son would take responsibility for his mother after the death of her husband; any other sons of Mary should have taken on this responsibility if they existed, therefore arguing against a direct natural brother relationship.
- James, along with the others named “brothers” of Jesus, are said by others to have been Jesus’ cousins. This is justified by the fact that cousins were also called “brothers” and “sisters” in Jesus’ native language, Aramaic, which, like Biblical Hebrew, does not contain a word for cousin. Furthermore, the Greek words adelphos and adelphe were not restricted to the meaning of a literal brother or sister in the Bible, nor were their plurals. However, unlike some other New Testament authors, apostle Paul had a perfect command of Greek, a language which has a specific word for cousin and another for brother calling James “the brother of our Lord” (Galatians 1:19).
Eusebius of Caesarea (AD 275 – 339) reports the tradition that James the Just was the son of Joseph’s brother Clopas and therefore was of the “brothers” (which he interprets as “cousin”) of Jesus described in the New Testament. This is echoed by St. Jerome (AD 342 – 419) in De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men) – James is said to be the son of another Mary, wife of Clopas and the “sister” of Mary, the mother of Jesus – in the following manner:
James, who is called the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just, the son of Joseph by another wife, as some think, but, as appears to me, the son of Mary, sister of the mother of our Lord of whom John makes mention in his book…
Jerome refers to the scene of the crucifixion in John 19:25, where three women named Mary – Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene – are said to be witnesses. John also mentions the “sister” of the mother of Jesus, often identified with Mary of Clopas due to grammar. Mary “of Clopas” is often interpreted as Mary, “wife of Clopas”. Mary of Nazareth and Mary of Clopas also need not be literally sisters, in light of the usage of the said words in Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic.
Jerome’s opinion suggests an identification of James the Just with the Apostle James, son of Alphaeus; Clopas and Alphaeus are thought to be different Greek renderings of the same Aramaic name Khalphai. Despite this, some biblical scholars tend to distinguish them; this is also not Catholic dogma, though a traditional teaching.
Since this Clopas is, according to Eusebius, Joseph of Nazareth’s brother (see above) and this Mary is said to be Mary of Nazareth’s sister, James could be related to Jesus by blood and law.
Life of St. James
It is believed that, James from his early years James was a Nazarene, a man especially dedicated to God. The Nazarenes vowed to preserve their virginity, to abstain from wine, to refrain from eating meat, and not to cut their hair. The vow of the Nazarenes symbolized a life of holiness and purity, commanded formerly by the Lord for all Israel. When the Savior began to teach the nation about the Kingdom of God, Saint James believed in Christ and became His apostle. He was chosen as the first Bishop of Jerusalem.
St. Jerome, through De Viris Illustribus, quotes Hegesippus’ account of James from the fifth book of his lost Commentaries:
“After the apostles, James the brother of the Lord surnamed the Just was made head of the Church at Jerusalem. Many indeed are called James. This one was holy from his mother’s womb. He drank neither wine nor strong drink, ate no flesh, never shaved or anointed himself with ointment or bathed. He alone had the privilege of entering the Holy of Holies, since indeed he did not use woolen vestments but linen and went alone into the temple and prayed in behalf of the people, insomuch that his knees were reputed to have acquired the hardness of camels’ knees.”
St. Paul further describes James as being one of the persons the risen Christ showed himself to (I Corinthians 15:3-8); and in Galatians, Paul lists James with Cephas (better known as Peter) and John, as the three “pillars” of the Church, and who will minister to “the circumcised” (that is the Jews) in Jerusalem, while Paul and his fellows will minister to the Gentiles (2:9, 2:12).
Acts of the Apostles provides clear evidence that James was an important figure in the Christian community of Jerusalem. When Peter, having miraculously escaped from prison, must flee Jerusalem, he asks that James be informed (12:17). When the Christians of Antioch are concerned over whether Gentile Christians need be circumcised to be saved, they send Paul and Barnabas to confer with the church there, and it is James who utters the definitive judgment (15:13ff). When Paul arrives in Jerusalem to deliver the money he raised for the faithful there, it is James to whom he speaks, and who insists that Paul ritually cleanse himself (21:18).
The holy Apostle James composed a Divine Liturgy, which formed the basis of the Liturgies of Saints Basil the Great and John Chrysostom. The Church has preserved an Epistle of Saint James, one of the books of the New Testament.
Martyrdom
In his thirty years as bishop, Saint James converted many of the Jews to Christianity. Annoyed by this, the Pharisees and the Scribes plotted together to kill Saint James. They led the saint up on the pinnacle of the Jerusalem Temple and asked what he thought of Jesus. The holy Apostle began to bear witness that Christ is the Messiah, which was not the response the Pharisees were expecting. Greatly angered, the Jewish teachers threw him off the roof. The saint did not die immediately, but gathering his final strength, he prayed to the Lord for his enemies while they were stoning him. Saint James’ martyrdom occurred about 63 A.D.
Clement of Alexandria relates that “James was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple, and was beaten to death with a club”.
Hegesippus cites that “the Scribes and Pharisees placed James upon the pinnacle of the temple, and threw down the just man, and they began to stone him, for he was not killed by the fall. And one of them, who was a fuller, took the club with which he beat out clothes and struck the just man on the head”.
According to a passage found in existing manuscripts of Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, “the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James” met his death after the death of the procurator Porcius Festus but before Lucceius Albinus had assumed office (Antiquities 20,9) – which has been dated to 62. The High Priest Hanan ben Hanan (Ananus ben Ananus) took advantage of this lack of imperial oversight to assemble a Sanhedrin (although the correct translation of the Greek synhedrion kriton is “a council of judges”), who condemned James “on the charge of breaking the law”, then had him executed by stoning. Josephus reports that Hanan’s act was widely viewed as little more than judicial murder and offended a number of “those who were considered the most fair-minded people in the City, and strict in their observance of the Law”, who went so far as to arrange a meeting with Albinus as he entered the province in order to petition him successfully about the matter. In response, King Agrippa II replaced Ananus with Jesus son of Damneus.
Eusebius wrote that “the more sensible even of the Jews were of the opinion that this (James’ death) was the cause of the siege of Jerusalem, which happened to them immediately after his martyrdom for no other reason than their daring act against him. Josephus, at least, has not hesitated to testify this in his writings, where he says, “These things happened to the Jews to avenge James the Just, who was a brother of Jesus, that is called the Christ. For the Jews slew him, although he was a most just man.”
Eusebius, while quoting Josephus’ account, also records otherwise lost passages from Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria (Historia Ecclesiae, 2.23). Hegesippus’ account varies somewhat from what Josephus reports and may be an attempt to reconcile the various accounts by combining them. According to Hegesippus, the scribes and Pharisees came to James for help in putting down Christian beliefs. The record says:
They came, therefore, in a body to James, and said: “We entreat thee, restrain the people: for they have gone astray in their opinions about Jesus, as if he were the Christ. We entreat thee to persuade all who have come hither for the day of the passover, concerning Jesus. For we all listen to thy persuasion; since we, as well as all the people, bear thee testimony that thou art just, and showest partiality to none. Do thou, therefore, persuade the people not to entertain erroneous opinions concerning Jesus: for all the people, and we also, listen to thy persuasion. Take thy stand, then, upon the summit of the temple, that from that elevated spot thou mayest be clearly seen, and thy words may be plainly audible to all the people. For, in order to attend the passover, all the tribes have congregated hither, and some of the Gentiles also.” To the scribes’ and Pharisees’ dismay, James boldly testified that “Christ himself sitteth in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven”. The scribes and pharisees then said to themselves, “We have not done well in procuring this testimony to Jesus. But let us go up and throw him down, that they may be afraid, and not believe him.”
Accordingly, the scribes and Pharisees
… threw down the just man… [and] began to stone him: for he was not killed by the fall; but he turned, and kneeled down, and said: “I beseech thee, Lord God our Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
And, while they were there, stoning him to death, one of the priests, the sons of Rechab, the son of Rechabim, to whom testimony is borne by Jeremiah the prophet, began to cry aloud, saying: “Cease, what do ye? The just man is praying for us.” But one among them, one of the fullers, took the staff with which he was accustomed to wring out the garments he dyed, and hurled it at the head of the just man.
And so he suffered martyrdom; and they buried him on the spot, and the pillar erected to his memory still remains, close by the temple. This man was a true witness to both Jews and Greeks that Jesus is the Christ. And shortly after Vespasian besieged Judaea, taking them captive.
— Fragments from the Acts of the Church; Concerning the Martyrdom of James, the Brother of the Lord, from Book 5
Vespasian’s siege and capture of Jerusalem delayed the selection of Simeon of Jerusalem to succeed James.
May the life of St. James be a guiding light to us in this current age to dedicate ourselves to the Lord as brothers and sisters and co-heirs of the Kingdom of God. May the prayers of St. James be for us a refuge.
Your brothers in Christ Jesus
Jobin George
Sources:
- https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2020/10/23/103039-apostle-james-the-brother-of-the-lord
- https://orthodoxwiki.org/Protoevangelion_of_James
- https://orthodoxwiki.org/Apostle_James_the_Just
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James,_brother_of_Jesus#Death
- https://www.wikiwand.com/en/James,_brother_of_Jesus#/Death
- https://www.wikiwand.com/en/James,_son_of_Alphaeus#/Death
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_the_Less
\\o// Lord have mercy on us –