James the Lord’s Brother

2021-09-15

James, the brother of the Lord, was a witness to the Lord’s resurrection. His role in substantiating the resurrection is not insignificant.

James was the leader of the Jerusalem church and the author of the epistle bearing his name. In his epistle, he referred to himself as “a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1). But was it always this way?

The Bible clearly tells us that Jesus’ family did not believe in Him at the beginning. They did not seem to care if he were to go up to the Jewish feast and be arrested and killed, and even tried to convince Him to do so (John 7:1-8). “For neither did his brethren believe in him” (John 7:5). In some ways, they were in an awkward position. Jesus never sinned and would have never gotten into trouble growing up. It was an unusual family dynamic to be sure. You cannot blame the Lord’s family for struggling with being related to the Son of God! His family did not approve of all that He was doing, and once tried to seize Him while teaching and take Him home (Matthew 12:46-47; Mark 3:21, 31-32; Luke 8:19-20). The Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John make mention of James’ lack of faith in Jesus.

From an earthly standpoint, this could be considered embarrassing for Jesus (the people closest to Him did not accept Him) and for James (he once rejected Jesus, whom he later preached). The skeptic should admit that it would be unlikely that anybody would make up this information about Jesus and His family.

According to the ancient creed of 1 Corinthians 15:1-7, which dates from within a few years of Jesus’ resurrection at the most, the risen Jesus showed Himself to James. From that day forth, James was a convinced believer. His faith was noteworthy enough that he became a pillar of the church (Acts 15:13-21; Galatians 1:19; 2:9). Josephus, the Jewish historian, provides extra-biblical evidence that James was martyred for his faith (Antiquities 20.200). Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, volume II, chapter 23, attests to James’ death for the faith as well by quoting Clement of Alexandria and Hegesippus.

Think about this. Given all these ancient sources about James, we see that he was a skeptic of Jesus Christ from the beginning. Unlike the Twelve, James was a close relative of Jesus who was not convinced of His Messiahship. Yet, he had a post-resurrection experience of Jesus that changed his life forever. He was so convinced that Jesus was Lord, that he led the church in Jerusalem and eventually died for his faith.

This is Exhibit B for the evidence that Jesus rose from the dead.