Christ Died and Rose for His Brother

St. James of Jerusalem

October 23, 2016

John 7:5 & 1 Corinthians 15:7

Christ Died and Rose for His Brother

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Today the Church remembers James of Jerusalem. James was a half-brother of Jesus and for the first part of his life, an unbeliever.

³His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea so Your disciples can see Your works that You are doing. ⁴For no one does anything in secret while he’s seeking public recognition. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵(For not even His brothers believed in Him.) (John 7:3-5)

Before Jesus' crucifixion His own brother James rejected Him as Messiah. James did not think that Jesus was God's Son, born of their mother Mary. James did not believe that Jesus had come to pay for his sins and the sins of the world. And he was not alone in this rejection of Jesus as the Savior.

⁵⁴Coming to His hometown, He [Jesus] began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. They asked, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? ⁵⁵Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't His mother's name Mary, and aren't His brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? ⁵⁶Aren't all His sisters with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” ⁵⁷And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” ⁵⁸And He did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith. (Matthew 13:53-58)

But everything changed for James after Jesus died and rose from the dead. Paul noted that after Jesus' resurrection:

⁷Then He [Jesus] appeared to James, then to all the apostles. (1 Corinthians 15:7)

We know that in the days following the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ, James became a believer. And he was to become a leader of the Church in Jerusalem. He wrote the Epistle that bears his name. In this letter he urged his fellow Christians to remain steadfast in the one true faith and constant in holy living. His letter may be thought of in terms of this old Lutheran axiom: “Faith alone saves, but faith is never alone.”

James also rejoiced to hear the work of the Holy Spirit among non-Jews. When Paul returned from his first missionary journey, Paul and James together thanked God for His mercy to all mankind through the Preaching of Christ and Him crucified.

¹²Then the whole assembly fell silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul describing all the signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. ¹³After they stopped speaking, James responded: “Brothers, listen to me! ¹⁴[Peter] has reported how God first intervened to take from the Gentiles a people for His name. ¹⁵And the words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written: ¹⁶After these things I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. I will rebuild its ruins and set it up again, ¹⁷so the rest of humanity may seek the Lord—even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, declares the Lord who does these things, ¹⁸known from long ago. (Acts 15:12-18)

After Jesus died and rose from the dead and showed Himself to His brother, James knew that His brother is the Son of David, the Messiah, whose death and resurrection brings life to the world is for all people, Jews and Gentiles alike.

The Church calls Christians, who are murdered for witnessing the truth of Christ's cross, martyrs. An ancient account of the end of James' life reported that he was put to death by stoning by a small group of his fellow Jews in the year of our Lord 62. James and all the saints and martyrs are waiting around the heavenly throne of God for the dawn of Earth's youngest day when all flesh shall be raised in glorious triumph by the Word of Christ.

Until that day dawns, we rejoice to see how Jesus raises up the most unlikely people to do His holy will. James was at first the last person who would have followed Jesus and confessed His Cross as the way of salvation.

Jesus and James were brothers and Jesus died and rose to save his brother. As Jesus wonderfully declared:

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

Or his brother.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!