Today (25th July) we mark the Feast of St James. James is often called ‘James the Great’, to differentiate him from James the Less, who was the brother of Jesus (and the writer of the Letter of James). James the Great was a Galilean fisherman who, with his brother John, was one of the first apostles called by Jesus to follow him. The two brothers were with Jesus at his Transfiguration and with him again in the garden of Gethsemane. They annoyed the other followers of Jesus by asking to sit one on his left and the other on his right when he came into his glory. They were also present for the appearances of Christ after the resurrection. James was put to death by the sword on the order of Herod Agrippa, who hoped in vain that, by disposing of the Christian leaders, he could stem the flow of those hearing the good news and becoming followers in the Way. James’s martyrdom is believed to have taken place in the year 44.
Here is the short account of his death from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 12, and verses 1 & 2:
About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword.
In Mark 10 and verses 35 to 45, we hear how James and his brother ask for special seats in the Kingdom of Heaven.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to appoint, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
When the other ten disciples heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Here is a dramatic re-telling of that event:
Sons of Thunder
The Disciples were arguing among themselves, about the Kingdom of God that Jesus had promised them. Who would be the prime minister? Who would command the army? Everyone agreed that Bartholomew would probably be put in charge of the drains. But James and John, the Sons of Thunder, went silent. They didn’t like having posts in the new Kingdom of God being carved up by the other Disciples like this. James decided he'd had enough.
"See you later, guys." he said. "I'm off to bed. Come on John." John got up off the ground, and followed James down the slope towards the crowd. When they were a little way from the others, James stopped John with a hand on his arm.
“Listen”, he said. “Why don’t we go and see Jesus and ask him for jobs in the new government ourselves? If he says it, the others won’t be able to stop us getting the best jobs”. “Do you think he won’t mind?” asked John
James pondered for a moment. “Maybe”, he concluded. But if you don’t ask, you don’t get!
John looked thoughtfully at James. There was a chance here. Perhaps they might just make it, and become Jesus' right hand men. John nodded at James, and together they looked at over at where Jesus was sitting, on a rock, alone on the edge of the camp. They walked carefully over to him, picking their way between sleeping bodies. They approached the Master.
“Um” said James, “Um…Rabbi? Can we bother you for a minute?” Jesus looked up from his prayers, with a knowing look in his eyes. “Yes, boys. What is it?”
“Rabbi,” said James, “We want you to do for us whatever you ask. Ok?”
Jesus wasn’t going to make any promises. He was cannier than that – and quite used to people trying to trap him into saying something he might later regret. “What is it?” he said cautiously.
James got ready to make a well-considered plea, backed up with lots and lots of good reasons as to why they should be important officials in the new Government. But John couldn’t contain himself. He was so nervous, that it all came tumbling out!
“We want you to grant for us to sit on your left and on your right when you come into your kingdom! Um…please….”
Jesus looked disappointed. He had hoped for better from these two. He had hoped that perhaps they had begun to understand that his Kingdom was not like that at all. He shook his head, and said, "You will indeed drink from my cup. But to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."
James and John were a bit puzzled, but they were wise enough to know when to back down. What did Jesus mean? We will drink from his cup, but the places of honour are decided by God? That was typical of Jesus. He always talked in riddles.
Unbeknown to James and John, however, they had been followed. Judas, who had never quite trusted the Sons of Thunder, had trailed them from a distance, and had heard the whole conversation from behind a tree. As James and John turned away from Jesus, Judas slipped back through the darkness to the other Disciples.
“You’ll never guess what James and John are up to!” he hissed, when he got back…and then proceeded to tell the whole story.
"That's not right!" "Who do they think they are?" The Disciples were livid! After a quick discussion together, they decided that this would just not do, and they all strutted over to where James and John were settling down dejectedly for the night.
Simon, ever the spokesperson, spoke first. "What's this we hear? Have you been up to Jesus to ask for a place on his right and on his left?"
James looked at the ground, and shuffled his feet nervously. "Well, erm…", he mumbled. "We did just have a chat…".
"That's not good enough" replied Simon. "Who do you think you are? Do you think you are better than the rest of us? Do you think Jesus is going to choose either of you over us?"
Jesus, in the meantime, had been sitting on his rock, looking over the camp. He wasn't surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised. He had smiled to himself as he saw Simon stride across the camp over to James and John with the other nine disciples in his wake. Jesus made a decision. It's time for me to intervene here, he thought.
Jesus climbed down from his rock, and wandered down the slope to where the ten disciples were gathered around the other two. As he approached, one of the Disciples, Philip, looked up from the argument, and saw Jesus approaching. He nudged Bartholomew in the ribs and pointed at the approaching Rabbi. Bartholomew nudged Matthew, Matthew nudged Andrew and in a few seconds, the little group of angry men had ceased shouting, and waited for Jesus to approach.
Jesus walked up to them and stopped. He looked around at them with love, but also a little disappointment in his eyes. Into the anger in the air around him, Jesus spoke gently. "You know how the Gentiles do things, don't you? You know how their rulers lord it over the rest of the people, and how their high officials dominate everyone else?" A few of the Disciples grunted. They knew what Jesus meant - they had seen how the Romans bossed everyone else around. "Well", Jesus went on, "That is not how it shall be with you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant - not your Prime Minister," he said, looking knowingly at Peter, "and not your Chancellor", he said, smiling at Matthew. "Whoever wants to be first among you must be a slave to everyone else. This should not surprise you. The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. The Son of Man came to give his life away, not to go lording it up over anyone."
And then, the Disciples noticed that Jesus' eyes seemed to become distant. He seemed to be staring off into the distance, over vast miles, and even through time itself.
And then, Jesus' voice was heard in a little church in the heart of Havant; a little church named out of affection for another follower of Jesus, St Faith. A congregation of ordinary people were gathered that morning: people just like the Disciples and the other followers of Jesus. These were ordinary people - but people who had heard the call of Jesus, across the millennia. They’d heard the call to live in ways that were life-giving; the call to live in love with God, and with each other. These were people who longed to hear Jesus speak to them, and longed to hear from him how life could be even richer, deeper, more meaningful. And across time, and through the walls of the church that morning, the congregation of St Faith heard Jesus speaking to them.
"In my service, there is perfect freedom. By serving me, in your homes, in your jobs, in your schools, in your church, in your community - you will find me. By serving me with your time, and with your talents and with your money, you will know me. When you serve others, you serve me. When you reach out to others, you reach out to me."
And all the people, in that little church in Havant, said, "Amen".
No comments:
Post a Comment