St James the Greater : Honor of the First Martyred Apostle

July 25 is the feast day of St. James the Greater. He is the brother of St. John and a son of Zebedee. He was in his family fishing business – until he met Jesus.

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, did not seem to be the average fishermen of Galilee but rather wealthier than other fishermen, because Zebedee was obviously able to afford to hire a man to assist the fishing (i.e. Mark 1:20). Perhaps, because of this, the mother of James and John wanted to make sure that her sons were not treated as “average” among the disciples by Jesus. So, she was bold enough to ask Jesus to elevate her sons’ status above the rest of the disciples, as described in the Gospel Reading (Matthew 20:20-28).

Of course, Jesus reject their mother’s such a request. The discipleship is collegial.

Nevertheless, James and John, together with Peter, had the privilege to be in the inner circle among the disciples. So, Jesus took only these three to let them witness his transfiguration (e.g. Matthew 17:1-11), Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter from the dead (e.g. Mark 5:35-43), and his prayer of agony in Gethsemane (e.g. Matthew 26:36-46).

But, James sure has his special place among the disciples with a distinct honor of sainthood. He took the first place to be martyred as a disciple of Christ (Acts 12:1-2).  And his younger brother, John, was never martyred (i.e. John 21:20-23). The rest of the twelve disciples, except for Judas Iscariot, who committed suicide after betraying Jesus (Matthew 27:3-5), all followed James’ suit of martyrdom.

The First Reading (2 Corinthians 4:7-15) reflects meaning of martyrdom.

Like James, those who have been martyred, are like fragile earthly vessels carrying the treasure of the Gospel, empowered by God (2 Corinthians 4:7).

So, the apostolic life of James was “afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body” to put it in Paul’s words (2 Corinthians 4:8-10).

James, as the first martyred disciple (not to be confused with Stephen, the very first martyred saint, who was a deacon), was like a fragile earthly vessel because he was put to death for carrying the Gospel – as Jesus was put to death for his Gospel. But Jesus was raised from the dead. So, in James’ martyrdom, the life of Jesus may have been manifested in his mortal flesh (i.e. 2 Corinthians 4:11).

We do not need to be elevated in regard to social and economic status or in regard to political power, just because we follow Jesus. But as followers of Jesus, God makes sure that each of us has our own distinct honor, and it can be an honor of martyrdom – as in the case of St. James the Greater, the brother of St. John, a son of Zebedee.