St. James the Just, Later Comer but Great Leader, and St. Philip, Earlier Disciple and Passionate Evangelizer

On May 3, the Roman Catholic Church honors the lives of St. James the Just and St. Philip. These Saints share the same feast day because Pope Pelagius I brought the relics of these Saints from Constantinople and place them at the same time in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome.

James the Just is also known as James the Less to distinguish him from James the Great, the elder brother of John, a son of Zebedee. James the Just is described as “brother of Jesus”, but he is actually Jesus’ cousin. His mother is Mary of Clopas (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40; 16:1; Luke 24:10), whose sister if Mary, the mother  of Jesus (John 19:25). Second Century Christian writers, Papias and Hegesippus, identified Clopas as a brother of Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

It seemed that James the Just was not a believer during Jesus’ early public ministry (Mark 3:31–35//Matthew 12:46–50//Luke 8:19–21). However, after Jesus’ resurrection, James the Just was a believer and one of his disciples, as risen Jesus made a personal appearance to him (1 Corinthians 15:7). He (described as a son of Alphaeus) was together with Philip and the rest of the disciples in the Upper Room, praying and preparing to receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 1:13).

Upon Pentecost, as the Apostolic Age began, James the Just exhibited his leadership skills at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1-31), settling the matter of whether to impose the Mosaic Law on Gentile Christians, as some Pharisaic Christians demanded (Acts 15:13-21). In fact, it was Peter, who entrusted James’ leadership to the church of Jerusalem (i.e. Acts 12:17). He did not go various places, like the other Apostles, but remained in Jerusalem as the first bishop of Jerusalem (i.e. Acts 21:15-26) until his martyrdom there. He also wrote his epistle (the Letter of James), sharing his pastoral wisdom as the first bishop of the church of Jerusalem.

St. Philip, on the other hand, unlike St. James the Just, who became a disciple much later, was one of the earliest batch of disciples, along with Andrew, Peter, James the Great, and John (John 1:35-44). And he was the one who brought his friend, Nathaniel, to Jesus (John 1:45-51). This fact certainly counts Philip as one of the 12 disciples (Matthew 10:2-4//Mark 3:14-19//Luke 6:13-16). This means that Philip had a privilege to be with Jesus nearly the his entire public ministry. It means that he has been with Jesus at least since his first miraculous signs during the wedding at Cana (John 2:2) and all the way to Jerusalem (John 12:21-22). However, he did not fully understand who Jesus really is in his relation to the Father (John 14:8-14).

Thanks to Jesus’ explanation and assurance (John 14:9-14) and another Parakletos, the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of truth (John 14:16-31; 15:26-16:33), Philip became ready to receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost by the time of Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:13). Therefore, he became a great apostolic evangelizer, combining his original interpersonal communication skills to bring people to Christ and his insight on Christ and the Scriptures, successfully converting Samaria to Christ (Acts 8:4-16), and evangelizing the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-39). So, he kept preaching actively from place to place (Acts 8:40).

Though he was originally not into Jesus’ teaching, St. James the Just, became a great leader of the nascent Church. Entrusted by Peter, he served as the first bishop of the church of Jerusalem, which is the very first church, from which the Church has been growing. One highlight of James’ leadership skills is mediation to resolve a conflict.

St. Philip, in contrast, has been a disciples of Jesus from the beginning of his public ministry. He had exhibited his passion in bringing people to Christ and skillful evangelization. And we owe him – his inquisitiveness on Jesus – for soliciting Jesus to reveal more about his Christological identity in his relation to the Father, in the Trinitarian context.

So, as a Christian, which means a disciple of Christ, today, are you more like St. James the Just or St. Philip? See what gifts that God has bestowed on you so that you will know how you can serve the Lord on your apostolic call.

Whether your gifts are more like the ones of St. James the Just or the ones of St. Philip, we are in One Body, One Church, and with One Lord and One Spirit.