LEARNING DAILY

Matthew 4:21-22, And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

The Bible does not tell us much about James, the brother of John. James, along with John and his father, are mending their nets when Jesus called them to follow Him. Immediately, they got out of the boat, left their father and began their ministry. Jesus was now going to show them “how to be fishers of men”. Understand the cost to leaving the family business, which if I can assume, was a profitable business and career.  They left everything behind to follow Jesus. Yet they did not hesitate.

James was the elder brother. John MacArthur wrote, “James, as the elder brother, might have felt that by all rights he ought to have been the chief apostle because of family status…which may be the reason for so many disputes ‘over which of them should be considered the greatest’” (read about this in Luke 22:24). James was considered part of the “inner circle” as he was included when Jesus healed Jarius’ daughter (Mark 5:37), at the Transfiguration (Mark 17:1), questioned Jesus privately with three other disciples on the Mount of Olives (Marl 13:3), and in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark13:33) when Jesus urged the three disciples to pray with Him.

James and John were given the nickname “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus. James was “zealous, passionate, and fervent” (MacArthur), but James’ passion would sometimes get out of control. In Luke 9:54, James and John were ready to call down fire from heaven on Samaritans who refused hospitality to Jesus and the disciples when passing through Samaria. James thought calling down fire would please Jesus. He was still learning what it meant to follow Jesus.

James (and John) was “insensitive, ambitious, and overconfident” (MacArthur). MacArthur continued, “He wanted a crown of glory; Jesus gave him a cup of suffering…he wanted power; Jesus gave him servanthood…he wanted a place of prominence; Jesus gave him a martyr’s grave…he wanted to rule; Jesus gave him a sword, not as a weapon, but as an instrument of his own death. Jesus asked James and John if they “could drink the cup He would drink” and “Be baptized with the baptism He would be baptized with” (Mark 10:38). I doubt they understood what Jesus meant, but they said “yes” to His question.

James was the only disciple whose death is recorded in Scripture as the first disciple to be killed for his faith. As mentioned, he was killed when King Herod killed or had him killed by the sword. James’ passion had become too great for Herod who thought he would stop the growth of the church by killing James. MacArthur writes of James, “James had learned to temper his passions, control his anger, bridle his tongue, redirect his zeal, eliminate his thirst for revenge, and completely lose his self-ambition. And the Lord used him to do wonderful work in the early church.”