James

James

A common enough name that has been associated with Jesus in different aspects or association with him.  It appears that we have three personages named James throughout the New Testament and each has a specific place when we look at the written word. 

First we see Jesus arriving on the shore by the sea of Galilee.  After calling Andrew and his brother Simon to follow him he went a little further and came upon two brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John.  He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.  (Mt. 4: 18 ff).

As we read more about these two brothers our eyes are opened to some interesting points regarding them.  They asked Jesus if he would do a favor for them.  When Jesus wanted to know what they requested they answered if after his glory could they sit one at his right hand and the other at his left hand.   (Mk. 10: 36 - 37). 

Jesus called the two Boanerges, meaning sons of thunder.  We are told both were a little aggressive and could be insensitive.  When Jesus was on the way to a Samaritan village he was not welcomed there and when James and John saw this they asked the Lord, “Do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”  (Lk. 9: 54).    

An interesting note here is throughout the gospel accounts we see Jesus always taking Simon, James and John with him.  Most notable is the mountain of Transfiguration.  There is no doubt that James, among the three was very close to the Lord.  His notability is well documented and his position makes him James the greater as opposed to James the Lesser, son of Alphaeus.

The second James, who is the author of the same book, is not identified as the Apostle James, but only as a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This designation most probably refers to the third New Testament personage named James, a relative of Jesus who is usually called brother of the Lord.  The letter of James has no allusions to James’s own history and to his relationship with Jesus or to the early Christian community of Jerusalem.  (Taken from the introduction to the Book of James).

James number three could present to some a paradox when a common name is concerned with the history of Jesus and different characters with the same name.  We are looking at James, son of Alphaeus, one of the twelve Apostles.  He is identified as James the Lesser.  However, if these are all references to the same James, that would make him the author of the Book of James and one of the three men Paul called pillars of the church.  Some have argued he is the Apostle Matthew’s brother.  One thing is certain, James the son of Alphaeus is not the same person as James son of Zebedee and neither are the James who authored the Book of the same name. 

At the crucifixion one of the women there was Mary of Clopas, the mother of James.  Therefore, if we say he was the brother of Jesus how could his mother be Mary of Clopas?  It can be concluded that Mary of Clopas was the wife of Alphaeus and the sister of Mary, the Blessed Mother of Jesus.  This would make James the cousin of Jesus and not a blood brother.

There is no other personage where the confusion has arisen as much as James.  This has led to many conflicts regarding if Mary, the Mother of Jesus remained a virgin after giving birth to Jesus.  

A few quick facts on the apostle James, son of Alphaeus taken from an article by Ryan Nelson on Bible characters:

One of the twelve;  James son of Alphaeus doesn’t get the notoriety of the other apostles, but is one of the 12.

James the Less; referred to as the Lesser, the younger, etc. This moniker is ambiguous, but clearly intended to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee.

Possibly the brother of Jesus; As mentioned previously if this James was a blood brother of Jesus then this James, son of Alphaeus, could not have had a mother named Mary of Clopas who was the wife of Alphaeus.  However, it is likely that with this Mary standing at the cross with Jesus’ mother probably was her sister, making James a cousin to Jesus.

Ralph B. Hathaway, A scenario to the question about the personages of James