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April 12, 2009
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
James, by Phil Ware
Editor's Note: Jesus was born into a real family. In putting the pieces
of Scripture together, this is something like what it must have been
like for them, especially for Jesus' (half) brother, James. If we allow
their experience to be a part of our story, Jesus' resurrection can be
so much more than just a holiday once a year.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary
the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother
there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to
her, "Woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your
mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home (John
19:25-27 TNIV).
James, like most good Jews of his day, was angry at Rome's brutal rule.
He was even angrier at the treasonous partnership of the priestly class
and the Sadducees with the Romans. Now they had tortured the life out
of his own brother on the cross that stood before him!
James wasn't sure if his abandonment of Jeshua during the ordeal of
Golgotha was out of anger or anguish. Maybe it was some of both. But
now, as he stood on top of Skull Hill, tears streamed down his cheeks.
He knew without having seen it happen, that what they had done to his
older brother had been unspeakable. In the shadow of this Roman torture
tree, this hideous means of making subjugated people cower in fear,
James' emotions surged out of control.
James felt deeply wounded by his older brother. In death, his brother,
the One others called Mashiach (Messiah) and Rabboni (Teacher), had
said words that ripped through James' soul. "Woman, here is your son,"
and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." "How dare Jeshua give the
care of their mother to a Galilean fisherman and not to his own
physical brothers?" Even in death, James couldn't help but feel that
Jeshua's words tore at something deep inside him.
Over the last three years, James and his siblings felt that Jesus had
embarrassed them. He had caused such a stir at their home synagogue in
Nazareth that the crowd had rushed Jeshua and wanted to throw him off
the high cliff just outside of town. James was never sure how his
brother had escaped that mob, but the family knew they could never go
back to synagogue there again (Luke 4:16-30).
And James could remember the words that had wounded all of them:
"Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Jeshua had asked. Then
his brother pointed to his followers and said, "Here are my mother
and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven
is my brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:28-30).
O how those words had embarrassed and wounded them all.
Suddenly, as if the damn had burst, the confusing words of James'
brother poured over him like a flood.
"Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no
place to lay his head" (Luke 9:58). "Anyone who loves their father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves a son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:37).
"Sure he had a place to stay," James thought to himself, "he should
have stayed with us in Nazareth! But he was determined to set out on
some mission for God!" "And why all of this language about families
being divided over him? Hadn't he done enough in his own family to
bring division?"
Neither James nor any of his brothers and sisters believed Jeshua was
something special. They grew up with him. He was their older brother.
So in a moment of irritation, they had all confronted him about his
pretension of being someone great:
"Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may
see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure
acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to
the world." For even his own brothers did not believe in him (John
7:3-5).
On another occasion, James and his brothers had broken through the
crowd that wasn't letting Jeshua eat or sleep. They did it to rescue
him, because they all thought he had gone over the edge emotionally.
Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he
and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard
about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is
out of his mind" (Mark 3:20-21).
And now it ended here. At this Cross, with all of its pain and
humiliation. "Such a waste!" is all James could muster himself to think
at the time.
Thirty years later, and James was still in Jerusalem. However,
everything was different. He was the most respected and best-known
follower of Jeshua in Jerusalem (Galatians 2:9). Paul, on his last trip
to the great city of Jewish faith, knew he had to connect with James (Acts
21:18). Paul had depended upon James years earlier when trying to
secure the support to share the Gospel with Gentiles, and James had
helped broker the deal (Acts 15:13). Even the famous apostle Peter had
turned to James in times of crisis and hope (Acts 12:17). After all,
James had been there in the upper room when the Spirit came, praying
with the rest of the apostles (Acts 1:14). And later, when some Jewish
churches were in trouble with their faith, it was James who wrote them
to put them back on track. But far from resenting Jeshua's identity as
Mashiach and Lord, James joyfully declared himself a servant of his
brother:
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ ... (James 1:1).
Simple! Clear! Powerful! Inspiring!
Why was there such a dramatic change?
How did James go from a brother who ridiculed Jeshua (John 7:3-5) to
one who saw himself as his brother's servant and who called his brother
Lord and Christ?
Where did this transformation of his life happen?
Where did his passion, his influence, his hope, and his purpose arise?
Simple! Clear! Powerful! Inspiring! James' transformation happened the
same place our transformation can happen. The apostle Paul puts it this
way:
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was
buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures, and that he appeared to ... James! (1 Corinthians
15:3-7)
Jeshua, the one we call Jesus, died and was buried. Life seemed over
for everyone who knew him. No one would have been more crushed and more
conflicted by the Lord's death than his own brothers and sisters. And
no one is a better reminder that Jesus' resurrection is so much more
than a bit of theological trivia or a holiday on the calendar. This
event is the epicenter of life-change. It is hope reborn from all of
life's ground zeroes. The resurrection is the center of power for
family healing and liberation from all in life that holds us captive.
And if we choose to listen, the dashed hopes of a wounded brother
turned passionate believer can become the manger for our lives made new
and the empty tomb assuring our victorious future.
---------
(c) 2009 Phil Ware <phil@heartlight.org>. All rights reserved.
RELATED LINKS:
* Resurrection Day!
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200704/20070408_resurrection.html
* No Room for Death?
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200803/20080321_vacancy.html
* Faith Awaiting a Dawn
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200803/20080323_dawn.html
* Southern Hills Church of Christ
http://www.southernhillschurch.org
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200904/20090412_james.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
THE WAY OF THE HEART: DESERT SPIRITUALITY AND CONTEMPORARY MINISTRY, by Henri Nouwen
The modern classic that interweaves the solitude, silence, and prayer
of the fourth and fifth century Egyptian Desert Fathers and Mothers
with our contemporary search for an authentic spirituality.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?256
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