James, the brother of the Lord

Quite often I reflect on what would have meant to live and experience the ministry of Jesus Christ.  It does not take much to romanticize the idea and imagine the many pleasant hours listening to his teachings and participating in his miracles, which would certainly lead us to a constant spiritual ecstasy, "as God surely expects us to."  However, Scriptures reveal a different dynamic which is closer, perhaps, to our present reality, for the shortcomings of the human spirit have not changed in the past two thousand years.  In so, the Gospels testify to the continued rejection of the ministry of Jesus Christ by the Pharisees, but how to blame them if I too, and most likely, would have questioned his intentions and would have limited his influence in my church to avoid any destabilization.  Isn't that my job as a pastor?  I mean, even his brothers doubted him! (John 7: 2-5).

We may infer, then, that James, one of his half brothers, and a character that we will be in association with for the next three months, is included in the statement, "... neither did his brethren believe in him."  However, Scriptures indicate the process to which he was subjected to that led him to be not only witness of his miracles and teachings, but also of his resurrection and commission (1 Corinthians 15:7), becoming an active element in the life of the developing movement (Acts 1:14), growing to become a leader and column (Galatians 2: 9), and making of his writings a projection of the teachings of Jesus Christ (James 1:22 and Matthew 7:24 , James 3:12 and Matthew 7:16, James 4:12 and Matthew 7: 1).

To the annoyance of Martin Luther, James' contribution, now as a recognized leader and authority of the new community, is to redirect and retune the understanding of the dynamics of faith.  It is clear that he is responding to a dangerous tendency that threaten to pervert the function thereof.  In this way, he understands that his greatest contribution is to communicate that faith, to be faith, must be linked and associated with the according action (James 1:22), an idea in tune with the statement of Jesus: "You are my friends if do what I command "(John 15:14).

Becoming identified also as one of the pillars of the nascent movement, James is part of the making of what might be called today as the first church manual.  Ten years have passed since the deliberate inclusion of the Gentiles to the Christian movement, which certainly presents several challenges that threaten the unity of the movement.  Moreover, none of the books of what we now call the New Testament have been written yet, so the first indications are simple and basic. The requirement is disassociation from paganism, and association with Scriptures (Acts 15: 20-21).

The study of the ministry and contribution of James today allows us to have a broader vision, in addition to the writings of the other apostles, of the privileges and responsibilities of Christians in the context of the daily and practical life of my church.