October: Day 23: Teaching 2: Holy Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord

October: Day 23: Teaching 2:
Holy Apostle James, the Brother of the Lord

(Lessons To Follow: 
a. A Christian Should Never Betray the Truth, and 
b. Should Love His Enemies According to the Commandment of Jesus Christ)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. The Holy Apostle James, celebrated today in ecclesiastical hymns and readings, was the son of Joseph the betrothed by his first wife and is therefore called the Brother of the Lord. According to tradition, James accompanied the Most Holy Theotokos when She and Joseph, at God's command, fled to Egypt to save the Divine Infant from Herod's malice. From his youth, Saint James loved a strict, pious life. Rejecting all carnal pleasures and relaxation, he ate neither wine nor meat, did not cut his hair, did not go to the bathhouse, did not anoint his body with oil, and wore no soft clothing, but a sharp hair shirt. He struggled so fervently in prayer that from frequent genuflections, the skin on his knees became rough as that of a camel. For such a virtuous life, James enjoyed such great respect among the Jews and their leaders that he alone was granted permission by the high priest to enter the Holy of Holies — the inner chamber of the Temple where Saint James retired for prayer. He was known to all the people as the righteous one. 

Saint James enjoyed even greater veneration in the early Christian community. He was the Primate, that is, the Bishop, of the Church of Jerusalem, and a multitude of people always gathered around him, not only to hear his words but also to touch the hem of his garment. The success of his preaching about Christ aroused the attention and envy of the Jewish leaders, who plotted to destroy him. To this end, taking advantage of the absence of the Roman governor in Jerusalem, the enemies of the Christian faith surrounded Saint James. They saw Saint James in the Temple and asked him, in the presence of all the people gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover feast, to solemnly confess before all that Christians were mistaken in believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. They forcibly carried the holy righteous man to the roof of the Temple so that all could hear his truthful word. But the enemies of Christ were greatly mistaken in their calculations: from the lips of the holy confessor of the Christian faith, they heard a fearless word about the divinity of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, before the entire host of Jews. 

"Why," cried Saint James in the hearing of all, "do you ask me about the Son of Man? He suffered, died, and rose again, and now sits in heaven at the right hand of God and will come again to earth to judge the living and the dead." Hearing such words, many believed in Christ and joyfully cried out, "Hosanna to the Son of David." The scribes and Pharisees said among themselves, "We have done wrong in giving Jesus such testimony from a man so esteemed by all." To dissuade people from believing this testimony with fear, they furiously attacked the righteous man and cast him from the rooftop, shouting, "Even the righteous man errs." Crushing from the fall, Saint James did not die immediately, but still had the strength to rise to his knees and offer a prayer for his enemies. Despite this, the enraged Jews hurled stones at him, and one of them, with a blow to the head, ended the life of the holy confessor and martyr of Christ. This occurred in the year 62 AD.

II. From the circumstances of the martyrdom of the Holy Apostle James, two lessons for our edification are revealed: never betray the truth and love your enemies.

a) Saint James did not betray the truth before the enemies of Jesus Christ, did not fear their malice, did not evade a direct answer, but, by virtue of his firm and highly moral character, gave a clear and decisive answer to those who questioned him about the truth. The scribes and Pharisees, who revered James as a righteous man, quickly changed their understanding of the righteous man and trampled upon truth and correctness, as soon as it became apparent that this truth was offensive to them and contrary to their prejudices. They killed the righteous man whom they had praised for his truthfulness just minutes earlier, but they were powerless to suppress God's truth. This truth, proclaimed about Jesus Christ by Saint James and countless other confessors of subsequent times, triumphed in the world, despite centuries of cruel persecution. 

Let this triumph of truth, brethren, be a living and effective incentive for us, in all our lives, not only to observe truth in word and deed, but also to fearlessly confess it before all. Today, we do not face the same struggle of confessing the truth to which members of the early Church of Christ were formerly called. But even now, many opportunities open before us to bear witness to the truth in the name of Jesus Christ and before His divine law, as enshrined in the Gospel. Thus, when called upon to testify in courts, when appointed to positions of judges and other figures of civil justice, when invited to cast our vote in public affairs, we, according to the duty of the Christian calling, must sacredly guard the truth and not betray it in any way out of self-interest or fear, being convinced that even if for the sake of preserving the truth we had to sacrifice something and even suffer, then this sacrifice is pleasing to God, beneficial for our neighbors, for the whole of society, whose happiness is exalted by the reign of truth among people.

b) May the example of the Holy Apostle James, who prayed for his enemies in his dying moments, and consequently loved them with Christian love, inspire us to love our enemies in a Christian way.

What does it mean to love one's enemies? To love one's enemies means to respect them as created in the image of God, as our brothers and sisters, as those redeemed by Jesus Christ, as people destined by the Lord God to the same eternal blessedness with us — to respect them, to harbor brotherly goodwill toward them, and therefore to show compassion for them in their lost state, to sincerely desire their conversion to God, to pray for their enlightenment and correction, to assist those who labor for their conversion, to forgive them for the offenses they have committed against us, to harbor no malice or hatred toward them, and to willingly assist them in their needs in any way we can. In general, the commandment to love one's enemies instills in us a sincere Christian goodwill toward them, as toward our brethren. This is what true love for one's enemies consists of!

Of course, we cannot deny that it is difficult to wish good to someone who wishes us harm; it is difficult to leave alone the good name of someone who slanders ours; it is especially difficult to do good to someone who does us harm, and to pray for the good of someone who seeks to destroy our good. But this is necessary. For "if I do not have love, I am nothing," says the Holy Apostle (1 Cor. 13:2). And he who does not love his enemies has no love for his neighbor!

So that we do not leave the commandment of love for our enemies unfulfilled, and fulfill it diligently, the Son of God encourages us to fulfill it with the most joyful promises, His own example, and a strong threat for failure to fulfill it.

1) The Lord promises forgiveness of sins to those who love their enemies: “If you forgive men their trespasses,” He said, “your Heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14).

2) Further, those who love their enemies, as the Lord assures, will receive the greatest reward - they will become sons of God.

For, having said: "Love your enemies," He immediately added: "And it shall be that your reward shall be great, and you shall be sons of the Most High: for He is good to the ungrateful and evil" (Luke 6:35). But if those who love their enemies are children of God, then, undoubtedly, they will be, according to the assurance of the Apostle, "heirs with God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17).

3) He who does not love his enemies will be subjected to terrible misfortune at the Last Judgment. Consequently, he will then be treated in the same way as, according to the Lord's words, the servant who was unmerciful to his debtor was treated. "The Lord was angry with him and delivered him over to the tormentors until he should pay all his debt" (Matthew 18:34).

III. Through the prayers of the Holy Apostle James, may God help us never to betray the truth and justice and to fulfill the holy and saving commandment of our Lord: to love our enemies, and thereby attract to ourselves the mercy and love of God.

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.