By Fr. George Dorbarakis
1. Saint James, the Brother of God, became the first bishop of Jerusalem. He was also the first to write the Divine Liturgy, as he had learned it from the Lord Himself. Saint Basil the Great subsequently shortened this liturgy, and after him the divine Chrysostom did likewise, because of human weakness. Since James shepherded the Church of Jerusalem and, through his teaching, brought many of the Jews and Gentiles to believe in the Lord, he provoked the anger of the Jews. They therefore seized him and threw him from the pinnacle of the Temple, thereby killing him.
The following account comes from Tradition concerning why he is called the Brother of God. When Joseph, who was betrothed to the Virgin, was distributing among the children of his first wife the land he possessed, he wished to give a portion also to the Son and God born of the Holy Virgin. The others who were regarded as His brothers refused to accept Him, but James took Him as a co-heir to his own portion. For this reason, he was called not only the Brother of God, but also the Just.
2. It was not long ago that we emphasized that the commemoration of a Holy Apostle, a disciple of the Lord, is a distinct event in the Church, because the Apostles were eyewitnesses of Him: they heard Him at close quarters, saw Him, observed Him attentively, touched Him, and breathed in His presence. The Lord entrusted them with the task of proclaiming His gospel throughout the world. To them He gave the authority “to forgive the sins of people,” and to them He gave the gift of Pentecost: the flame of the Holy Spirit. For this reason, the Apostles are the foundations of the Church, which is rightly called Apostolic. If an Apostle is so distinguished, then the Apostle James, known as the Brother of God, is equally — and even more — distinguished, precisely because he was one of those regarded as the Lord’s brothers. Thus, he was among those who did not merely associate with Him for three years, but for thirty years and more: they grew up together in the same family, all called Joseph “father,” ate at the same table, slept in the same place, worked together in Joseph’s workshop, and shared in the joys and sorrows of the entire family, such as the terrible event of their flight to Egypt. The life of Saint James was interwoven with the life of the Lord in His humanity. Apart from the Panagia and Joseph, who was regarded as His father, who could be considered closer to Him?
Although, at the beginning of the Lord’s public ministry, He was questioned and rejected by His own people, and consequently by James as well, later, in the face of the wonder of His divine person, His teaching, and His miracles, they believed in Him, accepted Him, and followed Him. Saint James even went so far as to give his life for Him. Thus, James, the Brother of God, was both a brother who had known Jesus in every respect according to His humanity and a disciple who had been initiated by Him into all the mysteries. For this reason, he enjoyed the honor and respect of the Lord’s own disciples. The Hymnographer of his service points this out more than once:
“Having become the brother of the Lord according to the flesh during His coming among us, O wise one, you were a disciple and eyewitness of the divine mysteries, having become a refugee with Him in Egypt, together with Joseph and the Mother of Jesus.”
“The assembly of the Apostles chose you to serve as the first priest in holy Zion for Christ the Benefactor, since you were His brother according to His birth in the flesh, His companion on the road, and a follower of His footsteps, O James.”
This great privilege of Saint James, greater than that of all the other Apostles, namely, to possess the distinction of being the Lord’s brother according to the flesh, in addition to being His brother in faith — “having become richer than all in this exceptional distinction, as the Brother of the Lord” — was not without its demands upon him. Saint James was conscious of the gift he had received from the Lord, and therefore he struggled daily to confirm the grace bestowed upon him through a life lived according to God.
“Having been allotted the privilege of being His brother and having shown a way of life that confirmed this title, we magnify you, O James.”
The reason for this was certainly that he had fully understood that the grace of God is indeed His gift, but if it is not put into practice as a life lived according to His will, it is lost and comes to nothing. In other words, what God gives to a person is given with the expectation that the person will assume responsibility and a mission for the benefit of his fellow human being. In fulfilling this mission, which confirms and increases the grace of God, a person may even give his life.
According to the hymns of our Church, Saint James’s initiation by the Lord into all the mysteries constitutes his acquisition of true Wisdom. Saint James was truly wise because he was taught by “the hypostatic Wisdom,” that is, Jesus Christ Himself. He is the Wisdom of God, offered to every person who believes in Him and desires in practice to follow His holy commandments. We are speaking, then, of a wisdom that is “from above, peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). Saint James set forth precisely this wisdom in his remarkable Catholic Epistle, which is a precious book of the New Testament. It is impossible for a believer to study this epistle without being moved to compunction, without being convicted, without being stirred to repentance, without being comforted, and without truly feeling the grace of God pouring into the heart like a ray of light.
“You set forth the practical theoria in a tablet, as though with a spiritual compass, and made people better,” the Hymnographer says.
That is to say, by writing a book that sets forth practical theoria like a spiritual compass, you made people better. The least we could therefore do today, on the feast of Saint James, is to read his epistle attentively. May it lead us to deeper repentance. This will be the finest memorial in his honor and a confirmation of his entire mission.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
