While Paul is an interesting conversion (see yesterday’s post), James seems to be even more so.
James is believed to the the eldest sibling born to Mary and Joseph after Jesus’ miraculous birth. This makes him the half-brother of Jesus. Think how difficult it would be for you, if you have siblings, to believe that one of them is God incarnate. Something truly significant must have happened to move James from being a skeptic to a believer and leader of the Christian church in Jerusalem to eventual martyrdom.
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Enemy Affirmation
Josephus mentions the death of James and the fallout that occurred from it as well. However, there are conflicting stories on the manner in which James died. Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria (both quoted by Eusebius since their works no longer exist) say that James was thrown from the top of the temple and then beaten to death. Either way, this speaks to his willingness to be a martyr for his belief that his half-brother rose from the dead and the earliest testimony of this comes from Josephus, not a friend of the Christians.
Embarrassing Testimony
The first leader of the Christian church was someone who was a relative and a pronounced skeptic of Jesus. We see in several passages (Mark 3:21, 31; 6:3-4; John 7:5) where James and his other siblings thought Jesus had lost his mind, was out of his senses, and were definitely in disbelief over his claims. Essentially, they thought he was crazy. From a devout Jewish family living in a very small, rural place like Nazareth, they would have been an embarrassment to their local community for the things that Jesus was saying along with the stigma the family would have carried because Jesus did not have an earthly father. All these things would have made it difficult for the brothers, particularly James, to accept Jesus’ claims. But something caused him to embrace his brothers teachings and claims because he became the leader of the Christian church in Jerusalem and a martyr for his belief. That means he was willing to die for believing that his brother was who he claimed to be and for preaching the resurrection.
Early Testimony
We have early testimony from Paul that he met with the leaders in Jerusalem to ensure that what he was preaching among the Gentiles was the Gospel. John, Peter, and James confirmed his message was accurate and they all commended him to continue in his work.
The only reasonable explanation for James leading the church, being a pillar in the Christian community, and dying a martyr’s death is that he actually had an encounter with his risen half-brother at some point. In fact, in the creedal statement of 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, this is precisely what we are told happened – Jesus appeared to James. Seeing your dead sibling return to life and appear to you is fairly significant; significant enough to cause him to go from skeptic to believer and leader.