Day 246 – Luke: Character sketch of James
“His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.” Luke 5:10-11 NLT
Out of the 12 disciples, Jesus chose three unlikely characters to be witnesses to certain miracles and teachings. These inner three were made up of Peter (Simon), James, and John. Each eventually played a key role in the early church.
Aptly named the sons of thunder by Jesus, James and John were passionate about following Jesus and learning as much as they possibly could from the Messiah they shared life with. The fact that James is always mentioned before John in the Gospels indicates that he was the older brother.
James enjoyed being in the inner circle of Jesus’ disciples, but he misunderstood Jesus’ purpose. He and his brother even tried to secure their role in the Kingdom by asking Jesus to promise them each a special position. Like the other disciples, James had a limited view of what Jesus was doing on earth. What is clear is that he wanted to be with Jesus, he had found the right leader, even though he was still on the wrong timetable. It took Jesus’ death and resurrection to align his view with the Kingdom.
James was the first of the disciples to die for the gospel, and he did so knowing that Jesus had conquered death and opened the doorway to eternal life. Our expectations about eternity will be limited if this life is all we choose to see.
Life lessons from James’ life
James overcame his struggle with his temper and selfishness when he realise and accepted the bigger impact of Jesus’ life and ministry. Nothing is too high of a price to pay to follow Jesus, even our own lives.
Prayer: Father, thank You for showing us the different characters of the disciples so we can identify with them and learn from their strengths and weaknesses. It is refreshing to know that they were normal people too. Living and working and making their way through life. Through walking with Jesus, may we also shift our focus to the Kingdom and its eternal value. Amen.
