Apostle St. James – The Greater

James, the brother of John and son of Zebedee and Salome, is the most tantalizingly figures among the twelve. James is often styled the ‘the Greater’ (Jacobus Major) to mean older or taller, as he was first, called by Christ as His disciple, before Apostle James ‘the Less’, who was also probably shorter of stature and In all the list of Apostles, his name comes in the first three. James, (Heb. Yakob; Gk. Iakobos; a favorite name among the Jews) has his name mentioned before that of his brother John, because he was probably elder of the two. There is a difficulty in reconstructing a picture of James, as he never at any time appears apart from John. James and John in the Gospel story constitute an inseparable pair.  They belonged to Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee and were disciples of St John the Baptist.

James was a fisherman, son of a well to do fisherman, who had hired servants in his business (Mk. 1: 19-20). He too was called by Jesus, immediately after Peter and Andrew, along with his brother, when they left their nets and Father and followed Him. (Matthew 4:21). Peter, James, and John were among the earliest of Jesus’ disciples who had been with Him the longest (Luke 5:4–11). He along with peter and John constituted the ‘inner circle’, who were with Jesus on the most sacred occasions, James witnessed the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:37, Luke 8:51), the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2), and Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:33, Matthew 26:37). and the three witnessed Jesus’ greatest moments of glory and His darkest trials. They were His closest friends.

He and John were typically impulsive and quick-tempered Galileans and the violence of their temper earned them the title ‘Boanerges – sons of thunder. They were burning and impetuous in their evangelical zeal and severe in temper. The two brothers showed their fiery temperament against ‘a certain man casting out devils’ in the name of Christ (Lk. 9: 49).  They were also ambitious men who desired for themselves the leading places in the coming kingdom of Christ. James and John asked Jesus to let them sit, one at his right and one at his left, in his future glory (Mark 10:35–40), a favour that Jesus said was not his to grant.

James’s one appearance by himself is his martyrdom, which the N. T. story tells, in two brief verses: “now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hand to vex certain of the Church. And he killed James the brother of John with a sword (Acts 12: 1-2). Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the great, in A. D. 44 choose him as his first victim and James thus became the first of the apostles to gain the Crown of Martyrdom. According to tradition, we learn from Eusebius from the seventh book of Hypotyposes of Clement of Alexandria, that the accuser who led the Apostle to judgment was moved and begged James to forgive him. James said, “Peace be with thee” and kissed him. The accuser himself became a Christian and both were beheaded together.         

St James is depicted in iconography with the pilgrim’s staff and the scroll of the Gospel in hand, typical features of the travelling Apostle dedicated to the proclamation of the “Good News” and characteristics of the pilgrimage of Christian life.

The tradition asserts that James the greater, preached the Gospel in Spain and returned to Judea, where Herod put him to death in AD 44 (Acts 12: 2). King Herod did allow to bury the body of James in Jerusalem, so after the execution, Hermogenes and Philetus embarked with the body on a ship to Joppa. They slept of on board and woke up to find the ship on the coast of Spain. They came to land on a place called Iria Flavia, today called as El Padron, north west of Spain. For some time, the body lay there, and many wonderful miracles happened there.

According to another legend, his body, along with his followers, sailed to the Iberian Peninsula on a rudderless ship with no sail. Landing on the northwest coast of the peninsula they proceeded up the River Ulla to land at Iria Flavia, (modern-day Padron). The Celtic Queen Lupia ruled these lands, and when asked by James’ followers if they could bury his body she refused and sent troops after them. While chasing the followers of James with his body across a bridge, it collapsed, killing her troops. Queen Lupia then converted to Christianity and provided an ox and cart for the followers of James to transport the body. Unsure of where they should bury the sacred remains, his followers prayed on this and decided to let the ox continue until it chose a place to rest. After pausing at a stream the ox finally came to rest under an oak tree at the top of a hill. It’s here that the Cathedral of Santiago stands today.

Later in the 9^th century, King Alphonso the Chaste took the relics to Compostella where it still lies. And this place became one of the most famous places of pilgrimage of the world. Interestingly the name Compostella is probably derived from a Spanish phrase, ‘Giacomo Postola’ -James the Apostle.  It is said that Virgin Mary had appeared to James while in Spain to strengthen him and to encourage. So, to this day there is an image of the Virgin, before which hundred lamps are kept ever burning. He is pictured in Spain, carrying a pilgrim’s staff, with water gourd.  Another tradition says that his head is buried under the altar, marked by a piece of red marble, and surrounded by six votive lamps, in St. James Church (Armenian), Jerusalem. It is located to the left of the sanctuary, is the traditional place where he was martyred, when King Agrippa ordered him to be beheaded. Only the rest of the body was taken to Spain. St James, or St lago with the Spanish form of his name, is also the great military patron of Spain. His mission to defend the Christian Church against invaders actually occurred after his death.

St. James was clearly a man of both courage and forgiveness, from the fact that he became the first martyr among the apostles and forms the one reasonably attached tradition about his courage and his forgiveness won even his prosecutor to Christian faith. He was equally a man without jealousy. He and his brother, John were men of quite extraordinary faith, form the fact that they came with their requests to Jesus for place in His kingdom. This can be taken as examples of divine optimism and victorious faith. Even in those hopeless and disastrous preaching of Jesus, James and John never doubted that Jesus Christ is the King.  Most interestingly both of them drank the cup of Christ. One through martyrdom swiftly, suddenly by the sword and the other by living a long life of fidelity to Christ.  We observe his feast day on May 1^st and the Catholic Church observes on July 25.