Quick Facts:
Born: Unknown, most probably in Nazareth in the region of Galilee.
Died: 62 AD by stoning in Jerusalem
Mother: Mary
Father: Presumed to have been Joseph
Brother: Jesus of Nazareth, Joses, Judas and Simon.
Cousin: John the Baptist
Job: Head of the Jerusalem church
Because James's birth date is unknown it is hard to say when He was born, due to the lack of mention of the fellow he most likely was born after Jesus. During Jesus's ministry James seems to have agreed that the large crowds that Jesus allowing large to follow Him meant that He was out of His mind. When James along with his other brothers come to visit Jesus they're not immediately brought in to see Him, instead when Jesus is told that His mother and brothers are looking for Him He asks“Who are my mother and my brothers?” Then He says "Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
Despite what may have been a difficult relationship between the Jesus and James, James does come to believe that his Brother rose from the dead after "Jesus appeared to Him." He becomes the head of the church of Jerusalem and sometime before 50 AD wrote a letter to the Twelve Tribes scattered among the nations. The letter, (which was included in the Christian New Testament) opening line reads "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ." It is therefore clear at this point that James regards his Brother as both Lord and the Anointed One of God.
His letter can be read here and it won't be gone through it detail on this page. It is worth noting however that James is very much in agreement with Jesus's teachings. The best example is the direct parallel between Jesus's teaching on vows which He seems to have based off of Ecclesiastes 5:5 which reads:
"It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it."-Ecclesiastes 5:5
Jesus goes so far as to say:
"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill to the Lord the vows you have made.’ But I tell you, do not swear an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. All you need to say is simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one"-Matthew 5:33-37
James repeats Jesus's teaching in no uncertain terms:
"Above all, my brothers and sisters, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. All you need to say is a simple “Yes” or “No.” Otherwise you will be condemned."-James 5:12
In around 50 AD the Christian community runs into a problem: Gentiles are coming into the church and some Jewish believers insist they must first become Jews than have faith in Jesus to be saved. This issue brings Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem for what has become known as The First Jerusalem Council.
After listening to Paul and Barnabas describe the Salvation of certain gentiles James is the first one to speak up:
“Brothers, listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:
“‘After this I will return
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’—
things known from long ago.
and rebuild David’s fallen tent.
Its ruins I will rebuild,
and I will restore it,
that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
even all the Gentiles who bear my name,
says the Lord, who does these things’—
things known from long ago.
“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
The Council agreed to send the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
James is thought to have continued to remain the head of Jerusalem church for more than a decade until 62 AD when the Ananus (Jewish High Priest of Jerusalem) Ananus had James along with others stoned to death for a violation of the Law. According to the first century Jewish historian Josephus "as for those who seemed the most equitable of the citizens, and such as were the most uneasy at the breach of the laws, they disliked what was done; they also sent to the king, desiring him to send to Ananus that he should act so no more, for that what he had already done was not to be justified; nay, some of them went also to meet Albinus, as he was upon his journey from Alexandria, and informed him that it was not lawful for Ananus to assemble a sanhedrin without his consent."
Ananus lost his position and James is still viewed with high regard to this day.
3 BC-20 AD: James is born
33-34 AD: James sees Jesus alive and becomes a Believer
50 AD: James is very influential at the Jerusalem Council
62 AD: James is stoned to death.
Sources:
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