Christian Martyr - James the Apostle***By Clicking Here*** Now when it comes to James - know that he was the older brother to John the Apostle. He would also be the first recorded Christian martyr from within the disciple group of Jesus' inner circle of twelve.
And when it comes to Jesus' inner circle of twelve, know that James along with his brother John - was given the honor of being one of the first of three to be called by Christ. Jesus would also give James and his brother John the surname - "The Sons Of Thunder.": "Going on from there, He [Jesus] saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. "He called them and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him." -- Matthew 4:21,22 Because of this, James was fortunate to be one of those who was able to witness Christ's ministry first hand and up close. Now when it came to those important events James had witness, when Peter had doubted Jesus at the Lake of Gennesaret. This would be the time that Peter had given up on being able to catch any fish for the day, after they had already (to no avail) spent most of the day already trying. This might not seem important to most, but we must keep in mind that Peter was considered an expert when it came to fishing, and because of this expertise, you would think that Peter would know what he was talking about? But Peter was limited when it came to his knowledge, understanding and abilities. And he definitely wasn't divine like Jesus. Be that as it may, Jesus had told Peter to go out in deep water and laid down their nets. And when Peter had did this he'd caught so many fish that the nets began to break: "But Simon answered and said to Him [Jesus], 'Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.' And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. "When Simon Peter saw it , he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!' For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, 'Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.'" -- Luke 5:5-10 James would also witness when Jesus had healed Peter's mother-in-law from a very high fever she was experiencing. (To read more about this, go to: Mark 1:29-32) He would also witness when Jesus had raised Jairus' daughter up from the dead, for the Scriptures would inform us that Jarius was a synagogue ruler who's daughter had just died. Jesus would go and visit the girl's body and shortly after, told the people that was gathered inside the house that she wasn't dead. When they had heard this, they laughed at him and because of this, Jesus put the unbelievers out of the house and raised the twelve year old girl up from the dead. (To read more about this, go to: Mark 5:21-43) James would also witness the transfiguration of Jesus that took place on the top of a very high mountain. He saw how Jesus was transfigured, in which He had a meeting with both Moses and Elijah: "Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He [Jesus] was transfigured before them. His clothes became shining, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus." -- Mark 9:2-4 James would also witness the time when Jesus appeared at the "Sea of Tiberias" after God had resurrected Him from the crucifixion he had suffered at the hands of the Romans: "After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together." -- John 21:1,2 We would also learn from the Scriptures that James himself was a powerful preacher. And because of this, we are lead to believe that perhaps, on different occasions, it's a possibility that he'd provoked "Herod Agrippa the First" and his royal administration that ruled during James' time - from time-to-time? Now if this was the case, this would have placed James in constant trouble and danger when it came to Agrippa, just like John the Baptist had done before him. A famous writer that goes by the name Clemens Alexandrinus once wrote about how James the Apostle had died. Alexandrinus commented on how James state of mind was while he was being led to his execution. Alexandrinus wrote about how James had shown extraordinary courage. He pointed out that James was so brave that he had impressed one of the guards to such a degree, that the guard had fallen on his knees and ask James for forgiveness and confessed that he too, was a Christian. The guard had also made the remark that James should not die alone, and so it was with that request and discovery about the guard's faith, that both James and the guard was beheaded by the sword that very same day. I would also like to point out that the Romans looked at this type of death as disgraceful. They thought it was more honorable to be beheaded by an axe - instead of the sword? By James being beheaded by the sword, strongly indicates that it was probably a verbal order from Agrippa that insisted that James was to suffer an immediate death. The Scriptures would later confirm, that when Agrippa, had saw that the beheading of James had pleased the Jews, he would soon give the command that Peter the Apostle was to be taken and to be thrown into prison during the "Feast of Unleavened Bread." I wish it was more information on this particular account that deals with the martyrdom of James the apostle. But unfortunately it's not, well at least, what's available to me. But even with this short explanation, we can well see, that the early Christians were so aware of the truth of the Gospel that they were willing to die for it.
2) <-CURRENT - CHRISTIAN MARTYR - PAGE-> 7) John Rogers
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