James Reunited with His Brother and Lord

In yesterday’s podcast, we were remembering how the angel at the garden tombs stressed that the news of Jesus’ resurrection should be given not only to the disciples in general, but to Simon Peter in particular, and we were reflecting on the loving way Peter was singled out. But there’s more than one singling out in the resurrection narratives, isn’t there? Doubting Thomas is another one. But there’s someone else we might overlook.

Remember when Paul lists Jesus’ resurrection appearances in 1 Corinthians 15:3–8? He tells us that He appeared on one occasion to over five hundred disciples and that most of them were still alive—the implication being, I suppose, “You can go and ask them.” But then he adds, “Then he appeared to James.” No explanation, not even a clear indication of which James he was talking about, simply, “Then he appeared to James.”

So, who was this James that Paul knew? It’s pretty clear Paul assumed everybody knew who he was talking about. And by the way he words things, “To James, then to all the apostles,” I think he’s probably indicating that this James was not one of the original Apostles—so not James, the brother of John. That James had been killed by Herod, you remember, and the Corinthians would’ve heard of him as a martyr rather than as a contemporary. So, this James was still alive, and he was well-enough known for Paul to assume the Corinthians knew who he was. To get to the point, I think he was almost certainly James, the half-brother of the Lord Jesus, and probably the eldest of his half-brothers.

But why a special appearance to him? Now, the New Testament doesn’t directly tell us, but there seems to be a common thread running through our Lord’s appearance to individuals—Mary Magdalene, Simon Peter, James, Saul of Tarsus. We could put it this way: each of them had a past. I suppose each of them may have felt themselves, to use Paul’s words, the foremost of sinners. Perhaps then the explanation for this special appearance to James is found in John 7:5, “Not even his brothers believed in him.” And perhaps, since James was the eldest of the brothers, they all took their lead from him. I have the impression from the rest of the New Testament that, humanly speaking, he was a very impressive and indeed powerful and persuasive individual. So, it may well be that if James was to find his place in Christ’s purposes, the Lord needed to meet and speak to him personally and privately, as he did with Mary, and with Peter, and actually with Saul of Tarsus too.

But quite apart from that, there’s something here that’s very moving—it’s the loving concern that Jesus had for His own family. Part of me wishes we knew a lot more about them. They were brothers and sisters. But more important than knowing about them is learning about Jesus—His patience with them all when they misunderstood Him and didn’t yet fully trust Him; His special loving care in His dying moments for His mother, Mary, whose soul was being pierced by a sword, as the agent Simeon had prophesied; and now His appearance to James. What a tender love He has.

When we think about this, we should remember that He has put all of us who believe into the category of belonging to His own dearly loved family. Remember how He said: “‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” That’s Mark 3:33–34.

Remember that today. Think of the love that you have for your own family, imperfect though it is. Then think of the love Jesus had for His own family—absolutely perfect, completely constant, always faithful, even although it was sometimes sorely tried. And if you trust Him, then you belong to His family, and He loves you as a family member. He is the same today in His resurrection power as He was when He walked this earth, and He will be the same forever. And that’s surely one of the greatest of all the implications of the Easter message if you’re a member of the family.