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James the Less James the Less James the son of Alphaeus is sometimes referred to as James the Less. Tradition says that after James was put to death, his body was sawn asunder to verify his death. THE FAITHFUL FEW possess. James the son of Alphaeus was no The gospel of John tells us that shortly exception. Though he is regarded as one of the after the feeding of the five thousand, a least mentioned of the Twelve, his faith and transformation among his followers began to perseverance was strong and unswerving. take place. They approached Jesus with the Though no words of his were ever recorded, his hope of being fed again through miraculous preaching was highly regarded by the master. means. Jesus, however, instead of providing another feeding of bread, told the crowd that he WHO WAS JAMES THE LESS? was the Bread of Life and that they should eat James the son of his flesh and drink his blood to realize eternal Alphaeus is always life. In other words, he was declaring himself mentioned toward the to be God, the Messiah, the Savior of all end of the listing of the people. This was not well accepted by many of Twelve. The only thing those who had been following him. “On we know of this man is hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a his name. His writing hard teaching. Who can accept it?’ Aware that and speaking are absent his disciples [the broader group of followers] in history. None of his were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, questions of the Savior ‘Does this offend you?. The words I have have been recorded. His spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet only claim to fame is his name found in the there are some of you who do not believe. .’ listing of the apostles. From this time many of his disciples turned The name James was common in New back and no longer followed him. ‘You do not Testament days. There were several mentioned want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the in the gospels. Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of ● James the Greater, son of Zebedee, was also eternal life’” (John 6:60-68). named as an apostle of Jesus. It’s sometimes hard for us to imagine the faithfulness and resilience that the chosen ● There was another James who was the son of twelve had. One thing that set these men apart Mary and Joseph, and therefore, a half-brother from many of Jesus’ followers was their of Jesus. (See Galatians 1:19). He is possibly steadfastness and perseverance. These men the same James who wrote the epistle of James. remained with their master for several years, witnessing “unusual” miracles, trying to digest ● James was also the father of the apostle “strange” teachings, and struggling with Judas/Thaddaeus/Labbaeus (Luke 6:16). unbelievers among their own people who spoke out openly against Jesus. Yet Jesus found in James the Less is said to be the son of these twelve men (with the exception of Judas) Alphaeus. (See Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; a strength that most could never hope to Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13). Mark 15:40 tells us of his mother as well. and teaching behind the scenes. Jesus never “Some women were watching [the burial of chose his followers on popularity, looks, or Jesus] from a distance. Among them were personality. Instead, he searched the hearts of Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James those he wanted, and chose his handful of the younger and of Joses, and Salome.” From twelve from all the rest. Each had a purpose. this statement we learn that his mother, Mary, Each had a mission. Each had a goal. In was also a faithful follower of the Savior. We reality, James the Less was always on the same also note that he had a brother named Joses. level as the rest. The name of James the Less is Nothing more is spoken of his brother. This also written on the walls of heaven. “The wall James is also referred to as the younger, or less. of the city had twelve foundations, and on them Many interpret this to mean that he was merely were the names of the twelve apostles of the younger than James, the son of Zebedee. Lamb” (Revelation 21:14). Another interesting question is whether this James, the son of Alphaeus, was also the WHAT BECAME OF JAMES THE LESS? brother of Matthew. “As he walked along, he Tradition says that James was asked to saw Levi [Matthew] son of Alphaeus sitting at renounce his faith, which he boldly refused to the tax collector’s booth” (Mark 2:14.) Were do. As a result, he was taken to the top of the perhaps these two men also brothers as were temple in Jerusalem and thrown to the ground. Peter and Andrew, James and John? That After surviving the fall, he was then stoned to question is never clearly answered, although it death, and finally his body was sawn into is likely that these two men merely had fathers pieces. Thus there is a saw represented in the who shared the same name. shield of James the Less, a great man about The obscurity of James is obvious. He is whom we know so little. the least mentioned of all the apostles. Yet that should never cause us to think that his work Discuss: Why did Jesus want apostles with many was less important or produced fewer results different personalities? What does that say about the than any of the other framers of the Christian Christian church? Assign a probable age to each of the apostles when they first began to follow Jesus. church. God’s church is built upon Christians of every status and nature. Some may be outspoken and be in the spotlight as did Peter ST. JAMES THE LESS’ DAY: and Paul. Others, however, did their preaching May 1 .
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