Monday in the Seventeenth Week of Ordinary Time, July 25, 2022

The Feast of St. James the Greater

Matthew 20, 20-28

The mother of the sons of Zebedee approached Jesus with her sons and did him homage, wishing to ask him for something. He said to her, “What do you wish?” She answered him, “Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your Kingdom.” Jesus said in reply, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?” They said to him, “We can.” He replied, “My chalice you will indeed drink, but to sit at my right and at my left, this is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus summoned them and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Comparing the lists of the women who followed the Lord Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John, we find that the name of the mother of James and John, the wife of Zebedee, was Salome.  The ancient Syriac translation of the Gospels can be read so that Salome, in the lists, is seen to be the sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This would go far in explaining why, for instance, the Lord entrusted his Mother to the Apostle John: John would have been the Lord’s nephew, in this case.  It might also explain why the Lord chose James and John to be his Apostles — they were already family members, as was the James (so-called “the Lesser”, the son of Alphaeus) who was known as “the brother of the Lord.  However, the Greek text does not allow for this interpretation.  It is not clear when this James was first called “the Greater”, but it does seem to go back practically to Apostolic times.  The term is thought to be used to distinguish him from the other James, but it might also have indicated that he was taller, or, since he was already known as James the son of Zebedee, it might have been used to show that he was older than his brother John.  This does appear to be true in that whenever the two Apostles are named, James is named first.

The Zebedee family seems to have been fairly wealthy due to the fact that Mark 1, 20 discloses that Zebedee engaged hired men to assist him in his fishing business, which also indicates the large size of his boat.  In addition, his wife Salome is reported to have been one of the women who provided for the Lord and his Apostles (cf. Matthew 27, 55).  James and John may have still been comparative youths when the Lord called them since we find their mother amongst his followers and since she spoke on their behalf, as we find in today’s Gospel Reading.  Certainly their impetuosity got the them the nickname “the sons of thunder” from the Lord.  This impetuosity shines forth in Luke 9, 54 when the young men ask Jesus if he wants them to call down the wrath of God on a village which refused them entrance.  The Lord included James as a witness when he raised the daughter of Jairus and when he was transfigured, among other events.  This may be accounted to the Lord’s favor for his zeal or because the Lord wanted John to see these things and included his brother James so as not to give reason for jealousy between them.

James was the first of the Apostles to die for the Lord, as we read in Acts 12, 1-2.  He was arrested by order of Herod Agrippa, who wanted to curry favor with the Jewish leaders, who were persecuting the Church out of their hatred for the Lord Jesus.  This occurred in the year 44 A.D. 

In the early Middle Ages the belief was current that St. James had preached in Spain and that after his martyrdom in Jerusalem his body was miraculously transported there,  later to be brought to the city of Compostela, where a shrine was built for it.  It became an important site of  pilgrimages during the Middle Ages and remains so today.  Early Church historians such as Eusebius are silent on this matter, however.

We might wonder why Herod chose to arrest James rather than Peter or John or James the Son of Alphaeus, already recognized leaders of the early Church.  It may have been his great zeal for the Gospel which had earned the notice of Jesus.  Truly unafraid and even eager to drink the Lord’s chalice, he did come to his right hand in heaven, ahead of all the other Apostles.  Through the grace of God we may imitate his zeal through our constant prayers for the conversion of the world and in our readiness to speak the truth about the Lord Jesus.