I’m currently preparing a sermon from the epistle of Jude for this coming Sunday. Every time I read Jude (and I read it often because it is one of my favorites) I am always blown away by the humility he expresses. That humility might be easily missed if you don’t realize who Jude is. After all this letter is full of rather harsh judgments so what is humble about Jude? Well, for one, Jude identifies himself in the very first verse in this way:
“Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James”
An obvious question at this point would be ‘who is James?’ That was not an uncommon name in the first century and in that geographical area. The fact that Jude identifies himself simply as the brother of James suggests that the original audience knew exactly what James was in mind and he was important. The James he was referring to would have a status that obviously elevates him in the reader’s mind above their neighbor or cousin also named James. This is THE James that Jude is saying he is brother of. Kind of sounds braggy, right? Yet I am saying he is humble? Keep reading.
In the first century Christian world who was THE James? There are three primary candidates. One is James, the brother of John (both of whom were sons of Zebedee) who was one of the original 12 apostles. Another is James, son of Alphaeus, who was also one of the original 12 apostles. (c.f. 10:2-3). The final candidate is James, the brother of the Lord Jesus himself (c.f. Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3; Galatians 1:19).
As to the first two candidates, between the two of them, the first would be much more likely than the second. Why? Because James the brother of John is a much more prominent figure in the Gospels whereas James the son of Alphaeus is not mentioned much at all. Peter, James and John form the inner circle that Jesus kept closest to him during his earthly ministry. It was they who were with him on the mount of transfiguration (c.f. Matthew 17:1-2) and it was they who were with him when he was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane (c.f. Matthew 26:36-37). Indeed this trio, Peter, James and John, is seen all throughout the Gospel accounts as receiving more time and attention from Jesus (Mark 5:37; 13:13; Luke 8:51, etc.).* By comparison, James the son of Alphaeus is hardly mentioned.**
That being the case the most reasonable inference is that James the brother of John is much more likely to be the James whom Jude is saying is his brother rather than James the son of Alphaeus. But, alas, this is still not likely when compared to our third candidate, James the brother of the Lord Jesus.
The first reason is because James, the brother of John, dies early in the church’s story. He is, in fact, the first of the apostle to be martyred. Acts 12:1-13 informs us:
“About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread.”
So then the likely choice between the two apostles named James died early on in the church’s history. This makes him less likely to be the one Jude calls his brother because the implication of Jude’s letter is that James is someone the people know, not used to know. The dating of Jude’s epistle is challenging but most scholars agree it is no earlier than 67 A.D. and may be as late as 80 A.D. Regardless of where it fits into that spectrum it is a significant amount of time since the passing of James the brother of John which makes Jude’s identification of this James as his brother very unlikely. Especially since Jude would then be able to say he is also the brother of the apostle John who would have still been living and well known.
So then Jude’s brother James is not likely the son of Alphaeus because he is a more marginal figure in the church and New Testament Scriptures. Furthermore he is unlikely to be James the brother of John who would have been long since martyred before Jude wrote his letter and he could have mentioned John instead would also have been his brother and who was still living at the time. So this leaves us with James the brother of Jesus as the most likely candidate.
James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, is not only the best candidate by process of elimination, however. There is also strong positive evidence for him being Jude’s brother. First there is the fact that Jesus’ family is identified in Matthew 13:55-56. Let’s look:
“Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
In this text not only do we see James mentioned as one of Jesus’ brothers but also Joseph, Simon and… Judas. Judas from which the name Jude is derived from! So we now have evidence that Jesus has a brother named James and also a brother named Jude.
We ought to mention more about this James because he undergoes a radical shift in his life. James did not believe in his brother Jesus as the Messiah, not at first. John 7:5 tells us “For not even his brothers believed in him.” Elsewhere we see that Jesus’ family thinks he has gone mad and they try to lay hold of him (Mark 3:21). And yet we see in Galatians 1:19, years later, that Paul speaks of James being among the Jerusalem apostles. It is in connection with this that we see James, the Lord’s brother, is the same James who is a prominent leader in the Jerusalem church. In Acts 15 this James exercises considerable sway in the debate over circumcision and gentiles becoming Christians. As a leader in the church at Jerusalem, the birthplace of the church, James would be a figure that many Christians would know by name. He is a very fitting candidate for Jude’s brother on that front. THE James is James the leader of the church in Jerusalem, the brother of the Lord Jesus himself.
What was it that took James from an unbeliever who thought his brother had lost his mind and formed a ‘messiah complex’ to being a believer who held a very important role in the early church? The answer is clear in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”
The text separately mentions an appearance of the risen Lord to James. Not James the brother of John or James the son of Alphaeus, for they are numbered with the 12 whom Jesus already appeared to. But James, Jesus’ own brother. And as a result we see in Acts 1:12-14 this:
“Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.”
The same family who thought Jesus was crazy, the same brothers who didn’t believe in him, are there with the 120 in the upper room, in one accord with the believers, when the Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost.
The fact is that the death and resurrection of Jesus made a believer out of his own family. James in particular was clearly impacted and had a first hand encounter with his brother as the risen Lord. It is what led to him being a leader in the church. It was what led to his writing of the epistle bearing his name where he introduces himself as “James, a slave of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” He doesn’t even feel worthy of mentioning that Jesus is his brother but he humbles himself as a slave of Jesus. Jude follows suit. He too is a slave to Jesus, his own brother. He does not feel worthy to address him so informally as his brother but he is willing to call James his brother.
Can you imagine what would have to happen in your life to where you would with full sincerity call your sibling your master and Lord? That you would say of yourself you are their slave? Imagine having your brother saying that he is the God of all creation, sovereign over the things of heaven and earth. You would think he was mad too. You wouldn’t believe him either. But something convinced James and Jude that their brother was indeed God in flesh and that they were his slaves. That something was his public execution and public resurrection.
So everytime I read Jude (or James) I am taken back by the humility expressed. It is entirely appropriate, of course, but almost unbelievable. Only the resurrection of Christ makes sense out of it all.
*This might be seen as Jesus playing favorites but there an alternative to this. First these three may have been in the most need of Jesus spiritual guidance because they were the most susceptible to fall. James and John are nicknamed “the sons of thunder” by Jesus because they were quick to want to call down fire on unbelievers (the nickname proves Jesus was funny by the way). Peter, as we know, whacked a guy’s ear off in the garden of Gethsemane and denied Jesus three times. So it may not be the case that Jesus was playing favorites at all but that certain students need more help and personal attention than others.
However, even if it is the case that Jesus was closer to these three than the rest of the 12, so what? Do not most people experience a closer bond with some friends than others? Jesus may have found their close companionship more comfortable that he did some of the others. That is no sin.
**James the brother of John is often called James the Great whereas James the son of Alphaeus is often called James the Less or James the Younger.
