James the Apostle 25th July 2010

Matthew 20: 20 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him. 21 "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom." 22 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered.23 Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father." 24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave - 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

I learned this week of an Amazon app( application or software ) for the covetous.  You see something you want, take a photo, send it to Amazon on your iphone/ipad /blackberry via the app. It comes back with suggestions and you can buy it from amazon, get it the next day, and not have to pay for it now using your amazon credit card!

Mrs Zebedee wanted an "easy leadership" app.  She wanted her sons to have the top jobs in Jesus' kingdom.  They and Simon Peter were the favoured inner group. They got to see the good things like the Transfiguration and when Jairus' daughter was raised from death.

Perhaps Mrs Zebedee wanted them to be promoted above Simon Peter.  She, like many others, wrongly expected Jesus to bring in an earthly kingdom. To restore the nation of Israel.

Just as Jesus' renamed Simon Peter, meaning Rocky, he named James and John "Sons of Thunder," ( Mark 3:17) because they were sometimes brash and thoughtless.

Responding to the question, Jesus said "You don't know what you are asking".  This kingdom would be established by Jesus being betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. Condemned to death and given over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, verses 18f.

A place in Jesus kingdom will not be secured by getting your job application in before other, enraged disciples, perhaps jealous that they hadn't thought of it first.  It will not result in lording it over others.

Talking about himself Jesus said "28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Those who truly follow Jesus will have to face a similar way of service and sacrifice.  For many this will mean them losing their lives.

Many Christian today lose their lives because of their trust in Jesus.

Last Monday, 19th July, two young Christian brothers accused of blasphemy were shot dead by masked attackers as they left court in Faisalabad, Pakistan.  Brothers Rashid Emmanuel, a pastor, and Sajid Emmanuel, a graduate student, were killed as police were transporting them to jail.

On Thursday 15th July a Christian pastor died after being shot in the head as he was leaving church, in what is being seen as a bid to intimidate converts from Islam in the strongly Islamic republic of Dagestan.

Last month Afghan Christians in exile urged fellow-Christians around the world to help stop the Afghan government from arresting and executing Afghan Christians. Within Afghanistan a dramatic anti-Christian movement has erupted, in which Afghan media and politicians alike are calling for the death of converts from Islam, in line with Islamic sharia law.

Things haven't changed a lot since Mrs Zebedee.  People still want, and parts of the church try to give them, an "easy Christianity" app.  One that doesn't make demands or challenges.  One that is about making people feel better.  So we water down Jesus' teaching about holiness.  We let people believe that you measure worship by how it makes us feel, and not if God is glorified and honoured.  This is the result of the consumerist age we live in.  We should resist this and follow the example of Jesus through service and sacrifice.

In the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus transformed James and he, too, drank from the cup of suffering and death that Jesus talked about in verse 22.  James was executed by Herod Agrippa I about A.D. 44 (Acts 12:2), and was the first of the Twelve whose martyrdom was referred to in the NT.

Andrew died on a cross

Simon was crucified

Bartholomew was flayed alive

The other James (son of Alphaeus) was beaten to death

Thomas was run through with a lance

Matthias was stoned and then beheaded

Matthew was slain by the sword

Peter was crucified upside down

Thaddeus was shot to death with arrows

Philip was hanged

In contrast, James' brother John,  was the only disciple not to die a martyrs death.  He was transformed from being brash, thoughtless, intolerant and, perhaps, ambitious to being renown for his love and gentleness.

If we come to Jesus and ask him, his Spirit will transform us.  The Holy Spirit will give us all that we need to turn from following the ways of the world, and the leanings of our sinful nature, and to turn to Jesus. Imitating his example of sacrifice and service.

Don't ask what Jesus can do for you.

Ask what you can do for Jesus.