Saint James the Greater
Artist: Peter Paul Rubens (Flemish, 1577–1640)
Date: 1610-1612
Medium: Oil on panel
Collection: Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain
Saint James the Greater
Jesus had two disciples named James: James the son of Zebedee and James the son of Alphaeus. Another James, the half-brother of Jesus, was never one of the twelve disciples but was a leader in the early church of Jerusalem (Acts 15:13) and wrote the epistle of James. One of the Twelve, James the son of Alphaeus, is called James the Less (or the Younger) in Mark 15:40, where we also learn that his mother’s name was Mary.
When Jesus called James to follow Him, he was in a boat mending fishing nets with his father, Zebedee, and his brother, John. “[Jesus] called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him” (Matthew 4:21–22). From then on, James was in full-time ministry with Jesus.
James was one of Jesus’ “inner circle.” James, John, and Peter are frequently mentioned together as the only apostles to witness some of Jesus’ miracles: the raising of a young girl from the dead (Mark 5), for example. Jesus took James up a mountain along with Peter and John, where James saw Jesus’ transfiguration and watched Him talk with Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17:1–9). James, along with John, Peter, and Andrew, privately asked Jesus for clarity after He told the disciples the temple would be destroyed (Mark 13:2–3). Because of their desire to understand Jesus’ words better, the four received some prophetic words from their Lord regarding the near future and also the end times (Mark 13:5–37).
