LIFE LESSONS
JAMES, THE GREATER
DR. JIM DIXON
MARK 10:35-45
DECEMBER 5, 2004
On December 10, 1945 I was born at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital in Hollywood, California. My mom and dad named me James. At that time the name James was very popular, and in fact through the Christian era, throughout Christian history, the name James, amongst Christian people, has always been popular because in the Bible, in the New Testament, there were three followers of Christ whose names were James. One was James, the son of Joseph, the brother of Jesus and he came to head the Jerusalem Church. Then there were two other people named James who were amongst the twelve disciples. There was James, the son of Alpheus, and James, the son of Zebedee. Today we focus on James, the son of Zebedee, who was also called James the Greater. From his life we have two life lessons this morning. The first life lesson concerns the relationship between privilege and responsibility. With privilege comes great responsibility.
James, the son of Zebedee, was a man of privilege. There’s no doubt about that. His father Zebedee owned a very successful fishing business in the region of Galilee on the Sea of Galilee. He had boats and servants. Of course, James and his brother John worked in that fishing business as did Peter and Andrew. They worked in the fishing business of Zebedee, a relatively wealthy family, privileged with regard to wealth. James was also privileged with regard to gender and birth. He was the first-born son. In that patriarchal time in the Jewish world, there was no one more prominent than the first-born son. The first-born son was given a double portion of the inheritance, so James would receive, as the older brother and the first-born son, a double portion of the inheritance, twice what John would get. No matter how many sisters they might have had, this double portion would come to James.
Also, the family authority would pass supremely to him because he was the first-born son and so he was, by gender and birth, a man of privilege with regard to wealth and authority. He also was a man of privilege perhaps even in his size, in his physical stature. We said there were two guys named James amongst the disciples. One of them was James, the son of Alpheus. The Bible calls him James the Lesser. Of course, James, the son of Zebedee, our James for today, was oftentimes called James the Greater. And why?
Bible scholars know that these Greek words often have to do with size. It’s very possible that James the Less was relatively small and James the Greater was kind of large. He might have been very tall, kind of imposing in his physical stature. He was in every way a man of privilege. Of course, he was a man of privilege with regard to divine election. Everyone who came to Jesus Christ was received and welcomed by Christ but only a few were asked to come and dwell with Him and to follow Him and to follow Him and have dinner around the fire every night for three years. Only twelve were so privileged and James was one of those twelve. Even amongst the twelve, James, the son of Zebedee, was privileged because he was one of the three. He was one of the three in the innermost circle that surrounded Christ. So, in Matthew, chapter 17, when Jesus goes up on the Mount of Transfiguration to be manifested in His heavenly glory, He doesn’t take the twelve with Him. He only takes the three. He takes Peter, James and John. Then in Mark’s Gospel, the 5th chapter, when Jesus goes to the house of Jairus, the Ruler of the Synagogue, to resurrect his daughter from the dead, Jesus doesn’t take the twelve. He only takes the three. He takes Peter, James and John.
When Jesus goes into Gethsemane for this agony the night before He went to the cross, He didn’t take the twelve deep into the garden. He only took the three to the center of the garden, Peter, James and John. James was a man of privilege but be wanted greater privilege. The privilege that was his was not enough, and so in our passage of scripture for today, James comes with his brother John and they approach Jesus. They say, “Rabbi, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you, carte blanche.” Jesus had to smile at that. Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Grant that we may sit one at Your right hand and one at Your left in your glory when You come into Your kingdom.” Maybe they were thinking of the life beyond this life. Maybe they were thinking of heaven or maybe they thought that Jesus was about to throw off the shackles of Rome and establish the Millennial Kingdom, but they wanted the second and the third greatest positions of power, to be at the right hand and the left hand of the Son of God. Incredible.
Maybe they thought they were entitled. We know from the Bible that the mother of James and John was Salome. When you compare Matthew 27 and John 19, it seems possible that Salome was actually the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This would have meant that James and John were first cousins to Jesus and that Mary, the mother of Jesus was their aunt. Maybe they thought they really were in a position of privilege in every sense and they were somehow entitled; they had entitlement. Of course, Jesus, in Luke, chapter 12, said to all the twelve… He said to the disciples, “To whom much is given, much is required.” That’s what Jesus wanted James, the son of Zebedee to know. He was a man of privilege but “to whom much is given, much is required.” Of course, that’s what Jesus wants us to know. That’s what Jesus wants you to know.
We can look back on our nation and on its founding. Of course, our nation was founded on July 4, 1776, and the founding fathers are often thought of as common men. They were not. We like to think that in a democracy, that the beauty of a democracy enables common people to rise to the top and it does, but the founders of our country, men and women, they were not common. They were people of wealth. They were rich. They were people of inordinate education. They came from prominent families with stature and status. They were the privileged but they understood something. They understood that with privilege comes responsibility, and they were willing to sacrifice their lives to establish a nation where all men and women might be free. And so, they pledged their lives and their fortunes. They pledged all that they had; their sacred honor, their lives and their fortunes, all of it, because they understood that with privilege came responsibility.
I hope you understand you’re privileged. I’m privileged. The moment we were born in the United States of America, we were privileged to be born in this nation with its civil liberties and with its relative wealth. Many of you live in Douglas County, and according to the most recent census, Douglas County is one of the wealthiest and most educated counties in the United States of America. Top ten counties in America. So, even amongst the people of this privileged nation, many of us are inordinately privileged. God looks down and He sees our privilege. Jesus looks at us, His people. He knows we’re privileged, and He says to us, “To whom much is given, much is required.”
I know that almost without exception we are citizens of the United States of America and we have the responsibility to serve this nation, but those of us who are Christians are also citizens of heaven and he kingdom of heaven. We have a higher citizenship and a higher call. We are responsible in the midst of our privilege to serve the Kingdom of Heaven and the Eternal church of Jesus Christ.
In 1964, when I was 18 years old, I went to the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, California to see the movie, “My Fair Lady,” starring Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison. The movie told the story of Eliza Doolittle. It won eight Academy Awards including the award for Best Picture. Of course, Eliza Doolittle was an impoverished cockney London bag lady whose future appeared to be very bleak. She seemingly had no talent or ability. She surely was destined for insignificance but she was transformed. She was transformed by a professor of phonetics and she was passed off as British aristocracy and she attained a potential that no one thought possible for her. That movie, “My Fair Lady,” was based on George Bernard Shaw’s play, “Pygmalion” and “Pygmalion,” Shaw’s play was based on the character of Pygmalion from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Of course, the word metamorphoses means “transformation.” The Bible has a lot to say about transformation.
Just two weeks ago, as we looked at Andrew and the subject of discipleship, we saw that Jesus wants to transform His disciples. He wants to transform us. We saw that He wants to transform our worldview. He wants to transform our personal character. He wants to transform our interpersonal relationships. He wants to transform our mission and purpose on earth. If He HAS transformed our mission and purpose on earth, then we live to grow the Kingdom of Heaven and serve the church of Jesus Christ.
One day we’re going to stand before Christ and give an account. It’s not just about your growth, but it’s about the growth of Christ’s kingdom. We’re going to have to give an account whether we’ve sought personal growth, yes, but whether we’ve really sought the growth of the kingdom and the cause of Jesus Christ on earth. In Matthew, chapter 25, Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents. Most of you know that parable. Jesus really was describing Himself when He spoke of the Master. He said there was a master who was about to go on a long journey and he summoned his servants and he entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents. To another, two talents. To another, one talent. Then he went away and said, “Trade with these ‘til I come again.”
Of course, I think it’s hard for most of us to understand the parable because we don’t understand the nature of a talent. A talent was an incredible sum of money. If it was a silver talent, then you have to understand it was equal to 20 to 30 years’ labor to the common person. The average person in Israel lived and died and never saw one silver talent. Of course, if it was a gold talent, it would have been equal to 400 years of labor. The day laborer never saw a gold talent or even a silver talent. And so, Jesus entrusted to one 5 talents, to another, two and to another, one. They all instantly became people of privilege. Every one of them instantly. They became people of privilege, but “to whom much is given, much is required.”
And so, the master comes back and they must give an account. I think the parable is sometimes misunderstood. A lot of people seem to think, “Well, these talents kind of represent our gifts and abilities and it’s all about becoming all that we can be, and when Jesus comes again, if He sees that we have become all that we could be, He’s going to be pleased. That’s not what the Parable of the Talents is about at all. It’s a parable of the kingdom. Go look at Matthew 25 contextually. It’s a parable of the kingdom and it’s all about whether you have done all that you can to make the Master all that He can be. If you’ve done all that you can to serve the cause of the Master. If you’ve increased the Master’s kingdom. That’s what the parable is about. And so, when Jesus comes back, it’s not going to just be whether we’ve grown but whether we’ve lived to grow His kingdom and whether we’ve lived to grow His church for He has said, “I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” So, you understand this. You understand that with privilege comes responsibility to the kingdom, and with privilege comes responsibility to the church.
It was Jesus who told the story of the Parable of the Rich Man and his Barns. Jesus said, “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully, and he said to himself, “What shall I do? I have no place in which to store my grain and my goods.” He said, “I’ll do this. I’ll tear down my barns and there I will build larger barns and there I will store my grain and my goods, and I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, take your ease. Eat, drink, be merry for you have ample goods laid up for many years.’” Jesus said, “But God will say to him, ‘You fool. This very day your soul is required of you and the things that you have accumulated, whose shall they be?’” And then Jesus said, “So, shall it be for everyone who is rich towards themselves and not rich towards God.” So, I know that God wants me to ask you today, “Are you rich towards God?” “Am I rich towards God?” It’s part of the responsibility of privilege.
I hope that all of you received this Christmas Journal called “The Gift of Joy.” We sent it out last week to all of our people. In this little book, this Gift of Joy, there are devotionals, devotional thoughts written by the staff and elders for every day of December, culminating with Christmas Day, December 25. I hope and pray that your Christmas this year will have joy. I hope you have more joy this Christmas than any Christmas before, but I also hope that this Christmas you will give with joy and that as you give with joy, you’ll also remember the church of Jesus Christ and you’ll remember this church.
Along with the Christmas Journal, I sent you a letter, and in the letter I told you that Cherry Hills Community Church wants to be always grateful and never satisfied. Always grateful and never satisfied. Always grateful because God has blessed us by His mercy and grace but never satisfied because there’s much more to do before Jesus comes again. Much more to do. We’re on a journey in ministry together as a church family and we’re seeking to minister in 65 nations of the world and we’re seeking to minister in the inner city through a variety of dynamic ministries for the poor. We’re seeking to minister right here in suburbia where Christ has placed us, and the needs are great. We’re seeking to build the Atrium and the needs are great. We need your gifts of joy because God loves, the Bible says, “a hilarious giver.” Hilarious in the Greek means “extravagant joy.” Somebody who gives with extravagant joy. That’s what God loves. So, I trust that you want to do that and that in the midst of your privilege, you want to be people of responsibility. As we are responsible, we’ll see the kingdom of Christ prosper here and spread all over the world. James understood this.
There’s a second life lesson from James, the son of Zebedee, and the second life lesson concerns the relationship between suffering and faith. We look at His life. We see the relationship between privilege and responsibility. We also see the relationship between suffering and faith. How about you? Maybe you’re suffering in some way. How does it affect your faith? When you suffer, does your faith grow? Does your faith become stronger? Or in the midst of suffering is your faith diminished? God wants us, in the midst of suffering, to go deeper. He wants our faith to grow.
Jesus made a strange statement to James, the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John. Jesus said, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink? Or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” James and John said, “We are able.” Jesus said, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism that I am baptized, you will be baptized.” Now, what’s that all about? What is Jesus talking about there? It’s all about suffering. The cup was a symbol of suffering. In fact, Jesus uses the cup in this way, in Mark’s Gospel the 14th chapter, where Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane in His agony and He cries out to the Father. “Father, if possible, remove this cup from Me.” It’s the cup of suffering. “If possible, remove this cup from me.”
Then in John, chapter 12, Jesus uses baptism to refer to His death, and He calls His death a baptism. Of course, in Romans, chapter 6, Paul says that we are baptized “unto Christ’s death.” The early church understood that in the midst of baptism when they went under the water, it represented dying with Christ. Going under the water, dying with Christ. Coming out of the water, rising with Christ. They understood that baptism was a commitment to the cost of discipleship and to a life that involves some suffering. It was all about suffering. And so, Jesus said to James and John, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink?” He wasn’t just saying, “Are you able to suffer?” Everybody is able to suffer whether they want to or not. That’s human reality. We’re all able to suffer, but Jesus was saying, “Are you able to suffer and keep the faith? Are you able to suffer for the faith and keep the faith as He Himself was.” James and John WERE able, and they did suffer and they did keep the faith.
We know from church tradition that John was incarcerated in Rome, that he was beaten and flogged, that he was ultimately banished to the Island of Patmos for his faith. We know that James ultimately died a martyr’s death. He was the first of the twelve to die a martyr’s death, and his death, his martyrdom, is described right here in the Bible in the Book of Acts, the 12th chapter.
It all goes back to Herod Agrippa. Do you know who Herod Agrippa was? Herod Agrippa was the grandson of Herod the Great. Herod Agrippa was educated in the city of Rome. As a child he had become a friend of Caligula who would ultimately become the debauched Emperor of Rome. Well, Herod Agrippa, as a young man, made a horrible mistake. He criticized the Emperor Tiberius for his policies, and Tiberius, this Emperor of Rome, threw Herod Agrippa in prison for an indefinite period of time. Six months later, Tiberius died and Caligula ascended the throne. The first thing Caligula did was release his childhood friend. Herod Agrippa was released from prison and Caligula made Herod Agrippa, Herod Agrippa I, the king of a vast land to the north and to the east of Galilee. That was in the year 39 AD.
Two years later in 41 AD, Caligula gave Galilee itself to Herod Agrippa I. Three years later Caligula died and it was Herod Agrippa who helped Claudius ascend the throne of Rome and become the Roman Emperor. Therefore, Claudius gave to Herod Agrippa Judea and Samaria. So, now Herod Agrippa had Judea, Samaria, Galilee, regions to the north and east. He had everything his grandfather had even had. He was literally the king of the Jews. But by blood he was not Jewish. He may have had a little bit of Jewish blood but he was Moabite. He was Arabian. Of course, his great-grandparents who were Adubian and Arabian—Adubian was just another word for a Moabite—had adopted the Jewish faith. Even though they were not by blood Jewish, the great-grandparents of Agrippa I had adopted the Jewish faith and so Herod Agrippa, through the generations, was nominally Jewish by faith, not by blood, and he wanted to please the Jews over which and over whom he was king. He wanted to please them. Since he wanted to please the Jews, he began to persecute Christians. Because he wanted to please the Jews in the 1st century, he began to persecute the church of Jesus Christ.
He summoned James, the son of Zebedee, that he might incarcerate him, convict him and kill him and this he did. He ran James through with a sword, perhaps beheading him. That death is described in Acts, chapter 12. But also in that chapter, Acts, chapter 12, we’re told that Herod Agrippa then ceased Peter and incarcerated Peter that he might be tried and executed. He bound Peter in chains, in double chains, and put four guard units securing Peter’s cell. The church prayed. We’re told in the latter portion of Acts, chapter 12, that the Angel of the Lord appeared. That must have been something. The cell opened, the chains fells off. They just walked past the four guard units and the gates of the prison opened and Peter was free. Do you want to know why? When you read that, don’t you ever want to know why? Why Peter and not James? Why didn’t God just do that a little bit earlier? Why didn’t he rescue James? Why did he rescue Peter? God is sovereign. We don’t know those things. We know this though. Suffering is part of the call of the Christian. It always has been.
We read the writings of the early church fathers, Tertullian of Carthage, Origin, Eusebius, Gaius of Rome. They all described the death of Peter himself. Peter of course was crucified upside down in the year AD 65 by order of Emperor Nero. Crucified upside down in the place that was then called Nero’s Circus. Of course, today the place of Peter’s death is commemorated by the Egyptian Obelisk that stands in the Piazza before the Basilica of St. Peter’s.
Those same early church fathers describe the death of Paul and how he died on the Ostian Way in the City of Rome by the decree of Nero in the year AD 65. He was beheaded there. Of course, today the Church of St. Paul stands on the very place where Paul was executed. What happened to James and Peter and Paul happened to all the disciples except for John who also suffered. Countless people in those first centuries suffered for Christ. Archeologists have discovered, as they have unearthed the region of Nero’s Circus, that it was a place of Christian genocide. Nero used to wrap Christian men and women and children in animal flesh and then while they were still alive, feed them to dogs for his amusement. At night he would roll Christians in tar and light them on fire as living torches and watch them scream until they died for his personal amusement.
On the Ostian Way where Paul was beheaded, archeologists tell us it became a place of crucifixion and the crosses just lined that street. Many of the people who died were Christians. Many historians today try to diminish the Roman persecution of the Christian church but the fact is that persecution drove the Christians into the Catacombs, underground. You might think, “Well, it all ended with the rise of Constantine or with the fall of the Roman Empire but that’s not true. Christian persecution continues today, unabated. According to Amnesty International and Freedom House, Christians are being persecuted in 87 nations today, documented cases. Christians are losing their jobs because they believe. They are being incarcerated, flogged and whipped and they’re being executed. More than a million Christians have been killed by radical Muslims, the radical Islamic government in the Sudan, unabated. The Bible says that we who believe are to remember them as though we are with them or really, in the meaning of the Greek, “as though we ARE them,” because we’re brothers and sisters in Christ.
Of course, we suffer too, and our suffering takes many forms. We suffer first of all as all people suffer because we live in a fallen world. There is cancer. There are car accidents. There are natural disasters. There are earthquakes. There are hurricanes. There is tragedy. There is suffering. Some of you have lost children. They’ve died in your womb and your dreams and hopes were dashed, your joy cut off. Some of you I know have lost a spouse who you loved, your wife, your husband, and you sleep alone and lonely now. You eat in solitude and the void can’t be filled by people. It’s your wife you miss. It’s your husband you miss. Life in this world is like that.
Then for us as Christians, there IS persecution as I have seen and described. There is persecution, and I think for us in America a kind of subtle persecution. Certainly, Christians are under attack today. Those who really believe are under attack by the entertainment industry, the academic elite. We’re under attack, I think, in many, many arenas but it’s all part of the suffering. Jesus said, “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.” Jesus said, “You will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.” Of course, our values are constantly being assaulted.
And then there’s the suffering that comes from the evil one because there is a reality to spiritual warfare and we do battle against principalities and powers of darkness. Satan comes against us with temptation and with deception and, yes, affliction. I don’t know what you’re going through. I’ve said this many times. I know what some of you are going through because I’ve talked to you. I don’t know what all of you are going through. You may be going through economic loss and economic hardship. You might be going through relational pain. You may have lost a loved one. You might be battling with some physical illness, but keep the faith and go deeper. Don’t let suffering diminish your faith. Don’t let it lessen your commitment. Keep the faith. That’s what Jesus said to the disciples. That’s what He says to us. “Be faithful unto death. I will give you the crown of life. You will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death.” That’s what Jesus would say to His people. Be faithful unto death.
Last Sunday night, like many of you, I watched the Denver Bronco game. They were playing the dreaded Oakland Raiders. Of course, they lost. It was a really hard loss. After the game I went out and I just started shoveling snow. We got almost a foot of snow at our house and I was just so frustrated I would have shoveled the whole cul-de-sac. But of course, it really doesn’t matter, does it? I mean, it’s just football. In the greater scope of things, in the greater scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter. It’s just football; not that important. Of course, today the Denver Broncos play the San Diego Chargers. Somehow they’ve managed to arrive at a “must win” situation. Marty Shottenheimer who coaches the San Diego Chargers has one thing he always says to his team as they play a home game as they will today at Volcom Field and that is, whether he says it to them in the locker room or out on the field, he gets the players together and he says to his Chargers, “Make this house our home.” That’s what he says to his players. Every home game, he gathers them together and he says, “Make this house our home.”
What does he mean by that? Surely he means, “No one should be able to come in here and beat us. Make this house our home.” I want to ask you today, “Where’s your home? I mean, when the service gets over, maybe you’re going to go out to lunch but you’ll go back to your house, right? Is that house your home? The Bible says, “No, not if you’re a Christian.” Well, maybe as Christians, this worship center is your home. This Bible says, “No.” Well, surely this planet, this globe we call earth, surely that’s our home. The Bible says, “No, not for Christians.” We’re aliens and exiles on the earth, strangers and sojourners in this world. We’re just passing through. Our real home is in heaven. The important thing is in this pilgrimage and this classroom, in this brief time to be faithful. Even in the midst of suffering, to be faithful, like James and the disciples were faithful even in the midst of suffering.
I know tonight some of you are going to be seeing that television movie called “The Five People You Meet In Heaven” by Mitch Albens. I’ve never seen the movie. I’ve never read the book. I’ve heard that it’s kind of theologically askew but emotionally effective. I know this. When you get to heaven, you’re going to meet a lot more than five people, and I know that only one is really going to matter and that one is Jesus Christ because the Bible says, “The Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son that all might honor the Son in the same way as they honor the Father.” So, we’re going to stand before Christ or fall. What does He want of us? He wants faith. He wants a living faith.
Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes again will He find faith on the earth?” Jesus is looking for faith, faith that is unquenchable, faith that will not die, faith that is never sated, faith that is never satisfied, faith that can’t be diminished by suffering or persecution of any form. He’s looking for faith; people who believe. He’s looking for people who, in the midst of their privilege, are willing to take responsibility for the service of His church and the service of His kingdom. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.