Straight to the Heart

Easter was bad news for Mary’s son James. It meant his big brother had been right all along and he had been wrong. Nobody ever likes to admit that.

I’m a younger brother, so I know what it’s like to grow up in the shadow of a big brother, but it was nothing compared to James’ childhood as the younger half-brother of Jesus of Nazareth. Ever felt like you could never attain to the achievements of your brother or sister? Welcome to James’ everyday world. So it’s not all that surprising that James and his other brothers grew up resenting perfect Jesus. John 7:5 tells us that “even his own brothers did not believe in him.” Mark 3:21 tells us that they said “he is out of his mind” and did everything they could to distract him from his ministry.

All things considered, none of that was surprising. But what happened next was.

In the days immediately following the crucifixion of Jesus, his half-brother James performed a U-turn and became one of the most outspoken believers in Christianity. Acts 1:14 tells us that Jesus’ followers “all joined together constantly in prayer … with his brothers.” James had become so convinced that his half-brother was the Son of God that he had persuaded his other brothers to join him in worshipping Jesus as the Messiah. Something amazing had happened which made it very good news that his half-brother had been right and he had been wrong. For all the sudden turnaround, James couldn’t possibly have had a happier Easter.

Jesus had appeared to James after his death on the cross and after his body disappeared from a tomb guarded by a squad of soldiers. James’ close friend Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15 - “What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve … then he appeared to James.” The facts of Easter changed James’ life completely, and by God’s grace they can change ours too if we consider what he learned.

James found in Jesus’ resurrection complete proof that God had come to earth as a human being. James hadn’t been there in Matthew 12:38-42 when Jesus prophesied to his sceptics that he would die and rise again as irrefutable proof that his teachings were true. He simply heard what Jesus said and knew that all dead men stay dead unless God performs a mighty miracle. It’s really very silly when people say today that they don’t believe the Easter story because dead people don’t come back to life. James knew that as well as we do - but accepted God’s proof when he saw it.

James found in Jesus’ resurrection something worth living his whole life for. If his half-brother’s promises had been true that “I am the Life” and “I have come to give you life to the full”, then nothing in this world could compare to this New Life. James gave away his property to help the poor and became the overall leader of the church in Jerusalem. He led the church in that city for over twenty-five years, defying centuries of Jewish tradition because of his devotion to the risen Jesus. He led Sabbath worship services on Sunday instead of the Jewish Saturday, and stood up to the Jewish authorities by baptising new converts and serving communion as symbols of our death and resurrection with Christ. The rest of James’ life was dominated by one simple fact: He had seen the Lord Jesus risen again, and believed as a result that his Gospel was true.

Ultimately, James found in Jesus’ resurrection something worth dying for. In 62AD the Roman governor Festus died suddenly in office, only weeks after preventing the Jewish high priest from murdering Paul. The priest seized his chance and arrested the leader of the church in Jerusalem, ordering James on pain of death to deny the resurrection of his Lord. When James refused and preferred to be brutally decapitated with a sword, he shouted a testimony to the world which still echoes throughout history. Blaise Pascal attributed his own conversion to Christ to the fact that “I believe witnesses who get their throats cut.” James’ willingness to die in 62AD is still compelling proof that the resurrection accounts are all true.

So if you are not an active follower of Jesus, I want to encourage you this week to have a Happy Easter. Have courage, like James, to perform a U-turn in order to follow the one who died, was buried and rose from the dead as the ultimate proof that he is God in human form.

And if you are a follower of Jesus, I want to encourage you this week to have a Happy Easter too. You will have one by having the same courage as James to live every day of your life in full obedience to the Lord Jesus. As James’ friend Paul puts it at the start of his letter to the Romans:

“Jesus Christ our Lord was declared with power thorugh the Holy Spirit to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead … And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”

Have a truly Happy Easter!