James the Son of Zebedee (The Disciple)

James is the Greek form of Jacob which means “supplanter”.

James was the brother of John and the pair of them were famously named “sons of thunder.”¹ James is listed first when the two are mentioned together suggesting that he was the elder.² His mother was most likely Salome which can be deduced from Matthew 27:56 where it describes that “the mother of Zebedee’s sons” was at the foot of the cross while Mark 15:40 identifies one of the women as Salome. John 19:25 also mentions that the “Lord’s sister” was at the cross and does not include the name of Salome while the other records generally do. Salome could therefore have been the aunt of Jesus, making James and John his cousins.

His father was Zebedee and he was a fisherman like his brother and father.³ He, along with his family, worked with another fisherman who would become a disciple: Peter⁴. The business seemed to be reasonably large as it also included hired servants⁵.

James was also included along with Peter and John in a number of events where only the three of them were present including:

• The resurrection of Jairus’ daughter⁶
• The Transfiguration⁷
• The Olivet Prophecy⁸
• Closer to Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane⁹

James was killed executed by the sword at the orders of King Herod Agrippa I.¹⁰ According to the historian Eusebius of Caesarea, this occured in AD 44 and he was the first of the 12 disciples to be executed.

The Personality of James

James, like his brother appears to have been a very passionate person, at least initially. His nickname “Son of Thunder” suggest a fierce temperament which may have been inspired by the events recorded in Luke 9:54. Here Jesus sent messengers to a village of Samaritans who rejected him due to his destination of Jerusalem (the Samaritans objected to the worship in Jersualem, preferring Mount Gerizim.)¹¹ When James and his brother John learnt of this, they ask whether they should call down fire on the village as Elijah destroyed the messengers from the evil king Ahaziah¹². James (along with his mother and brother¹³) asked to be given the left and right hand seats of Jesus after he came into his glory¹⁴. Jesus rebuked them for this request and used the event to teach that true leadership is not the exercise of authority over others but in serving them¹⁵.

1. Mark 3:17 ↩︎
2. Matthew 10:2 ↩︎
3. Matthew 4:21 ↩︎
4. Luke 5:10 ↩︎
5. Mark 1:20 ↩︎
6. Mark 5:37 ↩︎
7. Matthew 17:1 ↩︎
8. Mark 13:3 ↩︎
9. Mark 14:33 ↩︎
10. Acts 12:2 ↩︎
11. John 4:20 ↩︎
12. 2 Kings 1:10 ↩︎
13. Matthew 20:21 ↩︎
14. Mark 10:35-37 ↩︎
15. Matthew 20:27 ↩︎