Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
[Without Honor]
Jesus said: “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household”(Matthew 13:57). Today on this day, we remember one in the household of Jesus known as James of Jerusalem, the Brother of Jesus and Martyr.
But what kind of brother was James? The Holy Spirit tells us through Scripture that Jesus’ own family thought He was “crazy.” On one occasion, His family tried to seize Him as they said of Jesus: “He is out of his mind” (Mark 3:21).
Well, what would you think if your brother leaves home and then starts marching around the countryside? What would you think if you heard your brother called a dozen men to follow Him as their Lord? What would you think if he denied you as family, but instead said His new friends were His true family? In fact, this happened. While Jesus was speaking to the people, His mother and His brothers stood outside, asking to speak to Him. But Jesus says of His earthly family: “Who are my mother, and who are my brothers?” (Matthew 12:48). Then Jesus stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:49-50).
Beyond those dozen men, Jesus attracts a huge following – thousands of people follow Him out into the middle of nowhere. You hear that your brother is performing miracles of healing. The next thing you hear is that your brother claims to be the Son of God.
Then in today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus says, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household” (Matthew 13:57), to which we also learn that Jesus “did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58).
[Too Familiar]
“Familiarity breeds contempt,” the proverb says. Indeed, familiarity with Jesus growing up did breed the contempt of unbelief among His siblings and with the population of His hometown.
You see, they all remember Jesus. Yes, He was different as a child. The people of Nazareth have no stories of Him arguing with His parents, or TP-ing the neighbor’s trees with His friends, or making false accusations. He never misbehaved. Ever. But Jesus was a child. They remember Him as a child. They also remember Him as He grew up. Yes, He was a bit different than other teens and young men, but He was still the Jesus they remembered. They were all familiar with Jesus, but now Jesus was more different than He was then.
Now, the people of Nazareth hear of miracles performed by Jesus. From the various reports they heard, these miracles are true. No one ever accuses Him of being a charlatan, a fake, a fraud. There is no drama, no smoke and mirrors. He just heals. He restores creation in front of them and there is no argument about it. His miracles are undeniable.
On top of this, no one can dispute what Jesus says. His teaching is obviously true. He speaks with clarity and power and not even the most-clever of Jewish lawyers can find a mistake. There are no contradictions. His Words perfectly match the Divine revelation of the Old Testament.
But this is the problem. Despite His righteous life and His divine miracles, despite everything He says, the people of Nazareth refuse to believe that He is God. Now, they have no reason to reject it. But they don’t need reason. They have sin. This truth of Jesus’ divinity shocks and scandalizes them. They can’t argue against it. They just reject it.
They cannot dispute His miracles. They cannot find a failure in His life. They can’t criticize His teaching. So, they just cling to the fact that Jesus is just a man. They say: “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:54-55). They say: “He is no better than us. He is just a man.” Well, the irony of it all is that they are correct. Jesus is one of them. As the Second Person of the Trinity, He took on our human flesh to suffer and die for all sinners.
I’m sure we understand the people of Nazareth. But what about those closest to Him? Scripture tells us that His closest relatives refused to believe that Jesus is God. One of them was James. James is like us. We too easily take for granted those God has placed closest to us – our family, our spouse. We, too, can speak ill of them and sometimes despise the ones closest to us.
We, too, can be like James. We ought to ask the same question about ourselves. What’s our problem with Jesus? How is it that we often fail to honor Jesus in our hometown, in our jobs and various vocations, and in our households? Do we recognize His wisdom and His mighty works? Has familiarity with Jesus bred contempt of Him? Do you take Him for granted?
James didn’t initially embrace his brother’s divinity and messiahship. We often don’t either. James didn’t embrace Jesus’ call to repentance. Often, we are so very slow to repent. James also didn’t embrace Jesus’ own proclamation that the Christ must suffer, be lifted up on the cross, and rest in the tomb, and rise to life on the third day. We, too, don’t want to hear about the seriousness of our sin on why our Savior had to die so that believers would be forgiven of their sins.
In fact, we don’t hear about James as a witness of the crucifixion. We know he was not with Mary as she watches her Son and her Savior die. While nailed on the cross, Jesus entrusted His mother to John as He said, “Behold, your mother!” (John 19:27). Where was James? Where were the others of His earthly household? They were ashamed. They were scandalized knowing their brother died claiming to be the Son of God, the promised Messiah.
James certainly rejected Jesus. He didn’t believe Jesus could be the Messiah, much less God. He gave up on Jesus. He became estranged from Jesus.
[Jesus Never Gives Up on Us]
But did Jesus give up on James? Does Jesus give up on anybody? And so, after His death on the cross, a resurrection appearance seems to have been a life-altering moment for James: “Then [Jesus] appeared to more than 500 men. … Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:6, 7).
And how did James react? Through the Holy Spirit, James made his good confession. He embraced Jesus in faith and who Jesus revealed Himself to be: God, Lord, and Christ. James believed. Through faith, James also was a forgiven sinner.
James became Jesus’ brother in the truest sense. Not by birth or blood or human will, but by following the will of God the Father. You see, faith is thicker than blood.
The effect of this resurrection appearance on James becomes immediately evident because, after years of rejection, the brothers of Jesus, including James, suddenly appear in the upper room with Mary, the other faithful women, and the eleven disciples devoted in prayer as they awaited the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:13-14).
For a man, who for most of his life was offended by Jesus, James received Christ’s forgiveness and became a leader of early Christianity. He knew the long-suffering mercy and generous salvation of his brother Jesus. Jesus never gave up on him, so he used Jesus’ example to encourage fellow believers.
And, although being from Nazareth, James would soon be known as “James of Jerusalem,” because he served as the first bishop of the church, seated in Jerusalem. And as bishop, the Apostle Paul wrote of James as being one of the three “pillars” of the Church along with Peter and John (Galatians 2:9).
As the bishop of Jerusalem, James taught that righteousness comes only by faith in Christ and not by Jewish ceremonial Law. He taught that righteousness is not found in ourselves, but only by faith in Jesus, who alone is righteous.
Through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, James was a man of faith as he penned the Book of James, which in all likelihood is the oldest book of the New Testament. But as years went by, High Priest Ananus was seeking a way to depose of James and other Christian leaders. Then in AD 62, Ananus assembled the Sanhedrin and brought up trumped-up charges, falsely accusing James of breaking the Jewish Law in order to execute him. In this pre-determined show trial, James was found guilty and was stoned to death.
But what happened the very moment James died? Due to his faith in Jesus as his Lord and Savior, James inherited eternal life – just as we do! This, James inherited because of the mighty work of Jesus dying on the cross so all sinners – by faith – would be reconciled to God. When he was younger, he thought of this as foolish – as did his fellow Nazarenes – but this is the wisdom of God. And, this is our hope, too! You see, because of your faith in the crucified and risen Messiah, you have eternal life, too! We have good reason to hope, since our hope is sure and certain. We have the same hope that James came to realize.
Like James, who when he saw his resurrected brother and was called to believe in Him as his Messiah and Lord, we too, have been called to believe in Jesus. Now, it is not Jesus who personally calls us to believe in Him, but it is the Holy Spirit who has called us and enlightened us by the Gospel.
You see, apart from the Holy Spirit, our own reason or strength could not believe in Jesus as our Lord, or come to Him. We naturally reject Him, like James before the resurrection. It is only through the Holy Spirit, working mightily through the Word and Sacraments that can change hearts. Only the Holy Spirit mightily working through the Word and Sacraments can perform the strange act of making one a brother in Christ, just as we are – not by blood, but by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +
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