James, along with his brother John and his father, Zebedee, were fishermen by trade who were in partnership with Simon Peter.  In Luke 5:1-11, we read of a most interesting event.  These men had been fishing on the Sea of Galilee throughout the night and had caught nothing.  As they were on shore mending their nets, the Lord, being pressed by the multitude of people, entered into Simon’s boat and asked him to push out a little from the land, and from Simon’s boat the Lord taught the multitude on the shore.  At the conclusion of his teaching, Jesus instructed Simon to launch out into the deep and let down his nets.  While hesitant to do so, Simon followed the words of the Lord and was rewarded with a tremendous catch of fish, so large that his nets were not able to contain it.  Simon summoned his partners, including James, to assist him.  They were astonished by the catch and Simon, James, and John left all and followed Jesus.  Matthew 4:18-22 gives us additional information about James, including that marvelous statement of the Lord, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

These two passages give us some insight into James.  He had witnessed, indeed participated in, a wonderful miracle.  When the call to follow Jesus came, Matthew tells us that he and his brother, John, “immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.”  When the evidence demanded it and the call was made, James responded.  James was gainfully employed in an honest profession and that was good.  However, when the best came, he recognized it and responded.  It is not always a question of choosing between good and bad, sometimes it is a question of choosing between what is good and what is best and being wise enough to make the right choice.  Together with his brother John and with Simon Peter, James would be part of the “inner circle” of the apostles.

            In Mark 3:17, James and John were called by Jesus “The sons of thunder.”  An event that took place in the 9^th chapter of Luke helps us to understand this a little better.  As Jesus was journeying to Jerusalem, he sent messengers before him into a Samaritan village to make ready for him.  The villagers would not receive him.  In verses 54-56 we find, “And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elijah did?  But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.  And they went to another village.”

We see a man who was still learning.  The nature of the work that Jesus had come to do, as well as the nature of the work that James had been called to perform, was not yet clear to him.  Perhaps for him, temper was a problem, but he was growing.

In Mark 10:37 we find James and John making the following request of Jesus, “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other of thy left hand, in thy glory.”  Thus pride and ambition show themselves in the life of James.  This does not mean that James was a bad man; much to the contrary.  He simply did not yet understand.  He was seeking a place of prominence, because he did not yet realize that true greatness in the Lord’s kingdom is determined by service.

If we look at James closely, we see a man who was by no means perfect, but who continued to learn and to grow.  He came to understand who Jesus truly was and he was willing to give up all and follow him wherever.  There were moments of weakness and error, as we all have.  Yet after the resurrection of Jesus, no one stood more firmly than this man.  In Acts 12:1-2 we see what became of James.  “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church.  And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.”  James was the first apostle to die for Jesus.  What an example for us to emulate!  Be willing to learn and to grow, make corrections in our lives as needed, and be convicted – even if it means that we must die.

                                                                        Greg Litmer

A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT

            It was a dark and stormy night!  How many times have you heard literary critics and English teachers ridicule that line as a means of introducing a story?  But our focus is upon a time that really was a dark and stormy night and what happened on the Sea of Galilee.  We find the account of this dark and stormy night in Matthew 8:23-27, Luke 8:22-25, and Mark 4:35-41.  It is Mark’s account that we will read.

            “And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.  And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship.  And there were also with him other little ships.  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still.  And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

            Don’t you wish you could have been there?  The storm, which arose so quickly, raged about the small boat.  The apostles of Jesus, many of them experienced fishermen, feared for their lives.  Yet in the midst of such a violent storm, Jesus slept.  The apostles cried out, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” and “Lord, save us, we perish” and “Master, master, we perish.”  I remember reading one man describe the apostles’ reaction in the following way.  What good is one’s faith if he loses it instead of uses it?  The storm blew their faith away for awhile.  If we can’t lay hold of our faith when we need it most, then what value is it?

            Jesus arose and said, “Peace, be still”, and the wind subsided and the sea became calm.  The apostles asked, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  I feel very privileged to be able to answer that question so many years later.  This man was Jesus, the Son of God.  This was the One who said, “Let there be light” back in the days of creation, and there was light.

            The sea of life that I have sailed upon has not been without storms and if you are of any age, neither has yours.  When the waves of despair and the winds of sorrow beat upon me at the death of my parents, the words, “Peace, be still” assumed a whole new meaning for me.  I don’t know what trials and difficulties you have faced and I don’t know what may be causing tears to leave their traces on your cheeks, but I do know that whatever it is, as a faithful Christian the words of Jesus “Peace, be still” can apply to whatever turmoil rages in your heart.

            One last point to consider, and I don’t know if I thought of this myself or heard it somewhere else – if even the wind and the sea obey him, shouldn’t we?

                                                            Greg Litmer