15. Святой апостол Иаков, брат Господень, первый Иерусалимский епископ

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians writes that together with the Apostle Peter, James and John were considered pillars of the Church. The Holy Apostle James was a relative of the Lord in the flesh (either the son of Joseph from his first wife, or the son of Mary, sister of the Mother of God) and therefore is called the brother of the Lord. The Lord appeared to him after the resurrection and, as is known according to legend, made him bishop of the Jerusalem Church. Thus, the Apostle James had a special activity: he did not travel preaching to different countries, but taught and officiated in Jerusalem, which is so important for the entire Christian world. According to this very significance of the primate of the Jerusalem Church, it is believed that he was given the first place (presidency) at the Apostolic Council. His voice was the last here, and the solution he proposed served as a kind of resolution of the council 31. The significance of the Apostle James was further elevated by his ascetic life. He was a strict virgin, did not drink wine or strong drink, abstained from meat, and wore only linen clothes. He used to retire to the church (Jerusalem) to pray, there he knelt and prayed for his people. He prostrated himself to the ground in prayer so often that the skin on his knees became rough. The ministry of the Apostle James was more difficult among the crowd of the most evil enemies of Christianity; but he acted with such prudence and justice that he was deeply respected not only by Christians, but also by Jews, and was called the support of the people and the righteous. While serving as Bishop of Jerusalem for about 30 years, he spread and established the holy faith in Jerusalem and throughout Palestine 32 . Many of the Jews turned to the Church simply by trusting the word of the righteous man. Given this importance of the apostle, the Jewish leaders began to fear that the whole people would turn to Christ, and decided to take advantage of the time between the departure of the prosecutor Festus and the arrival in his place of Albinus (62 A.D.) in order to either persuade Jacob to renounce Christ, or kill him. The high priest at this time was the godless Sadducee Anan. The Apostle was taken to the portico of the church and, after several flattering words, they were disdainfully asked: “Tell us about the Crucified One.” “Why are you asking me about Jesus? – the preacher answered loudly. “He sits in heaven at the right hand of the Most High power and will come again on the clouds of heaven.” There were many Christians in the crowd who joyfully exclaimed: “Hosanna to the Son of David!” The high priests and scribes shouted: “Oh, even the righteous man himself is in error!” - and threw him to the ground. Jacob could still rise to his knees and said: “Lord! Let them go; They don’t know what they’re doing.” “Let’s stone him!” - his enemies shouted. One priest from the tribe of Rechab 33 began to persuade them: “What are you doing? You see: the righteous man is praying for you.” But at that moment one fanatic, a cloth maker by trade, hit the apostle on the head with his roller and killed him. Many Christians were killed along with him. The Jewish historian Josephus, listing the reasons for the fall of Jerusalem, says that the Lord punished the Jews, among other things, for the murder of the righteous Jacob. The Apostle James, shortly before his death, wrote a conciliar letter 34. Church tradition ascribes to the Apostle James, the first bishop of Jerusalem, the composition of the most ancient rite of the Divine Liturgy. – This circumstance is very important in view of the claims of Catholics to elevate the Apostle Peter to the position of head of the Church in order to then confirm this primacy with the Pope of Rome. – When the Apostle Paul visited James at his last coming, at that time the elders gathered to him and told him about the successes of Christian preaching among the Jews in the following words: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealots of the law” (Acts 21:20). – The Rechavites adhered to some special rules bequeathed to them from their ancestor Rechab: they did not drink wine, did not build houses, but lived in tents, not sowing wheat or grapes, etc. (Jer. 35). – Its main goal is to console and strengthen the Jews converted to faith in the suffering that lay ahead of them, and to warn them against the delusion that faith alone can save a person. The Holy Apostle proves that faith, not accompanied by good works, is dead and does not lead to salvation. You might be interested in: