July 25, 2005
You probably remember that “discussion” (i.e. argument) among the Apostles when Zebedee’s wife tried to make sure her boys, James and John, had the best seats in Jesus’ government, like any good Jewish mother should do. Then the Apostles sound like a group of schoolboys as they talk about who is the greatest among them. Jesus gave them the real conditions of drinking the cup of suffering He would drink and then chided his disciples for forgetting that real greatness comes from taking the lowest place, “even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many”. (see Mt. 20:20-28)
After all this talk about the lower place, isn’t is surprising that throughout Church history this Apostle is given the title “James the Greater”? After all, the “lesser” Apostle James was no slouch. According to the liturgical tradition at least, it is this second James, the “brother of the Lord”, who was the leader of the Church in Jerusalem and author of the epistle. Some say that “greater” in reference to Zebedee’s son means that he was either bigger (probably true of a “son of thunder” fisherman, which by the way means that Saint John was no “girly man” either) or that he was older, or just got his name in before the other James. But none of these were the conditions that Jesus spoke of for real greatness.
I’m not suggesting that we take away the title of “the Greater” from Saint James. I think if we look at it again it is obviously appropriate in a way that most Scripture scholars seem to miss. He was the first Apostle to be martyred, as the Acts of the Apostles tells us. Therefore this Saint James is indeed the greater because he was the first of the Apostles to really serve as Jesus served by actually laying down his life. By the way, the Gospels tell us that “Mrs. Zebedee” and her son John also drank the cup of suffering by being present with Jesus at Calvary (see Mt 27:56 & Jn 19:26), so this enterprising family did well in the end.
All of this may seem a small detail or footnote about greatness, but as we seek to honor and imitate Saint James on his feast day, the bottom line brings us back to the Cross. If our standard of greatness is anything other than the humble love of our crucified and risen Saviour, then it is time to return to the school of the Cross.
Fr. Richard Roemer, CFR
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