St. James the Apostle. THE RACE SOON RUN. ACTS xii. 1, 2. Herod the King stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the Church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. CONCERNING the great Saint whose Festival we keep to-day, we know surprisingly little. A very few, but those very striking, particulars are recorded and in one respect his history differs from that of every other Apostle; namely, that it does not travel out of the sacred record, and extend onwards indefinitely; but the account of his death is contained in the Book of the Acts. Thus, the outline of his history, however imperfect, is clearly, and even sharply, marked. James, the elder brother of St. John, and son of Zebedee, was a partner of Simon and Andrew. These four Saints are found to have forsaken their trade on the Sea of Galilee in order to attend upon the preaching of the Baptist. So memo rable an indication of earnestness deserves to be H.D. S 129 dwelt upon; for it may help to put in its true light a matter concerning which so many rash things have been written and spoken. The call of these men to Apostleship did not find them careless in the matter of their salvation; much less, hardened and impenitent. But the higher privilege of being Disciples of CHRIST, was granted to men who had already made proof of their zeal by becoming disciples of His Forerunner. The call of St. James belongs to the earliest page of the Gospel. St. Andrew and St. John, being directed by the Baptist to recognise in JESUS of Nazareth, 'the LAMB of GOD,' of Andrew it is related that he first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the MESSIAS. Both St. John and he had passed a long summer's day with the SAVIOUR, and they were captivated by what they had heard and seen. But the very record that Andrew 'first' found his brother, besides the fact which it expressly states, seems clearly to reveal two others; namely, that St. John had gone with equal zeal, (though with unequal success,) to find his brother James; and that shortly a St. John i. 41. b From ten in the morning: not 'two hours before night,' as in the margin of St. John i. 39. after Simon had been brought to CHRIST by St. Andrew, James was led into the same Divine presence by St. John. These inferences seem unavoidable. We conclude therefore that he was the fourth who was called to Apostleship; and we believe that we may thus reckon on his presence with our LORD from the very beginning of His Ministry. The occasions on which he comes prominently forward, (as already stated,) are few in number, but they are very striking. In company with St. John and St. Peter, he witnessed the raising from death of Jaïrus' daughter,-our LORD'S Transfiguration,-and His Agony in the Garden. In conjunction with his brother John, St. James is found to have proposed that the inhospitable Samaritans should be destroyed by fire from Heaven; a proposal which brought upon its authors the well-known rebuke of the Prince of Peace. But the most memorable occasion on which these two great Saints come before us is that which furnishes the Gospel for the Day; namely, the occasion when their Mother, Salome, requested for them, and they for themselves re c St. Mark v. 37. d St. Matth. xvii. 1. e St. Matth. xxvi. 37 and 40. f St. Luke ix. 54. quested, that they might sit, one on the Right Hand of CHRIST, and the other on His Left, in His Glory. But JESUS said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto Him, We can. And JESUS said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: but to sit on My right hand and on My left hand is not Mine to give; save to them for whom it is prepared.' When to all this we have added that St. James, like his brother, was present at the concluding scene of St. John's Gospel', it is presumed that we have stated all that is recorded concerning an Apotles who was second in distinction to none but St. Peter and St. John. It is related by the Evangelist St. Mark, concerning James and John, that CHRIST'surnamed them Boanerges; which is, the sons of Thunder.' The circumstance is remarkable; and seems to have filled the minds of this pair of brothers with the conviction that a mighty destiny awaited them ;-of which indeed their two h St. Mark x. 38 to 40. k St. Mark iii. 17. i St. John xxi. 2. requests, already noticed, may be accepted as a proof. We are grateful to the Evangelist for his interpretation of a name which, without his aid, we should have been unable to understand: for Boan-erges means literally sons of shaking; and it is to the SPIRIT that we owe the assurance that the violent trembling, commotion, or shaking specially implied is that to which we give the name of Thunder. This discovery, in fact, suggests that we must look to something beyond the fiery temper of the sons of Zebedee for the reason of this remarkable appellation. It seems to contain an allusion to those words of the prophet Haggai, -'Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the Heavens, and the Earth, and the Sea, and the dry Land; and I will shake all nations'.' St. Paul is found to apply these words of the prophet to the preaching of the GospelTM; and it seems to be implied by our LORD, when He called James and John Boanerges, that those Brothers were destined to prove chief instruments in the mighty work of the Gospel that, like Thunder, their inspired preaching was to bear down all opposition; to shake the nations, and to change the very aspect of Society. : Very remarkable is it to connect with such a 1 Haggai ii. 6, 7. m Hebr. xii. 26. |