What Happened to James, the Brother of Jesus?

James, Jesus’ brother, is first mentioned in the Bible in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark.

Both accounts record the fact that James is a brother of Jesus. It says in Matthew 13:55: Is not this (Jesus) the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas?

From this Gospel account, one can discern that James was a full biological child of Mary and Joseph. Based on the recorded story of Jesus’ conceptual existence in Matthew as well, James was a biological half-brother of Jesus. They had the same biological mom but obviously different fathers.

One could say James and Jesus came from a blended family, unlike any blended family up to that point or any blended family since that point. It is assumed from Matthew that James was the oldest brother of Jesus, based on the order of the siblings of Jesus. James was second born.

James had a tough example to follow. Many throughout history have lived under the pressure of the oldest in the family being seen as the “perfect” child. For James, this was no different, but in this case, it was also true.

One can only wonder if Mary ever said to James, “Why can’t you be like your older brother Jesus, and be perfect like him?” Certainly, there is no historical record of the goings on of such in the household of Joseph and Mary, but there is an indication by the text that James and Jesus’ other brothers were not fans of his “deity.” The Gospel of John, in John 7:5, states: For not even his (Jesus) brothers believed in him.

There is no mention in the Bible of James’ faith in Jesus as God during Jesus’ time on earth. This would be a hard concept to submit to one’s older brother, even if one liked their older brother.

The first evidence of James’ faith in Jesus as God and Savior of the world comes in the book of Acts in Acts 1:14, “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.”

So, soon after the resurrection, Jesus’ brothers, including James, believed in Him as the Messiah, God in the flesh, the Savior of the world. This is remarkable and changes the course of James’ life, and thus would determine how James would die as well. What occurred that changed James’ view of Jesus?

The Apostle Paul records in the book of Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15:7 the event that changed everything for James: Then He (Jesus) appeared to James.

James was one of many who proclaimed Jesus resurrected. James saw his big brother crucified. He wondered for a few days why Jesus “wasted” his life on this “faith” thing. But then, his big brother appeared to him, alive, resurrected from the dead, and this changed the course of James’ life and the trajectory of his purpose for existence.

This is what the resurrection of Jesus does to people’s lives: it changes them forever.

James, the brother of Jesus, wrote the book of James. He referred to himself in this way in James 1:1: James, a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

James became a follower of Jesus Christ. He gave his life and ultimately would make the ultimate sacrifice for his faith and belief in his older half-brother, Jesus, even to the point of death.

When the early church was struggling to weave the Jewish believers and Gentile believers into a cord of unity, it was James who was key and central to addressing this overwhelming chasm between the Jews and Gentile believers. The book of Acts records this conflict. James says in Acts 15:12, “The whole assembly kept silence and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they had finished speaking, James replied, “My brothers, listen to me…19 I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those gentiles who are turning to God…”

This passage shows that James, though not an Apostle, had incredible authority and favor with the Jewish people in the early church. They trusted James to speak in a way that represented Jesus, and even though Paul and Barnabus were taking the Gospel of Jesus to the Gentiles, it was James who convinced the early Jewish church to trust them. James had, by his resurrection encounter with his older half-brother, Jesus, become a pillar of the faith, in whom they trusted. His encounter with the resurrected Jesus had codified his purpose and his calling.

The only other place the Bible offers a glimpse of James is in the book of Galatians. Galatians 1:19 says, Paul says, “I did not see any other apostle except James, the Lord’s brother.” Galatians 2:9 says, “James, Cephas, and John were acknowledged pillars (of the church).”

James’ resurrection encounter with Jesus changed the trajectory of his life’s purpose and calling. But it also changed the outcome of how he would die.

The Bible does not record how James died.

One must go outside of the recorded historical text of the Bible to find clues and evidence of how James, the brother of Jesus, died.

James remained the leader of the Jerusalem church until his death around A.D. 62.

There are various accounts of his death, but for the sake of brevity and credibility, historians tend to take Josephus’s view of James’ death.

Josephus describes James’ death as such,

Antiquities of the Jews 20:9:1
And now Caesar, upon hearing the death of Festus, sent Albinus into Judea, as procurator. But the king deprived Joseph of the high priesthood and bestowed the succession to that dignity on the son of Ananus, who was also himself called Ananus. Now the report goes that this eldest Ananus proved a most fortunate man; for he had five sons who had all performed the office of a high priest to God, and who had himself enjoyed that dignity a long time formerly, which had never happened to any other of our high priests. But this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity [to exercise his authority]. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so, he assembled the Sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned.

Most believe James was killed for standing up against the political power of his day. He went from being an unbeliever in the things of Jesus to being one who was willing to stand against the greatest authority of the day when wrong was done to others or when injustice existed among his fellow believers. James’ courage to live by faith in Jesus was a remarkable turn of events, and his death was a reminder that one can go from being an unbeliever to becoming a martyr for the faith. This transformation only requires a belief that comes from the acknowledgement and experience found in the resurrection of the living Christ, Jesus, Himself.

James denied his big brother, Jesus.

And then, he died for Him.