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ST. JAMES.

James the son of Zebedee. MATT. iv. 21.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE of St. JAMES.

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THE Saint of this day is frequently mentioned in the Gospels with reference to his parentage, as "James the son of Zebedee;" to distinguish him from the other Apostle, "James the son of Alphæus," whose life we have already considered. Partly for the like cause he is also called by ecclesiastical writers James the Great a name of distinction however, which does not occur in the New Testament, although the epithet of "the Less" is upon one occasion applied by St. Mark to the son of Alphæus. The ground of this distinction is not agreed upon by ecclesiastical writers. Dr. Lightfoot says, that "James, or Jacob, is commonly called James the Great, in distinction from James the son of Alphæus, who is called

the Less, not for any dignity, or superiority of apostleship, that he had above the other; but either because this James was the elder, or because of the singular privacy, that Christ admitted him to with himself, as he also did Peter and John." That he was the elder of the two however is matter, of which there is no proof; if indeed there be any probability of it. But "it is manifest, that during the time of our Lord's abode on this earth, Peter, and James and John the two sons of Zebedee, were the most eminent and considerable of the disciples. They were the most favoured, and were admitted by our Lord to some special measure of confidence and freedom." Thus it appears by no means improbable, that James acquired this distinction of the Great, as being more eminent among the Apostles during the ministry of our Lord, than his namesake the son of Alphæus.

St. James was the elder brother of St. John, the Apostle and Evangelist. His parentage and early occupation, as likewise his call to the discipleship and apostleship, and the peculiar marks of attention and favour which he received from our Lord, have been mentioned in our notice of St. John. Allusion also was

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there made to those transactions, in which our Apostle was particularly concerned but to them more especial attention may be given on the present occasion.

Our Lord was on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem, for the purpose of attending one of the stated Jewish feasts; namely, that of tabernacles, or of the dedication of the temple.

The land of Canaan or Palestine was in our Saviour's time divided into three principal provinces. On the north, and at the greatest distance from Jerusalem, was Galilee, inhabited formerly by the tribes of Zebulon and Naphthali, and containing the celebrated cities of Nazareth, Bethsaida, Cana, and Capernaum; mount Tabor; and the lake of Gennesareth or Tiberias, called also the sea of Galilee. This was the principal seat of our Lord's residence, and the chief scene of his miracles. The southern division was Judea, the inheritance of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin: and containing within it Bethlehem, where our Lord was born, its metropolis Jerusalem, where he suffered, and Mount Olivet or the Mount of Olives hard by Jerusalem, whence he ascended into heaven. Hither he was accustomed to come upon occasion of the great feasts of the Jewish people. Between Galilee and Judea lay Samaria, so called from the city of Samaria

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formerly the capital of the kingdom of the ten tribes; anciently inhabited by the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and in our Saviour's time by a mixed people, consisting partly of such Jewish families as remained in the land, when the ten tribes were carried captive into Assyria by Shalmaneser, or of such as afterwards returned thither; and partly of those idolatrous people who were transplanted thither by the Assyrian king.

Between these Samaritans and the Jews there existed on the score of religion an inveterate and deep-rooted animosity; which showed itself particularly in the rival temple, built by the Samaritans on mount Gerizim for the centre of the true religion, and the place for the proper worship of God, as opposed to the temple of Jerusalem; and in the solemn feasts observed by the Samaritans, in rivalry of those of the Jews. On his journeys from Galilee to Jerusalem, it was necessary, as appears from the foregoing geographical sketch of the provinces, for our Lord to pass through the country of Samaria: and the purpose of his journeys being to attend the festivals celebrated in the temple of Jerusalem, his judgment was thus intimated concerning the preference due to the Jewish place and modes of worship above those of the rival Samaritans.

It was in the course of one of these journeys that our Lord was passing through the country of Samaria, and "sent messengers before his face; and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him"." His purpose of going to Jerusalem appears for the reasons already mentioned to have been regarded as an affront by the Samaritans, who inhospitably refused to receive and entertain him. This refusal excited the indignation of James and his brother John. They remembered, that on a particular occasion recorded in the Old Testament the divine power had been miraculously exerted for the protection of the prophet Elijah, and for the destruction of those by whom his safety was endangered: and they inquired, "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did?" Our Lord repressed their indignation, and regulated their well-intentioned but ill-directed zeal by a gentle reproof, intimating their want of discernment in the application of the lessons which he had taught them, and the inconsistency of their proposal with the temper of the religion which he was come to establish in the world. "He turned, and rebuked them, and said,

b Luke ix. 51–56.

Ye know not

2 Kings i. 10.

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