SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/11/2021 10:20 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “James the son of Zebedee”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
10:2a
Message of the
verse: “and
Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;”
We are now getting to the end of the
life of James and as most know he was killed by Herod when the church was very
much in its infant beginning. Perhaps
the reason that Herod chose James was because he had been more publicly
noticeable and influential than even Peter was.
James surely had zeal and was outspoken as we have seen. Now when Herod saw that the killing of James
pleased the Jews he then put Peter in jail, and I believe that Herod was also
going to have Peter killed, but we have seen in the 21st chapter of
John that Jesus told Peter how he would die to bring glory to the Lord, so
Herod’s desire to kill Peter would never work.
It seems that in the eyes of Herod that James was the most
dangerous. He was probably thunderous
and unrelenting in his ministry, and because of it became the first apostolic
martyr.
There is a certain “church” that
does not believe that Jesus had any step-brothers and sisters, and so as we get
towards the middle of the book of Acts we find that James the half-brother is
the one who is leading the Jerusalem church, and not James the son of Zebedee,
for as we have learned he was killed by Herod.
This spoils what the church believes along with having Peter heading the
church. I say this because this could be
another reason why James was the first martyr.
“Zeal is a great virtue, and the
Lord needs those who are fearlessly aggressive.
But zeal is also prone to be brash, loveless, insensitive, and lacking
in wisdom. Insensitivity can destroy a
ministry, and James had to learn to bridle his ambition and to love,” writes
John MacArthur. When we get to James’
brother John we will see that he had much to say about love and it is believed
that what he wrote he lived.
An example of a person who had a
great deal of zeal, but not much when it came to love is Billy Sunday as there
was not one of his children who became believes in Jesus Christ. I am sure that there are others who have zeal
for the Lord, but neglect their family, causing children not to look at the
Lord how they should look at Him.
We conclude with more from MacArthur’s
commentary on James. “Jesus bridled
James’s zeal and channeled His servant’s energy into fruitful ministry. James and John did indeed drink their Master’s
cup, as He had predicted (Matt. 20:23).
For John the cup was a long life of rejection and a death in exile. For James it was a short bright flame that
brought martyrdom.
“An ancient Roman coin depicted and
ox facing both an altar and a plow, with the inscription ‘Ready for either.’ That should be the attitude of every
believer. James gave his life for the
Lord as a brief and dying sacrifice, whereas John gave his as a long and living
sacrifice of service.”
8/11/2021 10:44
AM
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