“James” (Luke 6:14)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/24/2026 2:11 PM

My Worship Time                                                                                                   Focus: “James”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                        Reference: Luke 6:14

            Message of the verse: “James”

            John MacArthur writes the following about James:  “Like his brother John, James was the son of Zebedee, a prosperous fisherman (well off enough to have hired servants working for him [Mark 1:20]) on the Sea of Galilee.  James and John were partners in a fishing business with the other pair of brothers that comprised the inner group of the Twelve, Peter and Andrew (Luke 5:10).  James, like Andrew, is overshadowed by the other two apostles in the inner group, Peter and John.  Scripture presents full-color portraits of them, but mere silhouettes of Andrew and James.

            “But the gospels’ relative silence about James does not mean he was insignificant.  His name appears second in the list of the Twelve after Peter’s in Mark’s gospel (Mark 3:16-17). And except for two occasions, James is listed first when he and John appear together.  The two are inseparable in the gospels; James is never mentioned apart from John.  And James was present at several key events with Peter and John, as noted above, that Andrew was not.

            “A Key to understanding James’s personality is the nickname Jesus gave both brothers.  ‘Boanerges,’ as Mark notes, means, ‘Sons of Thunder’ (Mark 3:17).  That colorful term vividly describes their forceful personalities.  James was zealous, passionate, and fervent.  He may will have been the New Testament counterpart of Jehu, who declared, ‘Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord’ (2 Kings 10:16).  Jehu’s zeal, however, was nothing but selfish, worldly ambition, since he ‘was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel, with all his heart; he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin’ (2 Kings 10:31).

            James’s zeal too was sometimes misguided and expressed in ways that were less than gracious or righteous.  On His way to Jerusalem for the final Passover of His ministry, (Luke 9:51), Jesus ‘sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him’ (v. 52).  The Samaritans were the descendants of Jews who had intermarried with Gentiles after the fall of the northern kingdom to Assyria.  The Jews regarded them as a polluted, unclean race, and avoided contact with them whenever possible (John 4:9).  Centuries of mutual animosity made the Samaritans unwilling to ‘receive [Jesus],’ all the more so ‘because He was traveling toward Jerusalem’ (v.53).  They had their own worship centered on Mt. Gerizim, where the Jews had destroyed the Samaritan temple during the interstamental period.   The people in this Samaritan village wanted nothing to do with Jews traveling to Jerusalem to worship there.

            “Outraged at this egregious insult to Jesus, James, along with John exclaimed angrily, ‘Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’  (v.54; cf. 2 Kings 1:9-12).

(cf. 2 Kings 1:9-12)

  9 ¶  Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’" 10  But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. 11  Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, "O man of God, this is the king’s order, ‘Come down quickly!’" 12  But Elijah answered them, "If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty." Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.”

“Andrew wanted to bring the unsaved to Jesus; James wanted to incinerate them.  The brothers’ misguided zeal earned them a rebuke from the Lord, who said to them, ‘You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them’ (vv. 55-56; cf. 19:10).  Their zeal not to allow Christ to be insulted was commendable; however in this case it was not according to knowledge (cf. Rom. 10:2).”

(cf. Rom. 10:2)

“2  For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.”

Spiritual Meaning for my Life Today:  Thinking about anger as it can be seen in the life of Jesus while on planet earth two times that I can remember and they were both the same incident.  Jesus cleansed the temple two times, once at the beginning of His ministry and once at the end of His ministry, and this indeed was righteous anger.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am thankful for the things that were accomplished in the couple of days that my wife was in the hospital, and I, along with my daughter and my son were able to be with her.  I have to leave all of this in the Lord’s very capable hands, and without out a miracle her time on earth will be very short.  Much prayers are needed, and appreciated.

 

6/24/2026 3:19 PM