1. Ambition was the third trait in the character of James which needed to be transmuted. Ambition is the strong and inordinate desire for preferment, honour, pre-eminence, superiority, power, or fame. Conscious of a great enthusiasm in the service of Jesus, and assured that He was Israel's promised Messiah, James and his brother imagined that, as the privileged disciples and intimate friends of Jesus, they had an incontestable claim to the highest rank and the noblest titles in the coming Kingdom. Nothing less would satisfy James than that he should be Christ's grand vizier. And when he heard the Lord say to Peter at Cæsarea Philippi, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,” the words sent a pang to his heart, because he mistook the great promise for a personal slight. Brooding over the thought that Peter might stand highest in honour and power, he and his brother determined to prevent it.
And there was another who shared their ambition, thinking nothing too good for them. This was their mother Salome, the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus. Accompanied by her, the two disciples came and cast themselves before Jesus in an attitude of worship; and when He asked them what they desired, they answered, “Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy glory.” According to Matthew it was the ambitious mother who said on their behalf, “Command that these my two sons may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy kingdom.”
Thus they all laid bare their jealous, envious hearts, revealing at the same time their blindness to spiritual values, their ignorance of the true nature of honours and rewards in Christ's Kingdom. In asking for the first places there, they did not know what they were saying. If even in the kingdoms of this world, won and maintained by the sword, the post of honour is often the post of danger, what is the law of promotion in the kingdom of love? In that kingdom every true and faithful follower of Jesus has in some sense to drink of His cup and to be baptized with His baptism.
2. Jesus asked the sons of Zebedee if they were able to fulfil these conditions of service. Had they the moral and spiritual power to walk in His footsteps? It was a searching question, and it brought out again the nobler side of the men's character. Even if their unhesitating and confident answer betrayed an imperfect knowledge of what the cup and the baptism meant, it at any rate proved their implicit faith in Christ, and their splendid devotion to His cause. Whatsoever He saw fit to require of them they were convinced that they could fulfil. To walk in His steps and share His experiences, to be with Him in doing or in suffering, to be at all costs identified with His cause and Kingdom-that was the only life they cared to live, and for that service they believed they had the power, as they certainly had the will. Not therefore with foolish boasting, but with the daring of a great love, they answered, “We are able.”
It was a noble and a moving answer; and even if there was still some dross in the gold, some forgetfulness of men's need of heavenly power to help them in the evil hour, it was essentially the right answer. For the humility that makes a man say, “I can never walk in the steps of Christ; I can never drink of His cup or be baptized with His baptism,” is a humility which Jesus not only does not love but entirely repudiates. In truth He loves ambition if it is of the right kind-the ambition which makes men aspire to be fellow-workers with Him and fellowsufferers with Him, the ambition which both expects great things from Him and attempts great things for Him. There is no limit to the ability of those who are vitalized by His spirit, quickened by His grace. “I can do all things,” said Paul to the Philippians, “through Christ which strengthened me.” To the students of Edinburgh, Henry Drummond used to say, “You have all omnipotence behind you, and you cannot fail.” “Domine,” said Augustine, “da quod jubes, et jube quod vis”-“Lord, give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt.”
3. Well pleased with the confident answer of James and his brother, Jesus took them at their word. He knew better than they did what the cup and the baptism meant, but He believed that they would not shrink from the ordeal. And before the testing day came to James the Apostle, he was prepared for the destiny that awaited him. Till the day of his death he was evidently regarded as one of the “pillars” (στὺλοι) of the Church in Jerusalem, a designation afterwards reserved for James the Lord's brother, and Peter, and John. And there must have been a reason why King Herod Agrippa pitched on him rather than any of the other Apostles as his first victim. James was chosen because he was the foremost in zeal and the most valiant in utterance among them all. Though still in the prime of life, he was now an older man than he was on the unforgotten day when Jesus spoke of the cup and the baptism. Twelve years had passed, and he was changed. He had lost all his intolerance, except the intolerance of sin; all his ambition, except the ambition to serve Christ; and if he retained his old zeal, it was now a pure and holy flame. On himself, not on the Samaritans, had fallen the fire of heaven-the Pentecostal fire of Christian love. It is said that no heart is pure which is not passionate, and if the question was asked in those great days which of all the Apostles had the most passionate heart and the most fervent speech, everyone answered without hesitation, “James the son of Zebedee.” Therefore when Herod, in the spirit of his grandsire, who half a century before decreed the massacre of the innocents, resolved to destroy the Church in Jerusalem, he was well advised in beginning as he did with James the brother of John. And if James heard any rumour of the danger which his burning evangelism was making for himself, he was in no wise perturbed, and never dreamed of fleeing from the Holy City. He only preached the more earnestly, and besought men the more fervently to accept the Messiah, until suddenly the blow fell. And then, having drunk the Lord's cup and received His baptism, he went to be for ever with Him.
4. Whether he took his seat at the Lord's right or left hand, as he once desired, is not told. His reward was doubtless such as his imagination had never conceived, but nothing is said of that. History emphasizes the bare fact of his death, saying nothing of the crown of life which he won. Enough that by his example he inspired one knows not how many others in the Early Church to endure scorn and hatred and shame and death, teaching them that they were able to face the worst that man could do, since all things, including love's final sacrifice, are possible to them that believe. Pioneer in the as yet almost untrodden path of suffering for Christ's sake, he left a name which inspired, and may still inspire, the manhood of Christendom to bear the cross, not seeking deliverance.
They climbed the steep ascent of heaven,
Through peril, toil, and pain:
O God, to us may grace be given
To follow in their train.
The Church, by the martyrdom of St. James, lost in her infancy one of her main pillars; but God was pleased that His name should be glorified by so illustrious a testimony, and that it should appear He was the immediate supporter and defender of His Church. For when it was deprived of its chief members and pastors, it remained no less firm than before; and even grew and gathered strength from the most violent persecutions. The apostle with confidence committed his tender flock to God, and commended to them his own work, whilst he rejoiced to go to his Redeemer, and to give his life for Him. We all meet with trials; but can we fear or hesitate to drink a cup presented to us by the hand of God, and which our Lord and Captain, by free choice, and out of pure love, was pleased Himself to drink first for our sake? He asks us whether we can drink of His cup, He encourages us by setting before our eyes the glory of heaven, and He invites us by His own divine example. Let us humbly implore His grace, without which we can do nothing, and take with joy this cup of salvation which He presents us with His divine hand.1 [Note: Alban Butler, The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Saints, ii. 97.]
Two brothers freely cast their lot
With David's royal Son;
The cost of conquest counting not,
They deem the battle won.
Brothers in heart, they hope to gain
An undivided joy;
That man may one with man remain,
As boy was one with boy.
Christ heard; and will'd that James should fall
First prey of Satan's rage;
John linger out his fellows all,
And die in bloodless age.
Now they join hands once more above,
Before the Conqueror's throne;
Thus God grants prayer, but in His love
Makes times and ways His own.1 [Note: J. H. Newman.]
