Which James?
As we move on to take a look at the second of the trio, James, we need to do a little groundwork to prevent confusion, because there are a number of characters named James in the New Testament, including another member of the twelve apostles with that name – James the younger (Matt. 10:3; Acts 1:13). And then there’s another James, who was the father of the apostle Judas (not Iscariot) (Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). If that’s not enough, then there’s also James the brother of Jesus, who, along with his three brothers (Matt. 13:55), apparently did not accept the divine identity of Jesus before the resurrection. After the risen Jesus had appeared to him (1 Cor. 15:7), he became a leader of the church at Jerusalem (Gal. 1:19; 2:9; Acts 12:17). He is the traditional author of the epistle of James, where he describes himself as ‘a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ’ (James 1:1). This is the James who helped steer the church through the turbulent times when they wrestled with Gentiles coming to Christ, as he led the Council at Jerusalem (Acts 15:19–23). But none of these are the James of the famous trio!
Together with his brother John, James came from a relatively prosperous family. A partner in a fishing business with their father Zebedee, James came from a family wealthy enough to employ servants (Mark 1:20). His mother, most likely Salome, was one of the women who ‘provided for Jesus out of their means’ (Luke 8:3; Mark 15:40). James was also probably related to Jesus through Mary; Salome is usually thought of as being the sister to Mary, the mother of Jesus, making James (and John, of course) cousins to Jesus.
James’ whole family was impacted by Jesus; not only did Salome support Jesus' work, but she was probably one of the women who stood near to the cross (John 19:25). She was also one of the women who went to the tomb of Jesus (Mark 16:1), (the third woman who is said to have accompanied the two Marys to the tomb is designated Salome by Mark, and ‘the mother of Zebedee’s children’ by Matthew).
We don't know how James' family came to be so involved in the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus, but wonderfully, they were all impacted. A chain reaction was started, with stunning results.
Let's think about our own families for a moment. They can be the hardest to reach: I know that from experience, and made too many mistakes in trying to berate them into the Kingdom. Perhaps it seems impossible that your wider family could come to Christ, as the Philippian jailer's family did. But it happened for James. And it can happen for us too.