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If James the Less were the quiet, shy, and reserved Apostle of the group, then James the Son of Zebedee was his extreme opposite. As we study the inner group of disciples of Peter, James, and John it will be noticed that none of them were weak or timid men and all three were bold to a fault. Of the three, John became the most balanced, Peter was the loudest, but James was definitely the boldest and most visible.

It would be James that would become the first martyr of the twelve and when Herod wanted to try to visibly make a statement against the Christian church, he first killed James and then took Peter second. That indicates to us that to the outsiders looking inward, James was the first apostle that was noticed, not so much in word only but in his actions and demeanor. Among the twelve, James stood out as having a strong, dominant personality.

Jesus noticed this personality trait of James immediately and when he and his brother, John, were called to become a part of the twelve, Jesus immediately gave them a nickname:

"Boanerges." The meaning Jesus intended is given in scripture as "sons of thunder" but the actual Greek word itself means "sons of commotion." James was by personal characteristic, someone who constantly "stirred the pot." He was someone who got very emotional easily. James would be what my mother would call "an instigator" and if any practical jokes ever took place among the inner twelve (like tying somebody's sandal laces together while they were napping), James would have been the first person I would have accused of doing it. James had an opinion, no matter what you were talking about. He might not always express it in words, but his actions would reveal what he felt. When he did speak, his voice boomed and carried as thunder. When he was involved in something, something "came to a head." If men were waterways, then James would have been a frothing, rapid stream flowing fiercely through the mountains. He was not a person who took to walking on eggshells around anybody, nor was he anyone who shied away from confrontation.

When Jesus and His disciples tried to go back to Samaria to preach and were driven out forcefully by the very prejudiced and doubt-filled natives, we find that James along with John came up with a great solution:

This statement is almost funny if you think about it. James and John are asking Jesus, if He needs them to call down fire from heaven and toast the Samaritans! They had been given power to heal the sick and cast out demons and after a few miracles, they want to barbeque someone! "Jesus, we'll help take care of the situation." You can almost see them itching to push the "judgment button." "Jesus, Elijah got to call down fire from heaven and toast people, could we do that?" But Jesus didn't go along with it:

"You don't know what spirit you are of." In other words, "that attitude has to die, boys, in the kingdom of God." Jesus had taught them to love their enemies and pray for them that despitefully used them, and so their personalities must come into subjection to the Word and teachings of God.

To those who are born timid and reserved, then the dilemma that they face is that they must overcome the insecurities and their inward personalities to allow God to use them and to step out in faith. But to those who are bold and brash like James the Son of Zebedee, the conflict is to bring their personality in line with the principles of God's Word. God chose him knowing that he was Boanerges, a son of thunder, but at the same time that force and power exuding from him would only be good for the kingdom of God if it flowed through the course of the Word of God.

There is a part of James and John's request that is noble: at least they were willing to take up for Jesus when He was greatly persecuted. Their motives were right, even if their methods were wrong and so Jesus did not question their motives. They didn't like their beloved Jesus being treated as the Samaritans had done, and unlike the other disciples, James and John were willing to do something about it. They were fiercely loyal to Him, but were going about it in the wrong manner. If Jesus had said "let's get some swords and go back and let 'em have it" James would have volunteered to lead the charge.

I want you to grasp that the very faults of James' personality became his greatest strengths when they were submitted to and harnessed by the Word of God. Jesus was basically saying: "I appreciate you trying to stand up for my cause, but you've missed my true reason for coming. My true cause is to seek and save that which is lost." Such zeal and passion and eagerness for action that was a fault when it was doing the will of James, could and would became a great asset when it was changed to do the will of God. When James finally put down his physical sword, and picked up the sword of the spirit, the Word of God, then his zeal and fearlessness made him a tremendous soul winner and preacher. Jesus picked him for his personality, not despite it, but in order to fulfill the will of God in his life, James would have to use his boldness for God's sake and not his own will or whims.

We see another example of this strong personality in our text where we read that James and John came to Jesus to request that they be given the "seats of honor" in His kingdom. By this time it's become obvious that Simon Peter has been earmarked by God to be the spiritual leader and spokesperson of the group, and it's almost like James and John wanted to make sure that they weren't left out of the honor. The Gospel of Mark records that James and John came to Jesus personally with such a request. The Gospel of Matthew says that they sent their mother, Salome, to ask for them. Both are correct, and undoubtedly they first sent their mother to do their dirty work and then ended up talking to Jesus directly. What strong wills! They ticked off the other ten disciples by their asking for power and prestige, and yet they were stubborn and forward enough to care less what the other disciples thought if it meant getting what their heart had been set upon.

God needs strong-willed, and determined (is that a nice way of saying hard headed?) people in His kingdom today. And thank God, because if He didn't, then most of us would not be here today. But remember it's a fine line between being your greatest asset and your worst trait. Strong-willed and hard-headed people who are fighting for their own agenda in the church will continually be "sons of commotion" and trouble makers. Loyalty is a good trait, but if you are loyal to your own personal agenda, then it becomes your downfall. Stubbornness can be a good thing, but if you are stubborn for your own ways and against the things of God, it will be your worst enemy. Quick to action is good, but if it your own reaction that causes it, then you will be more detriment to the kingdom of God than benefit. Not caring what others think can be a good trait, but if you let it become an attitude that "I care less what God or His Word thinks" then it becomes dangerous.

But understand that if you can make His business your business and His goals your goals and His cause your cause, then you can become one of the greatest in the kingdom of God because of your strong personality. God needs someone who will be loyal to Him no matter what others say or do. God needs people that will be hard-headed for the truth and who will not sway no matter what public opinion says. God needs people who will be quick to act in obedience to the Word of God and quick to serve His kingdom and cause with decisive action. God needs leaders who will be willing to walk the front lines and fight for His cause, and God needs even "sons of thunder" who can stir up the enemy and stir up the spiritual world by proclaiming His Gospel and His kingdom and His Word by word and deed to this sinful world. God needs people who are willing to cause a reaction and to light a fire for His causes. And so God needs strong-willed, brash, and bold people like James, but ONLY if they -- like James -- will allow the Word and Will of God to harness their emotion and passion and desires! Indeed some of the most anointed men and women of God that I have ever been around were bold and brash people who submitted themselves to the will and Word of God.

God needs a Caleb who will say "I may be over eighty years old, but give me a sword and I'll drive out the giants just like I wanted to forty years ago! God has promised us this land and I'm going to get what He promised!" And he did just that.

God needs a David who will grab a sling and a stone, and say "you guys can stay in the bushes, but I'm confident in the cause of the Lord, and I'll fight!"

God needs a Paul who will aggressively travel the world and go into the most idolatrous cities and proclaim a better way called Jesus Christ and not let stripes, beating, shipwrecks, and hardships slow him down!

God needs an Elijah who will stand up against the king and queen who were worshipping idols and even when it was crime punishable by death, continue serving God openly and boldly and confront the false prophets head on.

God needs a John the Baptist who will directly confront the Jewish leaders of his day and call their hypocrisy for what it was, and then even in jail tell Herod the truth about sin and about what he needed to do to be saved.

And God needs a James who will not run from persecution but stay in Jerusalem and preach the truth to Herod and those there, even if it means stirring the pot and having to endure some things, but someone who will faithfully take up the sword of the Spirit and fight for the cause of Christ.

Have you noticed that when he surrendered to God, James got everything that he asked for? He wanted to be prominent among the disciples, and when he sold out to Jesus Christ, he was the first person that Herod thought about when he thought "Christian." He wanted to call down fire from heaven, and yet he never dreamed that he would one day actually get to do so when he preached about the Holy Ghost and the Holy Ghost fire consumed the sinners before him and transformed them into saints! He wanted to lead the pack in fighting and sword swinging, and he was able to pick up that Word of God which is "sharper than any two-edged sword" and swing it with all his might through preaching and demonstration of the kingdom of God! James had his dreams and strong ambitions fulfilled only when he completely surrendered his personality and life to the cause of Jesus Christ.

And so to those of you who are here who are hard headed and stubborn and not so apt to change, those qualities could be your downfall and the cause of your spiritual demise, but if you would let Jesus increase and your personal motives decrease, then those very faults could become the very assets that cause you to be a strong, immovable and mighty force in the kingdom of God, and place you leading the way in revival and the things of the Spirit! In short: if you are going to be hard-headed, be hard-headed for Jesus!

And let me say this before we move on. If you are trying to win someone to God and it seems that they are extremely hard-headed against the truth, then do not give up or grow disheartened, but keep planting the seed. We are not told the exact story of James' conversion, but we do know that his brother John met Jesus at His baptism. No doubt, James first heard about Jesus from his brother, and yet at first, James is nowhere around. He was hard-headed, but when it came crunch time, he made the right decision and that hard-headedness became a good trait for God's kingdom. So if you are trying to win a James, don't give up because the very trait that seems to cause them to push truth away, could become the biggest asset that the kingdom of God has ever seen, if they would reverse it and sell out to Jesus with such fierce loyalty. Saul was hard-headed for the traditions of the Pharisees and against Christianity until one encounter with Jesus on a road to Damascus reversed his feelings! That hard-headed person that has caused you so much grief could be just one encounter with Jesus away from being one of the greatest leaders that the church has ever seen! Don't stop trying to win them, because God has vacancies for hard-heads in His work!

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When Jesus rebuked James and John for their request for the seats of honor in His kingdom, He did so with this:

Jesus said "are you able to endure the sacrifice and the suffering and the cost that I am going to endure?" And they said to Him "we are able." That might have seemed like false bravado, except it turns out that they were able. It might have seemed foolish like Peter's quick "I'll never deny you" except that James of all people stayed true to his word. He did willingly drink of the cup of sacrifice that Jesus drank of and He did so until the very end.

Jesus was saying "whoever will become the chief servant and who will sacrifice the most will be those who get the seat of honor." He said that to pacify the other ten and let them know that what James and John had asked for was open to anyone who paid the price. But James was obviously listening carefully because nothing better characterizes James' good traits than sacrifice. His personality was such that he was willing to sacrifice whatever it took to be a part of God's kingdom. Let's shift gears a bit and see how James' willingness to sacrifice for Jesus' cause became the very thing that shifted his personality faults into strengths.

Throughout the scriptures, we are always drawn to the fact that James was the son of Zebedee. To be exact, fourteen times, when James' name is given it is linked with the phrase "son of Zebedee." This could be in part because of a need to distinguish him from the other disciple named James, but instead of having a nickname like James the Less, we know John's brother as "James the son of Zebedee." It's obvious that when you think of this James, God wanted us to link him with his father for a reason.

James' mother, named Salome, was one of the first followers of Jesus Christ and someone who was faithful for the rest of her life. She was ever present throughout Jesus' ministry and teachings. At the foot of the cross, with John and the other women stood Salome, not deserting her Lord even at the darkest time. It was Salome with two other women who got up early before sunrise on that fateful resurrection day and made their way to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body with perfumes only be startled to discover that an angel was waiting for them to tell them that Jesus' body was no longer in the grave! Salome emerges from scripture as a faithful follower of Christ who was loyal throughout the ups and downs of His ministry.

In studying James' father, Zebedee, a different portrait emerges. We have this written about Jesus' calling to James and John to follow Him full time:

Notice first how James is linked to his father: "James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother." Also notice that they left the boat "with the hired servants" which indicates to us that Zebedee had a fishing business of some size that he could hire employees to help in that time. We know from Luke 5:10 that Zebedee and his sons were in some sort of business partnership with Simon Peter. And so, it must be noted that when Peter, Andrew, James, and John left the business, it pretty much left Zebedee "holding the nets." The successful business that he had built up and no doubt intended to pass on to his sons, was abandoned by their desire to forsake everything, including the family business, and follow this man from Nazareth.

Now let me present to you something that I have never preached because I never noticed it until this week. Looking to a passage of John we come to this:

The scene is the night of Jesus' arrest and He is being led away in the wee hours of the morning for highly demeaning and also illegal trials at the private home of the High Priest. We always preach this story from a standpoint of Simon Peter entering the courtyard, and while warming himself by the fire, he cursed Jesus, but we forget how Peter got in the house in the first place. There was another disciple present who is not named in the Gospel of John therefore it must have been John himself because that is how he referred to himself in his gospel. The scriptures says that that disciple, John, was "known to the high priest" so much so that John was recognized and admitted entry into his private home. Peter was not, and only when John returned to the door and spoke to the doorkeeper, was Peter allowed to enter.

That John had such a close relationship with the High Priest who was Jesus' chief enemy among the Jewish leaders, can only mean one thing: that his father, Zebedee, was a devout, wealthy, and influential Jew and knew the High Priest well. The High Priest would not have been bosom buddies with someone so committed to the cause of Christ as John, James, or their mother, so Zebedee is the obvious connection and Jewish history seems to bear this out.

What this means to us in this lesson is that when you combine all of this, with the fact that Zebedee never follows Christ or is even around when Jesus is doing anything, it becomes pretty obvious that Zebedee, a devout Jew, did not approve of in any way of his wife's or sons' commitment to Christ. We tend to forget that when Jesus uttered these words in the Sermon on the Mount:

He was speaking not just to a crowd in general, but to His disciples (Matthew 5:1-2). For Him to say this, meant that there was somebody there who was suffering persecution for their decision to follow Him! And most likely, James and his brother John, were experiencing such persecution from their own father who would never become a believer. Jesus also taught later:

As He taught that, James stood there having received grief for leaving the family business and tradition to follow Christ, and having to face the persecution every time that he returned home from his father. Every time people saw him, they whispered "that's Zebedee's son, he's the one that dumbly left sure riches and sure prestige to follow that guy from Nazareth." And yet James was willing to sacrifice even a close relationship with his father and the family inheritance to sell out to Jesus' cause. He was hard-headed enough to obey truth, even if it meant the worst of fights in his family!

And let me say this: never underestimate the power of Salome in the decisions of James and John to follow Jesus. Despite having a husband who never served Jesus, Salome was faithful day in and day out. If James and John no doubt received grief for their decision, then what did Salome experience, and yet we find that she's always around and always faithful. It's no accident that two sons of such a lady would become two-thirds of the inner three of the disciples. Never underestimate the power of a faithful witness and influence of a mother. Even without dad committed, Salome influenced her sons greatly towards Christ. I am reminded of another great figure of scripture who was the same way. Paul wrote Timothy and said:

The young Timothy's father was an unbelieving Greek, and his grandfather is never mentioned, but his mother and grandmother's faith was passed on to him and when the apostles passed on, Timothy was a part of the next generation that took the Apostolic torch into the 2nd century! Oh, the power of a mother who is faithful no matter what!

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And so despite having a strong and bold personality, James was transformed into a dynamo for Christ because of his willingness to sacrifice for Jesus' sake. He sacrificed sure riches and family tradition and even a close relationship with his father to serve God. He sacrificed some personal ambitions and personal goals for the cause of Christ. And ultimately he was willing to look death in the face and unflinchingly respond with unwavering faithfulness.

There is not one sentence of recorded speech from the lips of James the son of Zebedee in scripture. But there is a very old tradition going back to the earliest of times that the prayer recorded in the 4th chapter of Acts was lead and thus formed by the lips of this son of Zebedee.

Peter and John had been arrested and were turned loose with a strong warning to stop preaching and acting "in the name of Jesus" or else they would be killed. And when Peter and John went back to the church and reported back to them what the Jewish leaders had said, the church prayed, and tradition says that it was James who led them:

A fresh boldness came upon the church, and rather give into the threats of the enemy, they became more on fire for the kingdom of God! Undoubtedly it was James the son of Zebedee who led this charge, because we find eight chapters later that he was the first of the twelve to be killed. The one who unafraid to sell out everything in the beginning was unafraid of giving everything in the end! And so looking Herod and death in the face, James met the sword and the son of Zebedee became one of the sons of God!

The 12th chapter of Acts that began with James' death ends with this note:

James' ultimate sacrifice caused revival to spread and break out across the world and the Early Church continued in phenomenal growth because of the determination, example, and leadership of one who was willingly to sacrifice much for the kingdom of God. God is still looking for a people today who will be hard-headed and strong-willed for Him, that in an age where we may also have to one day confront the political laws and leaders of our land in order to preach truth, yet there would be a people what would not bow or bend nor be afraid even if it meant to give their own life for truth and for the cause of Christ. God needs a James the son of Zebedee to arise in this hour who will be fiercely loyal to the kingdom of God no matter what family, friends, or fellow disciples do. And in giving of their lives, become "sons and daughters of God!"