Salome, the daughter of Alphaeus and half-sister of the L-rd, her name means “Peacemaker”, she followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee. Salome and another brother Joses and James were with her on the hill overlooking the crucifixion. Salome helps bring spices to anoint the body as they attended to Y’Shua’s burial rites.
Jewish tradition corpses are to be buried within twenty-four hours of death if possible. Washing and anointing the naked body of a loved one was an intimate ace of devotion.
Tradition was that first the body was washed and anointed with oils and spices and wrapped in a burial shroud. It was then placed on a stone shelf or in a niche known as a loculus carved into the bedrock wall of the tomb. The body was allowed to decompose and desiccate for as long as a year. When mostly bones were left, the remains would be gathered and placed into an ossuary or ‘bone box’ usually carved from limestone. Often the name of the deceased was carved or scratched on the side into the stone. These rectangular lidded boxes vary in size but typically they are 20 by 10 by 12 inches, long enough for the femur or thigh bone, and wide enough to hold the skull.
And Unknown names of other daughters.
Showing posts with label Y'Shua's Siblings. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Y'Shua's Siblings. Show all posts
Matthew
Matthew Levi, the son of Alphaeus and the “5th half-brother of the L-rd. His name means “Gift of Yahweh”, Levi means “Joined in harmony.” Mark 2:14. Was he to be considered part of the family of Y’Shua's too? Though both Matthew and James are described as being the "son of Alphaeus" there is no Biblical account of the two being called brothers.
Alphaeus is mentioned in the New Testament as the father of three of the Twelve Apostles.
Alphaeus is mentioned in the New Testament as the father of three of the Twelve Apostles.
Judas
Judas, the son of Alphaeus and the “4th half-brother of the L-rd and in the 4th century theologians debated whether the letter of Jude should be included in the New Testament. Many Bible readers today would be surprised to learn that we have within the New Testament letters from Y’Shua’s brothers.
Jude Thaddeus, whose real name is Judas, but is called Thaddeus, which means courageous one in Hebrew to distinguish him from the traitor. He was in his nineties when chosen to succeed Simeon because of the great honor and respect these early Believers had for the royal family.
Martin Luther, a great champion of Paul, moved the letters of James and Jude to the very end of his 1522 edition asserting that “they were of lesser quality than the true and certain books of the New Testament.”
Jude’s letter dates to the last decades of the 1st century A.D. He warned his readers of certain ‘intruders’ who had stolen in among the movement and he urges them to ‘struggle earnestly for the faith that was once for all passed on’ to the original Believers (3), formal passing on of an authorized tradition. The phrase ‘once for all’ implies that no subsequent tradition is to replace the original one. He does not identify by name those he has in mind but he does say that such teachers had turned the notion of ‘grace’ into a license for lawless behavior.
Both James and Jude share the apocalyptic outlook that Y’Shua and John the Baptizer had proclaimed. Jude quoted the Book of Enoch which survives in Ethiopic, and also in Aramaic fragments among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam and according to this apocryphal work he had prophesied, “The L-rd comes with 10.000 of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed.” The reference to the ‘coming of the
L-rd’ was to ‘the only G-d our Savior,’ as Jude puts it, not to the Second Coming of Y’Shua (25). What these early Christians expected was drawn from the Hebrew Prophets who predicted the coming of the L-rd G-d that is Yahweh, not a Second Coming of the Messiah. L-rd meaning G-d in Zech. 14:5; Isa. 40:10; Isa. 66:15.
James and Jude refer to their brother Y’Shua as the “L-rd” but they don’t use the term to refer to the “L-rd G-d” to Y’Shua as their respected “Master” who had given His life for the cause of the Kingdom of G-d. The Greek word for “L-rd” is a term of respect, something akin to ‘Sir’ or Mister.’ One of the pivotal moves that Paul had made was to equate Y’Shua as “L-rd” with passages in the Hebrew Bible that referred exclusively to the “L-rd G-d” of Israel – thus effectively making Y’Shua equal Yahweh. (Isa. 45:22-23).
Paul quotes this very verse but shifts its reference to the “L-rd” Y’Shua as the Messiah in Phil. 2:10-11. This is an enormous change that eventually became commonplace among Christians. Y’Shua as ‘G-d in the flesh’ and His mother became the ‘holy mother of
G-d.” Since Christians maintained that they were nonetheless monotheistic, that is, they adhered to the Shema – the great confession of Judaism, “Hear O Israel, the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is One” – the conclusion became inescapable. If Y’Shua were truly “G-d”, and there is one G-d not two, then He is nothing less than an incarnation of the L-rd G-d of Israel. To put things bluntly, G-d became man.
Paul started the expression “Jesus Christ”, as if the term “Christ”, which was a Greek term for the Messiah, used as a proper name rather than a designated title.
Y’Shua Himself confessed the Shema and highlighted it as the “Great Commandment” in Mark 12:29. Notice Mark 10:18.
The Didache is the handbook for Christian converts and reminds one strongly of the faith and goodness we find in the letter of James, it was a witness to a form of the Christian faith that traces directly back to Y’Shua and was carried on and perpetuated by James, Jude, and the rest of the Twelve Apostles. In Paul’s gospel there is nothing in the Didache that corresponds to his, - no divinity of Y’Shua, no atoning through His body and blood, and no mentioned of Y’Shua’s resurrection from the dead. In the Didache Y’Shua is the one who has brought the knowledge of life and faith, but there is no emphasis whatsoever upon the figure of Y’Shua apart from His message. Sacrifice and forgiveness of sins in the Didache come through good deeds and a consecrated life.
Jude is given the L-rd’s burial cloth. You see, Y’Shua likes to keep things “all in the family.” Jude Thaddeus, is the Apostle who takes the cloth out of Jerusalem during the time that their brother James the Less is bishop of the city.
He will first evangelize Northern Africa (Mauritania) with the Shroud, to take the cloth to fulfill Y’Shua’ earthly vow, as recorded by the first Church historian, Bishop Eusebius, to heal the king of Edessa, Turkey, known as Agbar the Black. Jude will, again, under Divine Inspiration entrust the cloth to this king, Agbar V. Why? Because the L-rd knew that soon Apostle Jude, with the Apostle Simon the Zealot were to become martyrs for the faith in Persia.
As apparent from today’s headlines, the “prince of Persia” does not like those who preach Truth, whether Old or New Covenant, and stirs up the people of the area to kill those who are the true messengers of G-d.
We have no record of Jude’s manner of death, but we do know that during the early decades of the 2nd century A.D., in Palestine identification with the Davidic family and its messianic expectations could have serious consequences. Any hope of the Kingdom of G-d being realized on earth had begun to fade and Jewish Messianic passion grew cold. Paul is sharply censored as one who put his own testimony based on visions over the certainty of the teachings that the original apostles had from Y’Shua directly.
What Jews had rejected is not so much Y’Shua as the systems of Christian theology that equated Him to G-d, that nullified the Torah, and that displaced Jewish people and their covenant.
Jude Thaddeus, whose real name is Judas, but is called Thaddeus, which means courageous one in Hebrew to distinguish him from the traitor. He was in his nineties when chosen to succeed Simeon because of the great honor and respect these early Believers had for the royal family.
Martin Luther, a great champion of Paul, moved the letters of James and Jude to the very end of his 1522 edition asserting that “they were of lesser quality than the true and certain books of the New Testament.”
Jude’s letter dates to the last decades of the 1st century A.D. He warned his readers of certain ‘intruders’ who had stolen in among the movement and he urges them to ‘struggle earnestly for the faith that was once for all passed on’ to the original Believers (3), formal passing on of an authorized tradition. The phrase ‘once for all’ implies that no subsequent tradition is to replace the original one. He does not identify by name those he has in mind but he does say that such teachers had turned the notion of ‘grace’ into a license for lawless behavior.
Both James and Jude share the apocalyptic outlook that Y’Shua and John the Baptizer had proclaimed. Jude quoted the Book of Enoch which survives in Ethiopic, and also in Aramaic fragments among the Dead Sea Scrolls. Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam and according to this apocryphal work he had prophesied, “The L-rd comes with 10.000 of His holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed.” The reference to the ‘coming of the
L-rd’ was to ‘the only G-d our Savior,’ as Jude puts it, not to the Second Coming of Y’Shua (25). What these early Christians expected was drawn from the Hebrew Prophets who predicted the coming of the L-rd G-d that is Yahweh, not a Second Coming of the Messiah. L-rd meaning G-d in Zech. 14:5; Isa. 40:10; Isa. 66:15.
James and Jude refer to their brother Y’Shua as the “L-rd” but they don’t use the term to refer to the “L-rd G-d” to Y’Shua as their respected “Master” who had given His life for the cause of the Kingdom of G-d. The Greek word for “L-rd” is a term of respect, something akin to ‘Sir’ or Mister.’ One of the pivotal moves that Paul had made was to equate Y’Shua as “L-rd” with passages in the Hebrew Bible that referred exclusively to the “L-rd G-d” of Israel – thus effectively making Y’Shua equal Yahweh. (Isa. 45:22-23).
Paul quotes this very verse but shifts its reference to the “L-rd” Y’Shua as the Messiah in Phil. 2:10-11. This is an enormous change that eventually became commonplace among Christians. Y’Shua as ‘G-d in the flesh’ and His mother became the ‘holy mother of
G-d.” Since Christians maintained that they were nonetheless monotheistic, that is, they adhered to the Shema – the great confession of Judaism, “Hear O Israel, the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is One” – the conclusion became inescapable. If Y’Shua were truly “G-d”, and there is one G-d not two, then He is nothing less than an incarnation of the L-rd G-d of Israel. To put things bluntly, G-d became man.
Paul started the expression “Jesus Christ”, as if the term “Christ”, which was a Greek term for the Messiah, used as a proper name rather than a designated title.
Y’Shua Himself confessed the Shema and highlighted it as the “Great Commandment” in Mark 12:29. Notice Mark 10:18.
The Didache is the handbook for Christian converts and reminds one strongly of the faith and goodness we find in the letter of James, it was a witness to a form of the Christian faith that traces directly back to Y’Shua and was carried on and perpetuated by James, Jude, and the rest of the Twelve Apostles. In Paul’s gospel there is nothing in the Didache that corresponds to his, - no divinity of Y’Shua, no atoning through His body and blood, and no mentioned of Y’Shua’s resurrection from the dead. In the Didache Y’Shua is the one who has brought the knowledge of life and faith, but there is no emphasis whatsoever upon the figure of Y’Shua apart from His message. Sacrifice and forgiveness of sins in the Didache come through good deeds and a consecrated life.
Jude is given the L-rd’s burial cloth. You see, Y’Shua likes to keep things “all in the family.” Jude Thaddeus, is the Apostle who takes the cloth out of Jerusalem during the time that their brother James the Less is bishop of the city.
He will first evangelize Northern Africa (Mauritania) with the Shroud, to take the cloth to fulfill Y’Shua’ earthly vow, as recorded by the first Church historian, Bishop Eusebius, to heal the king of Edessa, Turkey, known as Agbar the Black. Jude will, again, under Divine Inspiration entrust the cloth to this king, Agbar V. Why? Because the L-rd knew that soon Apostle Jude, with the Apostle Simon the Zealot were to become martyrs for the faith in Persia.
As apparent from today’s headlines, the “prince of Persia” does not like those who preach Truth, whether Old or New Covenant, and stirs up the people of the area to kill those who are the true messengers of G-d.
We have no record of Jude’s manner of death, but we do know that during the early decades of the 2nd century A.D., in Palestine identification with the Davidic family and its messianic expectations could have serious consequences. Any hope of the Kingdom of G-d being realized on earth had begun to fade and Jewish Messianic passion grew cold. Paul is sharply censored as one who put his own testimony based on visions over the certainty of the teachings that the original apostles had from Y’Shua directly.
What Jews had rejected is not so much Y’Shua as the systems of Christian theology that equated Him to G-d, that nullified the Torah, and that displaced Jewish people and their covenant.
Simeon
Simeon, the son of Alphaeus and the “3rd half-brother of the L-rd,” will take up an important role after his blood brother James the Less (later known as James the Just) is martyred as the first bishop of Jerusalem. Simeon becomes the City of Peace’s 2nd bishop.
Eusebius reported that the remaining apostles gathered with those left of the family of Y’Shua and they took counsel together as to who would succeed James. He wrote that Cleophas was the brother of Joseph, husband of Mariam, and thus also of Davidic lineage. Cleophas was the legal uncle of Y’Shua, and the second husband of Mariam His mother, based on Levirate Law.
We would presume Peter would have taken over the leadership of the group, but the Apostles chose Simon which shows us how important the Y’Shua family was in their thinking.
After being supernaturally warned by G-d in 66 A.D. that the destruction of Jerusalem was forthcoming, Simeon (which means “to hear” in Hebrew) followed the L-rd’s instructions and led a group of early Messianic Believers to the city of Pella in A.D. 66.
Simeon escaped death several times when the Romans decreed that all those of Hebrew origin were to be executed. Simeon was tortured and crucified by the Romans during the persecution of Believers under the reign of the evil emperor Trajan on February 18, 107 A.D. as a descendant of David, he was over one hundred years old at the time.
These records of these early Palestinian Christians during the period of the flight of Pella to the execution of Simon, of what was transpiring in those areas of Christianity to the West that had been influenced by Paul – but details of what was transpired among those who had followed the Teaching represented by His family were not preserved.
Eusebius reported that the remaining apostles gathered with those left of the family of Y’Shua and they took counsel together as to who would succeed James. He wrote that Cleophas was the brother of Joseph, husband of Mariam, and thus also of Davidic lineage. Cleophas was the legal uncle of Y’Shua, and the second husband of Mariam His mother, based on Levirate Law.
We would presume Peter would have taken over the leadership of the group, but the Apostles chose Simon which shows us how important the Y’Shua family was in their thinking.
After being supernaturally warned by G-d in 66 A.D. that the destruction of Jerusalem was forthcoming, Simeon (which means “to hear” in Hebrew) followed the L-rd’s instructions and led a group of early Messianic Believers to the city of Pella in A.D. 66.
Simeon escaped death several times when the Romans decreed that all those of Hebrew origin were to be executed. Simeon was tortured and crucified by the Romans during the persecution of Believers under the reign of the evil emperor Trajan on February 18, 107 A.D. as a descendant of David, he was over one hundred years old at the time.
These records of these early Palestinian Christians during the period of the flight of Pella to the execution of Simon, of what was transpiring in those areas of Christianity to the West that had been influenced by Paul – but details of what was transpired among those who had followed the Teaching represented by His family were not preserved.
Joseph
Joseph, the son of Alphaeus and the “2nd half-brother of the L-rd,” Mark nicknamed him Joses or Jose. The brother who would have been second in line to succeed James, very possibly had died by the time Simon took over leadership.
We simply cannot know, but what we can know, with some certainty, is that the royal family of Y’Shua, including the children and grandchildren of His brothers and sisters, were honored by the early Believers well into the 2nd century A.D. While at the same time they were watched and hunted down by the highest levels of the Roman government in Palestine.
We simply cannot know, but what we can know, with some certainty, is that the royal family of Y’Shua, including the children and grandchildren of His brothers and sisters, were honored by the early Believers well into the 2nd century A.D. While at the same time they were watched and hunted down by the highest levels of the Roman government in Palestine.
James
James, the son of Alphaeus, the “1st. half-brother of the L-rd,” who is also called the "Less" or perhaps "Younger," His name means “Truthful Supplanter,” he is described as the chairman of the Messianic church of Jerusalem, exceeding in rank was Peter and John. Each time in the New Testament where the name of "James" appears, after the official roster of the Apostles is listed in the first chapter of Acts, it refers to James, the brother of Y’Shua, he was the spokesman for the Apostles. At the conference where Paul and Barnabas received a special commission to preach to the Gentiles, Paul certainly mentions him as having been the first and only Apostle with whom he personally conferred three years after his conversion, except for Peter.Prayer was his constant business and delight. He seemed to live upon it and to trade in nothing but the frequent returns of converse with heaven. When the Christians began to canonize the New Testament in the 4th century – that is, to authoritatively determine which books would be included and which would not – the status of the letter of James was questioned. There were three major reasons that some later Christians questioned the letter of James:
1. The first has to do with what James said and did not say about his brother Y’Shua. He only mentioned the name of Y’Shua two times in a passing way and either reference could easily be removed without affecting the content of the letter or the points James was making (1:1; 2:1).
2. In addition, the letter lacked any reference to Paul’s view of Y’Shua as the divine Son of G-d, His atoning death on the cross, or His glorified resurrection. How could a New Testament document that lacked such teachings of Paul’s really be considered ‘Christian’?
3. The other factor that put the letter in disfavor with some was that James directly disputed Paul’s teaching of salvation by faith without the deeds of the Law while strongly upholding the positive nature of the Torah as well as its enduring validity:
James 2:14, 17. What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?....So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
James 1:25. For whoever looks into the perfect Torah, the Torah of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.
James 2:10. For whoever keeps the whole Torah but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
James addresses his letter to the Twelve Tribes in the Dispersion. This is a direct reference to the scattered Twelve Tribes of Israel over which Y’Shua had promised they would rule. The letter reflects an early Palestinian Jewish cultural context. He is referred to the local meeting or assembly of Christians as a Synagogue, reflecting his understanding of the movement as fully a part of Judaism (2:2), not to start a new religion. The letter reflects numerous Aramaic and Hebrew expressions.
James taught the practice of anointing the sick with oil, carrying the same message as Y’Shua and John the Baptizer. Also that one is forgive of sins and justified before G-d through repentance and prayer – that is directly calling upon G-d, he wrote that confession of sins and prayer were the way to salvation in 5:15-16. This is in keeping with the general teaching of the Hebrew Bible regarding forgiveness of sins. Judaism teaches salvation that all human beings are justified by grace, fining forgiveness from their sins by repentance and prayer – calling upon the name of the L-rd (Joel 2:32).The letter of James contains the most direct possible link to the teachings of Y’Shua Himself. It is also important to note that James did not directly quote Y’Shua or attribute any of these teachings to Y’Shua by name – even though they are teachings of Y’Shua.
For James the message is not the person of Y’Shua but the message that Y’Shua proclaimed – The Gospel of the Kingdom of G-d with its full political and social implications. Y’Shua, Himself always pointed back to the Father, not holding up himself. James’s letter lacks a single teaching that is characteristic of Paul’s and it draws nothing at all from the tradition of Mark. He wanted to tell it in the Hebrew way just as his Brother did, without all the bells and whistles or add-ons, remember he grew up with his Brother and had front row seat.
What is most amazing about the letter of James is that the ethical content of its teaching is directly parallel to the teachings of Y’Shua that we know from the Qumran source. The Qumran source is the earliest collection of the teachings and sayings of Y’Shua that scholars date to around the years A.D. 50. The lost gospel of Qumran consists of about 235 verses that are mostly but not entirely the sayings of Y’Shua. The Qumran source takes us back to the original teachings of Y’Shua minus much of the theological framework that the gospels subsequently added. Found in the 2nd century in the Book of Jubilees. The most striking characteristic of the Qumran source in terms of reconstructing Christian origins is that it has nothing of Paul’s theology, particularly his Christology or view of the Messiah.
The letter of James, short as it is, contains no fewer than thirty direct references, echoes, and allusions to the teachings of Y’Shua found in the Qumran source!
James saw Y’Shua as a model to follow. As Y’Shua’s successor James sought to emulate Y’Shua’s faith, His ethical teachings, and His courage in the face of evil.
It is surely an irony of history that the high priest Annas, who had presided at the trial of Y’Shua, was behind the murder of James, also at the season of Passover in the year A.D. 62. The successor to Festus, the enemies of James decided to dispatch him. A council of Sanhedrin was hastily summoned. They charged James and others with transgressing the Jewish Law and delivered them to be stoned. They plotted to set the scribes and Pharisees to in snare him. They told him they had a mighty confidence in him and that they would that he might correct the error and false opinion the people had of Y’Shua. To that end he was invited to go to the top of the Temple where he might be seen and heard by all. There they demanded, 'Tell us, what the institution of the crucified Y’Shua is?' The people below, hearing it, glorified the blessed Y’Shua. The Scribes and Pharisees perceiving now that they had overshot themselves and that instead of reclaiming the people had confirmed them in their error, thought there was no way left but presently to dispatch him, that by his sad fate others might be warned not to believe him. Wherefore, suddenly crying out that James the just himself was seduced and had become an imposter, they threw him down from the place where he stood, the southeast wall of the Temple complex and fell into the Kidron Valley.. Barely alive, though bruised, he was not killed by the fall, but recovered so much strength, as to get upon his knees and pray to heaven for them.
They began to load him with a shower of stones until one more mercifully cruel than the rest with a fuller's dub beat out his brains. Thus died, about 24 years after Messiah’s ascension, He was buried in that area, not far from the Temple itself, upon the Mt. of Olives in a tomb which he had built for himself. Y’Shua was crucified outside the eastern wall of Jerusalem, both He and His brother James died in very close proximity to each other, both at Passover, and both at the hands of Annas family of priests.James death, like that of Y’Shua, was a fulfillment of prophecy. Isa. 3:10 says: “Let us bind the Just One, for he is a burden to us.” It is chilling to note that James himself, probably with the brutal death of his brother Y’Shua in mind, wrote in his letter in 5:6: “You have condemned and murdered the Just One and He does not resist you”. He likely had no idea how prophetic his words would prove to be regarding his own death.Agrippa II held court, and complained about the murder of James. Agrippa had Annas stripped of the priesthood that he had only held for three months. Hegesippus wrote that James was holy from his mother’s womb and like his kinsman John the Baptizer neither drank wine nor ate any meat. James was believed by all men to be most righteous and thus called ‘Just’ by all men from Y’Shua’s time to his own.
1. The first has to do with what James said and did not say about his brother Y’Shua. He only mentioned the name of Y’Shua two times in a passing way and either reference could easily be removed without affecting the content of the letter or the points James was making (1:1; 2:1).
2. In addition, the letter lacked any reference to Paul’s view of Y’Shua as the divine Son of G-d, His atoning death on the cross, or His glorified resurrection. How could a New Testament document that lacked such teachings of Paul’s really be considered ‘Christian’?
3. The other factor that put the letter in disfavor with some was that James directly disputed Paul’s teaching of salvation by faith without the deeds of the Law while strongly upholding the positive nature of the Torah as well as its enduring validity:
James 2:14, 17. What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him?....So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.
James 1:25. For whoever looks into the perfect Torah, the Torah of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer that forgets but a doer that acts, he shall be blessed in his doing.
James 2:10. For whoever keeps the whole Torah but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
James addresses his letter to the Twelve Tribes in the Dispersion. This is a direct reference to the scattered Twelve Tribes of Israel over which Y’Shua had promised they would rule. The letter reflects an early Palestinian Jewish cultural context. He is referred to the local meeting or assembly of Christians as a Synagogue, reflecting his understanding of the movement as fully a part of Judaism (2:2), not to start a new religion. The letter reflects numerous Aramaic and Hebrew expressions.
James taught the practice of anointing the sick with oil, carrying the same message as Y’Shua and John the Baptizer. Also that one is forgive of sins and justified before G-d through repentance and prayer – that is directly calling upon G-d, he wrote that confession of sins and prayer were the way to salvation in 5:15-16. This is in keeping with the general teaching of the Hebrew Bible regarding forgiveness of sins. Judaism teaches salvation that all human beings are justified by grace, fining forgiveness from their sins by repentance and prayer – calling upon the name of the L-rd (Joel 2:32).The letter of James contains the most direct possible link to the teachings of Y’Shua Himself. It is also important to note that James did not directly quote Y’Shua or attribute any of these teachings to Y’Shua by name – even though they are teachings of Y’Shua.
For James the message is not the person of Y’Shua but the message that Y’Shua proclaimed – The Gospel of the Kingdom of G-d with its full political and social implications. Y’Shua, Himself always pointed back to the Father, not holding up himself. James’s letter lacks a single teaching that is characteristic of Paul’s and it draws nothing at all from the tradition of Mark. He wanted to tell it in the Hebrew way just as his Brother did, without all the bells and whistles or add-ons, remember he grew up with his Brother and had front row seat.
What is most amazing about the letter of James is that the ethical content of its teaching is directly parallel to the teachings of Y’Shua that we know from the Qumran source. The Qumran source is the earliest collection of the teachings and sayings of Y’Shua that scholars date to around the years A.D. 50. The lost gospel of Qumran consists of about 235 verses that are mostly but not entirely the sayings of Y’Shua. The Qumran source takes us back to the original teachings of Y’Shua minus much of the theological framework that the gospels subsequently added. Found in the 2nd century in the Book of Jubilees. The most striking characteristic of the Qumran source in terms of reconstructing Christian origins is that it has nothing of Paul’s theology, particularly his Christology or view of the Messiah.
The letter of James, short as it is, contains no fewer than thirty direct references, echoes, and allusions to the teachings of Y’Shua found in the Qumran source!
James saw Y’Shua as a model to follow. As Y’Shua’s successor James sought to emulate Y’Shua’s faith, His ethical teachings, and His courage in the face of evil.
It is surely an irony of history that the high priest Annas, who had presided at the trial of Y’Shua, was behind the murder of James, also at the season of Passover in the year A.D. 62. The successor to Festus, the enemies of James decided to dispatch him. A council of Sanhedrin was hastily summoned. They charged James and others with transgressing the Jewish Law and delivered them to be stoned. They plotted to set the scribes and Pharisees to in snare him. They told him they had a mighty confidence in him and that they would that he might correct the error and false opinion the people had of Y’Shua. To that end he was invited to go to the top of the Temple where he might be seen and heard by all. There they demanded, 'Tell us, what the institution of the crucified Y’Shua is?' The people below, hearing it, glorified the blessed Y’Shua. The Scribes and Pharisees perceiving now that they had overshot themselves and that instead of reclaiming the people had confirmed them in their error, thought there was no way left but presently to dispatch him, that by his sad fate others might be warned not to believe him. Wherefore, suddenly crying out that James the just himself was seduced and had become an imposter, they threw him down from the place where he stood, the southeast wall of the Temple complex and fell into the Kidron Valley.. Barely alive, though bruised, he was not killed by the fall, but recovered so much strength, as to get upon his knees and pray to heaven for them.
They began to load him with a shower of stones until one more mercifully cruel than the rest with a fuller's dub beat out his brains. Thus died, about 24 years after Messiah’s ascension, He was buried in that area, not far from the Temple itself, upon the Mt. of Olives in a tomb which he had built for himself. Y’Shua was crucified outside the eastern wall of Jerusalem, both He and His brother James died in very close proximity to each other, both at Passover, and both at the hands of Annas family of priests.James death, like that of Y’Shua, was a fulfillment of prophecy. Isa. 3:10 says: “Let us bind the Just One, for he is a burden to us.” It is chilling to note that James himself, probably with the brutal death of his brother Y’Shua in mind, wrote in his letter in 5:6: “You have condemned and murdered the Just One and He does not resist you”. He likely had no idea how prophetic his words would prove to be regarding his own death.Agrippa II held court, and complained about the murder of James. Agrippa had Annas stripped of the priesthood that he had only held for three months. Hegesippus wrote that James was holy from his mother’s womb and like his kinsman John the Baptizer neither drank wine nor ate any meat. James was believed by all men to be most righteous and thus called ‘Just’ by all men from Y’Shua’s time to his own.
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