All About the Disciple James, Son of Zebedee

As Jesus Christ ministered on earth, His twelve disciples were some of His closest companions. Three of those twelve were said to be His “inner circle.”

One of them was James, the son of Zebedee.

He had a vibrant personality—he was a fisherman who became one of Jesus’ closest disciples and played an important role in the early church before being the first apostle to be martyred.

But while many are familiar with this disciple by name, there’s more to his story than many might realize. So let’s learn more about this important disciple as we cover:

• James’ background
• James’ service as a disciple
• How he spent his life after Jesus’ ascension
• What can we learn from the life of James?

Let’s start with where he came from.

James’ background

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There isn’t a large list of published facts about James the son of Zebedee, but we know that he was also called James the Great. (This was likely to differentiate between Jesus’ brother James, who also became a follower.)¹

James lived somewhere around the Sea of Galilee, probably either Capernaum or Bethsaida, since Jesus found him “a little farther” from Peter and Andrew (Mark 1:19).

He had a brother named John, who also became Jesus’ disciple. The Bible also tells us James’ father was Zebedee (Mark 1:19), and we can infer that his mother was Salome from a comparison of Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40.

James, John, and their father all worked together as fishermen on the Sea of Galilee, along with their hired servants (Mark 1:20).

While several Jameses are mentioned in the New Testament, they’re several different people. Jesus had a brother James (how’s that for confusing!), and this James likely wrote the book of James.² He may have also been a leader in the church of Jerusalem (Acts 15:13).

Jesus had another disciple called James, often referred to as James the son of Alphaeus or James the Lesser.

But as for James the brother of John, here’s how his story began with Jesus.

Jesus was preaching in Nazareth, His hometown. He had just called Peter and Andrew to be His disciples. Then He noticed a few others.

“He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him” (Matthew 4:21-22, NKJV).

Mark’s account adds that they left their father with the hired servants, so that their father wouldn’t be left all alone to continue the family business (Mark 1:20).

The book of Luke tells a slightly different story, indicating that perhaps James and John were not full-time disciples until a little later.

Luke 5 tells how Peter, Andrew, James, and John had partnered up in their fishing, but had brought back nothing after a whole night. Jesus told them to cast their nets down again (Luke 5:4).

When they did so, they brought back so many fish that the nets were breaking (Luke 5:6)!

Jesus told them, “‘Do not fear; from now on you will be catching people’” (Luke 5:10, NASB).

On land, the disciples abandoned their nets and followed Jesus.

James as a disciple

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Like all of Jesus’ disciples, and like any of us, James had both good qualities and troublesome qualities. But regardless of his qualities, he began a strong and unwavering relationship with his Savior. He was regarded as one of Jesus’ closest disciples, along with John and Peter.

James’ character

The parts of the New Testament that talk about James and his brother John describe them as bold, assertive, and sometimes short-tempered men.

Because of this, Jesus nicknamed the two brothers the “Sons of Thunder,” or “Boanerges” in Aramaic (Mark 3:17).

We can see this trait of James’ in a story in Luke, when Jesus and His disciples were traveling to Jerusalem. They sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village. But the Samaritans refused to accept Jesus because He was going to Jerusalem, a Jewish city. The Samaritans and the Jews had long been rivals.

James and his brother John got all riled up. They said to Jesus,

“‘Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?’” (Luke 9:54, NKJV).

Their temper had definitely gotten the better of them. Jesus chastised them for thinking this way:

“‘You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them’” (Luke 9:55-56, NKJV).

These Samaritans were the very type of people Jesus had come to minister to.

Another time, the brothers were so sure of their honorable position that they had their mother ask Jesus if James could sit on one side of Jesus, and John on the other, in Jesus’ kingdom to come (Matthew 20:20-21).

(In Mark, the brothers do the asking themselves.)

Sitting at a king’s side was about the next-best thing to being king yourself.

Jesus replied,

“‘You do not know what you ask. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?’” (Matthew 20:22, NKJV).

The brothers foolishly said they could do that. They had no idea what it actually meant, to drink from Jesus’ cup of suffering and death.

Jesus said,

“‘You will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father’” (Matthew 20:23, NKJV).

James and John may have thought this was a wonderful thing. But they would understand the true and full meaning of this after Jesus died and rose again.

In the meantime, though, let’s look at James’ role among the other disciples.

As one of Jesus’ closest companions

Since James is considered to be in Jesus’ “inner circle,” he sometimes got to see things that the other disciples didn’t. Here are a few stories to illustrate this.

The healing of Jairus’ daughter

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This story is recorded in all the Gospels but John.³ A Jewish ruler named Jairus approached Jesus, begging Him to come heal his dying daughter. Jesus took all His disciples with Him to the man’s home, but only Peter, James, and John were allowed to enter the house with Jesus.

Jesus sent all the mourners out, for the girl had died. Then, before the eyes of the girl’s parents, He raised her back to life. James was privy to one of Jesus’ most precious miracles, and saw for himself Jesus’ loving power.

The Transfiguration⁴

Jesus took Peter, James, and John atop a mountain, where He became “transfigured”—His face and clothes shone white (Matthew 17:2). Then Elijah and Moses appeared and talked to Jesus. James and the other disciples didn’t know what to make of this, and Peter boldly declared they should build three temples, one for each Jesus, Moses, and Elijah (Matthew 17:4).

But a voice from heaven interrupted him (Matthew 17:5). The disciples were terrified and fell down, hiding their faces (Matthew 17:6). Then Jesus touched them and spoke to them, reassuring them there was nothing to be afraid of (Matthew 17:7).

Moses and Elijah were gone. Only Jesus and the disciples were left.

The Garden of Gethsemane

James and the other two disciples also accompanied Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the night He was arrested.⁵ But their response to this privilege was lacking.

Three different times Jesus asked James, John, and Peter to watch and pray while He went on a little further ahead to pray alone. And three times, Jesus’ closest companions, who were supposed to be His best friends, fell asleep.

By the end of all that, it was too late. Judas, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was coming with a group of soldiers to arrest Him.

Though James had an insider’s view of Jesus’s ministry, he still had plenty to learn. Seeing Jesus crucified and resurrected helped James better understand Jesus’ purpose and ministry.
And the few encounters the disciples had with Jesus before He ascended back into heaven solidified Jesus’ true mission in James’ mind, fueling his passion to be a witness for Jesus.
So let’s look at James’ life as a witness for Jesus, after Jesus’ time on earth had ended.

How James spent his life after Jesus

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The only thing we know about James is that he was the first disciple—after Judas Iscariot—to die.

He’s also the only other disciple the Bible records the death of. Acts 12:1-2 gives us a brief insight:

“Now about this time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword” (NKJV).

This Herod was Herod Agrippa, and most scholars believe James was killed in AD 44 in Jerusalem.⁶

Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, living in the third and fourth centuries AD, added this anecdote about James’ death:

“It appears that the guard who brought him [James] into court was so moved when he saw him testify that he confessed that he, too, was a Christian. So they were both taken away together, and on the way he asked James to forgive him. James thought for a moment, then he said ‘I wish you peace,’ and kissed him. So both were beheaded at the same time.”⁷

We don’t have any validation from the Scripture that this actually happened, but we do know James worked to spread the gospel for approximately 10 years up until his death. Otherwise Herod wouldn’t have targeted him over other important disciples like Peter or John.

A popular legend has it that before James died, he traveled to Spain and spread the gospel there. But no proof exists for this endeavor except a text written hundreds of years later, the Breviary of the Apostles.⁸ And it is unlikely that James would have done all this and come back to Jerusalem to be killed in AD 44.

Paul also says in Romans that he wants to preach “not where Christ was named” (Romans 15:20, NKJV), and speaks of going to Spain in the next few verses (Romans 15:24). If James had already started a church there, Paul likely wouldn’t talk of going there.

But while James’ life was short compared to the other disciples, we can still learn a lot from it.

Takeaways from James’ life

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James is a disciple many of us can relate to. He could be emotional, hasty, and prideful. But he also let Jesus transform him into the best version of himself.

Use your passion to serve God

James had a lot of zeal and passion—hence the nickname Son of Thunder. While sometimes as a disciple he had the wrong idea, he was very committed to Jesus.

Afterward, when he figured out what Jesus’ true purpose had been on earth and what He had accomplished in His death, James recommitted himself as a disciple—but this time, spreading the truth of Jesus to all around him.

As followers of Jesus, we can use our love for Him to guide our interactions with others. We can share Jesus with those around us by the way we act, how we treat people, and what we say.

His faith is inspiring

James’ zeal was a little misdirected early on as a disciple. But his heart was in the right place, and when the time came to pick a side, James chose Jesus.

He turned this enthusiasm into a force hard to reckon with, spreading the gospel to those in Jerusalem and perhaps the surrounding areas. He understood Jesus’ true purpose now, and he had the faith in Him to match it.

He was even willing to risk his life for Jesus. King Herod had his eye on James, and one day he came for him. James’ faith stood strong, even with a sword bearing over him and the king’s hot breath in his ear.

And he died for his faith.

This can be an inspiration to us. No matter what happens to us, in the end, it’s our faith that matters most. We know that Jesus will be waiting to welcome us at His return.

There’s always more to learn

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Even though he was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, James was far from a perfect or mature man. He thought he was one of the best and deserved a special place next to Jesus. He still had to learn that the best way to serve Jesus was by serving others.

This was the example Jesus set on earth, and James had to make some mistakes before learning the truth in this.

Since we are human, we will make mistakes in our lives and even in our relationship with Jesus. But we can still learn, and we can still grow, no matter how old we already are. There will always be opportunities to serve others, just as James learned.

James led an exciting life, one that involved fishing and traveling about Judea as one of Jesus’ closest disciples. He witnessed things not all the 12 apostles had the privilege to see, and he became a faithful servant of God.

He would become a martyr, as Jesus predicted. While James didn’t know that’s what Jesus meant when He told him, he grew in faith and conviction nonetheless. He didn’t live a long life, but he became an inspiring servant of God. And that’s one of the most important things.

1. Nelson, Ryan, “Who Was Saint James? The Beginner’s Guide,” OverviewBible, February 7, 2019, https://overviewbible.com/saint-james/. [↵]
2. “Introduction”, Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Crossway, 2007. [↵]
3. Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-43, Luke 8:40-56. [↵]
4. Matthew 17:1-8, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36. [↵]
5. Matthew 26:37-46, Mark 14:33-42. [↵]
6. Nelson, Ryan, “Who Was Saint James? The Beginner’s Guide,” Overview Bible, February 7, 2019, https://overviewbible.com/saint-james/. [↵]
7. Ibid. [↵]
8. Ibid. [↵]

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