Background Information
It is important to know a little about the
background of these two men.
James
It is thought that James was the eldest of
the two brothers. He was a fisherman by trade. We read of his initial dealing
with Christ in Matt. 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11. Each passage shares an interesting tidbit
about what occurred. Matthew and Mark speak of Christ telling the men to follow
Him in order to become fishers of men. Luke records more of the occasion in
which this statement was made. Christ was at the lake of Genneseret (Sea of
Galilee) and saw the two ships of these fishermen (Andrew, Simon, James, and
John). He called out to Simon and asked him to go out some and cast the net
into the waters. Peter obliged even though nothing had been earlier caught. There
was so much by the way of fish that the nets began to break. After this
occurred Christ gave them the famous promise. “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men” (Luke 5:10b).
James has an interesting death when compared
to the rest of the apostles as his is actually recorded in the Bible. Out of
the apostles, he is first to be martyred. “Now about that time Herod the king stretched
forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother
of John with the sword” (Acts 12:1-2).
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