JAMES, THE SON OF ZEBEDEE [MATTHEW 20:20-28]
JESUS told the apostles what kind of leaders He wanted them to be. Like Him, they were to be servants of others, even to the point of giving their lives (Matthew 20:26-28). James was one who responded to Jesus’ call as he decided to set aside his ambitions for earthly glory (Matthew 20:20-21). Like other leaders of the early Church, he learned to die to his own desires and live for the sake of his sisters and brothers, so that “grace” might extend “to more and more people” (2 Corinthians 4:15).
James did indeed “drink the cup” of suffering that Jesus offered him. As a leader of the infant Church in Jerusalem, he faced daily the call to die to his own ideas and desires so that he could minister according to the power of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately, James drank the cup fully, being martyred by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:1-2).
As Jesus’ disciples today, we too are called to give our lives so that others may know the grace and power of the Holy Spirit within them. Of course, we cannot save people as Jesus did. He is the only one who could give His life as our ransom from sin and death. Nevertheless, whenever we let the cry of the poor pierce our hearts and move us to action, we are giving our lives for the sake of God’s people. Whenever we let the Holy Spirit’s call to holiness and purity move us to repentance, we are giving our lives for the sake of the Church and its witness to Jesus.
The call to lay down our lives for the Lord is so high a calling that we can do it only through the power of the Holy Spirit. Like James and Paul, we are called to put to death our old nature each day and to let the life of Christ shine through us (2 Corinthians 4:11). Every time we allow the demands of the life in the Spirit to penetrate our hearts, we will bear more fruit for the Kingdom of God – not because of our goodness, but because of the life of Christ in us.