He is James, son of Zebedee, the older brother of Saint John the Evangelist, and he was a fisherman with his father and brother. After Jesus called Peter and Andrew his brother, he called James and John to leave everything and follow him. Immediately they left their father and the ship and the nets and followed Christ. Jesus called them the Sons of Thunder because of their great enthusiasm (Mark 3:17).

When Jesus was heading to Jerusalem before the Passion, he sent messengers before him to a Samaritan village, but the village people refused to receive him. “When his disciples James and John saw this, they said: Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them? Then Jesus turned and rebuked them and said: You do not know what spirit you are of, for the Son of Man did not come to destroy the lives of men but to save. So they went to another village” (Luke 9:15-56). Jesus took him, along with his brother John and Peter, to Mount Tabor, where he was transfigured before them and his divinity was revealed (see the Gospel of Matthew 17: 1-8).

James and his brother John considered themselves close to Jesus, and while Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem speaking to his disciples about his passion, crucifixion, and resurrection, Salome, the mother of James and John, came forward and asked Jesus to have her two sons sit, one on the right hand of the Lord and the other on his left, in his kingdom. “Then Jesus answered and said: You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I will drink, and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? They told him: We can. And he said to them: As for my cup you may drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on my right and on my left is not mine to give, except to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father” (Matthew 20:20-28). Jesus was talking about his death on the cross, but his disciples did not understand, but were angry because of the two brothers. “Then Jesus called them and said: You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones exercise authority over them. Let it not be so among you. But whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant...” (Matthew 20:25-26).

After the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost around the year 41-44, Jesus’ prophecy about his disciple James was fulfilled. When this man was going to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter, the soldiers arrested him by order of King Herod Agrippa and put him in prison. It is said that the prison guard was impressed by Jacob’s steadfastness and his trust in Christ the Savior, so he believed and asked him for forgiveness. Jacob kissed him and said to him: “Peace be with you.” They were sentenced together and beheaded. Thus, Saint James was the first among the twelve apostles to drink the cup that the Lord drank and sat at his right hand in his kingdom.

The church celebrates him today, April 30.

Troparia in the third tune
O Saint Apostle James, intercede with the merciful God to grant our souls forgiveness of sins.

Qandaq with the second tune
When you heard the divine voice calling you, you turned away from your father’s love and hurried towards Christ with your brother, O glorious Jacob, so you became worthy of witnessing with him the manifestation of the divine Lord.