Feast of Saint James
ACTS
4:33
With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
5:12
Many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the apostles…
5:26
Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
27
And they brought them and set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them,
28
saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
29
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
30
The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.
31
God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32
And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
33
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.
12:1
About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.
2
He killed James the brother of John with the sword.
I have kept the numbering of chapters and verses to make it clear what puzzle has been put together to compose this text. In this way, by trying to apply any isolated little text to the feast of Santiago, a text has been constructed in which each fragment is taken out of context and becomes practically unintelligible.
It is a pure and hard example of the lack of respect of the one who composed it for the authentic text and, in short, for The Word.
Curiously, James the brother of John appears in the Acts only twice: in 1:13, when it lists the members of the first community, and the one we are reading. This could be interpreted as an indication that James had very little importance in the first community, but even this statement would be excessive.
In any case, the text/puzzle offered to us is intended to show that the apostles gave testimony of Jesus bravely, that they obeyed the word of Jesus as the Word of God himself, even against the old Law and the commands of the legitimate (though corrupt) authorities of Israel, and that they had to suffer for it and did so bravely.
It is worth highlighting some paragraphs: “you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” Preaching in the name of Jesus, the crucified, meant proclaiming the injustice of his death and therefore the guilt of the leaders, not simply for executing an innocent man but for rejecting the One sent by God.
“We must obey God rather than men.” Proclamation that they understand Jesus as the Word of God, the Law of God. This phrase is the basis of all conscientious objection, and in this case it is made (I repeat) even against the old Law (of God?) and the commands of the legitimate religious authorities.
And finally, a phrase to build a healthy Christology:
“The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior…”.
(“God has exalted Jesus,” can it be understood as “God has exalted God”?) But it is not a question to enter into on this occasion.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:7-15
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; in every circumstance and everywhere, we carry in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.
While we live, we are continually being handed over to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh. Thus, death is at work in us, and life in you.
All this is for your benefit. As more receive grace, the greater will be the thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
It is a text written to comfort those who suffer for their faith, and it needs no further explanation.
‘We carry the death of Christ’ is a way of expressing that if Jesus suffered for the Kingdom, those who follow Him will also suffer. The ways of expressing it seem confusing to us because we scarcely participate in His ways of understanding the human being (the flesh/the spirit…). But the underlying message is absolutely clear.
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J