After a day in which two ascetics battled it out in the wilderness, John Chrysostom emerged victorious over Margaret of Cortona 53% to 47% -- despite a late push by Margaret -- to advance to the Saintly Sixteen. He'll face the winner of Mellitus vs. Ephrem of Nisibis.
Today we return to the Biblical quadrant of the bracket as James the Greater faces Nicodemus. For those who followed the Supreme Executive Committee's shenanigans at last summer's Lent Madness Day at General Convention in Austin, Texas, you'll recall this included a play-in match between James the Great and James the Less. Perhaps not surprisingly, the Greater lived up to his name, leaving the Lesser to wallow in saintly ignominy.
Finally, in case you missed yesterday's edition of Monday Madness, for which you should do some serious penance, you can still catch it here.
James the Greater
James the Greater is the portrait of an imperfect saint. He is often known as “the Greater” to distinguish him from the other Jameses in the Bible. The moniker denotes his prominence in the early tradition, not his superiority over other like-named disciples and saints Jameses.
James is the older brother of John. They are fishermen with their father Zebedee until Jesus calls them to follow him. James is given a special place in the gospels as an early follower of Jesus and as one who is given special access. He, along with Peter and John, is one of the few witnesses to the raising of Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:35-43), the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2-9), and Jesus’ agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:32-42).
In spite of this privileged place, James often exhibits weakness and lack of insight. His all-too-human responses give us hope. He and his brother are called “Sons of Thunder,” presumably because of their impetuousness. (Later hagiographers, that is, those who write about the lives of the saints, say the brothers were given the name for their thunderous—and effective—preaching.) In the Gospel of Luke, when a Samaritan village does not welcome Jesus, James and John ask if they should call fire from heaven to consume the village (Luke 9:51-56). James, with Peter and John, doesn’t understand the Transfiguration. He falls asleep while Jesus agonizes in the Garden. When Jesus tells his followers he must be rejected, condemned to death, mocked, and crucified, James and John reply by asking if they can be seated at his right and left hand in power (see Mark 10:32-40). According to Mark, James flees the crucifixion scene.
In the gospel tradition, James’s name always precedes John’s. Curiously, once Luke begins to tell his tale in Acts, James disappears while Peter and John act as the most prominent leaders of the nascent movement. This is perhaps because James, as one of the first martyrs for the Jesus movement, was killed by Herod in the early 40s (see Acts 12:2). In a story recounted by Clement of Alexandria, James’s defense before Herod was so effective that the guard who was charged with watching him was converted and the two were killed together.
Collect for James the Greater
O Gracious God, we remember before you today your servant and apostle James, first among the Twelve to suffer martyrdom for the Name of Jesus Christ; and we pray that you will pour out upon the leaders of your Church that spirit of self-denying service by which alone they may have true authority among your people; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Nicodemus
Canonical material from which to pull a full biography of Nicodemus is limited. Nicodemus only appears in the Gospel of John and even then, only three times. The first time ol’ Nick appears in the gospel is when he comes to Jesus to ask him about his teachings. John describes Nicodemus as “a Pharisee…a leader of the Jews.” Nicodemus seems stumped by Jesus’ idea that one must be “born again” in order to inherit the kingdom of God. Through this exchange, which lasts for twenty-one verses, Jesus and Nicodemus exchange maxims, teachings, and the occasional sass before Jesus offers a more fulsome exploration of his work in the world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” We aren’t told whether or not Nicodemus is persuaded.
Nicodemus appears again several chapters later when the Sanhedrin discuss how to arrest Jesus for blasphemy and disturbing the peace. Nicodemus chimes in, advocating that Jewish law does not permit judgment before one is given a trial. His defense of Jesus prompts some on the council to suggest that Nicodemus might be one of Jesus’ followers. Again, Nicodemus’ response is not recorded.
The final time Nicodemus appears in John is during our Lord’s crucifixion. After Jesus has died, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus come to remove the body of Jesus, prepare it for burial, and place it in Joseph’s tomb. Nicodemus brings “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds” and with Joseph, wraps the body of Jesus “with the spices in linen cloths” (John 19:39-40). Again, Nicodemus never makes a verbal confession of belief but what can be deduced from his actions, particularly his care and attention to the body of Jesus, is that Nicodemus was convinced of and converted by the message of Jesus. He uses his incredible wealth to bury Jesus in royal fashion. Although Nicodemus follows Jesus as a clandestine disciple, his life is changed by a chance encounter.
Collect for Nicodemus
Almighty God, you gave to your servant Nicodemus special gifts of grace to understand and teach the truth as it is in Christ Jesus: Grant that by this teaching we may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
-Marcus Halley
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191 comments on “James the Greater vs. Nicodemus”
Nicodemus so reminds me of working in academia. It is a way of life defined by long debates in which one is never sure of victory. Then the well-placed comment by your sparring partner makes a difference with administration. Nicodemus was not flashy, but he showed that one can make change by working the system from the inside. That is worthy, and necessary.
Re James: No mention of Spanish tradition?
For me, Nicodemus embodies "principles before personalities", where behavior is consistently driven by fundamental truths and not situational. The "born again" aspect of joining the Christian community has never appealed to me, and it is my hope that in the future, "saints" can be identified as such regardless of their religious identification.
YES!
Sorry Marcus. It was written well but James is more like me.
Wrong Nicodemus but I propose Tim Curry's "Wake Nicodemus" as our guy's rousing theme song. Let there be bagpipes, and justice. Nicodemus is not thunderous but he is careful and caring - and he does speak up to call out 'illegal procedure'.
It’s gonna be a close one. James is Greater for me.
Wow, it's close. I'm just letting everyone know here and now that regardless who the winner of this round is, I'm voting for Martha over him.
Don’t paint yourself into a corner like that, St. C. The wind bloweth where it listeth.
Ha! spoken like a man of wisdom. We will be voting for St. Davis one day.
I vote for Nicodemus, a secret believer who used his power in the Sanhedrin to block Jesus’s premature arrest. Jesus goes on to teach and heal perhaps because Nicodemus spoke up for the rule of law, as an earlier voter has noted. He collaborates with Joseph of Arimathea, another secret believer, to arrange a burial for Jesus. He used his worldly wealth and worldly power to protect Jesus during and after his life at a moment when being a known follower was a mortal risk. I agree with the voter whose comments moved me to this position — to us, now, it is very valuable to have a Biblical model of a leader who risks power and wealth to protect the truth.
I can ID with Nicodemus (not because of his wealth), because his conversation with Jesus gives us that ultimate verse: John 3:16 and because he is there at the tomb.
Give it up and vote for James! The fisherman turned disciple who was martyred!
Thinking that James needs his own limerick:
James the Greater was one Son of Thunder
Who saw many of Jesus' wonders
While his preaching was fierce
His temper could pierce
Not to choose him would be a real blunder.
Again, El Camino de Santiago brings me to vote for St James the Greater. When I homeschooled my two children, we read a wonderful novel about pilgrims on the Way.
I've always found it interesting that John offers an editorial comment in Jn 2:23-24 that says Jesus did not trust himself to those who believed because of the signs he did. In Jn 3:2, Nicodemus says, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him." Did Jesus really trust Nic?
I voted for Nicodemus. It seemed that James was always asking for something. Regardless of his final martyrdom, he comes across as a "what's in for me" follower. On the other hand, Nicodemus didn't ask for anything except to understand Jesus' teachings, and in the end, Nicodemus gave.
While James the Greater is an inspiring figure, I admire the man who argued theology with Jesus and eventually stood up with the Christians by going with Joseph of Arimathea to bury Jesus's body. Showing one's allegiance so boldly was no small move for the member of the Sanhedrin. I'm voting for Nicodemus.
I knew for certain James the Greater was going to get my vote. There is a reason he is with Jesus at such momentous events. But it had slipped my mind that Nicodemus with Joseph of A took Jesus's body down from the cross. He was a pharisee and he risked being unclean at sundown, which meant he could not partake in the Sabbath. He also loved Jesus too much to leave him hanging overnight on the cross. (22 "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God;) Though Jesus obviously would not fall under this, it could well have been an argument used by the Sanhedrin. It is obvious from his action that Nicodemus had taken Jesus's message to heart. Love and the spirit of the Law are more important than the letter of the Law.
Voting for James, because his feast day is the only day we get to sing "For Thy Blest Saints, A Nobel Throng," which is the only hymn in the Hymnal 1982 set to the tune Dunlap's Creek. It's such a beautiful melody, and most people never hear or sing it in church.
I have wondered if Jesus's giving nicknames was rather tongue-in-cheek. Simon was never particularly rocklike during Jesus's lifetime, and, according to Matthew, it was their mother who pushed the advancement of the so-called "Thunder Boys." If James did become a "thunderous preacher," perhaps it was as great a change for him as Peter's was for Peter.
I'm liking my late arrival to the voting more and more - the things over which I get to pontificate and theorize! I went with Nicodemus and man is it close at 1:50 PM! While reading Dottie Hoopingarner's comment - after I'd voted - regarding John Shelby Spong's assertion Nic was probably a literary figure gave me definite pause, and despite having always loved the descriptive "Sons of Thunder", caring for the body of Jesus post crucifixion won my heart - and my vote.
My childhood church had a huge stained glass window of the sleeping disciples in the garden. Since preparing my first Seder for our Episcopal congregation, I have imagined those guys had over-eaten and were dead drunk. Even though I understand they "needed a drink".
Two males prepared the body for burial. Surely not the first members of a Chevra Kadisha. I wonder if the ancient prayers were spoken. Seems he was buried in a tachrichim and maybe a tallit, or maybe not. When my cousin's father-in-law, a holocaust survivor, passed, I learned a lot about Jewish funeral rituals. Last year I read Rabbi Jeffrey Myers description of the Holy Society's clean up of the remains and every drop of blood, after the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburg. I have long pondered why we have dropped so many Jewish practices. I know some of them are coming back. I'm thinking Nicodemus was following the practices of the time--to the letter--and his contribution in scripture is essential to the Gospel--even though it's John's Gospel.
Nick at Night
Oh, that is perfect, Catherine!
I'm voting for Nicodemus because I have pity on him. He reminds me of the members of a certain party who want to be true to their roots, but at the same time know in their hearts that their group has gone very very far astray. These brave members speak up in protest and do whatever they can to restore their group to sanity, but they do not abandon their group I think it shows strength of character to be open to the new yet loyal to one's roots.
in a Michelangelo statue in Florence.... Jesus being brought down from the cross..
Michelangelo puts his own face on the face of Nicodemus. Nic sure gets my vote!
apparently.. folk who were secret fans of the reformation where it was dangerous to be a fan were called Nicodemites.
I was tempted to vote for Nicodemus because I expect the next round will get into thenon-canonical material, in which we learn the origin of “Jerusalem,” the Blake poem set to music by Sir Charles Hubert H. Parry, now one of the best-loved hymns in the A. C. But James the Great’s story is common to us all and must take precedence here on earth no matter what the seating arrangements are in the Kingdom of God.
James lost his life for Jesus. Nicodemus did not lose anything. We go with James.
Two guys who didn’t get it but stayed in the game because they knew Jesus. Both are used by their respective Evangelists as foils for Jesus; through their incomprehension we gain a deeper understanding of who Jesus was and why he came to us. Their stories also remind us, in quite different ways, of how deep is the divine mystery and how very hard it is to fathom even a tiny bit of it. Another impossible choice.
So I voted for Nico because his portraitist had such a cool name, and for the Flemish light that dances in each man’s eyes in Volmarijn’s depiction of their encounter. Also for his frankness and tenacity, expressed first in his encounter with the living Christ and then in his devotion to the care of the disfigured body of a convicted criminal whose divinity he seems to have sensed, though he may never have understood or proclaimed it.
Well said Davis! Thank you.
I appreciate how Nicodemus "walked the walk" rather than needing to talk about how great was his faith. I especially appreciate the possibility of hearing Jesus say, "there are no stupid questions."
Help! There's no VOTE button today, at least not in Bar Harbor, Maine at 4.40 PM, which is when I started trying to vote. I used my e-mail connection to no avail. Then I tried calling up the website directly: still no way to vote. If you get this message before 8 PM, please cast my vote for Nicodemus
I believe it stays open all night, until 8 am. Not certain. However, by secret, devious means, I have cast your vote for Nicodemus for you. You don't get another one. Pretty sure I might have cancelled out my vote for James. Sigh. However, your donkey seems to be in a ditch, and I'm pretty sure it's gospel to pull it out for you. Your vote is cast.
No doubt Nicodemus was a seeker and was brave when it counted; but James was there for Jesus’ whole ministry, paid the ultimate price, and was effective right to the end. I got for James the Greater.
gotta go with the fisherman...cause FISHING.