¹⁹ But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.     ²⁰ (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)

James was the only other significant Christian leader with whom Paul met in Jerusalem (besides Peter) on his first visit; not for lack of his efforts though, “… he [Paul] was trying to associate with the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). His reputation as a persecutor of the church did not dissipate easily even after three years.This James was not the apostle and brother of John, but the half-brother of Jesus. They had the same mother, Mary, but since Jesus was virgin born, they did not have the same father (see Matt 13:55). That Paul was not using the term “brother” in the generic sense of “brother in Christ” or as an affectionate reference to James the apostle is virtually certain because of the following reasons: The apostle James was martyred early on (see Acts 12:2) and never showed prominence in the early church. In Acts 15, another James came to the fore as the rumored source of agitation which Paul describes in later in this letter (see Gal 2:12). That James became the chief spokesperson in resolving the issue of how the Gentiles were to be accepted based on faith and not on adherence to the law. Further, this is the one specifically mentioned in Galatians 1:19 in what definitely appears to be a reference to the same James of Acts 15, and therefore not the apostle James. Thus, our reference here must refer to Jesus’ half-brother, as stated. (The direct implication of all this is that Jesus was virgin born, but Mary did not remain a virgin after that).

The Scripture never tells us when James came to faith, but prior to Jesus going to Jerusalem, James and the other biological half-brothers did not believe in Him as the Messiah (John 7:5). How ironic that those who grew up with him were so slow to become His disciples! Yet after the crucifixion we find at least that this half-brother, James, became not only an ardent follower of Christ but also a prominent leader among the early Christians.

Paul’s emphasis was on the originality and independence of his message; he did not receive the gospel from such prominent leaders as Peter or James. In fact, he adds oath, “I assure you before the Lord.” The importance of this will become evident shortly when he writes about confronting Peter in his hypocritical behavior toward the Gentile believers. Here Paul was establishing his full authority for confronting the highly respected Peter.

Lord, help me to fully understand that my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ does not rest in highly esteemed preachers, but in the revealed word of God.