This is the James (or, really, Jacob) of the famous trio of apostles, Peter, James and John; you think you've heard them grouped together a lot. But actually, Matthew only separates them out from the 12 once, in the transfiguration narrative of Matthew 17. Mark does so in his version of the transfiguration in Mark 9, but also (with Andrew) for the healing of Peter's (Simon's) mother-in-law in Mark 1; raising the synagogue ruler's dead daughter in Mark 5; a discussion of the end times in Mark 13, again wtih Andrew; and Jesus' suffering in the garden in Mark 14. Luke mentions the trio in his version of the raising of the dead girl in Luke 8 and the transfiguration in Luke 9. It seems John never brackets the trio, even while calling himself "the other disciple" or "the disciple Jesus loved." Paul once (in Galatians 2) mentions a trio of James, Cephas (i.e. Peter) and John, but in that instance he means James of Jerusalem.
Naturally, being brothers, James and John as a pair are mentioned together a few times. Apart from the often cited lists of the 12 apostles, the two ask Jesus if he wants to command fire to consume a village that rejected Him in Luke 9. Jesus calls the brothers to follow him in Matthew 4, Mark 1 and Luke 5; he nicknames them "Sons of Thunder" according to Mark 3; they ask Him to enthrone him at his right and left hand in Mark 10, to the irritation of the other disciples; and that's about it. As an individual, apart from Peter and John, Scripture knows nothing of James except for his martyrdom in Acts 12:2, when King Herod put him to the sword, making him (I believe) the first apostle to finish the race. Already in Acts 12:17, when an angel tells Peter to bring news to James and the brethren, another James is clearly meant. So for a supposedly central apostle, James doesn't get much play as a character.
For this hymn, contrary to my usual method of operating, I started with a tune in mind: OM HIMMERIGES RIGE, from Hans Thomissøn’s den Danske Psalmebog, Copenhagen, 1569, also known by several other titles and paired in various hymnbooks with "How blest are they who hear God's word." Got that in your mind's ear? All right. Here goes.
Beloved, be it understood
That God works all things for the good
Of those on Jesus nourished:
Called by His will, by Him foreknown,
Formed to the image of His Son,
In His regard they flourish;
They shall by no means perish.
For Your sake, Lord, the faithful say,
Your lambs are slaughtered every day.
If You with us are siding,
Who can our hope of life oppose?
Come trouble, sword or peril, those
Can never come dividing
Us from Your love abiding.
As James found, when His faith was tried,
We may with You our life confide,
A cup of sorrow drinking.
Come even a baptism of blood,
We know Your plan for us is good,
From no affliction shrinking
While on Your passion thinking.
ART: by Stefan Lochner, †1451, detail of an alterpiece depicting the martyrdom of the apostles showing the manner in which St. James the Elder most likely took the sword. Public domain.
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