The Brother's Keeper

This book puts a face on Biblical times/people. It is a book that when you end (probably in the wee hours of the morning because near the end it is impossible to put it down) you will have a complete feeling of satisfication. It puts a realistic, albeit fictional (but research rich), face on everything not written between the lines of James' life and his writings themselves. I walked away feeling like I understood why Jesus' family wasn't there to support him in death (not necessarily by their choice as many would think) but how they DARED to support him with their very lives after His resurrection. You will understand Jewish customs better which will help you understand why the follower's of Christ were willing to suffer persecution after Christ ascended to Heaven - they were convinced that Christ WAS Truth and taught them truth. They had walked with, talked with, lived with the true God...and you will feel the same while reading this book.

I felt the uneasiness that James must have felt knowing that his brother was not what he had hoped he would be. It wasn't the dying on the cross that convinced James that Jesus was extraordinary. William Barclay said it best, "That there was a meeting of James and the Risen Christ is certain. What passed at that sacred and intimate moment we shall never know. But we do know...James who had been the hostile and unsympathetic opponent of Jesus became (changed)...." From The Letters of James and Peter.

Who is this brother, the brother of Jesus? His name is James. Feel the anguish of a younger brother, whose older brother has left the family unit and is bringing scorn on the family. Smell the sawdust of the carpenter's shop where the brothers had worked together. What is the meaning of the rumors about Jesus? But in James' eyes, Jesus is just a man, raised in a devote Jewish family. Finally, when Jesus died a criminal's death, James knew. This Jesus was the Son of God. This is an excellent book telling the story about Jesus as seen through the deep emotions, awakening senses, the turmoil and the conflict that James, the brother of Jesus, felt. The story fits within the scriptural referrences to James in Galatians 1:19; I Corthinians 15:7, Acts 1:13-14 and the book of James.