James the Less (or Lesser) (or Younger) is named as such to distinguish him from others who share the given name. He was one of the original Twelve Apostles (1) of Jesus Christ (2). In most New Testament (3) translations, he is mentioned but a handful of times.

The Scriptures below connect a man named James with his mother named Mary:

• Matthew 27:56 refers to "Mary the mother of James and Joseph."
• Mark 15:40 refers to "Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph."
• Mark 16:1 and Luke 24:10 both refer to "Mary the mother of James."

A possible match may be "Mary the wife of Clopas," who was at the Crucifixion of Jesus (4) with Mary, Mother of Jesus (5), and  Mary Magdalene (6) (John 19:25). She is not the mother of the Apostle James the Greater (7) and the Apostle John (8), the sons of Zebedee (known as Mary or Mary Salome).

The synoptic Gospels of Matthew (9) (Matthew 10:1-4), Mark (10) (Mark 3:13-19) and Luke (11) (Luke 6:12-16) record "James son of Alphaeus" as one of the Twelve Apostles being named/commissioned/sent out.

Acts 1:12-26 records James the Less and the other Apostles returning to Jerusalem after witnessing the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit (12), they selected Matthias to replace Judas Iscariot (13).

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FOOTNOTES

  (1) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/twelve-apostles

  (2) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/jesus-christ

  (3) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/new-testament

  (4) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/obituary-of-jesus

  (5) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/mary-mother-of-jesus

  (6) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/mary-magdalene

  (7) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/apostle-james-the-greater

  (8) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/apostle-john

  (9) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/matthew

(10) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/mark

(11) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/luke

(12) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/the-holy-spirit

(13) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/apostle-judas-iscariot