] James and Jude, however, his cousins by Mary Cleophas,
henceforth became his disciples, and Mary Cleophas herself was one of
the women who followed him to Calvary.[2] At this period we do not see
his mother beside him. It was only after the death of Jesus that Mary
acquired great importance,[3] and that the disciples sought to attach
her to themselves.[4] It was then, also, that the members of the
family of the founder, under the title of "brothers of of the Lord,"
formed an influential group, which was a long time at the head of the
church of Jerusalem, and which, after the sack of the city, took
refuge in Batanea.[5] The simple fact of having been familiar with him
became a decisive advantage, in the same manner as, after the death of
Mahomet, the wives and daughters of the prophet, who had no importance
in his life, became great authorities.

[Footnote 1: The circumstance related in John xix. 25-27 seems to
imply that at no period of the public life of Jesus did his own
brothers become attached to him.]

[Footnote 2: Matt. xxvii. 56; Mark xv. 40; John xix. 25.]

[Footnote 3: _Acts_ i. 14. Compare Luke i. 28, ii. 35, already
implying a great respect for Mary.]

[Footnote 4: John xix. 25, and following.]

[Footnote 5: Julius Africanus, in Eusebius, _H.E._, i. 7.]

In this friendly group Jesus had evidently his favorites, and, so to
speak, an inner circle. The two sons of Zebedee, James and John,
appear to have been in the first rank. They were full of fire and
passion. Jesus had aptly surnamed them "sons of thunder," on account
of their excessive zeal, which, if it could have controlled the
thunder, would often have made use of it.[1] John, especially, appears
to have been on very familiar terms with Jesus. Perhaps the warm
affection which the master felt for this disciple has been
exaggerated in his Gospel, in which the personal interests of the
writer are not sufficiently concealed.[2] The most significant fact
is, that, in the synoptical Gospels, Simon Bar-jona, or Peter, James,
son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, form a sort of intimate
council, which Jesus calls at certain times, when he suspects the
faith and intelligence of the others.[3] It seems, moreover, that they
were all three associated in their fishing.[4] The affection of Jesus
for Peter was strong. The character of the latter--upright, sincere,
impulsive--pleased Jesus, who at times permitted himself to smile at
his resolute manners. Peter,