On the 27th of April, the holy Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of Symeon the Brother of the Lord. This might indeed cause some confusion, and in fact, to be fair, there are some confusing things in the details of his life and parentage in many of the sources. Most believe that Symeon was indeed the son of Joseph the Betrothed and his first wife, Salome. There were three other brothers in this family: James, the brother of the Lord and first bishop of Jerusalem; Joses; and Jude. Yet others believe that he was instead the son of Cleopas and Mary. This particular Mary was the first cousin of the mother of God, but the sources are not as reliable in that regard.

At any rate, Symeon was probably ten years old at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, although, again, there are certain sources that indicate that he may have been 20 years old or even 23 years old. But the point is that he was raised in that rather inspiring, amazing, and yet turbulent environment, and that he went on to follow the Lord in a brilliant and really incredible manner in the same way that so many of the Lord’s brothers and early relatives did indeed.

In fact, after James, who was martyred before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD—after James was martyred, it was Symeon himself who was unanimously elected to be the second bishop of Jerusalem, after that city’s fall. Because of divine intervention many of the Christians then were told to get out before the city fell, so they went into the town of Pella and then they returned afterwards. Yet the Roman emperors of that time, including Hadrian and Trajan, were not exactly very friendly to the Christians, and in fact Symeon was asked at one point, around the year 82 AD, to drink poison that was taken from scorpions and spiders, because not only was he a Christian, but he was of the Davidic line. He took these things as instructed, yet they did not harm him, and Symeon went on to live, to be a ripe-old-aged Christian, to the age of 120 years.

He finally achieved martyrdom itself by being crucified as the Lord was, and the sources at the time recall that even the governors and emperors were amazed at how bold he was in the face of the scourges and the tortures and the crucifixion itself at that advanced age. It just did not seem to have an effect on Symeon the way that they were hoping. No doubt these pains were real and no doubt it did take great bravery and great fortitude in our Lord Jesus Christ for Symeon to advance as he did.

Well, he ruled the Church of Jerusalem for a number of years. He was known for his piety, was known for his love of the Lord Jesus Christ, and most of all perhaps was known for the fact that the Church itself expanded greatly over that time. These were not easy times for Christians. Faith was something that was needed to a tremendous degree. The Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit of God were active in a way that perhaps we’ve never seen before except in those early years of Christianity.

But, keeping in line with his wonderful parentage and with his wonderful siblings, Symeon was not going to let anyone down. As far as everyone is concerned, his holding the office of bishop of Jerusalem after his brother was something that was unique and marvelous in and of itself. We don’t often get to hear a lot about some of these more hidden personages that we find in the Scriptures and in the Lives of the very, very early saints and the ones that were connected in a very real and personal manner to the Lord, but at least for Symeon, although as I mentioned there are some conflicts and there are some confusions about different aspects of his life in some of the specifics, it is obvious that as far as the Christian Church is concerned, he definitely held his own, and is one that is absolutely deserving of our respect and someone that we should invoke in our prayers to help all of us as we lead our Christian lives today.