Jesus had two disciples named James: James the son of Zebedee and James the son of Alphaeus. Another James, the half-brother of Jesus, was never one of the twelve disciples but was a leader in the early church of Jerusalem (Acts 15:13) and wrote the epistle of James. One of the Twelve, James the son of Alphaeus, is called James the Less (or the Younger) in Mark 15:40, where we also learn that his mother’s name was Mary. Scripture does not record much more about James the son of Alphaeus, so we’ll focus on the other disciple, James the son of Zebedee, in this article.