What if your brother was the most controversial figure in the history of the world and your job was to protect him? That's the challenge faced by the Rabbi James of Jerusalemwhom the Bible identifies as "the brother of the Lord"in My Brother's Keeper, an inspired retelling of the Christian story by author Bill Kassel. What can James do to fulfill a deathbed promise to his father, Joseph, and save Jesus, the Nazarene prophet who is stirring contention among the Jewish religious leadership and the Roman occupiers?
The only hope of keeping his brother from a gruesome death is James's cordial relationship with the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, who turns to him for guidance in matters of Jewish law and custom. Indeed, Pilate views James with the utmost respect, even seeing him as a possible successor to the corrupt high priest, Caiaphas. And why not? While James hails from rural Galilee, his family is no bunch of hill country peasants. This is a family of substance, descended from Kin
