Sons of Thunder
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We are going through Jesus’s Disciples
He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
I went with Mark’s list this time, because we get to see James an John, the sons of Zebedee, and we get their nickname, “Sons of Thunder”
There is a weird word used here Boanerges,
This is an odd word, it probably comes from aramaic - Bene Regash or Regez
Sons of Tumult, or Sons of Anger.
Scholars are not sure where the O sound comes from
If it was added later, or if Mark didn’t really speak aramaic
we just dont know
But we do know that it also means more than just sons of thunder,
Of course the big question is “Why did Jesus call them that.”
We we could first look at Zebedee.
Jesus Calls James and John immediately after calling Simon and Andrew
And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
They leave Zebedee in the boat to mend the nets.
And Jesus calls them Sons of thunder, sons of tulmult, sons of rage.
I can expect what Zebedee’s Reaction might have been.
he must of had quite the set of lungs.
actually it is more likely that james and john got their nickname from another source.
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them.
When the Samaritans rejected Jesus James and John stepped up and asked Jesus if they could call down fire from heaven on the samatitans
They were angry and tulmultuous, they wanted to Use God’s power to punish those who rejected Jesus.
and Jesus rebuked them
but he called them the sons of thunder.
Its interesting that their nickname reminded them of their failure.
Perhaps there is more too it than that.
Perhaps it comes from part of their ministry when Jesus Sent out the 12 by themselves
These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
James and John were also very eager to be recognized as Jesus’s closest disciples.
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.
Thier mother comes to JEsus and asks for James and John to help him rule the kingdom of Heaven, at his right hand and left.
And Jesus says You do not know what you are asking.
And lets think about it, when Jesus was crowned and lifted up before the people he wasn’t sitting on a throne, he was hanging on the Cross
Between two theives
I bet James and John were glad they were not on Jesus’s right and left hand then.
In fact John says he was at Jesus’s feet
He was the only disciple present at Jesus’s execution.
Jesus offers them something else:
Drink My cup,
The cup of communion,
THe blood of Jesus
and be baptized with my baptism
Baptized in water and in the Fire of the Holy Spirit.
These are the two thing Jesus calls the church to practice, communion and baptism.
And James and John are to lead the way.
And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Jesus takes the opportunity to tell James and John and the disciples that they are no greater than anyone else, and that in the kingdom of heaven servants have the greatest Honor.
James and John shouldn’t seek to sit at the right and left of Jesus
they should seek to serve each other.
The Synoptic gospels, Matthew Mark and Luke Always have James and John together.
The Gosepl written by John never once uses Jame’s name,
And when reffering to himself John does not use his name, but simply says “the Dsciple who JEsus loved.”
He refuses to use their names.
Perhaps as an act of humilty.
Its not about them, It’s about Jesus.
James and John were closer with Jesus than the other disciples, John sat next to Jesus at the last supper, and John cared for Mary after Jesus died,
And in the Book of Acts, John and Peter take the forefront,
Preaching before the People, Preaching before the sanhedrin,
Healing people
Where is James?
James is the first of JEsus’s 12 disciples to die.
About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.
Herod Kills James with the Sword, and plans on continuing this plan of attack, And God sends an angel to rescue Peter.
John meanwhile continues his ministry
and Unlike James, John lives on, He is the only one of Jesus’s disciples to not be martyred.
Not for lack of trying
According to tradition the Romans tried to boil John in Oil, but he came out unscathed.
So instead of killing him they exiled him on Patmos
And it was there Than John wrote the book of Revelation. Having recieved visions from God revelaing things about Heaven and Judgment day
He eventually died of Old Age, and his teachings got carried on.
John wrote seveal other books of the New Testament, and they all focused on one thing: Love.
The Son of Thunder, who in anger once wanted to destroy a city that rejected Jesus focused his teachings on love for others.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
This echoes the New Commandment that Jesus gave the Disciples
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
What are the Greatest Commandments?
Love God with all your heart Soul and Mind and Strength
Love your neighbor as yourself
and then Jesus gives them a new Command Love Each other
And How Does Jesus love us?
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.
And When John writes about the Commands of Jesus He says he issues no new commandment:
Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Why do i focus on this part of John’s teachings?
Why is there so much focus on loving Each other?
Because John writes that those who do not have love are in darkness. they are not in the light.
Church, What is Thunder?
It is the sound that comes when Lightning (fire from heaven) enters the darkness of the storm,
It is the Echo of the light in the darkest places.
JAmes and John were Sons of thunder
They learned to tell the world about Jesus, and His Love for them,
and then they learned to share that love with others.
So Church, that should be our goal, to share the love that Jesus has for us with those around us.
Thats how we point people toward the light.
THere is no room for hatred in Christ, only love.
