Sons of Thunder

Jesus calls 12 men to be His apostles. Among them are…James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means "sons of thunder")  Mark 3:17.   This is the only place in Scripture that mentions the Sons of Thunder (FYI:  It was also the name of a intramural football team I played on in college)

Here’s how it happened….when the people in a village of Samaria were not responsive to the message of Jesus…  “…they asked, ‘Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?’” Luke 9:54.   Hey after all…after all they were showing disrespect for the Son of God.

If James and John had been from Texas, they would have worn those shirts that say, “Don’t Mess with Texas.” I love these guys, because they are completely human, and completely honest. “Sons of Thunder”, It sounds like the name of a motorcycle gang… I can see the name emblazoned across the backs of their leather jackets and tattooed on their arms. But that wasn’t the only reason they had that name. 

Jesus was telling them about His own impending death, how he would be betrayed and then handed over to the soldiers to be mocked, spit upon, scourged, and ultimately killed, James and John blurted out, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask. . . . Grant us that we may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on Your left, in Your glory" Mark 10:35, 37.  Was that a good time to bring this up? It would be like saying, "Really? Could I have your car?" to someone who just found out they had one week to live. These guys just said what they thought. And they were just like us: hopelessly human and remarkably unremarkable.

But still Jesus saw more and He has a purpose for everything He does, James was the first apostle to be martyred. And John became known as the apostle of love. He was the author of the Gospel of John as well as the epistles of 1, 2, and 3 John. God made James and John into different people than they were before—and He can do the same for us.

The question that comes to us today is, “How do we treat those who reject our faith and beliefs?” Are you going to put on your “Sons of Thunder” jacket and call down fire from heaven on them? Do you want to lay a little “Shock and Awe” on them, just to let them know that they can’t mess with Jesus?  As he did with James and John that day on the road, Jesus gives us a rebuke and says to us, “I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:44-45. Love and Pray them into submission, and let the true “Shock and Awe” of God take care of things.  But it’s still a cool logo and name!