Four men were playing golf one afternoon, and were approaching the 4th hole when suddenly the sky turned ominously dark, and it began thunder and rain. The men rushed to a gazebo for shelter. But just then, a bolt of lightning hit the long, nearby chain-link fence and lit it up like a neon sign. There was a LONG period of shocked silence then one player turned the man keeping score and he said: “You know… that 5 I had on the first hole? It really was a seven.”
There’s something about the fierceness of a thunderstorm that can shake even grown men. A storm like that speaks of violence and uncertainty and judgment.
In our text today, we read of the label that was given to James and John: “James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them Jesus gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder)” Mark 3:17
Most preachers (including me) have read this Sons of Thunder “nickname” and have come to the conclusion that this meant that James and John were angry and judgmental men - headstrong, impetuous, intolerant and overbearing. It was as if this label “Sons of Thunder” pointed to a character flaw in these men.
But I’m not sure that I think that anymore. And there’s a couple reasons I’m changing my mind.
1st reason - I noticed (for the 1st time) WHO it was who gave James and John their nickname. It was Jesus, wasn’t it? “To them JESUS gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder.” Jesus gave them their new “LABEL.”
And then I noticed something else - God renamed a few other people in scripture and, whenever God renamed someone in the Bible that new name was based upon what He saw that they could be, rather than what they were when chose them. He renamed Abram… ABRAHAM; He renamed Sarai… SARAH; and He renamed Jacob… ISRAEL. And each time, the new name that God gave was a declaration that God had a plan for their lives.
In the New Testament, we find that Jesus renamed James and John “Sons of Thunder”, and like I said, most preachers view this name as if pointed to a character flaw. But if it did to a point character flaw it would be first time that God ever did that.
What’s interesting here is that James and John were NOT the only disciples Jesus gave new names to. There was one other disciple Jesus renamed. Do you know who THAT disciple was?
“When morning came, (Jesus) called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon, whom he named Peter…” Luke 6:13-14
When Jesus renamed Simon to be Peter I don’t think that Jesus was pointing to a character flaw. I think Jesus was making a declaration of what he saw in Peter. The name Peter meant "rock", and when someone’s called a ROCK would seem to imply stability and strength and that’s how Peter saw himself. He visualized himself a personal protector of Jesus. A man who’d always be there for Jesus.
But the problem was, Peter wasn’t always THERE for Jesus. He was too emotional and too impulsive to be dependable. He didn’t always THINK before he ACTED, and so he occasionally made promises he couldn’t keep. In short he didn’t live up to the name… Peter. He didn’t live up to the IDEAL of being stable & strong.
But when Jesus renamed him Peter He wasn’t looking at who Peter WAS. He was making a declaration of what Peter was GOING TO BE.
And I think that was what was happening with James and John. God renamed Abram/Sarai/Jacob & Simon because God something saw in them. And I think that’s true of James and John as well!
And if that’s true (if this nickname for James and John was a declaration of what they could become) the question is: what could “SONS OF THUNDER” mean? Well, I looked up “thunder” in the Bible, and I was a bit surprised by what I found.
• When God brought the 10 plagues upon Egypt… the 7th plague was this: “When Moses stretched out his staff towards the sky, the LORD sent THUNDER and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the LORD rained hail on the land of Egypt… (and Pharaoh pleaded) Pray to the LORD, for we have had enough thunder and hail. I will let you go; you don’t have to stay any longer."
Moses replied, "When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.” Exodus 9:23, 28-29
• When God gave Israel His law on Mt. Sinai it says: “On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled…When the people saw the THUNDER and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance. Exodus 19:16 & 20:18
• And then in Revelation it says that in the throne room of God: “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of THUNDER. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.” Revelation 4:5
It seems like – every time thunder was mentioned in Scripture, it was a display of the power of God. In fact, Job 40:9 says “Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like His?”
It’s like the voice of THUNDER, was the VOICE OF GOD. So could it be that when Jesus renamed James and John the “Sons of Thunder” it was HIS way of saying --- THIS is who you’re going to become? You will become the VOICE of God; You will become men who will declare the POWER of God.
Now James and John (along with Peter) were the inner circle of Jesus’s disciples. There were twelve disciples… but then there were THESE THREE. And these 3 (James/John/Peter) seemed to go everywhere Jesus went. They’re the only ones with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration; They’re only ones w/Jesus when he raised Jairus’ daughter to life; And they were the only ones who followed Jesus deep into the garden of Gethsemane as Jesus prayed just before He was arrested and led off to be tried… and executed on the cross.
And James and John (along with Peter) were the only disciples to be given NEW NAMES by Jesus.
So, that begs the question: what kind of men did James and John become?
Well, James didn’t last real long. We’re told in Acts 12 that “King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.” Acts 12:1-2
Now notice they didn’t arrest and execute Peter, or Matthew, or Thomas. THEY ARRESTED JAMES and they specifically singled him out for execution. To me that would seem to indicate that James was a prominent spokesman in the church, and that his was a powerful voice for God. The church had only been in existence for about 3 years by this time. But apparently (if I’m right) during that 3 years James became a VOICE FOR GOD; a man who declared the power of God. In other words: he was “A SON OF THUNDER”
Now I’m just guessing about James, but I don’t have to guess about John. John wrote one of most powerful Gospels in our Bible. The Gospel of John (even more than the other 3 gospels) boldly declared that Jesus was the WORD of GOD (pause) God in the flesh. And John also wrote Revelation where he boldly wrote about the Power of God. John was a VOICE FOR GOD who declared the power of God. In other words: he was “A SON OF THUNDER”
Now that is all very interesting … but why should we care? Why should we care that James and John, and Simon and Abram/Sarai/Jacob all had new names and that God declared that He had a plan for their lives. Why should we care????
Well, we should care because there’s somebody else in Scripture who has a NEW NAME. Do you know who that somebody else is? Well… let’s take a look: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a NEW NAME written on it, known only to him who receives it.” Revelation 2:17
Do you know what that means? That means that you’ve got a NEW NAME! When you became a Christian, you joined an elite group to whom God has given “nicknames”. And because God has given you a nickname – God has declared that you have value. HE BELIEVES IN YOU.
Ephesians 2:10 says (now that we’re Christians) “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared in advance for us to do.” God has something designed just for you. He has a task ONLY YOU can do.
But in spite of the fact that God believes in them, many Christian don’t. They don’t believe in themselves. Too many Christians don’t think they’re worth very much. They look at their lives and their abilities and they think “even God couldn’t do much with me.” And because they don’t think they’re worth much… they don’t try very much. I mean, why risk the embarrassment of failure. Why try if all you’re going to do is mess it up?
ILLUS: Back in the 1930s there was a power hitter who the crowds loved. And because he was so well liked, he was hired by a semi-pro team for $45,000 a year – in a day when a new car sold for around $800. But his first year for the league he performed miserably. At the end of the year he was called into the manager’s office for a talk. They talked about his disappointing season, and the manager asked him to write down on a piece of paper what he thought he should make the next year, and the manager said he’d put the amount he thought the player was worth on another piece of paper. The baseball player thought long and hard about it… and he finally wrote down $36,000 ($9000 less than he’d been making). He felt that was appropriate considering how badly he’d been batting. He folded his paper and pushed it over the table to the manager. The manager also wrote down a number and pushed it to him. On that piece of paper was the amount of $45,000. The player was shocked & asked why. The manager replied: “Do you want to play for what you think you’re worth… or for what I think you’re worth.” “For what you think I’m worth,” replied the player… and he did. His name was Joe DiMaggio and he was later hired by New York Yankees. And in the 13 years he played for the Yankees, DiMaggio set a franchise record for rookies by hitting 29 home runs in 138 games – a record that stood for 80 years.
But DiMaggio ALMOST settled for less because he didn’t believe he was worth that much.
And that’s the problem for too many Christians. Too many Christians settle for less because they don’t think they’re worth that much. But then... they believe that because they've forgotten who it is they serve.
Bear in mind James and John probably didn’t think much themselves either. When Jesus called them to follow Him, they’d been just common ordinary fishermen. They weren’t that impressive to anyone - except Jesus. In fact, in Acts 4, we read about how Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin. And the Jewish leaders were not happy to hear them preaching about Jesus but then we read this: “When (the Jewish leaders) saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished.”
Peter and John were just uneducated, common men. But the Sanhedrin was astonished by their boldness. They were astonished because even the Sanhedrin “recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13
It’s when you and I spend our time with Jesus that we become more than we ever could have before. It’s then that we can live up to the faith Jesus has in us.
