Message
Luke 9:51-56
John son of Zebedee:- thundering character gives way to loving disciple.
I don’t want to sound disrespectful to Jesus but, as we have systematically considered the disciples, we have found ourselves in a position where we have to wonder about the choice of disciples which Jesus made.
As an example of what I mean have a look at this list which comes from Mark 3:16-19
These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter, James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
Now I don’t know about you, but anyone who gets the nickname “Son of Thunder” cannot be someone who you expect to be a useful disciple on any team. What is Jesus doing?
The word “Boanerges” is in the same word family as words which can be translated to mean “violent, anger or rage”.
Here was a young man, a disciple who was hand-picked by Jesus, and he had an incredibly violent and angry temper.
How much violence and anger does he have? Let’s read
Luke 9:51-56.
As we seek to understand this passage let’s remember that the hatred which Jews and Samaritans had for each other was a hatred which spanned many centuries.
The Jews despised the Samaritans about as much as you despised a nest of scorpions. The direct route from Galilee to Jerusalem was through Samaria. But the Jews would often go the long way round. Most Jews didn’t want to be there. In many ways Jesus is in forbidden territory.
But it is not all a one way street. Samaritans hated the Jews just as much.
They were tired of being called Samaritan dogs.
They were tired of being branded half-castes.
They were tired of being seen as moral deviations.
They especially hated the fact that the Jews considered themselves to be of better religious stock then the Samaritans.
So when a Jew did try and take a short-cut through the region, they would make life as difficult as possible.
That is what has John so upset.
Jesus is the Lord.
Jesus is the Messiah.
Jesus is a nice guy.
And these arrogant half-caste uncivilised rednecks have just insulted Him. You can just imagine the blood boiling can’t you. You can just imagine how his mind is in overdrive. And that is the worst time to say what you are thinking.
It’s at that point that many of us, I’m sure can relate to John
Imagine yourself driving in the car. You are on your way to church and someone cuts you off. Next moment you have your head out the window yelling all sorts of ungodly words. To make it worse your four year old asks you what some of those words mean. That’s what happens doesn’t it – when anger takes hold. We say angry things at others. We respond in a way that is very ungodly. We let the emotion of the moment take over.
In situations like that something has to be done. When people act like idiots you have to help them become aware of their pathetic lives and teach them a lesson. I can relate to that ... but somehow I don’t think I would take it as far as John.
When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54).
Wow. That is one angry man. He has turned this lack of hospitality, which was based on nothing more than cultural differences, into a show-down. No ... more than a showdown ... they want the place to be annihilated.
Every home destroyed and burnt.
Every man woman and child put to death.
And that is meant to be an appropriate response to a city of people who have done nothing more than ask them to go the long way around?
No wonder Jesus rebukes Him.
John, you can’t just go around vaporising people when they do something you don’t like.
Now get off the bus with that attitude you can’t be part of the team.
That is not what happens does it. Jesus does rebuke John. What the exact rebuke is we are not told. But after the rebuke is over they just go to the next village and keep on going till Jesus ends up on a cross in Jerusalem. John gets another chance.
Thomas A. Edison was working on a crazy contraption called a "light bulb" and it took a whole team of men 24 straight hours to put just one together. One day Edison was finished with one light bulb and he gave it to a young boy helper who nervously carried it up the stairs. Step by step he cautiously watched his hands, obviously frightened of dropping such a priceless piece of work. The boy was so nervous that, when he got to the top of the stairs, he dropped the bulb. It took the entire team of men twenty-four more hours to make another bulb. Finally, tired and ready for a break, Edison was ready to have his bulb carried up the stairs. He gave it to the same young boy who dropped the first one. It was an act which changed that boy’s life by showing him that we are not defined or judged by our actions and that, if given the chance, our lives can change.
Changing lives. That is the business which Jesus is in. John might have had the nickname “Son of Thunder” ... but John eventually became known as
The Disciple of Love
1 John 3:11-24 ... written by John the disciple.
… love one another.
do not be surprised … if the world hates you.
… we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
That’s the attitude John developed as he matured. That’s the disciple Jesus developed him into. When we see that surely we have to think, “If Jesus can do that for John, then there must be some hope for all of us”.
Jesus certainly did not choose heavenly angels as His followers.
Which is a good thing because I’m no heavenly angel … and I suspect you aren’t either.
We all have our serious character faults.
We all have a long way to go.
But Jesus knows that.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives.
(1 John 1:8, 10)
Jesus knows our weaknesses, our hidden motives, our jealousy and rage, our lack of grace and our selfish ambitions. But when Jesus looks at us, Jesus sees what others can’t … Jesus sees the heart.
As Jesus looks at your heart ... and my heart ... He doesn’t see what you are. Jesus sees what you can become.
We look at the wisdom of Jesus about those He chooses to be His disciples and we sometimes feel that it makes no sense. Let’s face it, if it was up to me I probably wouldn’t even choose myself to be a disciple. I’m too aware of my short-comings. I’m so familiar with what goes on in my mind. I know how to be critical of myself … and I know the criticism is justified.
But that is looking at wisdom through our eyes … and the wisdom of man is not God’s wisdom. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians … the foolishness of God is wiser than the combined efforts of man’s wisdom … God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.
We might not think that the methods of Jesus are that good ... but they work. Only through Jesus could a Son of Thunder become an Apostle of Love.
It started by the sea one day. James, Peter, John and Andrew … they were all fishing together when Jesus came and interrupted their daily routine. From that point on life would not be the same again. John would have to submit himself to the softening, subduing influence of the Master. Slowly, day by day he entered into a fellowship with Jesus that was deeper, richer, and higher than it was the day before.
And as that process unfolded Jesus would rebuke … but He would rebuke with love and patience. Jesus says some pretty hard things to the disciples.
He accused them of being “dull” and having “little faith”.
Yet Jesus continued to persevere with them.
Challenging their faults.
Exposing their bigoted attitudes.
Highlighting their faulty thinking.
And then teaching and showing them the godly alternative. They were a work in progress.
That is what Jesus did with the first disciples. And that is what Jesus does with us.
Life is a learning curve. And so is our spiritual life.
The technical term for it is sanctification
Where we grow as believers.
Where we experiment with our Christianity and learn how God wants us to live.
Where we seek to put off those aspects of our lives which the Bible calls unholy.
Where we learn to put on that which is holy.
As works in progress we are allowed to make mistakes. We are allowed to seek forgiveness. We are allowed to start again. And we are allowed to admit it.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives.
(1 John 1:8, 10)
Which a great outcome all round. Because, when we realise that we are works in progress we also begin to realise that this allows us to be very effective disciples.
Sometimes Christians act as if they have it all together. But it is very intimidating when you meet people who think they have it all together. Who think that they are so good at what they do. Sometimes I believe that is what turns some people off Christianity. Those who are searching don’t feel that they are good enough ... and then they meet a group of people who put on a mask and pretend they have no problems in their lives.
At other times, and this happens much more, we look at ourselves with all our short comings and weaknesses. And we think, “How is it possible for someone like me to tell another person about Jesus?” We fall into this trap of thinking that, somehow, we need to have our lives completely together before we are able to tell others about Jesus. We don’t see that you can teach people how to boil an egg, even when you are not a master chef.
Both attitudes hinder our effectiveness. But when you come with a different attitude ... an attitude which says “I am a work in progress”, then our effectiveness level changes very quickly.
• Not-yet-believer “I’m such a bad person” … Believer, “So am I”.
• Not-yet-believer “I don’t deserve forgiveness” … Believer, “Neither do I”.
• Not-yet-believer “I’m sure I will mess up” … Believer, “I do all the time”.
• Not-yet-believer “We are the same” … Believer, “Yes we are”.
We both need Jesus just as much.
There is method behind the madness of Jesus when He chooses people like you and me to be His disciples. That’s because the very heart of Jesus’ ministry is to fix broken people by repairing our broken relationship with God.
Jesus has every right to call down fire from heaven in order to vaporise sinners.
We are so stubborn to the ways of God.
We have trashed the promises and taken God for granted.
We have turned … turned so much that we can be classified as enemies.
We don’t deserve anything except punishment.
Jesus has every right just to get rid of us. Instead He makes Himself a sacrifice for sinners.
That’s what the cross is all about. It’s not a place where sinners are vaporised … it’s a place where transformations are secured.
The cross where a hasty temper dies.
The cross where a revengeful spirit is crushed.
The cross where unbridled prejudice meets an eternal end.
The cross where an untamed character is crucified.
The Son of God taking the punishment for John, the son of thunder.
The Son of God taking the punishment for us.
Do you have character flaws? Jesus can change you.
Do you struggle with sin every single day? Jesus can forgive you.
Do you feel less than adequate to be a disciple? Jesus can transform you.
That’s the sort of Saviour Jesus is. A Saviour who takes those who are unworthy and uses them with incredible effectiveness ... no matter who they are.
Prayer
