Sons Of Thunder Series

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