Sons Of Thunder Series

• 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????