GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 3:16
Sons of Thunder
Our son Paul gave his mother a small puppy, a miniature Dachshund, when we moved to Georgia in 1995. It was just weaned and had to be fed frequently. It was so small that Alice carried it in her purse, but it didn’t have a name. Alice deliberated for a while about a name and considered several. Then, she put the puppy down in the grass, which was just about as tall as it was, and she saw it jump like a cricket. She decided to name the puppy after its hopping behavior through the grass. But she wanted the name to be unique, so she named it Kricket—that’s cricket with a “K.”
St. Mark said that as Jesus selected his disciples, those who would be close to him and help him carry forth his ministry, he called Simon, whom he named Peter, “And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he gave to them the name Boanerges, which is sons of thunder.” (3:17) There have been many theories about Jesus’ choice of names for some of his disciples such as “Peter” for Simon and “Boanerges” for James and John. One suggestion is that James and John had a deep, bass-like voice that rolled out like thunder. Another suggestion is that they were impetuous. It was these brothers who wanted to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans (Luke 9:54); John desired to stop the work of one who cast out devils (Luke 9:49), and these two brothers prayed that they might sit on their Lord’s right hand and on his left in his kingdom. (Matt. 20:21) James proved to have a burning zeal that made him the first martyr among the apostles. (Acts 12:2) The name “Boanerges,” however, didn’t stick to James and John like the name “Peter” stuck to Simon; in fact, Mark’s record of it is the only place in the gospels that it’s mentioned.
One possible explanation is that Jesus liked to give nicknames to those who were close to him. “Boanerges” may have been prophetic: Jesus may have anticipated their successful ministry. Thunder follows lightning, so the work of the Spirit-empowered “Sons of Thunder” followed the resurrection. There are still “Sons of Thunder” working in Christ’s kingdom.
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