I’d always imagined James and John, the Sons of Thunder, as these brash, swashbuckling, Elijah wannabes itching to call down fire from heaven on people. That’s why Jesus called them Sons of Thunder, right? But as I’ve been carefully reading Mark’s Gospel, I’m seeing it far more momentous than a witty nickname.
Here’s the scene that cemented my thinking of the sons of Zebedee as Sons of Thunder:
When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.
Luke 9:51-56 ESV
Notice that James and John are not called Sons of Thunder here. The imagery of fire from heaven, like lightning, certainly relates to thunder. Their faith for turning these Samaritans into crispy critters is why I thought Jesus tagged them with the Sons of Thunder avatar. But taking a closer look into Mark’s Gospel, you may be surprised as I was.
And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder)…
Mark 3:13-17 ESV
This is the only reason we know James and John as Sons of Thunder. Mark is the only one who drew attention to this! The appointing of the Twelve happened much earlier than the aborted call down fire from heaven incident. Boanērges is from Aramaic, which the Persians centuries before had imposed upon their vast empire that included Palestine. Boanērges is a compound word, bēn (son) and rᵊḡaz (reg-az’), which means rage. It’s used only one time, in Daniel 3:13:
“Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage [rᵊḡaz] commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king.”
“Furious rage” is actually two Aramaic words, rᵊḡaz and another that means anger. The Septuagint translates rᵊḡaz as thymos (thoo-mos’), usually rendered as rage. The Hebrew has a sister verb, also rᵊḡaz, which means to tremble, quake, rage, quiver, or be agitated. Like its Aramaic equivalent, the Hebrew rᵊḡaz appears only once:
“But because our fathers had angered [rᵊḡaz] the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried away the people to Babylonia” (Ezra 5:12 ESV).
So thunder is synonymous with rage or fury. We’ve seen this divine displeasure (wrath really) of thunder in Israel’s story. Thunder and hail against the land of Egypt (Exod 9:23-34). Thunder on Mt. Sinai with the giving of the Law (Exod 19:16-19, 20:18). Thunder against the Philistines to defeat them (1Sa 7:10). Thunder and rain on Israel lusting after a king as all other nations (1Sa 12:18). And so on.
So what does all this mean for Mark? Why does Mark alone draw our attention to James and John named the Sons of Thunder?
Let’s take a step back and consider the broader context. Mark chapters 2 and 3 have a motif with the number 4. It’s both obvious and subtle, tacitly unifying this section. The paralytic lowered through the roof to get to Jesus was carried by four men (2:1-12). Only Mark points out the number of men being four. Responding to the scribes grumbling scribes about eating with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus tells four parables (2:13-22). Among the twelve whom Jesus appointed Mark singles out four names of special note (Peter, James, John and Matthew; 3:13-19, 2:14). Finally, when Jesus’ family went to fetch Him, it was His mother and four brothers (3:20-33; see 6:3).
Mark chapters 2 and 3 categorize Jesus’ authority four ways. He is the Son of Man with authority to forgive sins. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He subjugates the strong man, Satan, and plunders his house. Jesus is king, appointing twelve apostles to inaugurate a kingdom renewal of the twelve tribes of Israel. As King Nebuchadnezzar exercised authority to rename men, so too King Jesus. Among the Twelve, He conferred names that authorized them to carry out His kingdom purposes. Mark’s exclusive use of the Greek phrase for “gave the name” (epethēken onoma or equivalent grammar) occurs five times in the Septuagint for a higher authority giving a name in an official capacity. King Nebuchadnezzar gave the names Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah (Dan 1:7, 5:12) and Zedekiah to Matthaniah (2 Kings 24:17). The priests’ blessing was to “give My name upon the people of Israel” (Num 6:23). God gave the name Abraham to Abram (Neh 9:7). So Mark says that Jesus “gave the name” Sons of Thunder to James and John. So that wasn’t a nickname. It commissioned them into an authoritative role as ambassadors to continue doing what King Jesus had been doing. These four new names bestowed upon them a high responsibility and privilege in Jesus’ new kingdom dawning upon earth.
To Simon he gave the name Peter, “Rock.” Peter’s primary mission manifested in preaching and proclaiming Jesus as the Christ. It was this Galilean fisherman who cast the first gospel net to the Jews at Pentecost, hauling in an astounding catch of 3,000 men. First Jews, then Gentiles. “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you,” Peter declared, “that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe” (Acts 15:7). The new name commissioned Simon to continue proclaiming the gospel of God as Jesus had begun to do.
Jesus exchanged Levi the son of Alphaeus (“exchange”) for Matthew, “gift of Yah,” expounded upon in the previous blog. Gift of Yah summed up why Matthew was sent forth. How was Matthew a gift of God or what gifts of God were funneled through Matthew? Mark’s Gospel highlights healing—gifts of bodily, mental, and spiritual wholeness. God’s gifts have broader applications than this and weren’t limited to Matthew, but Mark consistently depicts Jesus and His sent ones healing people all around. These gifts invited outsiders into the presence of Jesus. Matthew’s days of collecting taxes from people were over!
Jesus gave the name Boanerges, Sons of Thunder, to James and John. Thunder, as we explored, is linguistically entwined with rage or fury. How does Mark depict Jesus acting in this capacity? By casting out demons. The Lord expressed fury against unclean spirits by driving them out. It’s consistent with God’s dealing with the enemies of His people, like the chaos waters: “At Your rebuke they fled, at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away in alarm” (Ps 104:7 LSB). Jesus licensed James and John with a new name to carry on His anger against unclean spirits by expelling them from people. Jesus gave “authority to cast out demons” to all twelve (Mark 3:15), notably in James and John as Sons of Thunder.
As mentioned, Mark chapters 2 and 3 have a “4” motif going on. Without getting deep into numerology, four can connote a worldwide scope (e.g. four corners of the earth). I think that’s how Mark uses four here. The motif harmonizes the four names and the four men carrying the helpless paralytic past the crowd through the roof into the presence of Jesus. These four—Peter (preaching good news), Sons of Thunder (casting out demons), and Matthew (healing the sick)—“carry” the spiritually paralyzed multitudes into Jesus’s presence! These four apostles not only generalized the ministry of the Twelve but summarized what the church’s ministry to the world was to be!
So I’ve corrected my thinking of Sons of Thunder as a tongue in cheek avatar for James and John. Luke’s reporting of James’ and John’s zeal to call down fire on Samaritans helps define what Sons of Thunder is not. It’s not about expressing God’s fury against people. God’s settled disposition towards the spiritual forces of evil is rage. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
Paul expresses a similar thought from a different angle: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood [people], but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). It’s not the people who are enemies so much as the unclean spirits influencing and animating them. And the good news is that Jesus has commissioned us, similar to James and John, as sons of thunder to rescue people from oppressive demonic bondage to enjoy God’s presence.
The Lord Jesus saved me in February of 1989 in northern Virginia. In January of the following year I returned to Valparaiso University, Indiana, to finish up my junior year. Though I’d witnessed miracles and had many solid assurances of God at work in me, I found myself suddenly plagued with doubts about the reality of Jesus Christ. I felt them clinging to me like an oil slick. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake them. In my small rented room above an art studio I sat on the floor in despair, calling on the Lord for His helmet of salvation (Eph 6:17).
My physics teacher, Randy Fisk, a soft spoken, gentle man, invited me to a college group that met at his home. Randy led with his guitar in praise and worship songs and then asked if anyone needed prayer. I raised my hand. As I slumped in an armchair, several students gathered around me and prayed for me. One young lady (who later became a missionary to Thailand) said to me as she was interceding that she saw in a vision the Lord Jesus placing a helmet of salvation on my head. I was amazed because I had not mentioned that at all! And from that point on, all those nagging doubts vanished and have never returned even to this day. Praise the Lord! Looking back I realize that my struggle was this ongoing conflict with the spiritual foes. Thank God for His body who’d been authorized to drive them away.
Now, I know there can be those extremists who hunt for a demon under every rock and blameshift any work of their flesh on the devil. But there is a spiritual war raging around us by enemies who, though defeated by the Lord’s victory at Calvary, aren’t quitters. What this fresh understanding of the Sons of Thunder has done for me is reinforced my assurance of God’s aggressive attitude towards these fallen angels and reassured my rightful position to carry on His kingdom mission of compassion to free the oppressed so they can enjoy His presence. I’m willing and available for Jesus to use me should the need arise. In our wrestling with the invisible principalities, we don’t need to be afraid of them. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church’s onslaught!
Glory Unveiled: Discovering Jesus 