Boanerges-Sons of Thunder

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Permalink Reply by Tammy on April 25, 2015 at 1:12pm

The name may have referred to the volatile personalities of the two brothers (Lk 9:54), to their possible revolutionary past as Zealots, or even to a “thundering” style of speech. - This is what I came up with after looking it up in about 10 commentaries & dictionaries.

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Permalink Reply by Tammy on April 25, 2015 at 1:26pm

In one vivid incident, we see that James and John possessed some truly thunder-like qualities. Jesus and His disciples were traveling through Samaria on their way to Jerusalem when they ran into trouble. Jesus attempted to find accommodations for the night in one place but was met with opposition from the villagers, simply because His destination was Jerusalem—a result of Jew-Samaritan prejudice. “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). Jesus rebuked the brothers, and they all went to another village. James and John’s response to the Samaritans reveals a fervency, impetuosity, and anger that could properly be called “thunderous”—and we can be sure that there were other times when James and John lived up to their nickname.

James and John were two of Jesus’ closest friends, being two of the “inner three” disciples (see Matthew 17:1). As the church age began, James was the first apostle to be killed (Acts 12:2), while John was the last to die, although of old age. John’s epistles, written late in his life, hint that he still possessed a fervency of spirit, especially in his denunciations of apostates and deceivers (1 John 2:22; 2 John 7; 3 John 10). However, it is a fervency tempered by love. In fact, in 1 John the word “love” and its relatives occur over 40 times. When he first met Jesus, John was one of the “Boanerges.” But after walking with Jesus for a lifetime, the “Son of Thunder” earned a new nickname: the “Apostle of Love.”

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/sons-of-thunder.html#ixzz3YLoUye3h

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on April 26, 2015 at 12:29pm

Since this verse is the only place this comment is found and there is no further information given I believe it is impossible to know. Most believe it is because of either one of the two items you pointed out.

Maybe some others will have input.

Lord Bless,
LT

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