“Sons of Thunder”

Luke 9:51-56

What a contrast we have between Jesus and two of His disciples, James and John, who were referred to as the “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus.  Nowhere else in Scripture are they referred to as such, but this we do understand, Jesus is fully aware of our make up and these two as well as their dad, had short fuses.  If they had not met Jesus and His Holy Spirit had not come to live within them, they may have become religious followers of a Rabbi who would have lead them to do harm to anyone who was not in keeping with their values.

Before going forward open and read Luke’s account in verses 51-56, and you find Jesus focused on His Father’s mission and that is Jerusalem and a Cross.  Jesus sends out messengers ahead of him who went to a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him.  But the people of that village did not receive him, because He was going to Jerusalem.  So who were the Samaritans?  Got Questions. Org gives this very good answer: “The Samaritans embraced a religion that was a mixture of Judaism and idolatry (2 Kings 17:26-28.  Because the Israelite inhabitants of Samaria had intermarried with the foreigners and adopted their idolatrous religion, Samaritans were generally considered “half-breeds” and were universally despised by the Jews.”

A Jew was not to marry a non-Jew and the reasons were clear; as seen in King Solomon’s life and how the foreign wives brought their customs and gods and not one good thing came out of that.  They were prejudice against any Jew who married outside of the Jewish faith, so when told Jesus was not welcome, it only took a spark to get a fire going, and what did the son of thunder want to do to this village, “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.”

What a distinction of Jesus and the Samaritan woman and the “Sons of Thunder” before the cross, but after Jesus had returned to the Father and the Holy Spirit had come on them, it was a mission of love and service by James and John.

In our time we see distortions in the minds and hearts of people who follow false gods and many are very religious.  This example of the Arab world is foreign to most of us, I found this of interest: “Before I was nine, I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; the tribe against the world, and all of us against the infidel.” -- Leon Uris, 'The Haj'

As followers of Christ we must not forget our Lord’s commands; “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48)

Contrast:  “Because when we declare 'one nation under God,' the
Christian's God is loving and kind, while Allah is NEVER referred to as
Heavenly father, nor is he ever called love in The Quran's 99 excellent
names.  Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a
complete, total, 100% system of life.”  Dr. Peter Hammond's

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice