Why did Jesus refer to James and John as the sons of thunder?

This name, signifying 'sons of thunder,' was given by the Lord to James and John the sons of Zebedee, Mark 3:17, perhaps because of their urgent zeal, as was manifest when, indignant at the treatment of their Lord, they asked if they should call down fire from heaven. Luke 9:54. It was John who told the Lord that they had forbidden one who was casting out demons in His name, because he followed not with them. Mark 9:38. This act of the apostles was condemned by the Lord, but it is to be feared that similar prohibition has often been repeated by others since those days.

The evangelist Mark, in enumerating the twelve apostles (Mark 3:17), when he mentions James and John, says that our Lord "surnamed them Boanerges, which is, Sons of Thunder." What our Lord particularly intended to convey in this title, is not easily determined. Conjectures there have been many. Some suppose that it was because these two brothers were of a more furious and resolute disposition, and of a more fierce and fiery temper than the rest of the apostles. But we see no ground for such a conjecture in the Gospel history. Doubtless, on one or two occasions their zeal was intemperate. but that was before they understood the spirit of their calling. More probably our Lord so surnamed them, as prophetic of their burning zeal in openly and boldly proclaiming the great truths of the gospel, after they became fully acquainted with them. Certain we are, that John in company with Peter, in the early chapters of the Acts, displayed a courage that feared no threatenings, and was daunted by no opposition.

John, the Son of Thunder

The Lord re-named some of His disciples, and the name that He gave to James and John was Boanerges, meaning 'Sons of thunder'. This would seem to describe their character. When we read the writings of John we do not think of him as a son of thunder but it comes out in some of the other Gospels how hot-blooded and jealous he was by nature.

John's calling to be a disciple of the Lord is described in the synoptic Gospels (Math. 4:21-22; Mark 1:19-20; Luke 5:10-11). John and his brother James were full of zeal for the Lord Jesus. This is probably why he named them Boanerges (the sons of thunder, Mark 3:17). Luke reports two occurrences where John shows great zeal (Luke 9:49.54).

It is interesting to note that here it is John who voices the feeling of the disciples in forbidding the man. Usually, as we know, it is Peter who is spokesman, which may have led some to overlook the energetic character of the former. The truth is that the apostle John, like all who really love much, had a very ardent and strenuous nature. No weakling was he, nor was it in words of gentle irony that our Lord called James and John "Sons of thunder." It was well to be a Boanerges. The Lord, who had endowed them with their several ability, and given them a gift suitable to that ability, sealed it, so to speak, when (see Mark 3:17) he gave them that striking appellation. I was no word of reproach, as a well-known writer (Mark Guy Pearse) suggests. Who could thunder as Christ Himself? He always thundered at the right moment; the disciples, like ourselves, and like John on this occasion, at the wrong time. Had it been a question of the Lord's Person, had the man, instead of casting out demons in Christ's name, ascribed the Lord's expulsion of demons to Beelzebub, this had been another thing. For he that is not with Christ, where His divine glory is assailed, — ay, and His human perfectness likewise — is against Him, and scatters abroad (Matt. 12:30).

And lastly John. What a vessel of divine grace was he! His brother James and himself were called the sons of thunder. They were characterized by a strong sense of God’s judgment against sin and rebellion. They could not brook even an apparent slight against divine authority. John forbad another, who cast out demons in the name of the Lord Jesus, because he did not keep the company of the disciples, and he received the Lord’s correction forthwith. Both James and John were also rebuked for desiring the Lord to call down fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans who did not receive Him. “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of,” He said to them. But divine grace had its way, and John was moulded and mellowed, and brought to rest on the bosom of Jesus, the Son of the Father’s love. Then with a depth of delight and glory which is unparalleled, he penned the gospel of the Word who was God.

One thing however it is important to observe. When God gives names to men, His power makes good what His grace bestows, as when He changed the names of Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah. So when Jesus, Who is God blessed for ever, ordained the twelve, and sent them forth to preach, He gave to Simon the name Peter — a stone — and to James and John the name Boanerges — the sons of thunder. Of the ministry of James we have no record. That it was in power, we may infer from Herod seeking to ingratiate himself with the Jews by killing him. Of Simon, whose weakness even to denying his Lord is narrated in every Gospel, we know that, by grace, he became His boldest and most uncompromising witness, establishing and strengthening his brethren also, to set their faces as a flint in following Christ, their blessed example. To John, a quiet and retiring man, was given a testimony of extraordinary power, suited "for the last time": the grandest and most sublime unfolding of the glory of the Son of God by one who had seen it, and knew that "his witness was true." And this was accompanied by authoritative and awe-inspiring vindication — as became a "son of thunder" — of the sacredness of His Person against every attempt of deceivers to profane it.

A Son of Thunder

We read a very interesting statement of James and John when they were sent by the Lord to the Jews in Mark 3:17, “and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and he gave them the surname of Boanerges, that is, Sons of thunder”. Only Mark gives us this well-known description of these two disciples which shows the very touching development which took place in the heart of John. We are not told anything of James, but of John we can see the change that took place in his life that resulted in him at the end of his life writing the very special Gospel about the Son of God becoming flesh and dwelling amongst us, and his first epistle in which he so vividly describes the wonderful and precious possession we have in having received life eternal. This shows quite a different heart from that at the time of his calling when as a young believer he started to follow the Lord Jesus. We have at least three passages in the Gospels which confirm his initial character as a son of thunder, as one who did not love the quietness and calmness of his soul, but rather loved to let thunder roll on this earth.

“And there come to him James and John, the sons of Zebedee, saying to him, Teacher, we would that whatsoever we may ask thee, thou wouldst do it for us. And he said to them, What would ye that I should do for you? And they said to him, Give to us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and one on thy left hand, in thy glory.” (Mark 10:35-37)

A little later on in the chapter they were going through Samaria to Jerusalem and the Lord sent some of His disciples ahead to make reservations for the group that were following. But when they came to a Samaritan village, the villagers, seeing that they were headed for Jerusalem, said that there was no room there. Then James and John together said to the Lord (being right in the area were Elijah had been when the king three times sent a captain of the guard with fifty soldiers to arrest him), "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?" (v.54). Again the Lord rebuked them. From these incidents we conclude that this was what John was by nature. The Lord had to tell them "the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."

We next find the Lord on His way to Jerusalem, the days getting near for His being received up. For the Samaritans it is enough that His face is set toward Jerusalem: they do not receive the messengers sent before to prepare for Him. The spirit of the sons of Zebedee is aflame, and they would bring fire down from heaven after the manner of Elijah, to consume the churlish Samaritans. The pleading of Elijah's example seems to imply that they were already by no means sure that the Lord would be disposed to such a visitation of an offence like this. They could hardly have been with Him so long, without having learned as much as this of His long-suffering. But Elijah they had lately seen with Him, and his example they might quote with One who so completely maintained as He did the authority of Scripture. But He makes it no question of Scripture; it was they who knew not of what spirit they were. They were not of His: for the Son of man had not come to destroy men's lives but to save them.