And these are not just any disciples. This isn’t Judas Iscariot, the traitor and betrayer of the Lord. He is biding his time to do his damage. It isn’t Thomas the Doubter, misplacing his doubt about what to do with unbelievers. It isn’t Simon the Zealot, who we know only from the disciple lists in the gospels. Calling him a “Zealot” is to indicate he is part of a terrorist faction operating at the time of Jesus. These folks were known to hide blades on their persons and assassinate fellow Jews they judged were collaborating with the enemies. If there is a person of violence in the disciples, it would be him.
No, these two are James and John, brothers who were among
the first Jesus called as disciples.
They, along with Peter, were called from their fishing boats along the
Sea of Galilee. And, along with Peter, form something of an inner circle in the midst of the larger crew of Twelve
disciples. For example, it was only these three present at the Transfiguration.
We know a couple more things about them. We know their mom sought to get Jesus to do her a favor without explaining what it was. This was for her boys to sit at the right and left of Jesus in the Hall of the King in heaven. That caused a stir. They were also called “Boanerges”, the “Sons of Thunder” by Jesus himself. As the Google brain tries to put it politely, “(it)…likely reflects their passionate, sometimes fiery personalities.” Or it could be because they did stuff like this, threatening heaven-fire?
Yes, and Jesus kept them on.
This has me reflecting on powerful feelings I see in the church today. On the one hand, calling down the fires of heaven to consume someone, this sentiment of punishment and exclusion is all too common. Why don’t people come to church? One big reason is that this vengeful anger has become associated with the entire church, not only in one moment when they were rejected.
The reality is that Jesus took punishment for sins upon himself
for our forgiveness, not for us to threaten people about what will happen if
they do not accept Him.
On the other hand, someone who speaks out with what is considered extreme passion and
vehemence garners backlash. Can you picture James or John coming before a
church board and trying to explain why, in the course of their ministry, they sought
to misuse the destructive powers of heaven for their own purposes? Cancel culture is a real thing, their ministry,
in today’s terms, could have been buried for this.
The reality is that Jesus forgives us our sins and gives us
a second chance and more. He said
something about forgiving seven times seventy times.
Of course, there is the cliché that "it is easier to
ask forgiveness than it is to ask permission."
I am very glad they asked permission.
In terms of understanding the gospel, this appears to be an outlier when it comes to the behavior of the disciples. And, given that the parable of the Good Samaritan is coming in the next chapter of Luke, their threat could be a reflection not so much of their faith perspective as it is a biased perspective against Samaritans in general. Which would mean that even those closest to Jesus had a few things to learn about what it means that God is love.
Peace
pastor pete
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