SONS OF THUNDER
"And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder." Mark 3:17
The two fishermen, the brothers James and
John, who had left their boat and their nets on the shore at Capernaum in order
to go with Jesus, form together with Peter a sort of favorite threesome. They
are the only ones who accompany Jesus into the house of Jairus, and on the
Mount of Transfiguration, and they are the ones whom He takes with Him on the
night of Gethsemane. But in spite of their long intimacy with the Master, they
never acquired sufficient humility. Jesus gave them
the surname of "Boanerges—Sons of
Thunder," an ironic surname, alluding perhaps to their fiery, hot-tempered
character.
When they all started together towards Jerusalem. Jesus
sent some of them ahead to make ready for Him. They were crossing Samaria and
were badly received in a village. "And
they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to
Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James and John, saw this, they said: Lord,
wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them? But
he turned, and rebuked them." (Luke 9:53-54) For them, Galileans,
faithful to Jerusalem, the Samaritans were always enemies. In vain had they
heard the Sermon on the Mount: "Do
good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you." (Matt. 5:44) In vain had they received instructions
for their mission among the peoples: "And
whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of
that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet." (Matt. 10:14) Angry
at an disrespect to Jesus they presumed to be able to command fire from Heaven.
It seemed to them a work of righteous justice to reduce to ashes the village
guilty of inhospitality. And yet far as they were from that loving rebirth of
the soul which alone constitutes the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven, these
men had the pretension to claim the first places on the day of triumph.
“And James and
John, the sons of Zebedee, came unto him, saying: Master, we would that thou
should do for us whatsoever we should desire. And he said unto them: What
would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him: Grant unto us that we
may sit one on thy right hand and one on thy left hand in thy glory. But Jesus
said unto them: Ye know not what ye ask. And when the ten heard it they began
to be much displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to Him and
saith unto them: Whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister;
and whosoever will be the chief among you, let him be your servant, for even
the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister.” (Mark 10:35-45)
Christ,
the over turner of the old order, took this occasion to repeat the master word
to which all worthy souls respond. Only the useless, the petty, the parasites,
wish to be served, even by their inferiors (if anyone in the absolute meaning
of the word can be inferior to them), but any superior being is always at the
service of lesser souls precisely because he is superior.* He wants not leaders
but servants. (Matt. 23:10-11 NASB)
This miraculous paradox is the proof of the fire of
genius. It is offensive to the egotism of the self-centered, to the pretensions
of would-be supermen, and to the poverty of the greedy because the little that
they have is not even enough for themselves. He who cannot or will not serve
shows that he has nothing to give, is a weakling, impotent, imperfect, and
empty. But the genius is no true genius if he does not energetically benefit
his inferiors. To serve is not always the same as to obey. A people can be
served better sometimes by a man who puts himself at their head to force them
to be saved even if they do not wish it. There is nothing subservient in
serving.
James and John understood this stimulating saying of
Jesus. We find one of them, John, among the nearest and most loving of the
disciples. At the Last Supper be leans his head on Jesus' breast; and from the
height of the cross, Jesus, crucified, confides the Virgin to him that he
should be a son to her.
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