Happy Easter 2013 from the DELTA BOHEMIAN
By Poor William
(Clarksdale, Mississippi)
James and John, disciples who were often present with Jesus during seminal Gospel events, were nicknamed by Jesus the Sons of Boanerges — SONS OF THUNDER! John, the disciple “Jesus loved,” was from rough fisherman stock and though he had an incredibly intimate relationship with Jesus, he was not timorous.
It is quite shameful for Poor William to even address his sorry-ass self in the same whim where he mentions Jesus and the Twelve, but sorry he is. I have a bad habit of wanting to call thunder down on the heads of those who want to call thunder down on the heads of others. Makes me a hypocrite!
When thinking, which disciple I am like (Stop it! Y’all know you do it too), I realize I have more of Peter’s recognizable temper, which shouldn’t define him; he matured beautifully into no less than the fellow Jesus said he would build his church on. Peter was no slacker and he didn’t just deny Jesus and cut off folk’s ears! He was solid and was likely the fisherman (Don’t think Bill Dance here; think Rena Lara fish camp) who introduced James and John to Jesus.
Jesus referred to James and John as the Sons of Thunder; I think He meant these cats don’t run and they don’t hide. He did, however, rebuke them on one notable occasion. The physician Luke— who had a friend known as the “most excellent Theopolis,” that makes him cool right there—recorded first hand accounts of what he witnessed while traveling with Jesus and the disciples.
A crane taking flight on Easter morning on the Sunflower River in Clarksdale.
In Luke’s gospel account, the good physician wrote that when the time came for what was to come in Jesus’s life and what was to pave the way for folks to have relationship with the One who created them, that Jesus set His face toward Jerusalem—meaning, He knew He was to die soon, but He would not shirk the very thing that brought Him to earth in the form of man.
Jesus sent messengers ahead, think scouts and a preparatory team. A Samaritan village they entered did not receive Jesus, as they realized He was heading toward Jerusalem. There was intense and historical enmity between Samaritans and Jews, though Samaria had been the capital of Israel during the reign of many Jewish kings. They disagreed about where and how to worship, and most Jews would go out of their way to avoid going through Samaria when traveling from say Galilee in the North to Judea in the South.
When James and John, the mighty Sons of Thunder, saw Jesus “disrespected” by the Samaritans, they asked: “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from Heaven to destroy them?”
He answered, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.
Recently, and quite too often, I want to call down thunder on those who piss me off or mess with my children, but when the smoke clears and God has thankfully not acted on my selfish rants, I realize that I am acting in the same spirit as those who I want to call the very THUNDER OF HEAVEN down on! Lord forgive me! Lord help me!
Have a blessed Easter, because we are blessed because of it! pw
Poor William Billy Howell, Bethany Howell, Magical Madge Marley Howell on Easter Day 2013
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