Bernard has in this part of his discourse been completing all the details of his parallel between the cross and the Christian’s life, and in this conclusion, thus crowns the simile, by exhorting his saintly hearers to cling, each to his own cross, in spite of all temptation to renounce it; that is, to persevere in daily crucifying their sins, by a pure deportment through life.
Happy the soul that glories and triumphs on this cross, if it only persevere, and do not let itself be cast down in its trials. Let every one then, who is on this cross, like the blessed Andrew, pray his Lord and Master, not to let him be taken down from it. For what is there which the malign adversary will not dare? what will he not impiously presume to try? For what he thought to do to the disciple by the hands of Aegeas, the same he once thought to do to the Master by the scornful tongues of the Jews. In each instance alike, however, driven by too late experience of his folly, he departed, vanquished and confounded. O may he in like manner depart from us, conquered by Him who triumphed over him by Himself, and by His disciple. May He cause, that we also may attain the same happy end, on the crosses which we have borne, each one in his own peculiar trials, for the glory of His name, “who is God over all, blessed forever.”
JAMES BOANERGES;
THE SON OF ZEBEDEE.
HIS RANK AND CHARACTER.
Whatever may have been the peculiar excellences of this apostle’s character, as recognized by the searching eye of Him who knew the hearts of all men, the early close of his high career has prevented the full development of energies, that might, in the course of a longer life, have been made as fruitful in works of wonder and praise, as those of the other members of the elect TRIO, his friend and his younger brother; and his later years, thus prolonged, might have left similar recorded testimonies of his apostolic zeal. Much too, that truly concerns his brief life, is swallowed up in the long narrative of the eminent chief of the twelve, whose superiority was on all occasions so distinctly marked by Jesus, that he never imparted to this apostle any exalted favor in which Peter did not also share, and in the record of which his name is not mentioned first. In the first call,——in the raising of the daughter of Jairus to life,——at the transfiguration,——and on the apostolic roll,——James is uniformly placed after Peter; and such too, was the superior activity and talkative disposition of Peter, that whenever and wherever there was anything to be said, he was always the first to say it,——cutting off the sons of Zebedee from the opportunity, if they had the disposition, to make themselves more prominent. Yet the sons of Zebedee are not entirely unnoticed in the apostolic history, and even the early-martyred James may be said to have a character quite decidedly marked, in those few passages in the sacred record, where facts concerning him are commemorated. In the apostolic list given by Mark, it is moreover mentioned, that he with his brother had received a name from Jesus Christ, which being given to them by him, doubtless with a decided reference to their characters, serves as a valuable means of ascertaining their leading traits. The name of “Boanerges,”——“sons of thunder,” seems to imply a degree of decided boldness, and a fiery energy, not exactly accordant with the usual opinions of the characters of the sons of Zebedee; but it is an expression in the most perfect harmony with the few details of the conduct of both, which are given in the New Testament.
Boanerges.——This word is one, whose composition and derivation, (as is the case with many other New Testament proper names,) have caused great discussion and difference of opinion among the learned. It occurs only in Mark iii. 17, where it is incidentally mentioned in the list of the apostles, as a new name given to the sons of Zebedee by Jesus. Those who are curious, can find all the discussion in any critical commentator on the passage. Poole’s Synopsis, in one heavy folio column and half of another, gives a complete view of all the facts and speculations concerning this matter, up to his time; the amount of all which, seems to be, that, as the word now stands, it very nearly sets all etymologies at defiance,——whether Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee or Arabic,——since it is impossible to say how the word should be resolved into two parts, one of which should mean “sons,” and the other “thunder;” so that it is well for us we have Mark’s explanation of the name, since without it, the critics would probably have never found either “son” or “thunder” in the word. As to the reason of the name’s being appropriated to James and John, conjectures equally numerous and various may be found in the same learned work; but all equally unsatisfactory. Lampe also is very full on this point. (Prolegomena to a Johannine Theology cap. I. lib. ii. §§ 9–15.
HIS FAMILY AND CALL.
Of the first introduction of this apostle to Jesus, it may be reasonably conjectured, that he formed an acquaintance with him at the same time with his brother John and the sons of Jonah, as already commemorated in the former lives, from the brief record in the first chapter of John’s gospel. After this, he and his brother, as well as Peter and Andrew, returned quietly to their honest business of fishing on the lake of Gennesaret, on whose shore, no doubt, was their home,——perhaps too, in Bethsaida or Capernaum, as their intimacy and fellowship with the sons of Jonah would seem to imply a vicinity of residence; though their common occupation might bring them frequently together in circumstances where friendly assistance was mutually needed; and the idea of their residence in some other of the numerous villages along the northern end of the lake, on either side, is not inconsistent with any circumstance specified in their history. In their occupation of fishing, they were accompanied by their father Zebedee, who it seems, was not so far advanced in years as to be unable to aid his sons in this very laborious and dangerous business; which makes it quite apparent that James and John being the sons of so active a man, must themselves have but just attained manhood, at the time when they are first mentioned. Respecting the character of this brisk old gentleman, unfortunately very few data indeed are preserved; and the vagueness of the impression made by his name, though so often repeated in connection with his sons, may be best conceived by reference to that deeply enigmatical question, with which grave persons of mature age are sometimes wont to puzzle the inquisitive minds of young aspirants after Biblical knowledge, “Who was the father of Zebedee’s children?”——a query which certainly implies a great deficiency of important facts, on which the curious learner could found a definite idea of this somewhat distinguished character. Indeed “the mother of Zebedee’s children” seems to posses in the minds of most readers of the gospels a much more prominent place than “the father of them;” for the simple occasion on which she presents herself to notice, is of such a nature as to show that she was the parent from whom the sons inherited at least one prominent trait,——that of high, aspiring ambition, with which, in them as well as in her, was joined a most decidedly comfortable degree of self-esteem, that would not allow them to suspect that other people could be at all behind them in appreciating those talents, which in their own opinion, and their fond mother’s, showed that they were “born to command.” Indeed it appears manifest, that there was much more “thunder” in her composition, than in her husband’s, and it is but fair to suppose, from the decided way in which she put herself forward in the family affairs, on at least one important occasion, without any pretension whatever on his part, to any right of interference or decision, that she must have been in the habit of having her own way in most matters;——a peculiar prominence in the domestic administration, very naturally resulting from the [♦]circumstance, that her husband’s frequent long absences from home must have left the responsibilities of the family often upon her alone, and he, like a prudent man, on his return, may have valued domestic quiet above the maintenance of any very decided supremacy. If the supposition may be adopted, however, that Zebedee died soon after the call of his sons, the silence of the sacred record respecting him is easily accounted for, and the above conclusion as to his domestic management, may be considered unnecessarily derogatory to his dignity of character.
[♦] “cirstance” replaced with “circumstance”