son of Zebedee

March 8, 2019

Forbid the non-followers of Jesus (Lk 9:49-9:49)

“John answered.

‘Master!

We saw someone

Casting out demons

In your name.

We tried

To stop him,

Because he

Does not follow you

With us.’”

 

Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ Ἰωάνης εἶπεν Ἐπιστάτα, εἴδομέν τινα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου ἐκβάλλοντα δαιμόνια, καὶ ἐκωλύομεν αὐτὸν, ὅτι οὐκ ἀκολουθεῖ μεθ’ ἡμῶν

 

Luke said that John (δὲ ὁ Ἰωάνης), one of the apostles, questioned Jesus (Ἀποκριθεὶς), calling him Master (Ἐπιστάτα).  He said (εἶπεν) that they saw someone (εἴδομέν τινα) casting out demons (ἐκβάλλοντα δαιμόνια) in Jesus’ name (ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί σου).  They tried to stop him (καὶ ἐκωλύομεν αὐτὸν), because he was not a Jesus follower with them (ὅτι οὐκ ἀκολουθεῖ μεθ’ ἡμῶν).  There is something similar to this in Mark, chapter 9:38, but not in Matthew.  Luke continued to follow the structure of Mark, who indicated that John, presumably John the son of Zebedee, approached Jesus.  He called Jesus “teacher (Διδάσκαλε),” not Master (Ἐπιστάτα) as here in Luke.  He said that they had seen someone casting out demons in the name of Jesus, who was not a follower of Jesus, like them.  This unnamed exorcist was apparently not one of Jesus’ disciples.  Perhaps he may have been originally one of Jesus’ disciples, but left this group.  They tried to stop or prevent him from doing the exorcisms in the name of Jesus, precisely because he was not a fellow follower or disciple of Jesus.  Do you think that someone can be a follower of Jesus without belonging to your Christian group?

 

August 15, 2018

Jesus sees James and John (Mk 1:19-1:19)

“As Jesus went

A little farther,

He saw James,

The son of Zebedee,

And his brother,

John.

They were

In their boat

Mending their nets.”

 

Καὶ προβὰς ὀλίγον εἶδεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάνην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα,

 

Once again Mark and Matthew, chapter 4:20, are almost word for word.  Mark introduced two new disciples, John and James, the fisherman sons of Zebedee.  Zebedee might have been successful since he was explicitly mentioned and he seemed to own a boat.  Jesus apparently had just left Simon Peter and Andrew a short distance away (Καὶ προβὰς ὀλίγον).  Once again, Jesus saw two other fishermen brothers (εἶδεν Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάνην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ).  These two brothers, the sons of Zebedee, James and John, were in a boat (καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ) mending the fishing nets (καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα), not casting them out to sea.  Luke, chapter 5:10, indicated that these two sons of Zebedee were partners with Simon, so that they may have shared a boat or boats.

April 11, 2018

The list of the first four major apostles (Mt 10:2-10:4)

“These are the names

Of the twelve apostles.

First, Simon,

Also known as Peter,

And his brother Andrew.

James,

The son of Zebedee,

And his brother John.”

 

Τῶν δὲ δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τὰ ὀνόματά ἐστιν ταῦτα· πρῶτος Σίμων ὁ λεγόμενος Πέτρος καὶ Ἀνδρέας ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ Ἰάκωβος ὁ τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάνης ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ,

 

This section about the names of the 12 apostles is similar to Mark, chapter 3:16-19 and Luke, chapter 6:13-16.  This list can also be compared to the list in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 1:13.  Notice that they are no longer called the 12 disciples (δώδεκα μαθητὰς) but the 12 apostles (δὲ δώδεκα ἀποστόλων).  They had changed from being mere followers (μαθητὰς) to now being sent out as apostles (ἀποστόλων).  These are names of the 12 apostles (Τῶν δὲ δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τὰ ὀνόματά ἐστιν ταῦτα).  Matthew had already mentioned, in chapter 4:18-22, the first 4 names, but the other names appear here for the first time, except for Matthew the tax collector.  First of all, there was Simon, known as Peter (πρῶτος Σίμων ὁ λεγόμενος Πέτρος), with his brother Andrew (καὶ Ἀνδρέας ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ).  Then the 2 sons of Zebedee (ὁ τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου), James and John (καὶ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάνης ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ).  Clearly, these 4 apostles were considered the most important with Peter at the top of this group.  In all the listings, they are always first.  However, Andrew comes after James and John in Mark and in the Acts of the Apostles.

March 12, 2018

The call of James and John (Mt 4:21-4:22)

“As Jesus went from there,

He saw

Two other brothers,

James,

The son of Zebedee,

With his brother,

John.

They were in the boat

With their father,

Zebedee,

Mending their nets.

Jesus called them.

Immediately,

They left the boat.

They left their father.

They followed Jesus.”

 

Καὶ προβὰς ἐκεῖθεν εἶδεν ἄλλους δύο ἀδελφούς, Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάνην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ, ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ Ζεβεδαίου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῶν καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα αὐτῶν· καὶ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς.

οἱ δὲ εὐθέως ἀφέντες τὸ πλοῖον καὶ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ.

 

Continuing with his dependenance on Mark, chapter 1:19-20, Matthew introduced two new disciples, John and James, the fisherman sons of Zebedee.  Zebedee might have been successful since he was explicitly mentioned, as he seemed to own a boat.  Jesus apparently had just left Simon Peter and Andrew (Καὶ προβὰς ἐκεῖθεν).  Once again, Jesus saw two other fishermen brothers (εἶδεν ἄλλους δύο ἀδελφούς).  These two brothers were James and John with their father Zebedee (Ἰάκωβον τὸν τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου καὶ Ἰωάνην τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ).  They were in the boat with their father mending the fishing nets (ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ Ζεβεδαίου τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῶν καταρτίζοντας τὰ δίκτυα αὐτῶν).  Then as he had done with the other two brothers, Jesus called these two brothers (καὶ ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς).  Just like Simon Peter and Andrew had done, they immediately (οἱ δὲ εὐθέως) left both their boat and their father (ἀφέντες τὸ πλοῖον καὶ τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν).  Both James and John, the sons of Zebedee, followed Jesus (ἠκολούθησαν αὐτῷ).  So now, we have four disciples of Jesus, two sets of brothers, according to Matthew and Mark.