Where's Father Jonas?

Where Have All the Fathers Gone?

In the Bible- Long, Long ago

Who Owns This Boat?

Who's the father of Simon Peter and Andrew?

The father of James and John is Zebedee, who owns the commercial sailing vessel which brings a living to him, his two boys, his wife Salome, and his two un-named servants. This is quite clear. 

But there is a second commercial sailing vessel in this fishing consortium, probably similar to the first vessel. That vessel is operated by Simon Peter and Andrew. If their father is alive, that's who would be the owner of this second vessel. But is he alive? And what is (or was) his name?

If you start by looking for him in the Gospel of Matthew, you won't see him mentioned. In fact, you can also read through all of Mark and Luke without finding his name. You'll have to read almost to the end of the Gospel of John to find that name.

And the name doesn't designate any action by the father. In the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible, it comes from the lips of Jesus in a question:

"Simon son of Jonas, do you love me more than these?"

Four things are peculiar to this question and its translation:

1) Jesus calls Simon [Peter] by his birth name, leaving out the new name that Jesus has assigned to Simon, that is, Peter—the Rock. Has Peter lost his "rock" status?

2) Jesus does not use the word "son" but instead uses simply the Greek languages' genitive case of the name John, which is spelled Johannou. Stripped to its strict literal translation, what Jesus said was: "Simon of John, do you love me more than these?"

3) There are already two major characters in the Gospels named John, (John the Baptist and John son of Zebedee) so the KJV transliterates the Greek name as "Jonas" rather than "John" to avoid confusion. John son of Zebedee is present when Jesus asks this question.

4) Jesus says this three times to Simon Peter, but only the first time does he include "more than these." Jesus makes no attempt to explain what "these" means; evidently the intended meaning would have been clear to Simon Peter.

In any case, now we know that the father of Simon Peter and Andrew is named "John." But is he alive or dead? In this post I will endeavor to show that John (Jonas) is very much alive, and I will refute the opinion in the NIV that this passage intends to "reinstate" Simon Peter to his leadership role.

The key to Jesus' meaning is his selection and use of Simon's birth name when he addresses Simon Peter, and his meaning of "these."

Addressing Simon (Peter) by his birth name/father's name puts the focus on Simon's place in his society, in his family, and in his family's business participating in a successful fishing consortium.

In his society, he is a self-employed skilled workman who works with his hands, above, for example, a dry-farmer working for an absentee landholder. He can rightfully be proud of the position he holds in his family and in the consortium. When Jesus calls him Simon of John, he places him in a position where, as oldest son, he will inherit the family business. From that position he can marry, raise a family, and pass on the family business to his children.

In other words, his family membership and his business position comes with perks. It is these things, including the fish that is being cooked over a fire and fed to his employees, that Simon definitely loves. He has a valued and respected place in society, and without Jesus he would become an elder on the Sea of Galilee, following in the footsteps and oar-strokes of Zebedee and his own father John. He loves these things.

But he also loves Jesus. Jesus wants to know, "Do you love me more than these things?" It is time for Simon to make a decision. Will he continue to be a fisher of people, rather than a fisher of fish? Jesus has caught Simon doing the work of a fisher of fish, even inviting the other disciples to do the same.

Come on, Simon Peter, which will you be? Simon? Or Peter?

John/Jonas, father of Simon and Andrew, has withdrawn from active participation in the fish-catching side of the business, perhaps due to a weakened, elderly condition. He may still be participating in the processing and wholesale vending of the fish that are caught by his sons. But he has not yet died, and it is not yet apparent what will happen with his home and his boat, now that his sons have abandoned fishing as a profession.

This will no doubt be a difficult decision for Simon Peter, as it may be with each and every one of us, when we find that, in order to follow Jesus, there will be things that we will have to give up.