Matthew 10:4 – ^“Simon (the zealot)”

After talking about personality and political passion we now come to:

• People Passion

As we discover what really changes people’s hearts, we discover what lets people walk and work together. Simon reminds us that the disciples were not a cookie cutter bunch all cut from the same cloth, these were very different men from very different backgrounds. So, the second lesson we see in Simon’s life is in contrast with who he was called to serve with and care for. Simon hated everything, and everyone associated with Rome, especially the taxes. Jesus calls him to join a group of men that has a former tax-collector for Rome in their midst. Matthews political views are the exact opposite of Simon’s. Simon is an anti-Rome, anti-government, anti-tax. Matthew is a pro-Rome, pro-tax, and yet here they are two very different men with very different political persuasions. I wonder what their conversation was like around the camp fire? What is surprising is that this group of disciples that Jesus called together didn’t implode or explode. That their political views didn’t become a thorn in their flesh. Why? Because again they realized that their political persuasion was not nearly as important as putting their faith in the Prince of Peace. There are some things more important than their personal views and they realized that. As a church we need to realize that as well. What is important is our identity in Christ, it’s not our politics but our position in Christ that is the glue that holds us together. While the Disciples were from different backgrounds, they came to have the same belief. Different ideologies but the same identity. When we follow the same Savior, we end up heading down the same road. Today we like the feel of being an individual, different and separate from the pack, yet when we are following Jesus we can come together and work together not because we see everything the same but because we all see the same Savior. Unity is not uniformity,we aren’t all meant to be alike in every way.We are a diverse people, God loves variety and has created us to be different and yet to be unified.So, our goal must be to have unity in the midst of diversity.That means that in the church, we have the freedom to be unique, but not the freedom to be divided. To work with nor war against our spiritual siblings. Sadly, today we want to be defined by who we are instead of Whose we are.  It’s not about our independence as a culture but our identity in Christ. God calls very different people to follow and serve the same Savior. Lastly we see a:

• Passion for Preaching

Imagine the shock he experienced when Jesus was asked about paying taxes and He answers by saying, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” Or, how about this man who believed that it was only the edge of the sword that the Romans would heed and understand, but one day he hears Jesus say, “All who take up the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). Simon and all those who believed as he did were anxious for the Kingdom of God to reign down and for the descendant of David to viciously expel the invaders. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven would not spread rapidly, but that it would work slowly, invisibly like yeast when He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks (24 quarts) of meal, until it was all leavened.” What Simon came to know and understand was that there was a great and vital war to be fought, but that war was not a war of the flesh, but a war between the light and the darkness, between the truth and the lie, between God and evil, between the Savior and sin. Simon came to understand that our battle is not against flesh and blood and that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual. When Jesus one day said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword”(Matthew 10:34). Simon surely believed that this indeed was the time when Israel would rise up and once again be a force to be reckoned with in the world. Only later did he come to realize that the sword Jesus referred to was the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, and that wherever and whenever that Word was preached, there would be a battle engaged. The zeal and passion that Simon felt for his nation Jesus transformed into a zeal and a passion for the Gospel and the Kingdom of God. Isaiah 9:6 says “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” This may be the most familiar Old Testament prophecy about the birth of Christ. Unfortunately, we seem to pull this passage out of the box only during the holidays. It’s like one of the ornaments we use to decorate our house. But have you ever thought about the rich truth this single verse teaches concerning the King of kings? Though we still await the full realization of His kingdom, the promised Messiah is the greatest political ruler ever.  Isaiah wrote this prophecy at least a hundred years before Israel was taken into Babylonian captivity and nearly 600 years before the birth of the Savior! Looking at a long line of failed monarchs, and sitting in the rubble of Israel’s monarchy, Isaiah looked across the centuries to a time when God would rule on earth through His Son. What kind of kingdom is it? What distinguishes the Messiah’s kingdom from the other kingdoms of this world?

• No Confusion—He Is a Wonderful Counselor
• No Chaos—He Is the Mighty God who in creation brought order out of chaos.
• Uncomplicated—He Is the Father of Eternity
• No Conflicts—He Is the Prince of Peace

Simon went from a revolutionist and political persuader to a preacher of peace and righteousness. We must be dedicated to doing the Father’s will. Our business is to be ambassadors who represent the will and character of God who stands at the head of the government. So, what are you zealous and passionate for, is it Jesus or something else?

Matthew 10:4 – ^“Simon (the zealot)”

As we come to disciple number 11 we discover like James son of Alphaeus that the bible records no dialogue or acts that are attributed to him. There is nothing recorded but his named. Each time he is mentioned it is just a named in a list. Yet as we look at Matthews description in 10:4 there is a lesson simply in how Simon is described in scripture. He is called Simon the Zealot. The word Zealot in Matthew and Mark is in the Hebrew form, and in Luke and Acts they use the Greek word, both the Hebrew and the Greek word simply mean someone who is zealous. So, the question is what was he zealous for? Today as we uncover what Simon was zealous about, we are also confronted with the question what are we zealous or passionate about? What is it that is driving us?

• Personality

Some thought he was called the Zealot because he was zealous for God and the law, or that it was the basic nature of his personality. He was a kind of fired-up go-getter type of guy. Yet if he is that fired-up of a guy, you would expect him to be more like Peter, and you’d expect to hear a little bit more from him, but you don’t. Today we will discover that this disciple is far from the simple Simon some have made him out to be.

• Political Passion

Another possibility is that of a philosophical and political movement called the Zealots. This was a technical term that referred to a group of very religious people. Those who interpreted the Bible very literally and they really felt that any pagan influence, any foreigners in the land that brought their pagan influences, was an affront to God. Any influence outside the Jewish faith was really an affront to God. They didn’t believe in paying tribute to Rome because it was a pagan state, and if you paid tribute, it was treason and apostasy before God. The way to clear the way for God to bless Israel and for the Messiah to come was to toss these people out. If it meant using violent means so be it. They thought of themselves as freedom fighters; simply zealous for the state of Israel, wanting God’s blessing upon them, and not wanting any kind of outside influence. They resorted to guerilla warfare tactics and they struck soft targets that opened themselves up. The Romans called them “Sicarii” which means “daggermen”, which is what they used. They simply looked for an opportune time when someone was unprotected or unprepared, and they would stab them in the back and leave them to die. The movement started with a man named Maccabeas, who used military might to throw off the Syrian oppression over Israel. He defeated the Syrians, and repaired and rededicated the Temple, which had been desecrated by the Syrians and damaged in the fighting. The eight-day December holiday, Hanukkah meaning “dedication,” is a commemoration of this great military victory against all odds. A nation that had not had an army for 400 years defeated a great power. It continued with others like Judas of Galilee, who in 6 A.D. rebelled against the Roman census tax. The tax that began with the birth of Jesus and is recorded in Acts 5:37. By the time of Christ there was a lot political unrest and the zealots, the group that Simon belonged to, were constantly looking for ways to overthrow the rule of Rome. Simon started believing that the answer to life’s problems was through political action. What I find amazing though is as you look into Simons life, you see a man who changes. He had to choose between continuing to work for the independence from Roman rule or following after an itinerant preacher from Galilee who might well be the Messiah promised throughout the history of his people. What about us what will we choose, what will we be zealous and passionate for our political persuasion or the Prince of Peace? If there is any disciple who had a reason to betray Jesus, if there is any disciple who would have been set up to be disillusioned with Jesus, it is this man, because he believed that the answers to life came through political and military action. He really expected Jesus to set up a political and military state, but Jesus didn’t. There was a disconnect in the thinking of the Zealots as well as with almost all of the rest of the Jews about who and what the Messiah would be. Jesus Christ, the suffering Servant, did not fit the picture they had in their minds. Their pictured the Conquering King the roaring Lion not the silent and slaughtered lamb. What is surprising is that he remains faithful to Jesus. How? Because at some point in his life, as he listened to Jesus and his teachings, he began to realize that all his human means, all his faith in political persuasion and military might to solve the human problem, was wrong. Politics and people power don’t solve the human problem. If political parties cured the people problem, then we could save ourselves. Yet if there is anything that time has taught us it is that self can’t cure sin. The human condition that we experience, and what is at the root problem of all social evil is a spiritual problem not political. To get at it, you have to get to the heart of the problem. If you are going to really solve people’s problems and society’s problems, it involves a change of heart. Simon had to surrender his political passion for Jesus. What are you more passionate about politics or the Prince of Peace?Political power has yet to compete with the power of the Prince of Peace because political power can only influence this life not the one to come. Simon had to accept what the Savior had to say and that meant seeing the spiritual mission and if there is a lesson for us, that’s it. As Christians, we have to realize that politics has a limited power, and there is something more important than politics in achieving our desire ends, and that is the spiritual. You can legislate law against racism and hate and poverty all you want. But if from the heart a person hates people simply because of their color, or economic status, you can legislate all the laws you want but you won’t change their action, behavior or their attitude because policy doesn’t change people. You can legislate all the laws on compassion but, if a person doesn’t have a love for people, there is no way of making them reach out to the least of these. It is not that politics is unimportant, it has a place, and the church always struggle with how involved in politics it should be. On one side, there was a sense at one time where the church just kind of said it is dirty, it is corrupt, and we want nothing to do with it. Then there is another side where the church became very involved in politics and through movements like the moral majority, tried to legislate an agenda in affecting our culture. In our culture as Christians we have the ability to affect our political system, but it is important for us to realize that that’s not the most important thing in life. What we tend to do is to read the Bible looking at God’s views on social issues and then compare that to our political landscape and ask what party would fit what I think is God’s agenda? The problem is that we put too much importance in politics and not enough importance on what Jesus preached. More potent than politics in society is spiritual awakening, a person’s heart getting right with God. God gave us the 10 commandments and the Pharisees came up with over 600 laws to help us follow the first 10. Today we have legislated thousands of laws trying to change or correct our behavior. What would happen if, from the heart, people trusted God and their heart and life was right with Him so that they wanted to obey him and they wanted to live out his Word and his commandments. John Adams said, “The constitution is but a shell that presupposes an existing worldview. No government is capable of contending with human passion unbridled by morality and religion. The constitution is only useful for a moral and religious people.” Not that politics is unimportant, it is a tool, but what is far more important is for us to focus on the spiritual. As a people and as a church we need to realize that if we are going to solve problems in our world, that we have to get people’s hearts right with God and our heart need to be right with Him as well.