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and Simon, who was called the Zealot, (Luke 6:15b)
Dear Friend, is there an adjective after your name? ______ the Dad? ______ the wife? ______ the Astros Fan? What does that word say about your personally? Today's disciple had this adjective after his name, though sources varied as to what word was actually used; most scholars know him as Simon the Zealot.
The lesser manuscripts from which the Bible came to be, believed the adjective to be Cananite; thus many people wrongly assumed that he was the bridegroom from the wedding of Cana of Galilee, where Jesus performed His first miracle of turning water into wine. The legend goes that after the wedding, he became a believer and thus a disciple. The greater manuscripts, or those whom the scholars trusted more, have him as a zealot, so he could not have been that bridegroom. Sadly, other than his name, the scriptures do not tell us much, if anything about this man.
If he was indeed a Zealot, we know him to have a been a part of the last of there great Jewish parties to emerge; enthusiastic patriots of the Jewish nation, whose actions led to the final destruction of the Jewish state. We cannot forget that Palestine was under Roman rule, and the Jews had never learned to accept the fact. Palestine was a sleeping volcano, even during the days of Jesus, ready and quite liable to erupt in violence. Herod the Great, for many years, kept the Zealots under his peace, by his sheer force of personality and his skills in diplomacy; this blessed his relationship with the Romans and the Jews. When he died in 4 B.C., he left the country to his sons: Philip received the regions of Ituarea and Trachnonitis in the northeast; to Herod Antipas he left Galilee; and to Archelaus he left Judea and Samaria. This had to first be ratified by Roman authorities, and of course, before it could be Palestine erupted. The violence was quickly calmed by Roman soldiers.
We know this much about Zealots from Judas the Galilaean philosopher: "They [the Zealots] have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is their only Ruler and Lord. They do not mind dying any kind of death, nor do they heed the torture of their kindred and their friends, nor can such fear make them call any man lord." (The Antiquities of the Jews, 18, 1, 6).
This gives us the background of Simon; he was a man of fanatical nationalism, a man devoted to the Law, a man with bitter hatred of anyone who dared to compromise with Rome. And because we know that, two things emerge. 1. The makeup of the Twelve as nothing short of a miracle given all who made up that band of followers. There were tax collectors, and Simon the Zealot. Those two would have made most groups very uncomfortable! Matthew accepted and benefitted from the political situation; Simon would have willingly stabbed to death any Roman within his reach (or someone who agreed with the politics of the day; like Matthew). The common love of Christ destroyed the personal enmity of these two men; examples of what Jesus can still do today. 2. As Acts 1:13 shows, after the Cross, Simon was still there. Further proof that the dagger must abdicate for the Cross. Simon had rededicated his life to sacrificial love as he had been taught by Jesus.
Legend has Simon the Z preaching in Egypt, in Africa, and Britain. We read about him being in Persia, where he went up against two magicians, Zaroes and Arfaxat; their power and wisdom were not match for Simon's; even being defeated in the presence of a king who ordered the two murdered; the disciple and Jude refused to kill the two magicians basing their decision on Jesus. The two magicians were set free, but they were not convinced or grateful for that action. They continued to follow Jude and Simon, to warn and incite the people about them and their Christian teachings.
Simon and Jude ended up in the city of Suanir, where there were 70 priests and a great temple. These had the two arrested for their preaching agains their gods. They were arrested and sentenced to death. An angel of the Lord appeared and gave them a choice: Escape and you will live, and all these here in the Temple will die with the collapse of the building or suffer martyrdom. Simon chose to preach in hopes of converting some, rather than having them all die, and so Jude and Simon died. The man who once would have killed for the Jews, became the man who saw that God will have no forced service and a man who would not buy his life at the price of the lives of others.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, grant me the faith to allow You to live and guide in me. May my allegiance to You be greater than any earthly allegiance I may have now. This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
