Simon the Zealot (Matthew 10:4a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/27/2021 12:12 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                Focus:  “Simon The Zealot”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Matthew 10:4

 

            Message of the verse:  “Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.”

 

            In today’s SD we will look at Simon the Zealot, however the KJV calls him “Simon the Canaanite” which is based on an unfortunate transliteration for kananaios, which was derived from the Hebrew qanna, meaning ‘jealous’ or zealous.’  It is the equivalent of the Greek zelotes (‘zealot’), a description Luke uses of this Simon (Luke 6:15; Acts 1:13), writes John MacArthur.

“4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him” (Matt. 10:4a KJV).

 

            I have mentioned in the past that I thought that it would have been very difficult for Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot to get along, and the reason for this is because who the zealots were, and perhaps Simon had been a member of them before Jesus called him to be one of his disciples.  Zealots were a radical party whose members were determined to throw off the yoke of Rome by force.  The Zealots developed during the Maccabean period, when the Jews who were under Judas Maccabaeus, revolted against the Greek conquerors.  It was during this time of Christ, another Judas which is a common Jewish name of that period, was the outstanding Zealot leader.

 

            MacArthur writes “The Zealots were one of our dominant religious parties in Judea (along with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes) but were for the most part motivated more by politics than religion.  They were primarily guerrilla fighters who made surprise attacks on Roman posts and patrols and then escaped to the hills or mountains.  Sometimes they resorted to terrorism, and the Jewish historian Josephus called them sicari (Latin, ‘daggermen’) because of their frequent assassinations.  The heroic defenders of the great Herodian fortress at Masada were Jewish Zealots led by Eleazar.  When that brave group fell to Flavius Silva in A. D. 72 after a seven-month siege, the Zealots disappeared from history.

 

            I suppose that it is fair to say that we don’t know if Simon was a part of this organization, but if he was he would be a man of intense dedication and even perhaps with violent passion.  Simon the Zealot is always mentioned right next to Judas Iscariot, and this may suggest that those men were somewhat two of a kind, whose primary concern about the Messiah would have been earthly and material rather than spiritual.  If they did have this kind of connection—and I would say that it is safe to say that many of the disciples at that time were looking for an earthly Messiah to remove them from the grip of Roman rule—then this would have been gone, as Judas became more confirmed in his rejection of Jesus and then Simon became more confirmed in his devotion to Jesus.

 

            MacArthur concludes this section by writing: “Apparently throughout their ministries, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot remained unknown even to most of the church.  But they joined the ranks of the unnamed Old Testament saints who ‘experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonments.  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.  And all these…gained approval through their faith’ (Heb. 11:36-39).

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I believe that there truly is no shame in being a person who follows the Lord Jesus Christ and not be noticed by others.  “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3).

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Be content with doing exactly what the Lord has called me to do, the things that He planned for me to do as seen in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

 

8/27/2021 12:46 PM