“Simon the Zealot” (Luke 6:15d)

 

MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/4/2026 10:53 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                 Focus: “Simon the Zealot”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                     Reference:  Luke 6:15d

            Message of the verse:  “Simon who was called the Zealot”

            MacArthur writes “Matthew (10:4) and Mark (3:18) refer to Simon using the Aramaic word cananaean.  The term is not a geographical reference either to the land of Canaan, or the village of Cana, but comes from a root word meaning ‘zealous,’ or ‘passionate’ (hence the NASB translates it Zealot in these verses).  Luke used the corresponding Greek word Zelotes, which also means Zealot.  Both terms mark Simon as a member of the radical Jewish faction known as the Zealots.

            “The Zealots were one of the four primary parties in first-century Israel, along with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes.  They were passionately devoted to the law of God, and violently opposed any intrusion upon it by pagans, such as the Romans.  They were political radicals, the terrorists and assassins of their day, perfectly willing to murder the Romans and their Jewish collaborators. By doing so, they believed they were doing God’s work.  The first-century Jewish historian Josephus wrote concerning the Zealots’ fanaticism,

‘But on the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy, Judas the Galilean was the author.  These men agree in all other things with the Pharisaic notions; but they have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God is to be their only Ruler and Lord.  They also do not value dying any kinds of death, nor indeed do they heed the deaths of their relations and friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man Lord.  And since this immovable resolution of theirs is well known to a great many, I shall speak no further about that matter; nor am I afraid that any thing I have said of them should be disbelieved, but rather fear, that what I have said is beneath the resolution they show when they undergo pain. (Antiquities, 18.1. 6)

            “While precursors to the Zealots can be found in the Maccabean era of the intertestamental period, the movement itself began shortly after the death of Herod the Great.  The Zealots, under Judas (cf. Acts 5:37), rose in rebellion against the census conducted by Quirinius (the second one in A. D. 6, not the first one a decade earlier that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem).  The Zealots also played a major role in the Jewish revolt against Rome (A.D. 66-73).  After the fall of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, a band of Zealots fled to the fortress of Masada.  There they held out until A. D. 73, then committed mass suicide rather than surrender to the Romans.

            “As a Zealot, Simon was a man devoted to the law of God, fiercely patriotic, passionate, and courageous.  He hated the Romans and desperately wanted them out of Israel.  He was the antithesis of Matthew, whose collaboration with the Romans had made him rich.  Had they not both been followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, Simon would have had nothing to do with Matthew, and might even have murdered him.  Like Judas Iscariot, Simon was looking for a messiah who would drive out the Romans.  But unlike Judas, who betrayed Jesus when he saw that was not Jesus’ plan, Simon embraced Him as Savior, Lord, and God incarnate.

            “Like many of the apostles, Simon’s later ministry is shrouded in mystery and legend.  According to some traditions, he preached the gospel in Persia and Armenia, others place his ministry in the Middle East and Africa, while some even have him ministering in Britain.  Nor is there any agreement on the manner or place of his death, which some claim was by crucifixion, others by being sawn in two.  Simon the Zealot, who had willingly faced death because of his passionate commitment to God’s law, suffered it in the end because of his love for Jesus, the fulfillment of the law (Matt. 5:17; Luke 24:44).”

Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  As I look at all of the apostles and how they died for the cause of Christ, I believe that this should be the attitude that I have, along with all believers.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to give me His grace and mercy in abundance as I try to continue to minister to my wife as her cancer grows worse.

7/4/2026 11:51 AM