The Two-Edged Sword

When reading about the 12 apostles there is one that stands apart from the others.  Yet, we know so little about him.  His name is Simon the Zealot.  So how does this chosen apostle play out in his commitment to Jeshua (Jesus)?

Religion is a two-edged sword.  On one hand we are told to be faithful even if it means we must lose our lives.  We as disciples are called upon to have faith in God, trust in our Messiah and obey His commandments.  This is the narrow path that leads to life.  On the other hand, religious convictions can become a source of strife, enmity and hatred between people and nations.  We can see how this is playing out in our world.

The Master chose as one of his disciples a man named Simon, the Zealot.  Actually this is not the proper translation of the text. The old KJV had it right………The Greek text of Matthew and Mark introduce one of the Yeshua’s disciples as “Simon the Cannanean”.  Translators and scribes stumbled over the unusual word.  I personally can’t even pronounce the Greek word or hope to spell it correctly .. it is “Kavavaioc” .  My word processor doesn’t know Greek!  The King James translators chose to translate it as “Simon the Canaanite”.  Thanks for the error! Simon has the embarrassing honor of being the only Gentile disciple among the twelve…….and a Canaanite at that!  On the other hand he might have been Jewish and lived in the Galilee area. The word Canaanite might have been a political term.  Theologians have their own ideas.

Actually the mysterious Greek word attempts to transliterate the Hebrew word “kanana” which means the “Zealot.”  The anti-Roman, Jewish revolutionaries of first-century Judea called themselves Zealots.   However, all peoples living in that area hated the Romans not only the Jews.    Luke recognized the word and translated it as Simon the Zealot.  In modern vernacular, we would call him Simon the Terrorist!  However, this Simon chose to follow a Jew whom he believed was the promised Messiah.  He must have been accepted by the inner circle of apostles and we see him listed as one of the twelve.  Interesting!

Judea and Galilee were filled with political and religious zealots who resorted to violence to advance their purposes.  They felt it was a just cause to kill Roman soldiers anytime or place.  Terrorists like the Zealots prove that zeal can be misplaced.  Paul is another example of misplaced zeal.  Prior to his Damascus road encounter, Paul pursued the believers with the zeal of a zealot.  In his epistle to the Philippians, he mentioned his history as a persecutor of the believers as evidence of his “zeal” for God.

Our Lord did not back away from confrontations with Romans, Pharisees, Sadducees or Gentiles.  He treated them all with respect.  He taught patience and love…..go the extra mile; carry two cloaks instead of one; respecting one’s neighbor……even if he is a Samaritan!

So perhaps having zeal and being a zealot are two different aspects of one religious conviction.    We do far better to emulate the Master who was zealous for His Father’s house (John 2:17) and for His Father’s will. We should be “zealots” for good deeds and zealous for the Messiah and His kingdom.  This means ruthlessly rooting out from our own lives those things that lead us to sin and cause us to depart from our appointed service to others.  We can be useful Zealots for the Master.