Easter 2022 – Simon the Zealot

Joke:  A very zealous soul-winning young preacher recently came upon a farmer working in his field.

Being concerned about the farmer’s soul the preacher asked the man, “Are you laboring in the vineyard of the Lord my good man?”

Not even looking at the preacher and continuing his work the farmer replied, “Naw, these are soybeans.”

“You don’t understand,” said the preacher. “Are you a Christian?”

With the same amount of interest as his previous answer the farmer said, “Nope my name is Jones. You must be lookin for Jim Christian. He lives a mile south of here.”

The young determined preacher tried again asking the farmer, “Are you lost?”

“Naw! I’ve lived here all my life,” answered the farmer.
“Are you prepared for the resurrection?” the frustrated preacher asked.

This caught the farmer’s attention and he asked, “When’s it gonna be?”

Thinking he had accomplished something the young preacher replied, “It could be today, tomorrow, or the next day.” Taking a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiping his brow, the farmer remarked, “Well, don’t mention it to my wife. She don’t get out much and she’ll wanna go all three days.”

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Today we start a new Easter series called Witness His Resurrection.

We are going look at some character’s in the Scripture that witnessed that event, we will begin with Simon the Zealot today.  Next week we will look at Mary Magdalene, following that with Felix (ever hear of that one) you won’t want to miss it, after that the woodworker, and we will finish up on Easter with Joy talking about the sealer.

Let’s begin shall we. . .

Before Simon the Zealot was called by Jesus to follow Him as one of His twelve disciples, Simon was probably more prone to slit the throat of a Gentile sinner in the name of God rather than set the table and invite them to share a meal with him.

And while the Bible is quiet concerning the details of Simon the Zealot, we do know that he became a follower of Jesus whose life was radically changed by the Messiah.

How can we be so sure, because a person cannot be a true disciple of Jesus and remain the same person as he or she was before meeting and following Christ.

We can deduce that Simon had a reputation and a nickname that proclaimed passion and devotion to the one true God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When Jesus called him to follow Him, which is recorded in Luke 6:15, it states one of the twelve Jesus called was “Simon who was called the Zealot.”

Being called “Zealot” meant he was living a life of piety, zealous for God and the Law.

Zealots were known as a “red-hot” patriot group of resisters who were politically motivated and willing to take action to purge their land of oppressive people who violated what they understood God to stand for and required of His people.

They were often categorized as Jewish revolutionaries who engaged in violence and war against Romans or those who collaborated with them.

Zealots were willing to take extreme measures to rid and resist the foreign influence that oppressed the true Israelite people and polluted the land and temple with their pagan presence, practices and policies.

Let’s hear from Simon as he shares his encounter about the resurrection.

Show video:  Simon Witness the Resurrection www.skitguys.com

We do not know when, where, or how Jesus called Simon the Zealot to follow Him. We just know that at some point along the way, He did.

It’s interesting to note that Matthew the tax collector, another one of the 12 disciples would have been a prime candidate for a Zealot like Simon to “pay back” what was owed to a perceived traitor of Israel.

Matthew was doing the financial dirty work of the Romans, a Zealot like Simon would give him a dagger in between his ribs and never even look back.

Nonetheless, Jesus found it important to call His disciples from across a wide spectrum of Jewish society.

I think that shows us how true the Scriptures are as we find in Romans 2. . .”for there is no favoritism with God.”

And while a Zealot and a Tax Collector would learn to live with and love one another, they both would do so under the echo of what their Rabbi, Jesus, as He came preaching. . .

Matthew 4:17 (NIV): From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Other translations say “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The word “repent” is a powerful word that describes what must have happened to a disciplined and staunch Zealot like Simon.

Repent in the Greek is the word “metanoia” which translates, “rethink the way you think about things and then go in a new direction.”

Everything Simon the Zealot had learned must now be unlearned, reconsidered, and course-corrected if he would move in the direction Jesus the Messiah was leading him and each of us toward into the future.

For Simon to follow Jesus, he would need to lay down his dagger used to shed blood and take life and instead pick up a towel to serve others and wash their feet as Jesus demonstrated to them at the Last Supper.

Instead of planning ways to eliminate the lives of Roman infidels in the land proclaiming “Pax Romana,” (The

Peace of Rome), Simon would have to rethink the way he thought about things and learn what Jesus meant when He said, “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

Simon’s head and heart were reeling because the “Pax Romana” was oppressing his people’s Shalom (peace).

Now this fascinating Rabbi named Jesus calls him and others to be a peacemaker in the land but not with swords and violence.  But with love.

How could he “love his enemies” and “pray for those who persecuted him and his people” and yet stay true to who he was at his core?

The fact was, Simon couldn’t.   And neither can we.

He would have to rethink the way he thought about his worldview and identity while being willing to lay down his life and all he knew to move in a new direction as Jesus was teaching and leading before him.

What Simon would have to do regarding repentance is what another zealous disciple who was a little late to the incarnational Jesus party would write about later.

His name was Paul, and he was known to be just as zealous for God and the Law as anybody in that day.

Look what Paul writes concerning people rethinking the way to think about life and move in a new direction as followers of Jesus.

The passage I want to focus on is from a letter Paul wrote to the church at Philippi and is found in Philippians 3:12-16.

In this part of the letter, Paul is discussing what being a follower of Jesus means regarding the ongoing change of a person’s life and how they live and think about everything.

He writes about how his own process of being a disciple of Jesus is underway and leading him towards becoming the person Jesus has in mind for him to be.

Philippians 3:12–16 (NIV): Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

Paul is using language here that connects to the sport of running as an athletic competition.

What Paul is suggesting in this part of his letter is that all Christians are like athletes who are runners in a race.

We are all sprinting towards the finish line. And in verse 13 Paul stresses that it is so vitally important that we concentrate on the one aim in our sights: keep on going forward towards the goal.

Look at it verse 13 once more. . .

Philippians 3:13 (NIV): Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,

“One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead…”

We must forget the past and press forward to what is ahead. This is a critical perspective not only for disciples of Jesus like Paul and Simon the Zealot, but also for you and me as well.

We must rethink the way we think about things and move in a new direction.

What Paul is writing about is exactly what Jesus came preaching at the beginning of His earthly ministry that I mentioned a few moments ago concerning repentance because the kingdom of God is at hand.

Part of repentance is forgetting about our past and moving forward into a new future that God has in store for us and has called us to run towards in life.

And what Paul is saying in these few verses deals with what Officer Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith Show would say.  Remember him?  Officer Barney Fife played by the legendary Don Knotts.

Remember his phrase?  “Nip it in the bud.”

And Paul is saying that one thing we as followers of Jesus must “nip in the bud” is anything that reeks of the idea that once you have become a mature Christian, then somehow you have “arrived.”

In other words, Paul is saying that as long as you have breath in your lungs on this earth, you are still in the race that is meant to move you forward.

Jesus always has more for us.  Amen?

Nobody crosses the finish line until they quit breathing and step into the presence of Jesus.

That’s what Paul is talking about in verse 12 when he says,

Philippians 3:12 (NIV): Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Let me read that once more from The Passion Translation. . .

Philippians 3:12 (TPT): I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover.

Paul is “nipping it in the bud.” Anybody who thinks that they don’t have something to keep searching for, to keep learning, to keep growing as a follower of Jesus is fooling themself.

Paul is nipping zealous, dysfunctional, spiritual elitism right in the bud before it takes root and begins to breed a type of poisonous arrogance in the church.

C.S. Lewis once noted, “The only thing that can dwell in the presence of God is humility.”

There is no room for anybody to think they have arrived when it comes to following Jesus; there is always something ahead of us to run towards in this race to the finish.

We must press on!

However, pressing on does not include eliminating those who are running a different race or are tainting the one we are running that may be in violation of how we view life as a follower of Jesus.

Nowhere does Jesus sanction the violent actions of those such as the Zealots who cut people down and remove them from the land in order to clear a path for others to run toward God.

We all have room to grow.  We all have room to run.  We all have room to bring peace to the race.

This is a new way of thinking for a Zealot like Simon.

However, the more he followed Jesus the more he began to rethink the way he thought about his approach to the zealous life.

What Paul is saying in these verses is this, “True maturity is knowing that you haven’t arrived yet and that you must keep pressing on forward towards the goal that’s before you.”

And this is what Simon had to learn as a new follower of Jesus as well.

His past life of discipline and zeal needed to be redirected into a new way of thinking and living.

Simon had a new lane to run in as he followed the ways and the words of Jesus.

Any runner knows that the race is not won and lost until you cross that finish line.

So if you are a runner and you find yourself out in front, you must maintain the pace and extend that lead or somebody will pass you who is striving a bit harder than you.

That’s what Paul is saying in verse 16.

Philippians 3:16 (NIV): Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

If we can’t let off on our perseverance until we reach the goal, then what is the goal or the finish line?

Paul talks about it in verse 14 and describes it like this:

Philippians 3:14 (NIV): I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

For Paul and Simon the Zealot, the goal was not a gold medal, it was “the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Ok so what in the world is that anyway?

Some people think Paul is talking about “heaven.” So the end of the race leading to the finish line must be that place “up there,” that upward place known as “heaven,” …right?

N.T. Wright gives a good perspective on this and points out that in verses 20-21 in the next section of this passage from Philippians 3 that Paul continues writing,

Paul speaks not of us going up to heaven, but of the Lord Jesus himself, coming “from heaven to earth.”

The reason Jesus would do that is to transform the world and change our bodies so that they are like his own resurrected and glorified body.

If that is the case, then living “in heaven” is not so much the goal we are aiming at; rather, it’s living in God’s way with our new life so that others can encounter Jesus through us.

It’s bringing a little Heaven to earth so that others can see just how good this God we serve really is.

What Wright suggests is that the “upward call” Paul refers to here in verse 14 seems to be the resurrection life itself—straining forward towards it, just like an athlete aiming at the finish line strains at the tape and towards the prize and glory that awaits on the other side of the finish line.

What Paul is talking about is this truth; we must live life right now in the present in light of our future with Jesus.

Simon would learn such things in time after Jesus died and rose again from the tomb when He defeated death.

That means, Simon, like Paul and all us other believers in Jesus, are encouraged to keep moving forward into the future Jesus has in mind for all of His followers.

It’s what Paul told his friends at a different church that he helped to start in the city of Colossi.

If you look in Colossians 3:1-4, Paul talks with them about living life right now in the present as we consider our future with Jesus.

Let’s take a look at it. . .

Colossians 3:1–4 (NIV): Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Once again from The Passion Translation, I love this. . .

Colossians 3:1–4 (TPT): Christ’s resurrection is your resurrection too. This is why we are to yearn for all that is above, for that’s where Christ sits enthroned at the place of all power, honor, and authority! 2 Yes, feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm. 3 Your crucifixion with Christ has severed the tie to this life, and now your true life is hidden away in God in Christ. 4 And as Christ himself is seen for who he really is, who you really are will also be revealed, for you are now one with him in his glory!

But sometimes it’s hard to live life right now in the present while considering our future with Jesus, isn’t it?

Do you know why?

It’s s because we keep doing what Paul encourages us and pleads with us not to do in Philippians 3:13:

“…forgetting what lies behind…”

Some of us have a tough time forgetting what lies behind us.

Perhaps Simon the Zealot did too, as he tried to figure out his footing while following Jesus.

However, even Simon had to forget what was behind him to move forward into the future that Jesus had for him.

He had to consider how to redirect his zealous nature from eradicating the lives of others who were not yet following the one true God, to serving them and loving them as the neighbors that they were to him.

Simon had to forget what was behind him and keep moving forward into the future that Jesus had called him to.

Often we live our lives as if God created us with a rearview mirror on our forehead that keeps the past in our view.

• Maybe it is something in the past that somebody did to you.
• Maybe it is something in the past that somebody said to you.
• Maybe it is something in the past that you did or said to somebody else…or that you never had the chance to say or do or make things right.
• Maybe it is a deep regret that happened years ago that still haunts you in this present moment.

The list of the past could go on and on. . .

And for many people, it’s as if they are living life with a rearview mirror on their forehead and the devil keeps whispering things into your ear like:

“Look at that part of your past where you got pushed off the track. You were running so well and then you just went right off the track and out of your lane. Can you believe your past? Can you believe what is still behind you? You will never reach the finish line with a past like that!  You’re a loser. You might as well quit running forward with a past like what you’ve had.  What happened back then should disqualify you from even finishing this race you are running. Why don’t you bow out of the race right now and let others who are more qualified than you pass on by?”

And you’ve heard things like that on repeat. . .like the broken record just skips over and over the phrase again and again.

And you’ve never been able to forget the past like Paul encourages because you have never been able to forgive yourself or forgive that person.

And you instead of realizing the cross was sufficient, you play into the lie and live with the regrets.

Perhaps you resonate with the lyrics of a song by U2 that says, “You got stuck in a moment, and you can’t get out of it.”

And the Apostle Paul, a great runner in this race of following zealously after God, reminds all the runners of this perspective in verses 13-14 when he writes,

Philippians 3:13–14 (NIV): Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Paul is saying that he just had to make a break with everything in his rearview mirror.  All his religious achievements, great deeds, and religious pedigree do not matter anymore in this race.

As a matter of fact listen to how Paul describes his achievements. . .

Philippians 3:3–6 (NIV): For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.

Talk about his achievements

Then he continues in verse 8. . .

Philippians 3:8–10 (NIV): What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Once again from The Passion Translation. . .

Philippians 3:3–10 (TPT): For we have already experienced “heart-circumcision,” and we worship God in the power and freedom of the Holy Spirit, not in laws and religious duties. We are those who boast in what Jesus Christ has done, and not in what we can accomplish in our own strength.  4 It’s true that I once relied on all that I had become. I had a reason to boast and impress people with my accomplishments—more than others—for my pedigree was impeccable. 5 I was born a true Hebrew of the heritage of Israel as the son of a Jewish man from the tribe of Benjamin. I was circumcised eight days after my birth and was raised in the strict tradition of Orthodox Judaism, living a separated and devout life as a Pharisee. 6 And concerning the righteousness of the Torah, no one surpassed me; I was without a peer. Furthermore, as a fiery defender of the truth, I persecuted the messianic believers with religious zeal. 7 Yet all of the accomplishments that I once took credit for, I’ve now forsaken them and I regard it all as nothing compared to the delight of experiencing Jesus Christ as my Lord! 8 To truly know him meant letting go of everything from my past and throwing all my boasting on the garbage heap. It’s all like a pile of manure to me now, so that I may be enriched in the reality of knowing Jesus Christ and embrace him as Lord in all of his greatness. 9 My passion is to be consumed with him and not clinging to my own “righteousness” based in keeping the written Law. My “righteousness” will be his, based on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ—the very righteousness that comes from God. 10 And I continually long to know the wonders of Jesus more fully and to experience the overflowing power of his resurrection working in me. I will be one with him in his sufferings and I will be one with him in his death.

Wow well said Paul, well said.

Paul was saying everything I was is different since Jesus and all I was doesn’t matter anymore in this race.

And church, neither do all the sins, missed opportunities, and the times we messed up along the race of life.

All that has been covered by Jesus when He took hold of me, washed me and made me new.

When Jesus called Simon to follow Him, he too was on a new path to a new future that would enable him to leave his past in the past.

Simon didn’t know it at the time, but the path that would cover his past was leading to a cross where Jesus would lay down His life.

When Jesus got nailed to the cross, the rearview mirrors of our past got removed.

Because of Jesus’ sacrificial death, our pasts got dealt with permanently on that day.

When Jesus cried out it is finished.  He meant it is finished.

Yes, it may have left some scars.  It may have left some evidence that something happened back then.

But ultimately, I must choose to let that death of yesterday stay dead and in the past as I choose to move on and press into a new day.

And leave the death of the past in the past.

This concept echoes a great line from the movie Lonesome Dove the movie is about some men in the Old West on a cattle drive from Texas to Montana.

One of the main characters named, Captain Woodrow Call, talks about death and the past when he says, “The best thing you can do with death is ride off from it.”

That is a good word for people today who need to ride off from the death of their past.

Some people need to refocus on what is before them rather than what is behind them and start moving forward.

Give yourself permission to trust what the Apostle Paul is writing about and forget what is behind that has been holding you back, and strain forward to what lies ahead.

In other words, if you are a follower of Jesus, you and Jesus must come together to deal with the death of your past sins. And I assure you what He did was enough.

Realize that they have been put to death at the cross and buried in the tomb with the death of Christ.

Now, leave them buried and walk out of the tomb in the power of the resurrection of Jesus and ride off from the death of your past.

That’s what Paul was talking about in the middle of Philippians 3:13.

“…and straining forward to what lies ahead,”

Straining forward does not mean staying seated in the past by a tomb of death and regret.

The phrase “straining forward” is the Greek word “epekteino.” It describes a muscle being stretched to its limit before it is about to break or tear.

It’s what you see a runner do at the finish line when he or she leans and stretches forward.

That runner is “straining forward” with all their might until they feel like they are about to break.

Isn’t that how you feel some days?

You feel like you are “straining forward” as you wonder if you will make it or break it?

Let’s be honest. Some days are more of a strain than others.

And some days walking forward with Jesus feels like you are making progress; and other days, you feel like you are spending all day back in your past.

• Wherever you are today, I want to encourage you just keep moving forward.
• What do you need to do to move forward today?
• Is there someone who you need to forgive today?

What needs to happen for you to remove the rearview mirror of your life and begin to choose to focus on the life before you rather than the one in your past that’s behind you?

Perhaps the words that Louie Giglio shared at a speaking engagement years ago with could be a good place to start your race moving forward today.   The theme of the conference was free the fire.  So Louie went on to say. . .

Rethink the way you think about your life and move in a new direction with these words that spell out the acronym F.I.R.E.

F – Forget the past.

I – It’s under the blood.

R – Receive His love and power.

E – Enter the battle.

If we approach each day with this truth of F.I.R.E. and run our race ahead with zeal, we will be on our way to becoming the follower of Jesus He is calling us to be.

Like Simon the Zealot and the Apostle Paul, we cannot follow Jesus and remain the same person we were before we met Christ.

May we be different and move forward with zeal as we seek to follow Jesus and be peacemakers in the world around us today, tomorrow, next week, everyday.