Simon The Zealot Series

Simon the Zealot

Disciple eleven is Simon the Zealot. He is mentioned four times in the New Testament (Matthew 10:4, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13). Some Bible translations will call Simon the Cananaean. This is not the Canaanites mentioned in the Old Testament, it comes from a Greek word (kananaios) meaning a nationalist or zealot. During the days of Jesus, a group of people opposed the Roman occupation of Palestine, they became known as the Zealots. They began as a known group around 63bc. Simon could have been part of this group, but his zealousness could have centered on pursuing God. A better name might be Simon the patriot.

The American soldiers in the American Revolutionary war with England, could be known as Zealots. These men sought independence from England, similar to the Zealots of Jesus day who wanted independence from Rome. There are many zealots around today in the kingdom of God. Some of these zealots are zealous for the wrong things. Some have zeal for the gifts of God, some have zeal for the power of God. Some have zeal for money while others aim their zeal at luxury. The early American patriots aimed their zeal for worshipping God freely without having a government sponsored church.

In the previous book (The Six Shooters) we studied James and John and how their momma wanted them to have high places of authority in Jesus’ kingdom. The thought from many religious people of Jesus day concerned the Messiah would come and take out the Romans and establish Israel as the ruler of the known world. Simon could very well have added fuel to this fire with the other disciples. The disciples often asked Jesus who would be the greatest in His kingdom. The disciples did not fully understand Jesus mission until after the crucifiction and Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Like many people not knowing God’s full plan, they will allow rumors and speculation fuel their fire of zealousness. We should be zealous for one thing and one thing only as the Lord commanded us, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind” (Mat 22:37, Deuteronomy 6:5).” We should be zealous toward God out of love for Him and not to show others how right and good we are.

Super Bowl Zealots

In modern society in America, there is one particular day when zealots come out, Super Bowl Sunday. People go nuts over the clash between good and evil. Good being the team they are rooting for, evil being the team opposing them. The Super Bowl has taken a life of it’s own, even among non-football fans. This day has changed modern culture such as Super Bowl Sunday being the second largest food consumption day behind Thanksgiving

Super Bowl

During the last week in January everyone prepares for the biggest football game of the year, The Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is the final game of the football season which culminates in the two divisional winners of the NFC and the AFC conferences. This game determines who the champion of the year will be. There will only be one champion and both teams will have all the zeal and gusto they can muster up to win the big game and be touted as the champion.

The first Super Bowl involved a battle between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The second Super Bowl had Green Bay for the second straight year, this time they battled the Oakland Raiders. The only remaining evidence of the first and second Super Bowl is composed of a two minute clip of the first Super Bowl. There are no tapes of first and second Super Bowl, the games were eventually taped over by soap operas. Super Bowl 1 covered by two television networks, NBC and CBS, yet no one kept a copy of the game.

From the early days of television into the 1960s, copies of TV broadcasts were routinely erased. Primarily for two reasons;

1. Nobody thought anyone would want to watch the same show they had just seen

2. Videotape and equipment were expensive

The Super Bowl carries many traditions and many peculiarities. For example, only one city is banned from advertising during the Super Bowl and that is Las Vegas. The NFL does not want their big game associated with the gambling mecca of Las Vegas. The Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers have all won five Super Bowl championships, more than any other teams. The Dallas Cowboys leads Super Bowl appearances with an impressive eight. There has never been a team scoreless at the end of a Super Bowl, as well as never going into overtime.

As of 2006, no team has ever returned an opening kickoff or punt for a touchdown. I believe this is primarily because the defensive team members are total zealots during a Super Bowl, being well coached and prepared for this “game of the year.” In this chapter, I want to explore the similarities of football with the Christian life, and how death is not the Super Bowl of life, but nothing more than a conference championship. The Super Bowl of life may come before death or after death. The focus passage will come from 2 Corinthians 5 1-10.