Simon The Zealot Series

We want to look at an Apostle of whom we would know

nothing if the New Testament did not tell us of his political

affiliation before he became a believer. If a man was called Simon

the Democrat or Simon the Republican, you would not be able to

draw many conclusions about him because these terms are too

general. But if he was called Simon the Communist you would be

able to say much more about him, for they have a more specific

philosophy. So it is with the name Simon the Zealot. The Zealots

were a political party in Israel with a very clear cut philosophy,

and a program to carry it out.

Since the New Testament tells us nothing of Simon but the fact

that he was a member of this party, everything we can learn about

him must come as inferences from what we know of the party.

Simon the Zealot is as obscure as Simon Peter is famous. We

know nothing about the Apostle Peter's political background, but

that is all we know of Simon the Zealot. The Zealots were radical

and fanatical nationalists who mixed their religion and politics

into one of the most potent mixtures history has ever seen.

The land of Palestine was a country under Roman rule. None

of the Jews liked it, but some hated it, and they wanted to fight

this master that had them in its grip. Herod the Great was able to

keep the volcano of their wrath from erupting by skilled

diplomacy and sheer power of personality. But when he died in 4

B. C. and the territory was divided between his three sons, things

began to get hot. In 7 A. D. a leader rose up in Galilee where the

blaze was hottest. Judas the Galilean led an insurrection. They

stormed the palace and broke into the arsenal, and embarked on a

revolution as armed rebels.

Judas and his men were no match for the power of Rome,

however, and he was crushed. In Acts 5:37 Gamaliel tells us of his

fate. "Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census and drew

away some of the people after him; he also perished, and all who

followed him were scattered." Judas did not get far, but he

started something which gave rise to the party called the Zealots.

These fanatical nationalists loved their country more than life

itself, and they hated Rome with all the hatred the human heart

can possess. Such passion of love and hate when mixed lead to

zeal bordering on madness. Nothing was permitted to stand in

their way. Murder was not only permitted, it was promoted.

They became known as the assassins. The name Sicarii came from

the Sica, the little curved sword which they carried below their

robes, and which they plunged into their enemies at every possible

opportunity. They were ruthless, and they were hunted down by the

Romans and killed, but their zeal was so great that they did not

fear what the Romans could do to them. Josephus wrote, "The

Zealots have an inviolable attachment to liberty, and say that God

is the only Ruler and Lord. They do not mind dying any kind of

death, nor do they heed the torture of their kindred and their

friends, nor can any such fear make them call any man lord."

This zeal and loyalty and love for country were all qualities to be

admired, but their hate for Rome spoiled these values. Hatred,

however good the basis for it, destroys the hater. The Zealots did

not destroy Rome, but they destroyed their own nation.

Fanaticism is self-destructive. They so hated Rome that they

became suspicious of all who did not hate Rome with their zeal.

They began to look upon Jews who paid taxes to Rome as

compromisers and enemies of Israel.

Their battle cry was, "No Lord but Jehovah, no tax but the

temple tax, no friend but the Zealot." Everyone who was not with

them was against them, and so they began to turn upon their own

countrymen. Any Jew who entered into an agreement with the

Romans was marked for assassination. The country homes of rich

Saducees were burned and the people were terrorized. Four sons

of Judas the Galilean continued gorilla warfare until they were

killed. A grandson was still at it with no lag in zeal.

When he and his 900 men were trapped by the Romans he

ordered them to destroy themselves with fire so the Romans

would have nothing but ashes for their victory. This fanaticism

finally led to complete self-destruction of the Zealots and of the

Jewish state. In 70 A. D. the Romans surrounded Jerusalem for a

final showdown with the Jews. The people were starving, and

were in a hopeless situation. The Zealots were so crazed with hate