July 2, 2010

  • Through the Eyes of a Zealot


    Acts 22:3I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia but reared in this city. At the feet of Gamaliel I was educated according to the strictest care in the Law of our fathers, being ardent, even a zealot, for God, as all of you are today. – scripture reading

     

    This weekend in the United States people will gather in their local communities to play baseball, eat hotdogs and apple pie, and stand tall and proud as veterans of America’s wars march down Main Street. After sunset in many places, the crowds will listen to local celebrities perform patriotic songs as they prepare for the annual Fourth of July fireworks displays. This is Independence Day weekend in America, the day when “freedom” and “liberty” and “justice for all” became the watch words for a new country that believed that “all men are created equal.” The work started by men like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin has never ended as some people in my country continue to fight for the political causes associated with these ideas. We like the idea behind the words, but we have problems living up to the ideals that we associate with them.

    In the 1770s and into the 1780s British colonists fought with fervor to shake off the yoke of a repressive government that was thousands of miles out of reach and out of touch with the needs of it subjects. Open rebellion against King George III broke out in the 13 colonies, and when the smoke cleared, a new nation emerged. The leaders bowed their heads in thanks to the Almighty who led them through those perilous times. The religious identity of these men has scholars debating just how Christian they truly were. It is claimed that some were no more than Theists. Others claim that these were men of God who made Christian values the foundation of the country. I know that once upon a time in America students prayed, and that one day the Supreme Court put an end to it, citing it violation of the first amendment. It was believed by some that praying in schools was a “state-established religious exercise.”

    For God’s purpose the United States of America was established, and people in theory could live inside her borders and be free to live according to the dictates of their conscience. They could worship as they chose to worship. They could exchange opinions in “the marketplace of ideas.” Liberty of conscience was encouraged, not restricted, as other governments at the time practiced. One may not say anything bad about a king, but in America, one could offer a negative opinion concerning the president and never be threatened with arrest. 

    The Founding Fathers of my country had zeal and passion for freedom and liberty. Through their efforts, God raised up a nation that other countries in time learned to admire and to respect.

    But I am reminded of other freedom fighters that were not as successful in releasing from captivity the oppressed people of their native lands.

    I want us to consider the Zealots of the first century. The Jewish Zealots made up a political movement that opposed Roman rule. Their primary goal was to throw off the yoke of Roman oppression and to see Rome driven from Judea. According to Josephus, the historian of his time, the Zealots were one of four sects to be found in Jerusalem. We know the Pharisees and the Sadducees from what we read in the Bible. The Essenes lived quiet, peaceful lives that included voluntary poverty and lived without worldly pleasures. It was near a former Essene community where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. However, the Zealots were the most highly motivated religious sect at the time of Jesus Christ. The Greek word, zelotes, means “emulator,” “zealous admirer or follower.” The Zealots had a very negative image among the Jews. They favored violence against the Romans and their Jewish collaborators as well as Sadducees. They were strongly committed to liberty, and lifted God up as their only Ruler and Lord. Simon the Zealot and Saul of Tarsus come across as religious militants, acting on the behalf of God without having God’s endorsement for their activities. Not much is written about Simon the Zealot, one of the Twelve who was with Jesus before the crucifixion. He is mentioned a few times in the four gospels, as well as in Acts 1, being there when Christ ascended into heaven.

    Paul, writing in Galatians 1:14, tells of his own experience as a Zealot. The Amplified Bible says: “You have heard how I outstripped many of the men of my own generation among the people of my race in my advancement in study and observance of the laws of Judaism, so extremely enthusiastic and zealous I was for the traditions of my ancestors.” It makes sense to me that his persecution of early Christians was as ruthless, as militant, as it was because of this zeal he had for the traditions. Paul didn’t realize one thing concerning those ancestral traditions: these were they that spoke of Jesus Christ. Paul was living in the past. On the road to Damascus, Jesus gave Paul a reality check.

    Galatians 1“15But when He, Who had chosen and set me apart, even before I was born, and had called me by His grace, His undeserved favor and blessing, saw fit and was pleased 16To reveal His Son within me so that I might proclaim Him among the Gentiles as the glad tidings, immediately I did not consult or counsel with any frail human being or communicate with anyone. I went away and retired to Arabia. After three years I returned to Damascus, and then I went to Jerusalem. 20Now, note carefully what I am telling you, for it is the truth, I write this as if I were standing before the bar of God; I do not lie. 21I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22And so far I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Christ in Judea. Those hearing it said, He who used to persecute us is now proclaiming the very faith he once reviled and which he set out to ruin and tried with all his might to destroy. 24And they glorified God as the Author and Source of what had taken place in me.”

    I want us to look at ourselves through the eyes of a Zealot. We as Christians must love freedom from sin. The gift of liberty that God has given us is precious. We are free from hatred. We are no longer slaves to our weakened emotions such as self-righteous anger. When Jesus told the disciples that they must love one another, we need to see it as a passionate love among brothers and sisters in a very close family. It is a love that must be expressed, for if it is not shared, the pain is too great to bear. I imagine Simon the Zealot and Saul of Tarsus as hard-edged individuals who loved God, but not in a way that was acceptable to God. The zeal these men possessed was a gift from God, but was not focused in a direction God desired for them to take it. When Jesus called them, they followed. That speaks volumes for the power of God’s love that He has for us, and that He desires for us to share with each other. God’s love gives us a freedom and a liberty that this world and the governments of men will never understand. We must be zealous in sharing this love with all who come our way. God wills it. It is my hope that we all will be converted in our hearts and minds so that His will is done on earth as it is in heaven.