How Two Different People Learned to get Along
Meet two very different people.
Simon was a Zealot (Lk. 6:15). Josephus, the Jewish historian, records that according to the Zealots, “God is the Ruler and Lord.” Consequently, they refused to give the title of king to any man. Furthermore, they had “an inviolable attachment to liberty” (Josephus Antiquities, 8.1.6.). Zealot were committed to freeing their country from the rule of Rome and willing to endure any pain to do so. If necessary, they were prepared to die. They were even willing to assassinate people to rid their country of foreign rule. They were patriots par excellence; they were the most nationalist of all nationalists.
Matthew was a tax collector (Mt. 10:3). Everyone hates tax collectors; with the ancient Jews, the hatred was particularly severe. They had a deep religious conviction that God alone was King. They felt that to pay taxes to any mortal man was an infringement of God’s rights and an insult to His majesty. To make matters worse, some were serving as tax collectors for their country’s conqueror, Rome.
By Jewish law, tax collectors were included with things unclean. Leviticus 20:5 was applied to them. It says “I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech” (Lev. 20:5 NKJV). Consequently, tax collectors were barred from the synagogue and forbidden to be witnesses in court. They were classed together with robbers and murderers.
It has been suggested that if Simon the Zealot had met Matthew the tax collector, Simon would have stuck a dagger in Matthew.
These two extremely opposite people became disciples of Jesus Christ. On top of that, Jesus called both of them to be apostles (Mt. 10:1-4). How did those two men with such radically different opinions about critical matters learn to get along in a small group of twelve people without killing each other? The answer is, “They became disciples of Jesus Christ.” The Greek word translated “disciple” means “learner.” They were able to get along with each other because of the things they learned from The Lord.
They learned to seek first the kingdom of God instead of the kingdoms of this world (Mt. 6:33). They learned that the meek, not the mighty, inherit the earth (Mt. 5:5). They learned to hunger for true righteousness instead of getting hung up on their view of what is right (Mt. 5:6). They learned to be merciful instead of hateful (Mt. 5:7). They learned to be peacemakers instead of troublemakers (Mt. 5:9). They learned not to be so judgmental (Mt. 7:1-5), but to love each other (Mt. 7:12). Barclay observes, “Here is the tremendous truth that men who hate each other can learn to love each other when they both love Jesus Christ.”
© G. Michael Cocoris, 7/31/2005
Simon was a Zealot (Lk. 6:15). Josephus, the Jewish historian, records that according to the Zealots, “God is the Ruler and Lord.” Consequently, they refused to give the title of king to any man. Furthermore, they had “an inviolable attachment to liberty” (Josephus Antiquities, 8.1.6.). Zealot were committed to freeing their country from the rule of Rome and willing to endure any pain to do so. If necessary, they were prepared to die. They were even willing to assassinate people to rid their country of foreign rule. They were patriots par excellence; they were the most nationalist of all nationalists.
Matthew was a tax collector (Mt. 10:3). Everyone hates tax collectors; with the ancient Jews, the hatred was particularly severe. They had a deep religious conviction that God alone was King. They felt that to pay taxes to any mortal man was an infringement of God’s rights and an insult to His majesty. To make matters worse, some were serving as tax collectors for their country’s conqueror, Rome.
By Jewish law, tax collectors were included with things unclean. Leviticus 20:5 was applied to them. It says “I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech” (Lev. 20:5 NKJV). Consequently, tax collectors were barred from the synagogue and forbidden to be witnesses in court. They were classed together with robbers and murderers.
It has been suggested that if Simon the Zealot had met Matthew the tax collector, Simon would have stuck a dagger in Matthew.
These two extremely opposite people became disciples of Jesus Christ. On top of that, Jesus called both of them to be apostles (Mt. 10:1-4). How did those two men with such radically different opinions about critical matters learn to get along in a small group of twelve people without killing each other? The answer is, “They became disciples of Jesus Christ.” The Greek word translated “disciple” means “learner.” They were able to get along with each other because of the things they learned from The Lord.
They learned to seek first the kingdom of God instead of the kingdoms of this world (Mt. 6:33). They learned that the meek, not the mighty, inherit the earth (Mt. 5:5). They learned to hunger for true righteousness instead of getting hung up on their view of what is right (Mt. 5:6). They learned to be merciful instead of hateful (Mt. 5:7). They learned to be peacemakers instead of troublemakers (Mt. 5:9). They learned not to be so judgmental (Mt. 7:1-5), but to love each other (Mt. 7:12). Barclay observes, “Here is the tremendous truth that men who hate each other can learn to love each other when they both love Jesus Christ.”
© G. Michael Cocoris, 7/31/2005