Simon the Zealot

When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying.

Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James.

They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

In those days, Peter stood up among the believers, a group numbering about 120, and said, Brothers and sisters, the scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as a guide for those who arrested Jesus.

When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose 12 of them, whom he also designated apostles.

Simon, who he named Peter, his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon, who was called the Zealot, Judas, son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

The Sermon on the Mount from Matthew.

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down.

Because if you can seek to liberate the oppressed, then you should also be seeking to liberate the oppressor who dehumanizes themselves by oppressing other people.

And the ultimate goal in being fully free is that my identity as a Palestinian no longer is connected to someone who's been colonized and has been oppressed.

And the same goes for the Israeli, that their identity is restored and redeemed in a way that they're no longer a settler or an oppressor.

And that vision of new creation that Paul speaks about And reconciliation, I think, is the vision that we should be striving for in our theology of liberation.

coexisting in what reality in Palestine in a reality of occupation in a reality of genocide or co resisting together using each other's positions using each other's being a neighbor where you are both together resisting the bad landlord that is creating the problems in the first place and I think Where this theological inspiration that Daniel takes from is actually from Exodus, funny enough, is with the Egyptian midwives, people from the oppressor community.

collaborating with the Hebrew slaves, oppressed, against Pharaoh.

Or Matthew the tax collector, a betrayer of his people, someone who's stealing bread and the livelihood of oppressed people for the Roman Empire, for the Empire, together in a movement, in a community, with someone like Simon the Zealot, who is a freedom fighter.

So how do we embody this sort of community and discipleship that Jesus and many places in the Bible and scriptures show us within a context of Palestine and Israel? And I think co-resistance is one that is very helpful.

But just prior to this moment, Luke records how the 12 disciples were appointed.

There's Simon, who's also named Peter.

Andrew, his brother.

There's James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, who was also called Levi.

Thomas.

There's James, the son of Alphaeus.

There's Simon the Zealot.

There's Judas, the son of James, also known as Thaddeus.

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.

Simon, he said to Peter, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.

The spirit is willing but the body is weak.

Once more, he went away and prayed the same thing.

I think it means Andrew.

I think there's a typo there.

Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James, son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas, the son of James.

They all joined together, constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Yes.

[laughs] Mark 1:16: As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their net into the lake, for they were fishermen.

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John.

We do this in community.

Jesus forms us in the community of the church, often through each other.

Think about the formational experience that, uh, Simon the Zealot-- that a Simon the Zealot would have had by being in the same group with Matthew the tax collector.

That was intentional on the part of Jesus on this formational journey of maturity in the kingdom.