Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Mark 3:18 records the inclusion of “Simon the Canaanite” in the apostolic call of Jesus. “Canaanite” here is not a national or racial reference; it is the Hebrew word “cananaean,” which means “to be zealous.” In Luke 6:15 and Acts 1:13, Simon is called “Zelotes” or “the Zealot.” He may have been a member of the anti-Roman party called the Zealots, or he may simply have been a particularly zealous follower of Jesus (or, of course, both might be true). Zeal is a characteristic of God. For example, when Jesus cleansed the Temple, “His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘The zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up’” (John 2:17, referencing Psalm 69:9). Such godly zeal is expected of us. The Corinthians got many things wrong, but Paul commended them: “Your zeal hath provoked [stirred to action] very many” (II Corinthians 9:2d). Titus 2:14 speaks of Jesus, “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Revelation 3:19b is pointed: “Be zealous therefore, and repent.” Thus, the zeal of Simon can and should be ours also.