In the shadow of the election, I felt a nudge from the Holy Spirit to take a sermon I preached at our church last week and turn it into a series of blogs. (Click HERE for Part 1 and HERE for Part 2). Here is my latest installment…
When I left off last time I shared how
2 of the 12 Apostles weren’t just “Matthew” and “Simon” but Matthew THE TAX COLLECTOR and Simon THE ZEALOT (see Matthew 10:1-4). And I hinted that including both of those guys in Jesus’ inner circle would have been shocking if we were alive back in the first century.
Let me explain why.
First, a bit about Tax Collectors….
2,000 years ago the Roman Empire controlled the lands of Israel. Since there was no Roman version of the IRS, they needed ways to collect taxes from people living under their rule and reign. So they hired people from local communities to be their collectors. One of these guys was Matthew.
So Matthew was a Jew who basically sold out his own people. Matthew collected taxes from fellow Jews on behalf of the Roman authorities. So he was a friend of Rome, a defender of the status quo. Tax collectors were as far to one side of the political spectrum as you could go.
On the other end of the spectrum you have the Zealots…
Zealots were extremely pro-Jewish. They were political revolutionaries, using violence when necessary, and willing to fight to the death for Jewish independence from Rome. In fact, when the Jews rebelled against the Romans in 66 A.D. and tried to gain their independence, the Zealots were at the forefront of the revolt.
Zealots were even known to assassinate Tax Collectors because of their affiliation with Rome. They were as far to the other side of the political spectrum as you could go.
So Tax Collectors and Zealots were on opposite ends of the political spectrum. In today’s terms, one of them would be like an ultra left wing liberal while the other would be like an ultra right wing conservative.
And here is the major point I don’t want you to miss: Jesus called them both to be His Apostles. If Jesus was walking the earth today and choosing the Apostles in 2016, what He did back then would be like inviting a right-wing conservative and a left-wing liberal to be part of the 12.
It was amazing that Jesus did this. On the outside it would seem to be a recipe for disaster. And yet . . .that is exactly what Jesus did.
Now I am sure Matthew and Simon had some interesting political chats along the way! 🙂 They probably argued about who was right. Maybe they got into some fights. We don’t know for sure because the Bible is silent about those details.
But here is what we do know: their contrasting political views were considered irrelevant when it came to advancing the Kingdom of God.
And 2,000 years later, that tells us that the Kingdom of God is big enough for both political parties. In fact, here is something to chew on . . .
Sometimes Jesus Himself was more left-winged that most Democrats. Don’t believe me? Well, consider this text: Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21)
I remember back in the 2008 election Barack Obama got slammed in the conservative media when he told Joe the Plumber (remember that guy?) that he wanted to “spread the wealth around.” What Obama told Joe was nothing compared to what Jesus told this guy! Jesus didn’t ask this man to spread his wealth around a bit. He wanted this guy to sell ALL of his possessions and give the money to the poor!
At times, Jesus was more left-winged than most Democrats. Other times Jesus was more right-winged than most Republicans. Don’t believe me? Consider this text: “It has been said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 5:31-32)
Talk about an ultra-conservative position! That is more conservative than most Republicans, especially when you consider the conservatives who have been divorced like Rush Limbaugh and Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.
These examples tell me that Jesus is NOT a Democrat OR a Republican. Instead, His movement is big enough for both. It was big enough for both Matthew the Tax Collector AND Simon the Zealot. So it ought to be big enough for people regardless of how they vote on November 8th.
***By the time you come to church next Sunday, a new President will be elected. My sermon will be all about how Christians ought to respond, whether or not your candidate wins. I will be taking a look at the first 300 years of church history, from the day of Pentecost to the reign of Constantine. During this time period, up to 50% of the Roman Empire became Christians! This growth is even more incredible when you remember that Christianity was a persecuted illegal religion AND that churches didn’t have didn’t have buildings, ordained clergy, or even a completed Bible! How did they do it? And how can we follow in their footsteps so that Christianity can rise in America once again? Please join us on November 13th at 10:30am!!! More info at tevchurch.org***
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