Before they were apostles, they were political opposites. That didn’t stop them from walking the same road.
Matthew worked for the empire. Simon wanted to burn it down.
One collected taxes from his neighbors for Caesar. The other likely saw Rome as the enemy of God and freedom. You couldn’t find two people farther apart. One wore the uniform of oppression. The other may have carried a knife in his cloak.
But when Jesus called them, they both got up. And they walked behind him.
That’s the miracle most of us overlook. The Gospels list them together without fanfare, without footnotes. Just Matthew the tax collector. And Simon the Zealot. Sitting around the same fire. Sharing bread from the same basket. Not because they agreed on politics. But because they agreed on the person worth following.
Jesus didn’t erase their histories. He didn’t ask them to pretend they never cared about what they cared about. He just showed them something bigger.
They followed a man who refused to take sides. He didn’t run for office. He didn’t carry a flag. He carried a cross.
And he asked them to do the same.
We live in a world that sorts people fast. Red or blue. Left or right. Friend or enemy. But Jesus doesn’t sort like that. He breaks bread with tax collectors. He welcomes zealots. He makes room at the table for people who would never choose to sit together.
But there they are, side by side.
This is what the church is meant to be. A place where we’re not divided by the names on our ballots. A place where we’re known not by our party, but by our love.
Jesus prayed that we would be one. Not alike. Not uniform. But one. That kind of unity takes more than shared opinions. It takes shared humility. It takes laying down our right to be right. It takes picking up a towel instead of a sword.
The world will always try to pull us apart. But we are not of the world. We belong to a kingdom that doesn’t need votes to stand. A kingdom that starts small, like a seed. A kingdom where the last are first, the poor are blessed, and the peacemakers are called children of God.
So this Election Day, vote if you feel led. But remember: the most important decision is not who gets your vote, but who gets your life. Matthew and Simon gave theirs to Jesus. And they never looked back.
