Reply #78: This is a More Important Question That Most People Realize

[On the Road]

A traditionalist might say the sword was a knife and the knife was to guard against bandits and robbers (remember the victim the Good Samaritan helped). But as the Gospel is written, Peter's first instinct is to fight the authorities.

You are correct that one of Jesus' disciples is called Simon Zealotes. In addition, Judas may have been called "Iscariot" after the "Sicarii" -- violent Zealots that carried concealed knives. That would make it two disciples. And regardless of whether "Zealot" is an anachronism, there is a long history of armed Jewish resistance before the Uprising in 67AD.

The Maccabees were the first, but there were many other unsuccessful ones, including Judas the Galilean (Jesus' neighbor) about the time Jesus was born, "the Egyptian" several decades later, and finally Simon bar Kosiba in the 130's. Some of them operated much like Jesus did -- roaming the countryside and building their reputation and support from the commoners. Many of these leaders promised that God would miraculously intervene on their behalf if they rose up against the oppressing power. Unfortunately, that never happened and they and their followers were generally slaughtered by the Romans. But it does make one wonder about Jesus' reply to Peter: "Do you not think I could call on my Father and he would send me twelve legions of angels?"

Jesus may have been referring to some of these rebel leaders when he sorrowed over Jerusalem for killing the prophets. The Old Testament books do not contain much of a pattern of killing prophets -- you have to get to the anti-Roman insurgencies for that to emerge.

Alongside the violent insurgent leaders, there were also pacifist prophets and religious leaders who may have declined to fight but were unambiguously against the Romans and on the side of the revolts. John the Baptist was apparently like this, so were previous lesser-known figures like Honi and Hannan. So was Jesus' brother James, who succeeded him as leader of the movement. I tend to think of the relationship between the rebels and pacifists something like the relationship between Muqtada al-Sadr and Ayatollah Sistani.

Which was Jesus? I've wondered whether he wasn't a third type -- someone who operated like a insurgent leader, but who believed he needed to give himself up for God to intervene. What I don't know is whether he expected to die. The Dead Sea Scrolls talk about a "pierced Messiah," and the tradition is very strong of Jesus predicting his own death and teaching it was necessary. You could even depict the Triumphal Entry and Cleansing of the Temple as provocations intending to get him arrested. On the other hand, his cries on the cross that God had forsaken him sounds like he was expecting some kind of intervention that never came.