Jesus and the Zealots: A Study of the Political Factor in Primitive Christianity

Abstract

No responsible scholar will lightly undertake to write on the question whether Jesus of Nazareth became involved in the Jewish resistance movement against Rome. For he knows that to many people, whose beliefs and principles he may deeply respect, the very asking of the question will cause offence and suggest a distressing scepticism about that which is sacred. For them there is no question to discuss: the incarnated Son of God could never have taken part in Jewish-Roman politics. His mission to save mankind by his own vicarious death was part of a divine plan that transcended space and time, and it could not have become involved in, and conditioned by, the political relations of Jews and Romans in first-century Judaea. The theological presuppositions which underlie this judgement are very ancient, and their origins can be traced back to the first century. But, from the beginning, they were essentially interpretations, inspired by current theological concepts, of certain historical facts. For, however impressive may be the metaphysical structure and content of Christian theology, its authority ultimately derives from certain events that are alleged to have occurred in Judaea during the procurators hip of Pontius Pilate, who had been appointed to this office by the Emperor Tiberius. This fact is recognised every time the Creed is recited, in the words 'suffered under Pontius Pilate"." But the reference to the death of Jesus 'under Pontius Pilate' does not just attest the historicity of the Crucifixion; it also implies a fatal involvement of Jesus with this Roman governor of Judaea. It means that Jesus was put to death on his orders. Now, of the many charges on which a " Roman governor at this time might have put a Jew to death, that: on which Jesus was executed is of peculiar significance. It was a ,< charge of sedition against the Roman government in Judaea. There can be no doubt that this was the charge on which he was condemned, for it is attested by all four Gospels. Hence, whatever may be the theological evaluation of the crucifixion of Jesus, its cause constitutes a historical problem. In its simplest form it may be expressed by the question: why did the Roman governor of Judaea o• decide to execute Jesus for sedition?