The Pulling the Thread Podcast

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” – Matthew 10:34

The question of whether Jesus was a violent revolutionary is a topic of debate among scholars. There are some suggestions within the New Testament and modern scholarship like Reza Aslan that Jesus was a violent revolutionary who was crucified by Rome for trying to overthrow Rome so he would become King, and that after his death there was an effort by Rome to turn him into a pacifistic subservient to Rome, as according to Robert Eisenman, James Valliant, Joseph Atwill, and Reza Aslan, as among other scholars. Some scholars such as Karl Kautsky and George Frederick Brandon have compared Jesus was a political revolutionary like Leon Trotsky and Che Guevara. Authors such as James Valliant and Joseph Atwill propose that Rome redacted the New Testament to turn Jesus’ zealous movement into a pacifistic religion. Reza Aslan examines the religious and political climate of first-century Palestine, highlighting social unrest and messianic movements. He argues that Jesus was a member of the Zealot movement, advocating for armed resistance to Roman rule. Aslan challenges traditional views, suggesting that the early Roman Catholicism downplayed Jesus’ political message to make it more palatable to Roman authorities.

Aslan emphasizes Jesus’ identity as a revolutionary figure, stating, “Jesus was crucified by Rome because he posed a threat to the political order of the day. He was a revolutionary, a threat to the powers that be.” “Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth”

Richard Horsley, in his book “Jesus and Empire,” portrays Jesus as a leader who challenged the social, economic, and political structures of his time, emphasizing nonviolent resistance against Roman occupation. Horsley says, “Jesus was a peasant prophet who led a nonviolent resistance movement against Roman occupation.” John Dominic Crossan, in “Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography,” examines Jesus’ life and teachings through the lens of socio-political liberation movements, emphasizing his role as a radical advocate for justice and equality. Crossan argues, “The kingdom of God was not a pie in the sky, but a real social reality that Jesus was calling people to create.” Bart Ehrman, in his book “Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium,” suggests that Jesus believed in the imminent end of the world and called his followers to prepare for it.

“Jesus’s death was not a sacrifice for the sins of humanity, but rather a political execution.” – Reza Aslan

Other authors who see Jesus as a revolutionary include Marcus Borg, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, E.P. Sanders, Tom Holland, Christopher R.S. Starr, John J. Collins, and N.T. Wright. They argue that Jesus’ teachings and actions were intertwined with social, political, and economic issues, challenging existing power structures. Marcus Borg, in ‘Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings, and Relevance of a Religious Revolutionary,’ describes Jesus as a political figure, a social prophet, and a movement founder. Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, in ‘Jesus: Miriam’s Child, Sophia’s Prophet,’ asserts that Jesus practiced a subversive, anti-imperial politics of God’s justice. These authors argue that Jesus’ teachings and actions were deeply intertwined with social, political, and economic issues, and that he challenged the existing power structures of his time.

“Jesus was a political revolutionary who advocated for armed resistance to Roman rule.” – Reza Aslan

Authors like James Valliant and Joseph Atwill point out that the passages about obeying the government in power and giving unto Caesar were redacted by Rome to turn Jesus zealous movement into a pacifistic religion. Aslan analyzes the religious and political climate of first-century Palestine, highlighting the intense social unrest and the various messianic movements of the time. John Howard Yoder has several of his books: The Original Revolution, The Politics of Jesus, Nevertheless, and What would you do? On the revolutionary message of Jesus. Along with Reza Aslan in his book Zealot. They argue that Jesus was a violent revolutionary, whose message was rewritten by Rome after his death. The documentary on CNN “After Jesus” painted Jesus as Rabble Rouser that Rome had to suppress.

“It’s sometimes suggested that a group of fishermen from the Galilee would be incapable of establishing a worldwide religion,” said Professor Amy-Jill Levine

It took the money, power and influence of Rome to spread and redact the gospel message into something they would approve of. On one side you had the Hellenistic Jews, the Alexanders, the Herodians and the Sadducees who were subservient to Rome and enjoyed the modernity that Rome offered. On the other hand you had the Seleucids, the Zealots, the Essenes, and the Sicarii, who wanted to overthrow Rome and establish a Jewish Kingdom. Reza Aslan argues that Jesus was a member of the Zealot movement, which was a radical political group that advocated for armed resistance to Roman rule. He argues that Jesus’ message was primarily centered on social justice and the liberation of the oppressed, rather than the establishment of a new religion. Aslan also challenges traditional Christian views by examining the discrepancies between the historical Jesus and the theological figure constructed by early Roman Catholicism. He also challenges traditional views by examining the discrepancies between the historical Jesus and the theological figure constructed by the early Roman Catholicism.

“The early Christian church downplayed Jesus’s political message in order to make it more palatable to Roman authorities.” Reza Aslan

Jesus talked a lot about when he established his physical Kingdom on the throne of David. He seemed to align himself with the Essenes who looked at the prophecies about a “Son of Man” who would establish the Kingdom of David and sit up on the throne. Reza Aslan says, “The kingdom of God was a political concept, not a spiritual one.” After his death this was rewritten by the redactors of the New Testament who aligned with Rome as a prophecy of an imaginary kingdom, instead of the literal and physical Kingdom Jesus wanted to establish. The connections between Jesus and Zealots, Sicarii, and Essenes is apparent, as well as the influence of Rome upon the redaction of the New Testament. Aslan argues that Jesus was a member of the Zealot movement advocating armed resistance to Roman rule. He says, “Jesus was a political revolutionary who advocated for armed resistance to Roman rule.” The Essenes, Zealots, Sicarii, and Jesus desired a physical kingdom, posing a threat to Rome. And because they were a threat to Rome it was so significant they had to put down the rebellion. Every time subjects took up arms against Rome, survivors of the battle were crucified.

“Upon this, Varus sent a part of his army into the country, to seek out those that had been the authors of the revolt; and when they were discovered, he punished some of them that were most guilty, and some he dismissed: now the number of those that were crucified on this account were two thousand.” – Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 17, Section 10

The problem for Rome is Jews kept rebelling, with the Maccabean revolt, the Jesus revolution, the destruction of the temple, and the Bar Kokhba revolt, it was clear the Jews would continue to fight for their own kingdom. And that is why they co-opted the redaction of the New Testament to edit and redact the text in favor of Rome instead of in opposition to Rome as it originally was. Jesus was a political rebel, a profound dissident who was gradually diluted by the redactors of the New Testament over time.

“Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s slave and cut off his right ear.” – John 18;10

This is why we see versus saying buy a sword and verses saying pay unto Caesar. You can see the layers of redaction. After all, Jesus was killed for trying to become the “King of the Jews” (Matthew 27;37; Mark 15:26; John 19:19). This is why we see versus like “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34) and “And the one who has no sword must sell his cloak and buy one” (Luke 22:36), which contradict the pacifist message we say later added to the text, this shows the layers of redaction.

“The common depiction of Jesus as an inveterate peacemaker who loved his enemies and turned the other cheek is a myth.” – Reza Aslan

Jesus certainly kept some violent political company. He had Zealots, Sicarii and Essene connections within his inner circle. According to the Gospel of Luke, John and Jesus were relatives. Some scholars maintain that John belonged to the Essenes, a semi-ascetic Jewish sect who expected a messiah and practiced ritual mikveh (immersion) something very central to Qumran purity rituals. According to Jesus, “Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he,” (Matthew 11:11). Earlier in Matthew it says, “and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he himself has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him,” (Matthew 14:2).

“John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” – Mark 1:4

Some connect John the Baptist to the Essene a separatist group who opposed the Sadducean corruption of the Temple and was opposed to their Hellenization.

“Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot,” – Matthew 10:24

In addition to the militant Simon the Zealot and Judas the Sicarii, two other of Jesus’s disciples, James and John, are given a nickname (Sons of Thunder) which some New Testament scholars think link them, too, to the Zealot insurrectionists as well. The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First Jewish–Roman War (66–70).

“If you do not have a sword, go sell your cloak and buy one.” – Luke 22:36

The Sicarii were a splinter group of the Jewish Zealots who, in the decades preceding Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 CE, strongly opposed the Roman occupation of Judea and attempted to expel them and their sympathizers from the area. Judas’s surname is more probably a corruption of the Latin sicarius (“murderer” or “assassin”) than an indication of family origin, suggesting that he would have belonged to the Sicarii, the most radical Jewish group, some of whom were terrorists.

“But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.” – Luke 19:27

The perspectives of various authors contribute to the understanding of Jesus as a revolutionary figure, there is a body of work that explores Jesus’ radical social, political, and economic teachings, presenting him as a figure challenging the existing the political and social order of his time. The gospel writers’ intentions were not to preserve the historical Jesus but to promote their own theological and political agendas.

“The gospel writers were not interested in preserving the historical Jesus. They were interested in creating a Jesus who could be used to promote their own theological and political agendas.” – Reza Aslan