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Waiting for the Messiah... the Zealots


While the Pharisees and Sadducees were generally limited to the religious class, there was another significant group within first century Judaism that wasn’t primarily theological; the Zealots. While the term “zealot” can technically be applied to anyone who is an extremist of their group, here it refers to something specific. The Zealots were the rebels of their day.
            
For the Zealots, the greatest enemy on the planet was the Roman Empire. Their entire life was devoted to the overthrow Roman rule and the independence of Israel, usually by any means necessary. This meant kidnappings, uprisings, murder, and more. Zealots hunted down Roman officers, politicians, and soldiers. They considered anyone who collaborated with the Romans an enemy (tax collectors, for example) and therefore fair game. In modern terms we would call them terrorists.
            
When we think of what first century Jews were looking for in the Messiah, it is usually the Zealots’ picture that comes to mind. They sought a military leader who would lead a bloody war against the Roman Empire and establish Israel as a global superpower. Their grand vision was the Messiah, sword in hand, standing over the groveling Caesar of Rome. While most of the Jews in Judea weren’t Zealots, most did support this view. When the Sadducees and Pharisees bring Jesus before Pilate they accuse him of being a Zealot (aka attempting to overthrow Rome). Barabbas, who is released instead of Jesus, was a Zealot charged with attempting an uprising.
            
What the Zealots got right about the Messiah is that he would come and defeat their greatest enemy. What they got wrong was the enemy. Jesus did indeed come to wage a war, and to win it. But as Paul tells us in Ephesians 6, this war isn’t against flesh and blood. It’s a spiritual war. Jesus did defeat our enemies, but it wasn’t the Romans. Jesus defeated sin and death.
            
Today it may seem that there are no Zealots in our midst. After all, few Christians are calling for the overthrow of the government and the establishment of a new superpower. However, the impulse of the Zealot is alive and well. How many Christians view some other group of people (be it Democrats, Republicans, Muslims, etc.,) as the enemy that needs to be overcome? More than we’d like to admit. Jesus did not come to destroy people, but to save them. Did he come to wage a war? Oh yes, but against he dark spiritual powers and against sin and death itself.

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