Several verses in the Gospels document conclusively
that Jesus was not the meek Lamb of God portrayed in
the Gospels, but a militant separatist dedicated to
evicting the Romans and installing himself as the king
of Israel. We have almost all heard of how Jesus came
not to bring peace but sword (Matthew 10:34)
The most striking verses refer to those close
followers of his who were from the Zealots. The
“malefactors” of the Gospel of Peter have an
interesting pedigree as reflected in the canonical
gospels where this same term is used in translation.
Throughout the centuries, there have been problems of
mistranslation. By the time a word has been translated
from Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek, Latin, or some other
language, it has become completely divorced
from its original meaning and context. For instance,
the figure of Simon Zelotes, who appears in the Gospel
of Luke and in Acts is a translation of zealot,
therefore, Simon the Zealot.
The most famous of the many “Simons” populating the
Bible is Simon Peter. This is another word for Petra
or rock. Peter’s name that Jesus calls him is
Bar Jonah in Matthew 16:17, a corruption of the Aramaic
bar yonnei of Talmud Gittin 55B. The fact that the “rock”
upon which Jesus founded his church was a wanted
terrorist makes the implications of the church’s early
history very different.
Even more interesting is Judas. Identified as Judas
Iscariot in the synoptic Gospels, the name is clearly
a Greek corruption of the Aramaic sicarii or “dagger
men.” These most extreme of the Zealots earned their
names from their long, curved daggers that they
would use to assassinate Romans or sympathizers. In
Luke 22:36, Jesus instructs his followers who do not
have swords to buy them even if it means selling
garments. This would indicate that they were not just
Zealots, but Sicarii who relied on the curved sica.