There was not a unified movement against Rome in first century Palestine. Rebels rose up in many different forms, and at times they ended up fighting each other.

We might have the idea that Jesus was the only one in that day that declared he was the Messiah. On the contrary, there were a great many who thought they were Israel’s deliverer. That number only grew after the death and resurrection of Christ. Most people did not believe that the Messiah would be divine. They believed their savior would be like the deliverers of old. It was thought that the true Messiah would do at least three things. He would build the true temple of God, he would deal with the gentile problem, and he would establish the kingdom of God. However, most understood these things from an old covenant perspective. They expected their savior/king to build a temple made of stone. He would bring a violent end to the gentiles and other sinners occupying the promised land, and he would establish a revitalized old covenant Israel.

The people had one test to determine who was a real or false Messiah. If they ended up on a Roman cross, that settled the issue. Rome crucified Israel’s would be messiahs as traitors. The cross meant failure. If you died there, it meant you were a fake, and you were only getting what you deserved. This begs the question of how Jesus could ever be called the Christ after dying at the hands of the Romans. There can be only one explanation. The resurrection. In fact, scholars believe that the fact that Jesus’ following grew so rapidly after the cross is one of the greatest proofs that Jesus rose from the dead.

The book of Acts lists a number people who clamed messiahship. Gamaliel who was a Pharisee spoke of “Theudas who claimed to be somebody, and about 400 men rallied to him." There was also "Judas the Galilean, ...who led a band of people in revolt " (Acts 5:36-37). Acts also talks of an Egyptian who led four thousand men into the wilderness to be murdered (Acts 21:38).

Then there was Simon:

"Now there was a certain man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city, and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying ‘This man is what is called the Great Power of God. And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts" (Acts 8:9-11).

Non-biblical sources have quoted Simon as saying, "I am the Word of God, I am the Comforter, I am Almighty, I am all there is of God."

Later in the first century two of the most terrible false messiahs came on the scene.

Menahem In 66 A.D: Menahem was the son of a rebel named Judas the Galilean. Judas believed the Jews should have no ruler but God, and of course murder was the way to accomplish this. Menahem took his father’s philosophy to new heights by raising a powerful band of cutthroats. He overpowered his opponents who preferred peace with the Romans, and made a triumphant entry into Jerusalem dressed as a king. Menahem then took control of the temple and had the high priest Ananias put to death. He committed all sorts of abominations. Finally, when he was entering the temple dressed in royal robes, an angry mob seized and killed him.

John of Gischala Late in 67 A.D: John of Gishala rose to power. He was even more brutal than Menahem. He had tens of thousands of people put to death. Anyone who supported the Romans or desired peace was worthy of death in John’s eyes. The priesthood supported peace with the Romans, so they became his enemies. At one point he seized the temple with the help of the Idumeans and killed the high priest. So fierce was the fighting that 8,500 died on the temple grounds. John then appointed a high priest that was a mockery. John of Gischala continued his murderous rampage until Jerusalem fell in 70 A.D. He was captured by the Romans and lived the rest of his life in prison.

Jesus was the only one that fulfilled the Messianic expectations, only He did it in a way many misunderstood. He did establish the true temple of God on the earth. His temple was not build by hands but made by God with living stones. That temple or dwelling place of God on the earth is His church. He did deal with the gentiles and the sinners. However, he did in a way so unexpected that Paul called it a mystery. He did not come to destroy folks like the Romans. He came to forgive them. He came to make the Jew and the gentile into one new man. And Jesus did bring the kingdom of God, only it was not an temporal kingdom one could find on a map. It would dwell in the hearts of His people.

Those who tried to establish the kingdom of God by violence tasted the reality of Jesus warning. “… for all who take the sword will perish by the sword (Matt. 26:52).” More on this in my next post.