1. Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount featured in this story is found in Matthew 5–7 and also in Luke 6. While these two accounts are similar, there are notable differences. However, the main message is largely the same, and many of Jesus’ teachings appear in overlapping forms throughout the Gospels. For this narrative, I have based the content primarily on Matthew’s account.
When reading the Bible, you may sometimes feel that Jesus says similar things in different places, which can make it a bit confusing to figure out the order of his teachings. In these cases, it might be helpful to take a simple approach. Just as we often repeat important points several times, Jesus also seems to have repeated his teachings in different situations. The Gospel writers likely selected which occasions to include in their accounts, depending on the context they wanted to convey.
2. The Zealots’ Interest
The “zeal” in Zealots refers to their passionate religious fervor for God and the Law. Like the Hasidim—a group of pious Jews who fought alongside the Maccabees in the war of independence against the Seleucid dynasty—the Zealots sought to establish a theocratic state through armed resistance.
The Zealots are generally thought to have originated around AD 6, when Herod Archelaus was deposed and Judea and Samaria were incorporated into the Roman province of Syria, prompting a census. At this time, Judas of Galilee, together with a Pharisee named Zadok, incited the people by declaring that paying taxes to Rome was equivalent to slavery, and led a revolt. During this period, many Jews who cooperated with Rome were attacked—their houses burned and livestock stolen.
At some point after the suppression of this revolt, leadership of the Zealots is thought to have passed to Judas’s sons, Jacob and Simon. They too eventually led another rebellion and were executed around AD 46. Nevertheless, the Zealots’ legacy continued, and their struggle persisted through the First Jewish Revolt (AD 66–70), during which the Roman general Titus captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple. The last Zealots at Masada famously committed suicide around AD 73.
Afterwards, major uprisings took place during the Second (AD 115–117) and Third (AD 132–135) Jewish Revolts, which included Jews from the Diaspora. Through these events, many Jews lost their lives, and the Jewish people were ultimately expelled from Jerusalem, forbidden even to set foot there again.
Among the Jewish sects, the Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots were all wiped out during the First Revolt (AD 66–70). As the Second and Third Revolts unfolded, the Shammaite school among the Pharisees declined, while the influence of the Hillelite school increased. Judaism was transformed from a Temple-centered religion based on sacrificial offerings to a Torah-centered faith led by the Hillelites. This surviving form of Judaism is essentially the foundation of modern Judaism.
Theologically, the Zealots were similar to the Pharisees. Although they chose armed resistance, they claimed that only God was their ruler and master, refusing to call anyone but God “Lord.” Their religious conviction was so strong that they would not renounce this stance, even under torture.
There were also extremist factions within or closely associated with the Zealots, known as the Sicarii—a name derived from the Latin word for dagger. They earned this name because they concealed daggers in their clothing and carried out assassinations. The historian Josephus distinguished between the Zealots and the Sicarii, describing the Zealots as a political group centered in Jerusalem that engaged in violent resistance, and the Sicarii as an extremist force specializing in assassination. However, Josephus sometimes described the two groups as similar, so many scholars view the Sicarii as a faction within the Zealots.
Roman authorities often referred to both the Zealots and the Sicarii as “robbers(ληστής).” Therefore, when the New Testament mentions “robbers(ληστής),” it could mean actual criminals, or it could refer to the Zealots or Sicarii.
During Jesus’ time, Galilee was considered a hotbed of rebellion due to the activities of these Zealots. Since their area of activity overlapped with Jesus’ main ministry locations—Capernaum, Chorazin, and Bethsaida—it is likely that they took an interest in Jesus. However, curiously, the Bible hardly shows any connection between Jesus and these groups, except for the mention of Simon the Zealot (or Simon the Cananaean) among Jesus’ disciples.
It is believed that after the revolt was suppressed, the Zealots’ power was greatly weakened (as mentioned in Acts 5:37 in the New Testament). However, since there are no detailed records about their situation at that time, in this novel I have imagined that after the revolt of AD 6, Judas of Galilee’s sons became the leaders of the Zealots and waited quietly for the right moment. In any case, to illustrate the character of the Zealots and the extremist faction (or allied group) known as the Sicarii, I have introduced a man from the Zealots of that era. Of course, this is a work of fiction based on historical sources, so please enjoy it as a creative interpretation rather than established fact.
