Theudas and Judas

Gamaliel, a Pharisee, sat in the Hebrews’ high court, the Sanhedrin. The people had brought Peter and the other apostles before the Sanhedrin to judge and execute them. Gamaliel listened to their accusations and spoke of Theudas and Judas – two men who claimed to be Christs, peoples’ saviors, and rallied hundreds to follow them. When they were killed, the movement ended, and the followers scattered. Gamaliel concluded: If the apostolic movement were of God, no one could oppose it and win; if they were of people, it would come to its destruction (Acts 5:33–39).

Earlier, Jesus predicted “false Jesuses” would come, and the disciples shouldn’t be alarmed (Mark 13:5–6). Now, he foretold “false Christs” and “false prophets” would come.

“If anyone says to you: see, Christ is here or there, do not believe them. False Christs and prophets will arise (egeiro) and give you signs and wonders to deceive, even the elect. You watch out since I have forecasted these things.” (Mark 13:21–23)

Jesus could have said, “False Christs and false prophets would come (erchomai).” Instead, he said they would arise (egeiro), a verb frequently used for one’s resurrection from the dead. Perhaps these false Christs would resurrect from their death, as the Lord did, and try to deceive the people. In addition, they would do signs and wonders, like healing, walking on water, feeding thousands, and even hushing winds and waves. Theudas and Judas did just that. The disciples weren’t to be fooled by them because the Lord Jesus predicted their coming.

This is the second time Jesus referred to the “elect” (eklektos), v. 20, 22. He would refer to them one more time (v. 27). The noun is a combination of the preposition “out of” (ek) and the verb “say” (lego) and refers to picking out people from a crowd, that is, selecting people just as Jesus called Peter, Andrew, Matthew, John, and James, one by one. Most likely, then, Jesus was saying that even the disciples/apostles were at risk of being deceived by these false Christs.

We know of one incident where Peter, the greatest of the apostles, was condemned for his actions, and Paul had to interfere. He was in Antioch in Syria and among the Gentiles. He had been to a Gentile’s house earlier and seen God’s Spirit fall on them (Cornelius’s house, Acts 10). So, he gladly ate with the Gentiles until other Hebrews arrived. Seeing them, Peter withdrew from the Gentiles’ tables, and others, including Barnabas, joined him. This hypocrisy infuriated Paul, who stood face to face with Peter as he was condemned for his hypocrisy. Peter listened and submitted (Gal 2:11–13). If Peter could be deceived as such, all the other apostles (the elect ones) were in danger of similar falling back, influenced by the false Christs and prophets. Instead of falling back, they should watch out for such false teachers because the Lord Jesus warned them about them ahead of time (v. 23).

Just as there were false Christs and prophets between the Lord’s ascension and the temple’s destruction, there would be more false Christs and prophets that we shouldn’t listen to. The twentieth century saw false Christs like Jim Jones and David Koresh, who gathered hundreds of followers, resulting in all their deaths. The twenty-first century will also see such false Christs and prophets; we shouldn’t be alarmed as if the true Christ has come.