Is this a modern scandal for Christians—a truth that some find hard to swallow? I don’t mean that that Jesus was a Jew, but that he is one now.
When I mention it, I get strange looks from people, defensive arguments and bewilderment. But sometimes I get that look that says something has just made sense.
However, is it strange to say that Jesus is a Jew? I think it is actually really helpful to say. Here’s why:
- It removes all grounds for anti-Semitism. We can’t hate Jews; after all, we worship one.
- It reminds us that although God’s purposes are universal in scope, they were achieved by a particular race at a particular time.
- It confronts us with the Jew/Gentile issue, which is not just a first-century one. Jesus is still Jewish, and so all the passages in the New Testament about Gentiles being included still make a lot of sense to us who were far away but have now been brought near.
- (most importantly) It reminds us that when Jesus rose to be with his Father, he did not leave behind his humanity. He was raised as the firstfruits, the author of salvation and the first of many brothers. Humanity, and in particular Jewish humanity, is now part of the godhead.
But there is something even more important than the usefulness of saying this: it is biblical. See if you can find any other verses on the topic. Here is one to start—one that talks about what the heavenly elders say about Jesus now:
… behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. (Rev 5:5)
I am now doing that ‘you just made surprising sense’ look. That is: never thought about it before, but of course it is tre. Right on!
I think you’re muddying the waters to state that Jesus is a Jew, to me it’s a meaningless statement in light of Galatians 3:28 and Jewish/CHrisian identity in the twenty-first century.
I have no problem with the past tense but I wonder what you achieve by using the present. Infact, I suspect my Jewish friends would question your authority to proclaim who IS Jewish and who is not.
Is it your intention to define Jewishness? That’s not very helpful-I think most people would defer to the judgement of the Jewish community.
According to the Rabbis I know, if a formerly Jewish person embraces CHristianity, then they cease to be Jewish-do you agree with this?
What does that mean for Jewish humanity today? Are self-identifying Jewish people today part of the GOdhead? DOes that have salvation implications?
Is Jesus a Christian? Can one be both a Christian and a Jew-I’d say that they’re mutually exclusive if we’re using generally accepted definitions of xtian and Jewish.
PS there are much better biblical reasons why CHristians should find Antisemitism repugnant than the fact that Jesus is, according to you a Jew(whatever that means).
Will I be Australian in the new creation?
Sadly, that didn’t suffice for the Nazis.
The Old Covenant was all about blood. Death, symbolised by circumcision. This included the bloodline from Adam via Abraham to Jesus.
The New Covenant is about water. Resurrection symbolised by baptism. The Messianic line is continued by faith in the “fulfilled” circumcision. Whoever has a circumcised heart is a true Jew. That is the only Jewishness that ever mattered and will ever matter. All the rest are chaff, then, and now.
AD30 was the beginning of the end of circumcision. AD70 was the end of Judaism. What remains of it, however unique it may be, is just another part of our precious mission field.
A lot of misunderstanding can be avoided if we understand that the events of the first century were a re-enactment of events 500 years earlier. It was a death and resurrection of Israel, with a new Temple and a new Jerusalem, both made of flesh.
Sorry, Michael but I am completely perplexed by your comment in the context of this blog.
I’m sure that we’re all familiar with Nazi atrocities but can you please explain the relevance of your point to this current discussion.
No doubt everyone will be perplexed because of the mess I made of the coding -sorry.
I wonder if there are any Jews who visit this site (maybe members of JfJ? http://www.jewsforjesus.org.au/home/) who might have some insight into this issue.
(P.S. I gather Michael’s point was that Edith Stein (of Jewish descent) was killed at Auschwitz despite converting to Catholicism.)
Nick tHe historical fact that Michael reported and you’ve stated above is very obvious, I certainly did not miss that.
My point is Nick, Michael and anyone else:
In a discussion about whether Jesus IS, as opposed to WAS a Jew and what it means to be “Jewish”, you think it’s relevant to state the fact that Nazis killed people of Jewish heritage whether or not they had converted to Christianity?
I’m left with no alternative other than to conclude, you’re using the Nazi position/beliefs to support an argument.
Does the New Testament present the risen Lord Jesus as a Jew and if so, where, please?
Does being proclaimed Lion of the tribe of Judah really mean that the King of kings and Lord of lords is a Jew?
Hi David!
It’s worse than that. Matthew presents Jesus as… Israel.
Peter Leithart has an excellent essay on this here: http://www.leithart.com/pdf/jesus-as-israel-the-typological-structure-of-matthew-s-gospel.pdf
Talk about replacement theology!
Hi All.
I was away last week and early this week for a family holiday. Thanks for all your comments.
A few thoughts:
1. In terms of Melinda’s questions about deferring to the Jewish community. I do defer to the writers of the Scriptures, the apostles and Jesus Christ. They are all in the Jewish community. In fact Jesus is the King of the Jews so he should be the one who defines who the true Israel of God are. Deferring to the present Jewish community over the current king of the Jews would be a huge mistake.
2. Saying that Jesus is from the tribe of Judah is saying that he is a Jew. The word underlying Jew in both Hebrew and Greek is the adjective of the word underlying Judah. A Jew is someone from Judah.
3. There are other members of Israel in heaven. In symbolic language there will be 144 000 of them. 12 000 from each tribe.
4. I think the argument has to be made the other way. Jesus definitely was Jewish. Did he loose that when he rose from the dead?
All this being said I don’t think “Jesus IS a Jew” is a complete or in any sense dominant title. After all he is also the King of King and Lord of Lords.
Little late to the party….
But I seem to see that there are differences on “What is a Jew.” If you use the definition that a Jew is someone from Judah, then yes, Jesus is a Jew. Just like I am a New Yorker, a downstater and an American.
But if you use the word Jew with the more popular definition as one whose religion is Judaism, things become a bit muddy.
For me, it becomes a bit simplistic when I really think about it. Was Jesus a person from Judah and a believer in God? Yes, but the term in his time period was Hebrew (I believe) not Jewish. The term Jewish came later. But in doctrine, does this matter?
I was once asked if I thought Jews got into heaven, especially if they were good and kind and wonderful. It was my boyfriend-at-the-time and I thought carefully before answering.
“I’m not the one who decides who gets put into the Book of Life and who gets into heaven or not. But I believe that the only way to heaven is through believing in Jesus Christ, accepting that he died for my sins. (I can’t remember the Scripture reference I used then.) This is the only way. No acts can get you there, only by grace alone are we saved. But again, I’m not the keeper of the gate into heaven and that’s okay by me.”