GOOD NEWS FOR ISRAEL
building bridges of peace between Jews and Christians
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GOOD NEWS FOR ISRAEL building bridges of peace between Jews and Christians
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So today I want to talk to you about Jesus. I will probably give an aspect to truth about Jesus from a perspective that is not generally spoken of in Christian circles. To those among you who are Jews, most of what I will say will be well known. There are many images of Jesus that have been portrayed throughout the last 2000 years. Images of Jesus portrayed in Art It must be very confusing to the "outsider" to see the different images of Jesus which can be viewed in Art. If you grew up in a Baptist Church (as I did) you would have been introduced to the typical "Western Jesus" who had blue eyes, blonde hair, who was tall, tanned and presented as an immaculately dressed middle class Scandinavian gentleman. Catholics would be more familiar with the crucifix image of the drooping depressed defeated victim look which was a product of middle ages art. The Byzantine period presented Jesus as a great Emperor as indeed Constantine had been depicted. Then there is the "Gentle Jesus meek and mild" picture of him sitting with a child on his knee and a halo above his head. A somewhat "woosy" image, to say the least. There is, I understand an Anglican Cathedral in New York which has a large crucifix above the Alter which has been sculptured by the grand daughter of Sir Winston Churchill. This crucifix figure of Jesus is somewhat different. It is life size, totally nude, and totally female. So Jesus has been cast in many different images in art form, which have been coloured by the culture or the focus of the artist. Images of Jesus portrayed in Theology There is also true in the history of Theology. There are those who have seen Jesus as a Sage, a type of Greek philosopher such as Socrates. Others have seen him as a Gandhi, a non violent social activist who became the leader of a movement in his day. Albert Schweitzer called Jesus an Apocalyptic Sectarian whose whole life was consumed with a vision of end times. Then there is the Mystic Jesus who is seen as emphasizing to the masses good moral ethical teaching, but to a select group of disciples it is said he gave secret knowledge, which only the few who were spiritually mature enough could handle. To them he was a guru who taught his disciples meditation. The Image of Jesus portrayed by Traditional Christendom The traditional view of Jesus from the Christian view point is to see Him as Son of God and the Saviour of the world. We refer to Him as Jesus Christ, without really knowing what that means. I am sure that the average citizen thinks that "Jesus Christ" is a name equivalent to that of "Bill Smith". The Image of Jesus which has been neglected Most of us who are Christians from the Evangelical or Pentecostal background traditionally see Jesus as the extraordinary Son of God, indeed this is the cornerstone of our Theology, for without that truth the rest of our Theological structure would collapse. Without taking away from that wonderful truth I want to say that it is possible in so doing we may be guilty of neglecting an aspect of Jesus that the New Testament takes for granted. I want to give you a Scripture. It is I Timothy 2:5 - "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus". Now I am sure that many of you have learned that Scripture by heart, but may have missed one important word - the "man". It is possible to lose sight of the man Jesus in the theological Jesus. And what we have done in so doing is lose sight of the Jewishness of Jesus - which is where I am heading with this talk. For the man Jesus was a Jew. I am frequently asked why I am so interested in Jewish matters and in the land of Israel. My answer usually contains two parts to it - it goes something like this. "Well I believe it is important to be interested in what interests God, and God is very interested in both the Jewish people and the land of Israel (the first part) and besides Jesus was a Jew" (the second part). It is a sad truth that the church has tended to be silent about the Jewishness of Jesus. Some time ago I was blessed in listening to a series of audio tapes entitled "Our Hebrew Lord" by Dwight Pryor who is a scholar in Judaic-Christian studies. I want to acknowledge that some of the material I am presenting to you today has been gleaned from his presentations in that series. If you ever have the opportunity you will be greatly blessed by sitting at the feet of Dwight Pryor as he will no doubt give great insights about the life of Jesus in the context of Jewish culture etc. So, I want to present Jesus the Jew. In so doing I will explore five facets of the life of Jesus which depict his unmistakable Jewishness. Many of you will already be aware of some of these, but I am hoping to present something new for you to think about. So let's take the obvious ones first.
I THE ANCESTRY OF JESUS Jesus has a Jewish lineage. Matthew and Luke both trace His lineage back through the Patriarchs, which is done in a typical Jewish fashion. Immediately you open the New Testament you are confronted with the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew Chapter one verse one. In Matthew this genealogy is shown in relation to the birth of Jesus. Then in Luke Chapter three you see another genealogy, quite different in presentation. This time it is not in relation to his birth, but in relation to another important time in His earthly life. In Luke you read about His ancestry at the point when He is about to begin His ministry. II THE FAMILY OF JESUS It might sound a bit trite - but Jesus grew up in a Jewish family. His mother was a Jewess, her name was "Miryam", the most common Hebrew name for a woman in that era. His earthly father was "Yosef" whose Jewish lineage you can trace in the two Gospel accounts which I have already mentioned. Yosef was the second most common Hebrew name in that period. The name of Jesus in Hebrew is "Yeshua". I must resist the temptation to go on a sidetrack to talk about that name, and the significance of Him being called "Yeshua", and how it eventually came to be called "Jesus". I will simply pause to say that "Yeshua" was a common Hebrew name in those days. In fact probably the fifth most common name. There were many other Jewish boys around at that time whose name was Yeshua. III JESUS' FAMILY WAS OBSERVANT Which is a way of saying that they upheld the practice of their religion which was Judaism. I have a book in my library entitled "How to be Jewish" written by David Gross. When I read it, it is like reading about Jesus family in the New Testament. Let me mention just three ways in which the family of Jesus was observant. 1. Circumcision. (Look at Luke 2:21) It tells us that Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day. Why? Because that was the custom of the Jewish tradition according to the law (Torah). You are all very familiar with this fact. In Hebrew this is called "B'ritmilah" 2. Dedication of first born male. (Look at Luke 2:22) You may not be so familiar with what happened here. Let's read the verse. "When the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord." And it explains in verse 23 why they did this. According to the Torah, every first born male is to be consecrated to the Lord. This practice in Hebrew is called "Pidyon Ha'Ben" or the dedication of the first born son and the offering of a sacrifice. This was a thoroughly observant orthodox Jewish practice. 3. Attendance of the Feasts in Jerusalem. (Look at Luke 2:41) - Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. What is so special about that? After all we read in Leviticus that every adult male was to go up to Jerusalem every year for the three major feasts viz. Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), and Succoth (Tabernacles). Dwight Pryor states that recent research indicates that in all probability by the time of Jesus, this was not followed so rigidly. It was a long, dangerous, difficult and expensive journey, and many were not making that pilgrimage on a annual basis. But in spite of all the difficulties, Jesus' parents did make that journey every year to Pesach, thus indicating their devotion and strict observance of Torah. IV JESUS' UPBRINGING WAS JEWISH
The wisdom of the Rabbis was that a Jewish father had two responsibilities in bringing up a son, to teach him a trade, and Torah. We know that Jesus was taught a trade typical of the day - he was taught to be a carpenter. Jewish boys were taught that work was honourable, and not a four letter word! But Jesus was also taught the Hebrew Scriptures. According to what is known as the Babylonian Talmud, Jewish boys were taught the Shema as soon as they could speak. The Shema is found in Deuteronomy 6:4 which in the English language says "Hear of Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one." In Hebrew "Shema yisra'el adonai eloheynu adonai ehad." Marvin Wilson in his masterful work entitled "Our Father Abraham" writing about this matter says (quote from page 123) - "Since the Talmud specifies that 'the father must teach him', we may confidently assume that Joseph, Jesus' earthly father, was responsible for fulfilling this task." But the next reference in the Scriptures to Jesus as he grew up is contained in the well known story recorded in Luke 2:42-49 when He was 12. What is significant in Jewish upbringing for a 12-13 year old? It is the age when a child takes on responsibility for his/her own religious life, it is the biblical age of accountability to the commandments of the Lord. Up until that time, the parents are responsible to the Lord for their children's accountability. So a Jewish child somewhere between age 12-14 takes an important step in their life and undertakes what is called today the ceremony of "Bar Mitzvah" (or "Bat Mitzvah" in the case of a girl). Now it seems that such an official ceremony did not come about until much later than this, yet it is true that according to the Babylonian Talmud a child of this age was responsible to start taking upon him or herself certain of the commandments and duties such as celebrating the feasts of the Torah. It is therefore not surprising that when Jesus attended this particular Feast of Passover at age 12 years, that he lingered a little longer in Jerusalem listening and talking to his teachers? He was taking responsibility very seriously indeed. Just one more point about the upbringing of Jesus. It was not until he was 30 years that He embarked upon His ministry. Why at the age of 30? Was that coincidental? No, there was no coincidence. It was the Jewish custom. In Numbers 4:47 we are told that at age 30 a Levite began his service in the Tabernacle. V HIS JEWISHNESS REVEALED IN HIS LIFE AND WORK
1. Jesus kept the Feasts I have already stated that Jesus' family was observant and was diligent about keeping the Feast of Passover. Well Jesus kept that practice as an adult, and moreover we read in the Gospels that He went up to Jerusalem not only at Passover time, but also to the Feast of Tabernacles. There is the classic instance about Jesus being in Jerusalem at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles recorded in John 7. 2. Jesus kept the Sabbath Jesus did not attend "Church", He attended Synagogue. Unfortunately, children have sometimes been taught in Christian Sunday Schools that Jesus went to Church. Luke 4:16 "He came to Nazareth where He had been brought up, and as was His custom, He went into the Synagogue on the Sabbath day". On that particular occasion He was invited to read the Scripture as only a Jew would be permitted to do. Before I go on let me make it perfectly clear that the weekly Sabbath was Saturday. Even my Christian Zondervan Encyclopedia defines it with these words: "The Hebrew weekly day of rest and worship, which was observed on the seventh day of the week, beginning at sundown on Friday and ending at sundown on Saturday". Having said all that, I want to state that I am not advocating (as some may want to interpret), that Christians should keep Saturday as their day of worship. That must be the decision of each individual to determine what is right for them in the sight of God. 3. Jesus attitude to entering a house of a non-Jew There is this fascinating incident in relation to Jesus healing a servant of a Roman Centurion. The story can be read in Matthew 8:5-10. As you read this incident in Matthew, it seems to be a straight forward story. But you need to read the rest of the story - which provides more insight - this is found in Luke 7:1-9. What becomes obvious (when you take your Christian blinkers off) is that the Jewish elders had to plead with Jesus to go to the house of this Roman Centurion where the sick man was dying (v3), and (v4) says "they begged him earnestly - this man deserves to have you do this...etc." We must ask "why"? The fact is - Jesus was reluctant to go! The fact is that Jesus had almost nothing to do with gentiles in His ministry. The incident with the Syrophenician woman underlines this fact (Mark 7:25-29). What we Christians fail to understand is that if and when an observant Jew entered the home of a Gentile, he became ritually defiled and would have to undergo purification. So these elders had to put pressure on Jesus in order to convince Him that this man (the Roman Centurion) was worthy. You see this centurion was what was called a "God fearer". A non Jew yet one who regularly attended Synagogue. He had become a believer in the God of the Jews, and this man had contributed much - he had built the Synagogue in Capernaum. They were trying hard to press upon Jesus the importance of helping this man's servant because of who his boss was. Well, as it happened Jesus did not have to go to the home. It seems that not only did the Centurion show great faith, but he showed great sensitivity in not wanting Jesus to have to defile Himself by going into the house of a Non-Jew! As I said at the beginning of this story, this is a fascinating example of where the Jewishness of Jesus shines through. But we Christians, in our keenness to see Jesus the healer, miss the point about His Jewishness! 4. The Way Jesus spoke What was Jesus talking about when He said "If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness"? (Matt 6:22-23) What was Jesus saying? Was He giving some hidden 'mystical' message that only the enlightened could understand? Actually He was using a straight forward Hebrew saying or idiom which is found in the Talmud with which Jesus would have been familiar. A good eye means "generosity". A bad eye was the opposite meaning "stingy". If you go to Israel, the saying is still used. You might hear a person talking about someone collecting money for a charity, and they will say "We hope you will show them a good eye" (meaning, please give a generous donation). Look at the context in which these two verses are found, and you will find that this interpretation fits. The context is about money. In the preceding verses Jesus had said "Don't put treasures in earth where they can rust, corrupt or be stolen, put treasures in heaven" (another idiom meaning give to the needy) "You can't serve two masters, you cannot serve both God and Mammon (money)". So it is a very straight forward message, if you realise that Jesus is using Hebrew idiom. He is simply being Jewish in his speech. 5. The way Jesus Dressed Here is a story with which you will all be familiar, but one that puts Jesus right into His Hebrew context. It is the story about the woman who touched the hem of His garment. It is found in Matthew 9:20-22, and also in Luke 8:43-48. But in Mark 6:56 there's an interesting reference to the fact that whenever Jesus entered into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the market places, and begged Him that they might just touch the border of His garment. And the verse ends by saying "as many as touched Him were made well". Now all of these instances show the mighty healing power of Jesus. But there's something fascinating about His practice as a Jew which many of us who are Christians completely miss. Let's look at the rest of the story. To do this we need to turn to the Old Testament in Numbers 15:38-41. For in this passage read about a custom which the Jews practiced in relation to garments (or clothes). What was the garment? What was its purpose? I have a Jewish Prayer Shawl which helps illustrate this custom. Tassels were to be made on the corners of their garments as you can see on this garment - the Prayer Shawl. For what purpose? To look at, and to remember all the commandments of the Lord, and do them. In Hebrew the tassel is called "tzitzit" or in plural "tzitziyot". This tassel, or tzitzit, or border, or fringe, or hem was a reminder of God's commandments, or God's authority. There are two key words - reminder & authority. (Do you remember Tevye in "Fiddler on the Roof" - we always wear our little prayer shawls, this shows our constant devotion to God!)? If you have been to Israel you will have seen these prayer shawls worn by orthodox men. You will by now know that the part of the garment which this woman reached out to touch was clearly one of the Tassels or "tzitzit" on the prayer shawl worn by Jesus. The Jewish New Testament leaves you in no doubt, it calls it "tzitzit". It was a reminder of God's commandments, it was a reminder of God's authority, by touching that tassel she was getting in touch with God.
CONCLUSION Jesus was a Jew. His Ancestry was Jewish. His family was Jewish. His upbringing was Jewish. His own life's practices were thoroughly Jewish, in what He said, in the way He spoke, in what He did, even in the way He dressed. Speaking at a personal level I can say that in coming to an understanding of the fact that Jesus was Jewish, has been a rich experience and has given me a deeper understanding of my faith as a Christian. In 1997 a tour group and I were privileged to be in Jerusalem on the day of Yom Kippur, (the Day of Atonement) and in the afternoon we spent several hours at the Western Wall observing the customs of the people, entering into the spirit of what was happening as the men read the Torah, and finally blew the Shofar. Behind us was a group of American tourists who were Christians. Unfortunately Christian Tourists are not always very sensitive to Jewish customs (whether from America or Australia). One man wearing a cap with "Jesus loves you" after having observed the rituals at the Western Wall on this extremely important Holy Day in the Jewish calendar, remarked in a very loud voice "Huh! This is not my religion!" One of our tour group looked around and quietly said "No, but it was the religion of Jesus".
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People have sometimes accused Christians of not speaking about Jesus when they are in the company of a Jewish person. Whenever I hear that criticism I am sure of this one thing, that the person who perpetrates such a statement has never been to one of our Israel seminars. For you will find that we always speak about Jesus at these
activities. Because of our particular ministry which involves building bridges of unconditional love to the Jewish people, we are naturally sensitive as to how we talk about Jesus. But talk about Him we do - for after all to those of us who are committed Christians, Jesus is indeed the centre of our faith.
