How the Jewishness of Jesus Affects Our Faith
By Dr. Tricia Miller
Understanding the Jewish identity of Jesus leads to a deeper comprehension of our faith and shapes how we live it out today.
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all reveal that Jesus was born a Jew, lived as a Jew, and ministered as a Jew. His Jewishness is demonstrated through His ancestry, life and ministry events, and descriptions by those who encountered Him. Awareness of His Jewish identity and context should lead Christians to a deeper understanding of the origins of our faith and increased sensitivity in how we walk out that faith in relation to Jesus' natural family, the Jewish people.
In Matthew 1:1-17, Jesus' Jewish identity is made explicitly clear. A detailed genealogy demonstrates what is summarized in verse 1: He is the son of David, the son of Abraham. His name in Hebrew is Yeshua, which means salvation. In addition to His Jewish ancestry, the Gospel writers' use of place names in Judea and Israel in their accounts of His life and ministry demonstrate that He lived and ministered as a Jew in places still identifiable today.
Jesus was born in "Bethlehem of Judea" (Matt. 2:1). He was circumcised on the eighth day and taken by His parents to the temple in Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord according to the law of Moses (Luke 2:21-24). Before He began His ministry, He went from Nazareth of Galilee to be baptized by John in the Jordan River (Matt 3:13, Mark 1:9). He then made His home in Capernaum in the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali (Matt. 4:13) and called disciples as He walked along the Sea of Galilee (Mark 1:16). And according to all the Gospels, the events of the last week of His life took place in Jerusalem.
The Gospel writers continue to record the names of places as they document Jesus' ministry as a Jew. He went to Jerusalem (Matt. 21:1), taught in the temple (Mark 12:35) and taught His disciples on the Mt. of Olives (Matt. 24). Mark 6:1-2 reports that He taught in the synagogue in His hometown (Capernaum) on the Sabbath. John 6 records a lengthy discussion between Jesus and those who challenged His teaching, and according to John 6:59, that conversation took place while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On another Shabbat, Jesus read from Isaiah 61 in that same synagogue (Luke 4:16-21).
In addition to teaching in the temple and synagogue, Jesus observed biblical holidays. He celebrated Passover with His disciples in Jerusalem (Mark 14:12-16, John 2:13), went to Jerusalem for "a festival of the Jews" (John 5:1), and taught in the temple during "the Jewish festival of Booths" (John 7:2-15).
Jesus' Jewishness is also revealed through descriptions by those who encountered him. When His parents took Him to the temple as an infant, Simeon prophesied over Him concerning what He meant to the people of Israel (Luke 2:25-35). In John 1:49, Nathanael called Him the "King of Israel." And in response to Pilate's question about His identity during His trial, He acknowledged He is King of the Jews (Mark 15:2).
In Matthew, Mark and John, Jesus is addressed as "Rabbi" (Hebrew) or "Rabboni" (Aramaic) fifteen times by his disciples and others. In its Jewish context, "rabbi" means "my teacher," and is a term of respect for a recognized teacher of the law. In most cases, it is his disciples who call him "Rabbi." But in Mark 10:51, the blind man calls him "Rabboni;" in John 3:2, Nicodemus calls him "Rabbi;" and in John 20:16, Mary Magdalene calls him "Rabboni."
It is interesting to note that John's Revelation identifies Jesus as a Jew at the end of time. In Revelation 5:5, as the "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David," he is the only one able to open the scroll. The triumphant Savior in Revelation is still a member of the tribe of Judah and the descendant of King David, just as the genealogy in Matthew's Gospel declared.
Our Jewish Savior is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He is also the "author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). Therefore, an increased understanding of Jesus' Jewish identity must lead to a deeper comprehension of the origins of our faith. It should also contribute to a heightened sensitivity in how we walk out that faith in relation to Jesus' natural relatives.
The Jewish origins of the Christian faith did not stop with a Jewish Jesus who went to the temple in Jerusalem, observed Jewish holidays, and taught from Hebrew Scriptures in the synagogue on Shabbat. Jesus' first followers were also Jewish, and after His death and resurrection, they continued to meet in the temple (Acts 2:46) and in synagogues on the Sabbath, where Paul and other leaders taught (Acts 13:14-16).
However, beginning in the first few centuries after Jesus—and especially after Constantine established Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire—the Christian faith was intentionally separated from its Jewish roots. That separation was accompanied by growing animosity between what was by then a largely Gentile church, and the Jewish people; a hostility fueled in part by erroneous beliefs about the Jews.
The Apostle Paul directly addressed some of those false beliefs in Romans, chapter 11. In response to his own rhetorical question, "Has God cast away his people?" Paul answered emphatically, "Certainly not!" He then used the analogy of an olive tree to explain that Gentile believers are wild branches grafted into a tree in which Jews are the natural branches. Paul admonished the believers in Rome to not boast against the branches (the Jews) and to remember that they (the Gentiles) do not support the root, but the root supports them (Romans 11:18).
In recognition of the fact that "God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew," (Romans 11:2), let our understanding of the roots of our faith guide us as we walk in love towards Jesus' relatives in the flesh, looking forward to the day when "all Israel will be saved" as they embrace the Messiah (Romans 11:26).
