What Makes Jesus Jewish?

What makes a Jew a Jew?  In other words, what is it that distinguishes the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from all other peoples of the world?  It is their covenantal relationship with the King of the Universe, the Creator of all things.

I recently read “The Jewishness of Jesus: Relevant or Essential?”[1].  And I’ve got to tell you, I was very frustrated by the baseless conclusions of the author.  In fact, I scrawled notes all over the place, highlighting this, underlining that.  But in the end, I could hear God whisper, “Take a deep breath and look at what is going on.”  I then realized that the writer, educated as he may be, simply did not have the foundation he needed to accurately consider his subject matter.  

Here is the foundation I believe he missed: The ‘Jewishness’ of the people of Israel comes from God.  As they follow His covenant, His Torah, their covenant lifestyle sets them apart from all other people of the world.  God chose them to live differently.  He gave them a set of rules to live by.  This set of rules calls them to holiness.  And it is this holy lifestyle that testifies to His holiness.

Now, I need to clarify here that I am not talking simply about ethnicity, but about those who take their covenantal relationship with God seriously.  So what makes them look different?

There is a huge difference between the lifestyle of the descendents of Abraham and the lifestyle of the rest of the world, but here are just three examples:

1)      Sabbath

-          The Sabbath is kept on the day God said to keep it.

-          It is not a day just to do whatever you want, but a day to rest and honor God. A day to be kept holy/sanctified/set apart.

2)      The Name of God

-          'OMG' did not likely come from the text of a Jew

-          They are serious about not taking God's name in vain, even using 'G-d' in their writing

3)      Food

-          Their standard of what to eat and what not to eat comes from God and His instructions in the Bible.

(Many Christians have looked at Peter’s vision in Acts as saying God told Peter that all food was now clean.  However, there are some problems with this interpretation. First, we are never told that Peter actually ate that food; and second, Peter’s own explanation of the vision is that God showed him that He had enabled Gentiles to repent and be saved.[2])

When Jesus came, He was completely Torah observant.  He taught us that the covenant is based on love for God and love for man[3].  The example of His life shows us that the covenant - God’s Torah - teaches us how to live out that love. This is what makes Jesus Jewish – walking out the love of God for man by His covenantal obedience to the Torah of God.

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[1] Reitsma, Bernard; Theological Review; Apr2005, Vol. 26 Issue 1, p55

[2] Act 10, 11 and 15

[3] Matthew 22:35-41

Are We Really Peculiar People?

As followers of Jesus, do we look different from the people of the world?  Does our lifestyle clearly say that we are a peculiar people[1]?  Or when the world looks at us, do they see nothing that says we belong to the King of the Universe?  Sadly, I believe the latter is often true.  

God told the Israelites (in Leviticus 18:3) “You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.”

Paul repeats this same teaching in his letter to the Romans when he writes, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”[2]  How do we do this?  Paul gives us the answer in his letter to Timothy.  He tells him, “Timothy, you’ve been reading the sacred writings since you were a kid.  These are what you need to use to teach, reprove, correct and train people in right living. (My paraphrase of 2 Tim 3:15-16.)

What too many people don’t realize is that when Paul wrote his letter to Timothy, there was no ‘New Testament’.  That means the sacred writings Paul referred to was the Tanakh - the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings.  

So, when Christians don’t know Torah – God’s standard of right living – how can we possibly know what we are and are not supposed to do? How can we live lives that cause people to know that we belong to God?

Unfortunately, there has been such a mindset against Torah, coupled with an over emphasis on grace and non-judgment, that many Christians ignore what happened to Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts.  Instead they chose to believe they can do whatever they want and it is okay with God because He is full of grace and mercy.

However, when you look at Torah as being a set of instructions on how to love God and man, you realize the Torah is full of mercy and grace, yet it is also full of consequences for wrong action.  Why? Because God disciplines those He loves.[3]

 

And Jesus didn’t change that.  He clearly said, “Until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”[4]

When we strive to live our lives lined up with the Word of God - His instructions for right living - then we stand out from the crowd of humanity.  When we chose to obey God when He tells us not to live like the people of the world live, not according to their statutes and laws, but according to His statutes and laws, people see a difference in us.  And in seeing that difference, they want to know the God who made us different.

Choosing to live by God’s standards found in Torah does not give us salvation.  But once saved, should we not strive to be the ‘peculiar people’ God calls us to be?

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[1] 1 Pet 2:9 King James Version

[2] Romans 12:2

[3] Proverbs 3:12; Hebrews 12:6

[4] Matthew 5:18 New International Version

Heart Circumcision

Circumcision is not just a guy thing.  God calls both men and women into a wholehearted covenant with Himself, and there should be an outward sign of an inward commitment.  Circumcision and beauty are those outwards signs.  Unfortunately, tough circumstances in our lives reveal to us that circumcision and beauty are often only skin-deep – neither gets down into the heart.

In Peter’s first letter, he encourages women to let their adornment be the hidden person of the heart.  Along with men, women should be circumcised in their hearts and be in covenant with God with their whole being.  Both men and women are not supposed to have confidence in the flesh, but be dependent on the Spirit to manifest that covenant from the inside out.

Peter encourages women to be in covenant with God on the inside and it will manifest itself in beauty and all the fruit of the Spirit.  It will also be evident in their trust of God – doing good and walking in His will without any fear that things will go horribly wrong, no worry that God isn’t big enough to keep his daughters from being hurt.

The example Peter uses is Sarah and Abraham.  Remember, Abraham is the father of faith; he is highly praised for his faith in God.  Now, you might think it easy for Sarah to submit to someone like him, right?  Wrong!  Do you have any idea what Abraham did?  He gave his wife away to another man – not once, but twice in order to protect his own skin!  So who was Sarah trusting – Abraham or God?

It was God she looked to for faithfulness and the ability to deliver her.  It was God she trusted to make the situation right.  God rescued her and put her back where she belonged.

This is a lesson not just for women.  Men also need to learn to trust God and to lean on Him in tough situations.  Think about Abraham’s situation: he was afraid that Pharaoh was going to kill him to get Sarah.  So he gave her away!

Why did he do it?  He was afraid – afraid for himself and afraid of the circumstances.  He did not think God was able to protect him.

So Peter, after letting the women know that they need to be circumcised in their heart, to not be afraid but to submit to their husbands, which is actually submitting to God, he turns to the men and says, "Guys?  You too, must be circumcised in your heart.  You too must trust God and show it by protecting the woman He gave you, not giving her away to protect yourself.  Make sure you don’t do anything that is going to harm her, because she is going to do what you ask, trusting God to take care of her.  Buddy, you will have to answer to God."

Both men and women will have to answer to God for their actions because our actions speak volumes of our trust in God in the depth of our heart.  As do our re-actions, which is why Peter then calls us to have compassion for each other, not returning evil for evil but instead blessing, understanding and submitting.

All this speaks of the condition of our heart.  Do we really trust God?  Are we circumcised in our heart?  Do we truly believe, in the depth of our being, that we are in covenant with God and He with us?  Or is it just a ritual of the flesh?