JESUS WAS A JEW

From the West Meadow
By Pastor Wesley Higgins

Jesus Christ was a Jew. All of the apostles were Jews. All of the writers of the New Testament, with the possible exception of Luke, were Jews. And yes, Paul was a Jew (of the tribe of Benjamin). I bring this out only because it seems that many people today view the New Testament as a Gentile book, written as a treatise against the Jewish religion.

This is, in part, true. Jesus, a Jew, who remarked that "salvation is of the Jews..." (John 4:22), was at odds with the oral traditions of the first century Jewish religion. But He was not at odds with the word of God contained in what we call the Old Testament. An example of His being at odds with the oral judgments and traditions is found in John 5:16-23, where Jesus was accused of breaking the Sabbath. What He broke was the regulations put in place by the religious establishment, not the true intent of the Sabbath. As Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28), He was able to define it but could never break it.

It is quite often assumed that Paul, being the "apostle to the gentiles" (Romans 11:13), acted and lived like a gentile, apart from the law. This is a made-up assumption that Paul himself does not support. Notice Romans 3:1-2: "What advantage has the Jew?...Much in every way!" Paul told the Philippians that not only was he circumcised, but he was a Pharisee who never broke God's laws. "If anyone (has) confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised on the eighth day of the stock of Israel...a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee...concerning righteousness which is in the law, blameless." (Philippians 3:4-6) Toward the end of Paul's life, he was accused unjustly of profaning the temple and breaking God's laws. For this cause he was arrested and imprisoned for several years, during which time he had to defend himself in court several times. In his defense before the governor Festus Paul said, "Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the Temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in any thing" (Acts 25:8). Paul told King Agrippa that "according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee" (Acts 26:5). And in Rome (where he waited trial before Caesar), he told the Jews, "I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers" (Acts 28:17).

So what can we discern from all of this? Paul was a Pharisee who kept and taught the law in all its aspects (Acts 26:20), including the Ten Commandments, Sabbath and High Days, clean and unclean meats, etc... Paul lived like a Jew-not a gentile.

When we read the New Testament, we need to understand that it is a Jewish book and that the New Testament church was first of all a Jewish church to which the gentiles were added. It took several centuries before the church became predominately gentile.

My point in all of this: when we read and study the New Testament, we must do so from a first century Jewish viewpoint. After all, Jesus was a Jew.

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