Is it wrong to call Jesus a Jew? Several Christian social media influencers have recently downplayed or denied Jesus’ Jewishness. But it isn’t a recent phenomenon.
There is a trend to call Jesus a Palestinian rather than a Jew. This comes to the forefront every Christmas and often driven by people like Palestinian Lutheran priest Munther Isaac. At least in one article, Isaac calls Jesus a Palestinian Jew. At least there he used the word “Jew” once. Elsewhere, he’s not so subtle about extricating the Jew out of Jesus and turning Him into a modern day Palestinian, with the help of the media.
Jesus the Jew?
In David C. Mitchell’s book, “The Message of the Psalter,” he recognizes the “eschatological in-gathering of Israel by a bridegroom king.” And yet in “Jesus: The Incarnation of the Word” Mitchell goes to some lengths in several places to insist that we should not regard Jesus a Jew. Read my review on Amazon. To be honest I struggled to rate that book as a three out of five.
In Chapter 12 (Jesus the Jew?), Mitchell observes,
Bearing in mind that Jesus says his true identity predates Israel and Judah, and even humankind, yet he was born of an Israelite mother, I would be happier to call him by the broader term ‘Israelite.’ An Arab-speaking Galilean, who does not observe Judean feasts, whose father is God, and whose mother is an Aaronite (sic) princess, is certainly an Israelite. But I would not be too quick to call him Jewish. (Page 218, bold mine)
In fact Mitchell is quick to deny Jesus’ Jewishness. Over the page he tries to go the DNA route by referring to examples in Christ’s bloodline that weren’t Israelite (Ruth etc.) Yet he paradoxically finishes off by affirming that Jesus’ genetic descent fulfilled the promises made to Judah etc., and qualified him to be the savior of the Gentiles.
Something is wrong here. What is the problem with recognizing Jesus as Jew, if not for anti-Jewish bias?
I’m no theologian (and neither is he, presumably) but if Christ is fully Man and fully God, then there is no problem in regarding his human nature as Jewish. See What is the hypostatic union? See also Scripture and the Two Natures of Christ
And if someone is happier thinking of Jesus as an “Israelite,” the Bible has no qualms calling Him a Jew,
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; 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
Jesus is a Jew
This article from Israel My Glory: The Jewishness of Jesus gets to the heart of the issue. See also That Jew Died for You. See also the first 16 minutes of Peter Goeman’s video, What’s Wrong with Secret Bible Codes?
Webbon regularly speaks out against overt Jewish influence in America, Israel and Christian Zionists. Bill Roach responded to him on numerous points about Jesus’ Jewish identity. See the X (formerly Twitter) article HERE and the YouTube video below.
In conclusion: Yes, Jesus was and still is a Jew!
If one has a problem with that, I suggest they heed Roach’s admonition:
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, especially when He is the Jewish Messiah incarnate.
Maranatha!
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