In the New Testament, Jesus is inseparable from his Jewish identity. When asked about the greatest commandment in the Law of Moses, Jesus points to the most important prayer in Jewish life, the Shema:
One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’” (Mark 12:28–30)
This prayer, found in Deuteronomy 6:4–5, affirms the God of Israel as the one true God and urges the people of Israel to love Him with all one’s heart, soul, and strength.
Yet, attempts to separate Jesus from His Jewishness can be traced all the way back to the first few centuries of the church. Although the earliest believers were all Jewish, as the church grew in Gentile converts, these new Gentile-Christian leaders sought to sever Christianity from its Jewish roots and force Jewish followers of Jesus to renounce their Jewish customs and heritage.[1]
Centuries later, classic Christian art depicted Jesus as a white European rather than a Middle Eastern Jewish man and demonized the ancient Jewish leaders. Similarly, the Nazi Reich sought to transform the Jewish Jesus into a non-Jewish Aryan. Today, some are claiming Jesus was African or a Palestinian refugee, divorced of His Jewish identity.
But falsehoods like these cannot erase the truth of history. Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem of Judea, obeyed the Torah, taught in the synagogues, observed the Jewish festivals, and claimed to be the Jewish Messiah and king of Israel. He lived and died a Jewish man, and He will return to Jerusalem and reign from the throne of David forevermore.
Jewish in His Birth
The Gospel of Matthew confirms Jesus’ Jewish heritage right from its first words: “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt 1:1). The passage then continues to give the Jewish genealogy of Jesus.
Matthew also records Jesus’ birthplace as Bethlehem of Judea (Israel), in fulfillment of the prophecies written by the Jewish prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king” (Matt 2:1). Matthew was referring to the prophet Micah who wrote, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Mic 5:2).
As a Jewish man, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day, according to the Law of Moses. His mother, Miriam (Mary), and adoptive father Joseph dedicated Him at the Temple after the days for their purification were complete (Luke 2:21–22). There at the Temple, a prophet, Simeon, recognized Jesus as the Messiah of Israel. Luke recorded:
And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; . . . And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. . . . Then he took Him [baby Jesus] into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of Your people Israel.” (Luke 2:25–32)
God confirmed to Simeon the long-awaited hope of Israel had finally arrived—Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus the Messiah. This Messiah would be “the glory of Your people Israel” and “a light of revelation to the Gentiles,” leading many nations to the knowledge of the one true God of Israel.
Jewish in His Life, Ministry, and Death
The New Testament depicts Jesus as a faithful, Torah-observant Jewish man who kept the Law of Moses, taught others to do the same, and called the Jewish Temple “My Father’s house” (Luke 2:49; John 2:16).
The New Testament also describes Jesus as a Jewish rabbi who had twelve Jewish talmidim, or students (disciples). At first, He sent out His disciples to preach the good news of God’s kingdom only to the people of Israel: “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:5–6). On another occasion, Jesus told His disciples, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24).
In His conversation with a Samaritan woman, Jesus affirmed, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22), in contrast to Samaritan beliefs, and revealed to her He was the Jewish Messiah (vv. 25–26). On a few other occasions, people were healed by touching Jesus’ tzitzit, fringes Jewish men wear on their garments in keeping with the Mosaic Law (Matthew 9:20; 14:36).
When Jesus was crucified, Roman soldiers mockingly attached the sign “King of the Jews” on the cross over Jesus’ head as He died (Matthew 27:37). The chief priests and elders also mocked Him saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in Him” (Matthew 27:42). Although they all mocked him, no one denied his Jewish identity.
After His resurrection, Jesus once again commissioned His talmidim (disciples) to go out and proclaim the good news, but this time, He sent them into the whole world (Acts 1:8). Gentiles, by the thousands, began coming to faith in Messiah Yeshua and putting their trust in the God of Israel, just as the ancient Jewish prophets of long ago foretold (Isaiah 49:6).
Jewish in His Return
Jesus not only identified with His people Israel in His birth, life, ministry, and death, but He also made clear He will not return until Jewish people are living in Jerusalem and ready to welcome Him as their Messiah:
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” (Matthew 23:37–39; cf. Luke 21:24)
The prophet Zechariah also foretold of this future day of Israel’s spiritual and political redemption at Yeshua’s return:
And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son. (Zech 12:9–10; cf. Romans 11:25–26)
Jesus, as the Jewish Messiah, will return to defend Israel from her enemies, and Jewish people living in Israel at the time of His return will realize He is the One pierced at His first coming. God will pour out His Spirit on them so they can recognize Him as their Messiah and King. He will then reign from His rightful throne in Jerusalem, and Israel will bless the nations by serving as the central place of worship in God’s kingdom (Isaiah 2:2–4; 19:23–25).
Jesus spent three years teaching His disciples about this coming kingdom, where the Jewish nation would be restored and bless the world. This is why, right before Yeshua’s ascension, His disciples asked Him, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Jesus affirmed the kingdom would be restored to Israel, even though he wouldn’t reveal the timing of that restoration.
After Yeshua’s ascension, His Jewish disciple, Simon (Peter), affirmed God’s remaining promises to Israel will be fulfilled when Jewish people recognize the Messiah:
The things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Messiah would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Messiah appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time (Acts 3:19–21).
Peter, as Jesus taught him, told his Jewish hearers God would accomplish all the remaining promises to Israel at His return, just as He fulfilled the prophecies of His first coming. Messiah suffered and died for sin at His first coming, as the prophets foretold, and He will defend Israel from her enemies and set up His kingdom in Jerusalem at His return, as the prophets foretold.
Jesus is not a European, American, Aryan, African, or Palestinian—although He loves and died for all of these people and for all nations. He is the Jewish Messiah—born in Israel—who identified with His people Israel in His suffering. Jesus will return in victory to set up His kingdom on earth, centered in Jerusalem, and fulfill God’s remaining promises to His people Israel.
Jesus the Jewish man is also the “light of the world” and a “light of revelation to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 49:6; Luke 2:32). He is the ultimate Israelite who is saving people from every nation, tribe, and tongue to worship, know, and love the God of Israel. In time, He will reign from His throne in Jerusalem as the righteous judge of the entire earth, blessing all who trust in Him.
by Jennifer Miles
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[1] Thomas Fretwell, Why the Jewish People? Understanding Replacement Theology & Antisemitism (UK: Ezra Foundation Press, 2021).
