![\"Yeshua](\"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Jesus.jpg\")
<\/a>Yeshua was a Jew<\/p><\/div>
\nIt sounds like something I would say, I know. Well, perhaps not in those exact words. But something along those lines, most definitely. Which is why I read the headline with interest, silently nodding my head in agreement with whoever came to such an enlightened, albeit controversial, conclusion. Turns out it\u2019s none other than Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Better known as Pope Francis, the current leader of the Catholic world. <\/p>\n
In a recent interview with Ynet News (\u201cIt\u2019s hard to build peace; but living without peace is an absolute nightmare\u201d, 28 November 2014), Pope Francis spoke out quite candidly about the bond that ties every Christians to the Jewish people. It\u2019s not the first time he\u2019s expressed this view. In his first papal letter sent to bishops the world over in November 2013, Pope Francis wrote, \u201cWe hold the Jewish people in special regard because their covenant with God has never been revoked, for \u2018the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable\u2019 (Romans 11:29).\u201d<\/p>\n
It was, however, during his recent interview with Ynet News that he articulated a simple truth, something that\u2019s often simply overlooked: \u201cJesus was born and died a Jew\u201d.<\/p>\n
I couldn’t help but chuckle at those words. Because they reminded me of a story I heard recently. A group of elderly, traditional folk was on tour in Israel for the first time. On the shores of the Sea of Galilea, where Yeshua spent so much of his time, the tour leader paused to speak about the fact that Yeshua was Jewish. The tour group was silent for a moment. Then a little old lady blurted out her surprise, \u201cBut that can\u2019t be! Jesus was a Christian!\u201d <\/p>\n
Ah yes. A good many years ago I had the same light bulb moment. And it changed my life forever. Yeshua was Jewish. See, it makes sense when you think about it. Of course He was Jewish. What else would He be? But then again, I\u2019d just never thought about it. There was no need. Because regardless of the fact that Christianity wasn\u2019t even coined back then, I just assumed Him to be, well, Christian. <\/p>\n
But it wasn’t just Yeshua though. All the first \u201cChristians\u201d were Jews. Torah observant ones at that. Reading the book of Acts gives you a very clear picture of exactly how Jewish the first followers of Yeshua really were. I mean, think about it. It was His disciples, His family, His friends, His followers and those who witnessed His crucifixion and resurrection. Then came Pentecost, hailed as the day on which the church was born, and thousands more started believing in Him. But all of them Jewish. Shabbat-keeping, Torah-observant, kosher-eating Jews. Because at that time, having Yeshua as Messiah was the fulfillment of that which Jews believed and practiced and clung to for thousands of years. <\/p>\n
But then comes a turning point. Because the book of Acts also tells the story of the very first Gentiles Believers. Where the Gospel used to be focused on those in Jerusalem, then to those in Judea and Samaria, it was now on its way to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). We read about Peter\u2019s vision and Cornelius\u2019s conversion in Acts 10. And then comes the meeting of apostles and elders in Acts 15. To discuss the issue of Gentile Believers. Because it\u2019s never happened before. Uncharted territory. And they aren’t sure how to proceed. Oh they had no problem with it. That wasn’t the issue. See, the problem was that they didn’t know how it should be done logistically. Up until that point, only Jews followed Yeshua. So the question was: should all the Gentiles who wanted to follow Yeshua first become, well, Jewish?<\/p>\n
After some deliberation, the council reached a decision: Gentile believers didn’t have to uphold the Torah. They were, however, prohibited from four things: food offered to idols, fornication, strangled meat and blood (Acts 15:20,29). So no conversion to Judaism for Gentile Believers then. But\u2026 Various scholars have argued that any Gentile Believers were at that point Jewish in all but name. In fact, Patrice Fisher states that \u201cThese G-d fearers were every bit as Jewishly observant as their Jewish friends….Their lifestyle already identified them as Jews…”<\/p>\n
It\u2019s an interesting angle \u2013 the fact that our faith is so unmistakably interwoven, so clearly flowing from the things so many today see as simply Jewish. Because that\u2019s our foundation, our heritage. <\/p>\n
Which is why I agree, no, why I applaud Pope Francis\u2019s words, “One of the reasons I’m here is to remind the Christian world that our roots are in Judaism. In every Christian, there is a Jew; and you can’t be a true Christian if you don’t recognize your Jewish roots. And I think interfaith dialogue must place an emphasis on the inseparable connection between the religions, on the fact that Christianity grew from within Judaism.\u201d <\/p>\n
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