|
The Myth of Jewish Rejection of Jesus
(Yeshua Did Not Hate Jews) |
|
Since the Holocaust, the accusation in the Jewish community has become an unchallenged given that Yeshua and the New Testament are the major cause of anti-Semitism among Christians.
Jewish intellectuals and religious leaders have called for an editorial overhaul of the New Testament to remove its offending and potentially incendiary passages. Several liberal Christians and academics have joined the chorus for censorship. But does their demand have any merit, and would it accomplish its goal?
Anti-semitism has plagued the Church for centuries. Repeatedly, the teachings of emperors, popes, priests, and preachers led to atrocities against Jews. The Bible was often cited by these self-called Christians as justification for the attitudes they nourished and the actions they committed. Hatred of Jews is antithetical to belief in and obedience to Yeshua as Messiah. More clearly: Jew-haters cannot be disciples of Jesus or true "Christians." And history shows that all Jew-haters eventually become Jesus-haters.
Iyov/Job — Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem. Photo: Paul Sumner But the accusation that Yeshua himself (and secondarily his disciples) was anti-Semitic can be answered only by reviewing the New Testament — not by surveying subsequent Church history. Reading backwards in time will not reveal the truth about Yeshua's teachings. We can only accurately "read Yeshua" through the lens of the NT and the Hebrew Bible.
[Top]
There is no Jew-hate taught in the NT. Just the opposite. Hatred and violence are forbidden by Yeshua and his disciples. Yeshua taught his followers to pray for their enemies, to seek their well-being, not their destruction — even if some "enemies" were fellow-Jews. Retribution was never on his lips. He taught his disciples to "be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36). In showing love they would truly be "sons of the Most High," who is Himself "kind to ungrateful and evil men" (v. 35). Godly kindness toward human beings is powerful and transforming. Yeshua even asked God to forgive those who so hated him they crucified him. It's a signal statement in the gospels: "He felt compassion"; "I feel compassion for them" (Matt 9:36, 14:14, 15:32). During an encounter with a wealthy young Jew (who may have been from a Sadducee family) it simply says, "And looking at him, [Yeshua] felt love for him" (Mark 10:21). His response was similar toward non-Jews. Once when two of his closest followers wanted to call Heaven's fire down on a village of Samaritans who rejected him, he rebuked the disciples: "You know not what spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them" (Luke 9:55). Those Christians in history who have hated and committed violence against Jews were filled with another spirit, not Yeshua's. [Note the movement of his spirit among Gentile Christians in the French village of Le Chambon, where Jews found refuge during the Sho'ah.]
[Top]
But how should we interpret the harsh statements Yeshua utters against Jews, especially the scribes and Pharisees? Matthew 23 is one of the most scathing chapters of the NT. Seven times Yeshua calls the Torah-scribes and Pharisees "hyprocrites" and denounces them for being "full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." He labels them "blind ... blind guides ... fools ... a brood of vipers." He implies they are murderers because they, like their fathers of old, will kill the prophets and scribes that Yeshua will send to Israel. This is sobering. We cannot and must not run away from these comments. We must reconcile them with Yeshua's spirit of love for people and his mission to redeem mankind. But we must also distinguish anti-Jewish hatred from his expressions of righteous anger toward ungodly people. The real anti-Semites and cultic Christians of today who believe they are the true Israel often latch onto such texts to bolster their right to hate Jews and exalt themselves as God's new favorites. These people need to be countered: with the New Testament itself. These controversial texts need to be reclaimed, so the naive and biblically-ignorant aren't swayed by deceptive thinking into poisoning minds and potentially violent action.
[Top]
Why were the Pharisees so bad, in Yeshua's opinion? What many Christians and Jews don't realize is that, theologically, the Pharisees were closer to Yeshua's own beliefs and teachings than any other Jewish group. They were zealous for the authority of Scripture. They believed the home, not the Temple, was the center of spirituality and for learning God's will. And they advocated applying the Torah commands for holy living to everyone, not just the priestly clans. In other words, they wanted the Word of God to cover all dimensions of life, for everyone. They did not believe in a clergy/laity dichotomy. The Pharisees could be called the evangelical fundamentalists of their day. As such, their attitudes held enormous influence on the general public — and were thus of supreme importance to Yeshua. He had little in common with the wealthy, materialistic Sadducees who controlled the state religion embodied in the Temple and were essentially Jewish deists. He was deeply concerned over what the Pharisees were doing in God's name, if they went astray.
Other Voices of Criticism According to the anti-Jerusalem, break-away priests living at Qumran, Pharisees-type Jews were the ones who kindled "the anger of God." In the Damascus Document (CD 8:12-13), "the builders of the wall [of partition] who daub with whitewash" falsely understood and corruptly taught the Torah because they were influenced by a leader who "preaches lies." Even the Mishnah refers to the "plagues of the Pharisaic party" and condemns their hypocrisy and the manipulative casuistry they used to take advantage of others (Sotah 3:4; BT Sotah 22b). The Palestinian Talmud refers to seven kinds of Pharisee, only two of which are sincere (PT Berakhot 9:5). [Top]
The Real Target Yeshua believed these men were compromising the covenant of God, distorting the revealed will of God, and diluting peoples' obedience of faith. Because of their lack of true compassion and genuine love, they were leading fellow Jews to Gehenna. In effect, they were destroying Israel through their teachings and examples. And he would not let that happen unchallenged.
Not All Pharisees Were Enemy Targets Then there was Paul of Tarsus. Raised by the Pharisee rabbi Gamaliel II, Paul still testified to others — after his commitment to Yeshua as Messiah — that "I have lived [until now] as a Pharisee according to the strictest sect of our religion" (Acts 26:5 RSV). There was no inherent contradiction between believing Yeshua was God's Messiah and being a Pharisee. Not every Pharisee or Jew took offense at Yeshua's fiery words toward Israel. Thousands felt no personal animosity from him. They knew he was calling for repentance from everyone in Israel — including its leaders. (And everyone should repent before God.) They were just glad he offered them hope of God's forgiveness, and they loved him. Loved him. (Jews loving Yeshua?) (See The Myth of Jewish Rejection of Jesus)
[Top]
Some clarifications are needed. (1) The term "the Jews" most often refers to the Jerusalem religious establishment: the power-brokers and operators of the Temple system (a multi-million dollar enterprise). The "Jews" also led the national seminary system of religious schools and synagogues (the major source of defining Jewish identity and life). (2) The conflict between "the Jews" and Yeshua was an intra-Jewish one. He didn't stand outside as a Christian against Jews. He and his disciples were not Founder and emissaries for one religion challenging those of another.
John and the Jews Some biblical historians believe John was a Sadducee priest and knew better than others the inner spirit of corruption within the Jerusalem "Vatican," which was the target of Yeshua's anger. John sympathized with Yeshua's fury and emphasized His critiques by recording the harsh language in his gospel record. He did so in order to warn, expose and ultimately save his former compatriots: the apostate shepherds of Israel. But John never records Yeshua condemning all Jews for what the Vatican leaders were doing.
[Top]
When Yeshua labelled these men a "brood of vipers" (Matt 23:33), he never added the adjective "you Jewish brood of vipers." His condemnations targeted men who masqueraded in religious titles and emblems of godly authority, but were unholy to the bone. Nor did Paul of Tarsus create an "us-and-them" dichotomy between Messianic believers and "the Jews." He himself declared to everyone more than once "I am Jew" — not "I was a Jew" (Acts 21:39; 22:3). He never said "I am a Christian" in the sense of being an adherent to a new, opposing religion. (Anti-semites hate these verses and never quote them.) The underlying conflict in the NT is over obedience to God, loyalty to the spirit (not merely the letter) of the Torah, and humble willingness to investigate Yeshua's claim to the messianic office.
[Top]
A person won't read far in the Prophets of Israel before coming to the most caustic and fiery language — all of it addressed to Jewish leaders and their followers. Here are three examples. Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, sons who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. (Isaiah 1:4)Do these words sound anti-Semitic? Could they stir up contempt among outsiders if they heard the Jews being called bastard sons of whores who roasted their children alive in the Valley of Gehinnom to please other gods? That's how Isaiah and Jeremiah described the Jewish leaders of their time — centuries before Yeshua. Were the prophets anti-Semitic? How you answer that depends on perspective and rightly reading the context, does it not? If you took these statements and put them in the mouth of a spokesman for the National Socialist German Workers' Party in 1933, they would sound horrific and you would shudder. How do you react when the Temple priest Isaiah says them? Does it make a difference if a Jewish prophet aims them at fellow-Jews?
[Top]
Than the Prophets Did Though I honor and love the prophets, they are not always born of the same spirit as Yeshua. Contrast Jeremiah's prayer about the Jerusalem Jews: Do not forgive their iniquity— with Yeshua's prayer for those who crucifed him: Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34)Unlike the prophet of old, forgiveness of enemies was central to Yeshua's teaching (Matt 5:14-15, 44). Yes, he did warn of God's coming judgment, as did all the prophets. But when he surveyed Jerusalem during his final days, "he wept over it," for he knew the suffering to befall her (Luke 19:41-44) and he wanted to spare her all that: How often I wanted to gather your children together...but you would not have it. (Luke 13:34) Even though most rebuffed him, never did Yeshua abandon the Jewish people nor teach they were God-cursed, as did many of the early Gentile Church Fathers. Yeshua identified with his people to the end and, I believe, does so to this day.
[Display created by: M.H. Sumner] Indeed, the Pharisee Paul (Acts 23:6) wrote to believers in Rome (later the capital of anti-Jewish Christianity): "I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew" (Rom 11:1-2). Had Rome's church remained loyal to Paul's doctrine and Yeshua's spirit, history would have been different. Summary. The fiery language of judgment from Yeshua in the gospels is directed toward sinful and evil men, not sinful Jews. If Christians ignore Yeshua's teaching and foment hate and violence, what can he do? They aren't his people, any more than apostate Jewish leaders in his time were under God's control.
[Top]
If Yeshua were physically present today in our modern Western cultures, what would he do?
Would we expect the Yeshua of the New Testament to utter politically-correct platitudes about love and forgiveness for these sinful Christian leaders — all to avoid being seen as a divisive, judgmental, intolerant fundamentalist? Would he risk open criticism of the Church before the secular Western media who would love to pick up on such infighting and use it to further their anti-religious campaigns? Based on what the New Testament reveals about Yeshua, we must say, Yes, he would risk all that. For everything he condemned in ancient Jerusalem is rife within the modern Church. Many Christians know that and apply his critiques of Jewish leaders to Christian ones. Clearly, he risked Jewish well-being for generations to come by excoriating Israel's religious leaders and her political Machiavellis. How could he do otherwise, and remain faithful to God? As unpopular as they are, his words stand in judgment against us all, Jew and Gentile — for all time.
Silence That Man But Yeshua is Israel's only hope for restoration and ultimate survival. Only his words can stop a soul from hating Jews, or Gentiles.
[Top]
If today's critics achieved their goal of emasculating the NT, then we must also excise much from Deuteronomy and the Hebrew prophets. And in the end — with an anemic irrelevant Bible — the people of God will have no divine voice with which to condemn and stop corruption. And the forces of evil within the church and the synagogue will spread and all moral barriers will collapse and the secular powers will sweep across the earth unhindered. Then the kingdom of antichrist will flourish.
As I did, readers would benefit from Craig A. Evans's article entitled "Polemics or Anti-Semitism? The New Testament and First-Century Judaism" published in issue #34 of Mishkan journal. |
|
The Myth of Jewish Rejection of Jesus
|