Why Jesus Was Born a Jew: The Devastating Grace of His Ethnicity

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Jesus was born Jewish not only to deprive neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan of their claims to Christianity, but also to silence all national and racial pride, including Jewish pride. He was born a Jew to lead every race and every ethnic group into humble dependence on mercy. He was born a Jew so that every race would rejoice because of mercy, not the amount of melanin; so that each ethnic group would be more pleased with mercy than with its ethnic traditions; and that every nationality should rejoice more because of mercy than because of national traits. Jesus was born a Jew to suppress all boasting of ethnic superiority.

It is difficult to come to this conclusion, even though throughout history Jesus' Jewishness has offended all ethnic pride, even Jewish pride. However, to say that this is difficult is simply to agree with Paul. As soon as he came to this conclusion, he immediately said: “Oh, the depth of the wealth and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destinies and unsearchable His ways!” (Rom. 11:33).

This is Paul's answer to why the God of the universe associated Himself with Jewry as a means of saving people in every ethnic group. I say “connected” not because God is caught or confused, but because the intertwining of His ways of salvation with Jewishness is, from our point of view, “incomprehensible.” The complexity of this is beyond our capabilities.

However, Paul was given the opportunity by God to take us deeper into this mystery than anyone before him. Nobody has exhausted it. I invite you to dive into this mystery with me, at least as far as I can cover this topic in one article.

"Christ is from them according to the flesh"

Jesus was born a Jew. The Samaritan woman at the well said to Jesus, “How can you, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (John 4:9). Jesus later told her, “You do not know what you worship, but we know what we worship, for salvation belongs to the Jews” (John 4:22).

The Jewishness of Jesus was not accidental to the Apostle Paul. He asks, “So what is the advantage of being a Jew, or what is the benefit of being circumcised?” And he answers: “It is a great advantage in every way, but especially this, that they have been entrusted with the word of God” (Rom. 3:1-2). And then he completes his list like this:

“...To the Israelites belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the law, and the worship, and the promises; theirs are the fathers, and from them is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all God, blessed forever, amen” (Rom. 9:4-5).

The crown of privileges belonging to the Jews is this: “Of them is Christ according to the flesh.” Jesus was born a Jew. And to deprive this world of its privileges, He is God in the flesh, “God over all, blessed forever.” The greatest privilege of the Jewish people is that the Son of God was born among them.

So Jesus was born a Jew. And this was not an accident, but the highest point of Jewish privilege among other peoples. And Paul does not keep it a secret as if it embarrassed him, but displays it as a banner for every Jew and every nation to see.

The question is why. Not only in the sense of why, where did this come from? But also in the sense of - why, what does this lead to? What is God's purpose for Jesus' Jewishness? And if this is not significant, since Jesus is now the savior of all nations, why doesn't Paul leave the topic alone?

Why - where did it come from?

God associated Himself with human nature in the form of the ethnic Jew because two thousand years ago He associated Himself with Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. “You Yourself, Lord God, chose Abram, and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and gave him the name Abraham” (Neh. 9:7). From that moment on, the Jews became the privileged covenant people of God. “You alone have I recognized above all the families of the earth; therefore will I exact from you all your iniquities” (Amos 3:2). “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be His own people above all the nations that are on the earth” (Deut. 7:6).

Of course, God intended from the beginning that through Abraham and his descendants He would bless all nations. “And I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing; I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who curse you; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3). But Israel's unique privilege has not gone away.

For two thousand years, God focused virtually all of His saving dealings with the world on Israel rather than on the nations. “Who in the past generations suffered all nations to walk in their own ways” (Acts 14:16). “The Lord accepted your fathers and loved them, and chose you, their seed after them, above all nations” (Deut. 10:15). Forgiveness of sins was given to the Jews through the type of Christ's blood in the sacrifices (Lev. 4:20; Rom. 3:25). And the Jews were given a promise that the Messiah would come from this people (Isa. 9:6-7). “And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David; and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever” (Luke 1:32-33).

This is why Jesus was born a Jew. God chose the Jews as His “precious possession” (Deut. 14:2; NIV). He focused His redemptive work on them for two thousand years—not on the Chinese, not on the Africans, and not on the white-faced Germanic hordes. And “when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His [Only Begotten] Son, who was born of a woman, made subject to the law”—that is, born a Jew (Gal. 4:4).

Jews scattered throughout the world

Whenever the Bible talks about mass migration, we tend to imagine an entire group of people moving together from one area to another. But large, migrating groups were almost never completely cohesive.

When the Israelites left Egypt with Moses, many were left behind. Therefore, the blood of Israel can be found in Egypt not only among the Israelites, but also among the later groups of Jews who migrated there.

Sometime in the 730s BC, when the Assyrians attacked the northern kingdom of Israel, a great migration took place where trusted men were sent to Israel and then led Israel to Assyria. During the journey to Assyria, one group of Israelites repented, found favor with God, and separated from the general group to become a covenant and united people. These are the other "lost sheep" who included prophets and who had the scriptures. Someday they will be collected as a separate group. Other Israelites settled throughout Assyria and, over time, migrated in various directions. This is one of the reasons why the descendants of Israel can be found all over the world.

Judah held out more than a hundred years longer than the northern kingdom, and became more and more bitter until they were "ripe for destruction." The Babylonians attacked them three times, and each attack was more destructive and brutal than the previous one. Again, they took away all the best and brightest from Judea and left them poor and homeless. The Jews never had it easy during the period of the Gentiles, but they made the most of it, and for the 70 years that they were in Babylon, the Jews felt comfortable. The Medes and Persians then attacked and defeated Babylon.

The Persian king Cyrus the Great (Zoroastrian by religion, foretold by name in the Bible) announced that he would help the Jews return to Judea. The Jews received this news without much enthusiasm. All was well in Persia, but Jerusalem was in ruins.

Most of the Jews did not return, and for centuries there were more Jews in Babylon than in the Holy Land. Jewish sages taught from there for many hundreds of years, eventually creating the Bavli, the Babylonian Talmud, in the 5th century AD. Of course, some people left Babylon, but many went somewhere else rather than back to Jerusalem. In fact, when Christ was born, about a million Jews (!) lived in Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt. Large communities of Jews lived in Syria, throughout the Middle East and the Mediterranean.

Why - what does this lead to?

But the answer to the question why in relation to the past further strengthens the question why in relation to the future. What is God's purpose in connecting Himself to Israel through covenant and to the Jewish Messiah through the incarnation? Where does this all lead? And why is everything going this way?

Of course, the life, death and resurrection of this Jewish Messiah led to the salvation of the pagans and nations. During His earthly life, Jesus said, “I tell you, many will come from the east and the west and sit with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; and the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness” (Matthew 8:11-12). He told the Jewish leaders, “The kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who bear the fruits thereof” (Matthew 21:43). And He ended His ministry with the command to “go to all nations and make them [His] disciples” (Matthew 28:19, NIV).

But salvation was still “from the Jews” (John 4:22). Paul explains how. When Israel rejected Jesus as the Messiah, they were like natural branches broken off from the tree of the Abrahamic covenant. When the Gentiles believed in Jesus the Messiah, they became like unnatural branches grafted into this Jewish covenant.

“If some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive tree, were grafted into their place and became a sharer of the root and juice of the olive tree, then do not be proud of the branches. If you are arrogant, then remember that it is not you who hold the root, but the root of you” (Rom. 11:17-18).

The root holds you! This means that God's commitment to Israel is the reason why you are saved - because you have joined yourself to that root.

In other words, there can be no question that the pagans have one way of salvation, and the Jews another. There is only one way: belonging to the true Israel - saved Israel. Paul clearly said that “not all are Israelites who are of Israel” (Rom. 9:6). Ethnic origin does not make one part of the true Israel. And many who do not come from Israel become part of the true Israel: “whom He called not only from the Jews, but also from the Gentiles. Just as Hosea says, “I will not call my people my people” (Rom. 9:24-25).

Being a true Jew is not a matter of nationality, but of faith in the Messiah: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly... but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and that circumcision which is in the heart is in the spirit, not in the letter” ( Rom. 2:28-29). The pagans thus “become Jews.”

This is how the promise to Abraham in Gen. is fulfilled. 12:3: “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, declared before Abraham, “In you all nations will be blessed” (Gal. 3:8). This is how Abraham becomes “the father of many nations” (Gen. 17:5; Rom. 4:17).

“Salvation from the Jews” not only because Jesus was a Jew, but because He saves the Gentiles by making them full partners in the Jewish heritage. Through the blood of Christ, “both (Jews and Gentiles) have access to the Father in one Spirit. So you (the Gentiles) are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:18-19). “Stranger” pagans became full citizens of the true, saved Jewish family. “You (Jews and Gentiles) are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise” (Gal. 3:29).

New in blogs

How is the nationality of anyone determined? Firstly - by blood and language (spirit), and secondly - according to the country of birth and residence. If we take where His Mother, the Most Pure Virgin Mary, came from, Jesus was called a Galilean. Throughout the first centuries of Christianity, this name was no less common than Christ. The prophet Isaiah also said: Galilee is Gentile (Isaiah 9:1). That is, the non-Jewish land, alien to the Jews, bordering on Judea. The Jews somehow did not take root in Galilee, no matter how many centuries passed, and the definition of the prophet Isaiah became winged. The combination of words “Pagan Galilee” was no less stable than, say, “Belle France” or “Holy Rus'”.

How did it happen that Jews did not take root in Galilee? Back in 721 BC. Sargon, king of Assyria, crushed Israel and scattered ten of its twelve tribes. That is, Sargon deported all the Jews who lived there from Galilee and brought another people in their place. He did this for the following reason. The Jewish tribes had entered into an anti-Assyrian alliance more than once before, and the king of Assyria wished that Egypt, the rival of his kingdom, would not have a military ally in the strategically important Galilee Valley.

Who exactly settled Galilee by the Assyrian king? King Sargon wanted the Jews who were expelled by him not to return. And he turned to the Scythians, since “it is known for certain that they struck terror into the hearts of the Jews.” There was an ancient enmity between these two peoples: the Scythians were the descendants of those Aryans whom the Jews drove out of Galilee, invading there with weapons under the leadership of Joshua, who ordered the extermination of everyone (Joshua 6:20). Yes, precisely to exterminate, and not to evict, like Sargon. The custom of revenge for relatives existed at that time in almost all tribes. So the Scythians took revenge. And they came - from those regions of the North that are now known to mankind as Russia: from that land that is the home of the ancestors of people with white skin: the ancestral home of all Aryans, Indo-Europeans.

Modern anthropologists believe that the people of this particular region, following south along the Volga to the Caspian Sea, and to the borders of Asia Minor, in distant prehistoric times undertook a dangerous journey to a warmer climate and easier conquests through Iran to India and Mesopotamia. It was these white-skinned people who were the ancestors of the Sumerians and all the most ancient Aryan tribes of Asia Minor - the ancestors of all those who would later be called the creators of Civilization.

The Assyrian king's calculation turned out to be correct. The tribes of Israel that lived in Galilee before his arrival never returned there again. The Scythians, summoned by Sargon, vowed never to leave the land of their ancestors. They built the city of Scythopolis (modern name Besan) in Galilee - only twenty miles from Nazareth. The walls and towers of Scythopolis controlled all the fords across the Jordan and therefore acted as a shield for the Scythian Galilee and the Assyrian kingdom in case of military danger. Among Orthodox Russians, descendants of the ancient Scythians, there is a long tradition of claiming that the Blessed Virgin came from their family. And this version is much more reliable than the version of the Jewish origin of Mary, because the Jews only occupied Galilee twice and were expelled twice.

In 164 BC. Simon Maccabeus Tarsis, prince of the Jews, ordered the cleansing of "Gentile Galilee" of the few Jewish families who had settled there when Babylon surrendered to Cyrus. The Law of Maccabees ordered the forced removal of such families to Judea. Why did the Jewish prince need such a law? Perhaps Maccabeus was concerned that the Jews, communicating with the indigenous non-Jewish population of Galilee (at that time it consisted mainly of Scythians, Greeks and Gauls), would be imbued with a freedom-loving spirit, would cease to fanatically fulfill the requirements of the Jewish law, and this would be an example that would provoke their relatives in Judea.

The Maccabean law of forced relocation is known to historians. Historians write about the few Jews who squeezed into the Pagan Galilee: “Maccabeus returned them all to Judea, making Galilee again a strictly non-Jewish country.” But here it should be noted: the law of the Jewish prince provided for the forcible relocation to Judea not of every Jew who settled in Galilee, but of every Jewish family living there.

However, what was a family according to Jewish law? It meant only that union in which both spouses were of Jewish blood. A mixed union was not considered a family according to Jewish law. The Old Testament contains a number of episodes from which it is easy to see: such a union even constituted a crime against Jewish law. And this crime was often punishable by death. "

And behold, one of the children of Israel... brought the Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel... Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest rose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, and followed the Israelite into his bedroom, and he struck them both: the Israelite and the woman in her womb (Numbers 25:6-8.).” And it goes on to say that the Jewish god rewards Phinehas for his “zeal” with “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood” (Numbers 25:13). In all subsequent centuries BC. The rabbis showed exactly the same “zeal.” This is how it is described, for example, in the book of Nehemiah. “I saw the Jews take wives from the women of Azhit, the women of Ammon, and the women of Moab... and I cursed them, and beat some of the husbands, and pulled out their hair, and cast a spell on them” (Nehemiah 13:23-25). And then Nehemiah writes that a Jew who marries a foreign woman commits “great evil” before the Jewish god (Neh. 13:27).

So, a person who entered into a mixed marriage was considered by the Jews at the time of Christ to have violated the Jewish law, which means it is the same as being dead. The removal of such families to Judea would constitute not only a temptation to the law, but also a direct demonstration of the possibility of breaking it. Therefore, Maccabee’s order left such families alone, equating them with all other “pagan” families of Pagan Galilee. Despite the fact that many Jews in mixed unions continued to follow most of the customs of Judaism, and some encouraged their family members to do so.

The Law of the Maccabees was not repealed even in the time of Christ. But, let us repeat, it concerned entirely Jewish families, only them. Otherwise, in Galilee by the time of R.H. There would not be a single Jew left at all. But such a “national minority,” as they would say now, still lived there. The Gospels also testify to the Galileans of Jewish nationality. The most detailed example is provided by St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin. Luke says about him: “he was from the house and family of David” (Luke 2:4). And in the next chapter he lists in detail all the Jewish ancestors of Joseph right up to King David and even more ancient ones.

Here it is important to remember the fact that Joseph was only a betrothed: he never knew Mary as a husband knows his wife. This has been affirmed from the beginning by all Christians in the world. This was also recognized by opponents of Christianity. The Jews of the first centuries were instructed by the rabbis to call Christ nothing other than Ben Pardus, that is, the Son of the Lynx. They wanted to emphasize by this, in order to turn their fellow tribesmen away from Christian preaching, that Jesus was illegitimate, and that His father was a centurion named Lynx - a Roman legionnaire from the Russians.

The Gospel says quite definitely: “The birth of Christ was like this: after the betrothal of His Mother Mary to Joseph, before they were united, it turned out that She was pregnant with the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). So, Joseph, a Jew from the tribe of David, is not the father of Christ; Why then do the holy Evangelists cite in great detail the genealogy of St. Joseph - who is interested in this and what is it for?

This question has already attracted the attention of many. The time has come to give an answer to it. Perhaps for most of our contemporaries it will seem unexpected. Two full millennia have passed since it was obvious. So: the genealogy of Joseph was cited as an argument that achieves a complete, final refutation of the Ebionite heresy in its very germ. And this argument was included in the texts of the Gospels themselves.

Indeed, evangelicals constantly emphasize three facts:

1). Joseph, officially, is the husband of Mary (“with Mary betrothed to his wife” - Luke 2:5); 2).Joseph, for sure, is ethnically a Jew (here is his genealogy even from Eber himself! - Luke 3:23-35); 3).Joseph is only a betrothed, he had nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ (“And Joseph took his wife, and did not know her, and behold, she gave birth to her son, her firstborn” - Mat 1: 24, 25). The blood of Joseph, therefore, could in no way flow in the veins of the earthly flesh of Jesus Christ.

The rest comes out easily. Anyone living in the time of St. The evangelists, having compared three facts, could figure out the following. The Holy Family was not forcibly relocated to Judea, despite the fact that Joseph was a Jew. Therefore, this family was not subject to the Maccabean law. And if it did not qualify, then it means that the Holy Family was a mixed marriage.

For a person who lived during the time of the law on forced relocation, all this was so obvious that it did not even need to be described in detail. It was enough to point out the three above-mentioned facts in their totality - and the heresy of the Ebionites was completely refuted!

One question arises. It is known that in the Gospels there are later insertions of the Ebionite sense. Fragments of text not written by St. by the evangelists, but added decades later by the Ebionite scribes. These insets can be seen with the naked eye, because such fragments are not consistent with the surrounding text. Here is one example of a sidebar. The Apostle Peter allegedly says that Christ “is from the fruit of David’s loins” (Acts 2:30). But then we read that the apostle quotes the words of David: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool” (Acts 2:34–35). So, these are the words Jesus Himself cites as proof that He does NOT come from the fruit of David’s loins (Mark 12:35–40)! And the disciple of Christ could not help but know this. Obviously, verse 30 of the second chapter of Acts contains a sidebar. Consequently, other supposedly New Testament texts exaggerating the theme of the “son of David” are not worth much.

Two factors stand against the restoration of the truth about Christ. One of them is the inertia of lies. If a person first knew some fact in a false light for a long time, and then receives information that refutes this lie, then his consciousness cannot be rebuilt immediately. The truth, even if proven with the accuracy of a geometric theorem, will still be perceived, at best, only as an “interesting hypothesis”, an “alternative point of view”. The second factor... it represents the power of gold, the power of money. It is beneficial for the leaders of the Jewish Diaspora that the peoples of the world continue to believe that Christ was supposedly a Jew. During the late Middle Ages, these leaders achieved influence even over kings, methodically declaring the formula: “your God is our relative.”

Nevertheless, it is the duty of a Christian to confess the truth. And here we have the right to count on the help of honest Jews. After all, the misconception that Christ was supposedly a Jew is artificially maintained only among non-Jews, while the exact opposite is preached to Jews: Ben Pardus, mentioned above, even ended up in the dictionary of Manly P. Hall! Of course, to claim that Christ is the son of a Roman legionnaire from the Russians is nonsense. But the contrast between what is offered “for domestic use” and what is “for export” is indicative.

"All Israel will be saved"

Some believe that this inclusion of Gentiles into the Jewish heritage is the final step in God's dealings with ethnic Israel. But that's not true. Paul teaches that when “the fullness of the Gentiles is come in,” then “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25-26). This refers to an entire ethnic group that will turn to Christ in the future - after “the fullness of the Gentiles has entered.”

Some say that the expression “all Israel” here does not refer to an ethnic group, but to the full number of the elect, Jew and Gentile. There are at least five good reasons why this is not the case. I will name two of them.

First, it is highly unlikely that in just eleven Greek words the meaning of the word “Israel” changed from “ethnicity/people” to “elect Jews and Gentiles” (Rom. 11:25-26). Almost everyone agrees that the word's first use refers to ethnic Israel. Therefore, of course, the second also applies to Israel: “...The hardening has happened in Israel in part... All Israel will be saved.” That is, “all Israel” is a people who were once partially hardened. One day this nation will be saved.

Secondly, the parallel between the two parts of Rom. 11:28 refers to “all Israel” as an ethnic group. The first part of verse 28 reads: “In regard to the gospel, they [the ethnic people of Israel] are enemies” of God. The second part of this verse says, “And in regard to election, [the same people who are enemies] are beloved of God for the sake of their fathers.” The point of this verse is to show that even though ethnic Israel is now a covenant-breaking, unbelieving people, this will change. The people who are now the enemy will later be converted by reason of election and love. (See parallels in Romans 11:12,15.)

Judea faced corruption and wars

So, let's start with the construction of the second temple in Jerusalem by those Jews who returned from Babylon and Persia. Not only were there not enough of them to build it, but the Samaritans in the north did everything they could to stop it. The result was a small but serviceable temple and a long feud with Samaria. The overseers of the Jews were soldiers of the Persian Empire, but on the ground, priests ruled the theocracy in the Holy Land.

During these years, many people treated religion quite freely, and even priests married people from other nations. Jerusalem continued to be something of a backwater city. There was peace among Judea under the Persians, and gradually its situation improved. She grew to half her size when she was captured by Babylon.

Something important happened in 331 BC. e. and affected the entire eastern Mediterranean and much of the Middle East. Alexander the Great expanded the Greek Empire and conquered Persia. Although he died at the age of 32, his empire was enormous. After Alexander, Greek merchants, artisans and workers flooded the entire region, bringing Greek culture with them. Retired Greek soldiers were given land throughout the empire.

The "Hellenization" of this entire territory had significant consequences. Picture this: The Cleopatra you know and love, who died with Mark Antony after challenging Julius Caesar (circa 30 BC), was descended from the Ptolemies of Egypt, an entire line of pharaohs. Ptolemy was a general under Alexander and captured the western part of his empire. He was also Macedonian Greek. Cleopatra was Greek, like her ancestors. In fact, she was the first Ptolemaic pharaoh to learn Egyptian... shortly before Rome took over.

The Greek social order continued for a long time and oppressed the Holy Land during the time of Christ. Look at a map of the Holy Land in the time of our Savior and you will see many cities with Greek names. Hellenic philosophy permeated both Jewish and later Christian beliefs. Idealization of the human body (especially demonstrated in art and athletics), superstition, paganism, and materialism were part of Greek culture. The Greek language was known in all cities and even small settlements of Jewish Palestine. It began to seem that Judaism was fading into the background, like a forgotten religion, causing a feeling of embarrassment due to its backwardness.

Another of Alexander's generals, Seleucus, inherited the eastern part of his dominions, especially Syria. The Ptolemies and Seleucids fought each other for control of Israel and Judea. But in later years, historians speak of Syrian-Greek alliances that attacked or ruled the Holy Land under the rule of the Seleucid kings. Antiochus IV, who came to power in 175 BC, decided that he would destroy the religion of the Jews and impose the Greek religion on them. His forces desecrated the temple, prevented Jews from worshiping, and killed many. The Pharisees and Sadducees became more important at this time.

In 167 BC. e. one family of Pharisees decided to start an uprising. They were simple people, the family of Mattathias the Hasmonean (also known as Mattityahu Hashmonai) and his five sons, but they rallied the people behind them, effectively drove out the Seleucids and rededicated the temple. They became known as the Maccabees. A miracle happened for them in the temple when a very small amount of oil burned for 8 days. This event is now remembered during the celebration of Hanukkah.

The Maccabees continued to rule Judea and even expanded their borders, but the family became corrupted. They were called the Hasmonean dynasty. The Seleucids continued to press. During this time, the position of high priest became a position that could be bought with money, and the Pharisees and Sadducees periodically argued with each other in the streets. The Essenes withdrew to Qumran because the priesthood and the temple had become corrupt. The Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerazim in Samaria, but the Hasmoneans destroyed it.

There was chaos everywhere, so when in 63 BC. uh, the Roman general Pompey arrived to “reconcile”; there was almost no one to resist him. With the advent of Pompey, the coexistence of Roman rule, Greek culture, fragmented Judaism, corrupt priests and a few humble men who continued to pursue the Spirit, trying to be faithful to the One God.

Why did He do this?

Now we can take a step back and ask the question: Why did God go to save His people of all nations, including the Jews, in such a circuitous way?

Let me summarize this workaround of God:

1. All of humanity fell into sin and corruption when Adam and Eve rejected the goodness of God for their own wisdom (Gen. 3:6; Rom. 5:12). When the various ethnic groups emerged in Genesis 10-11, all of their individual members were “children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3). No people on earth were worthy of God's blessing. Everyone deserved to be destroyed.

2. When God set in motion the plan of redemption for mankind, He chose Israel as the primary focus of His saving work for two thousand years (Deut. 7:6; Amos 3:2). This election of Israel was not connected with any characteristics of Israel that would make them worthy of other nations. Abraham was an idolater before God called him (Joshua 24:2,14). “So what? do we [Jews] have an advantage? Not at all. For we have already proved that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin” (Rom. 3:9).

3. For two thousand years, God offered salvation to Israel (Rom. 9:4-5) and foreshadowed the Messiah through Jewish history and Scripture (Luke 24:27). Their constant response was largely unbelief, as Stephen said: “Ye stiff-necked!...Ye always resist the Holy Spirit, even as your fathers do, and so do you” (Acts 7:51). Or as Paul said: “But concerning Israel he speaks [quoting the words of God from Is. 65:2]: All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and stubborn people” (Rom. 10:21).

4. The effect of this Jewish unbelief, notwithstanding its great advantages, was to show that the law, without a Redeemer, does not lead to justification, but only to the exposure and increase of sin (Rom. 3:20; 5:20). Because of this, every mouth is stopped. Therefore, if Israel, with all its advantages, “has not attained to the law of righteousness” (Rom. 9:31), other nations should not think that they are in a better situation. “But we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth is stopped, and the whole world becomes guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).

5. Through the incarnation, life, death and resurrection of the Messiah, the promises to the patriarchs were confirmed and mercy was opened to all nations. “Christ became a minister to the circumcision... to fulfill what was promised to the fathers, and to the Gentiles as a mercy, so that they might glorify God...” (Rom. 15:8-9).

6. There was a bitterness in Israel (Rom. 11:25; 2 Cor. 3:14) that continued into the 21st century. It will remain “until the fullness of the Gentiles is come in” (Rom. 11:25).

7. At this time - “the time of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24) - there will be a great missionary movement to all nations. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

8. When “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, ... all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25-26).

9. Christ will return and establish His Kingdom (Rom. 11:26).

This is the bypass way that God planned to redeem His people from all ethnic groups, including the final conversion of “all Israel”—an entire generation en masse converted to faith at the end of time. Why was such a workaround needed? Here is Paul's short answer to Rom. 11:30-32:

“Just as you were once disobedient to God, but have now received mercy because of their disobedience, so they also are now disobedient so that you may have mercy, so that they themselves may also receive mercy. For God has imprisoned all in disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.”

Looking at this answer, we can say that:

The nations lived in disobedience after the Fall. That's why God chose Israel. Israel lived in disobedience despite all its privileges. Therefore, God was filled with mercy towards the pagan peoples. This mercy to the nations will lead to the great mercy of the conversion of Israel. Thus all nations are entirely dependent on grace and not on merit.

It's complicated. Strange. This is a workaround. So much so that the next thing out of Paul’s mouth was: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His destiny and unsearchable His ways” (Rom. 11:33).

Reasons Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus

While we cannot speak for all of Judaism, for most Jews there are three main reasons why they do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah: Jesus did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies, Jesus did not possess the attributes of the Messiah, and there are also misinterpreted (translated) passages regarding the Messiah. Jesus did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies.

The main inconsistencies arise from the interpretation of messianic prophecies. The Jews have a literal approach to what the Messiah must do. Jewish history, implicated in the literal interpretation of many prophecies, is the reason why it is believed that Jesus did not fulfill many messianic prophecies. Below are some examples of these inconsistencies:

The Bible says that the Messiah will bring peace to the whole world: “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:1-4, 32:15-18).
The Messiah will make God known to all nations (Zephaniah 3:9, Amos 9:13-15).
The Messiah will build the third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28).
The Messiah will again gather all the Jews in Israel and unite them (Isaiah 43:5-6)
All people will come and know God (Jeremiah 31:33-34, Zechariah 14:9)

If we take these passages literally, it is clear that Jesus did not fulfill them. Jesus did not bring absolute peace or stop all wars; Jesus did not literally make God known to every person on earth; Jesus did not physically build the third Temple known to the Jews; He did not return every Jew to Israel; Jesus was not the reason that all living things came to God and knew Him.

Some Christians believe that Jesus will literally fulfill some of these prophecies at His second coming, but Jews do not believe in a second coming of the Messiah. It turns out that Jews who see Messianic prophecies in this way will never believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

Jesus does not have the qualities of the Messiah

Along with fulfilling Messianic prophecies, a true Messiah must have a number of characteristics. Below are four main qualities that Jews believe Jesus did not satisfy:

Jesus was not a prophet. The Bible clearly states that the Messiah must definitely be a prophet (Isaiah 11:2, Deuteronomy 18:15-19). Jews believe that Prophecy can only exist in Israel if the majority of the world's Jews live there. This situation has not existed since approximately 300 BC. And therefore, at that time the prophecies ended. Jews believe that since the Messiah will return all Jews to Israel, then he will be able to prophesy again.
Jesus was not a descendant of David. The Bible says that the Messiah will be a descendant of David (Isaiah 11:1-9, 2 Samuel 7:12-16). Jews believe that the Messiah must be a paternal descendant of King Davila. Joseph, Jesus' father, was descended from King David, but Jesus' DNA does not contain his contribution due to Mary's miraculous virgin birth.
Jesus was not born to human parents. Many Jews today believe that the Messiah will be born to ordinary human parents. Jesus was born through a miraculous conception by Mary from the Holy Spirit and therefore cannot be the Messiah. They received this belief from the Laws of the Kings 11:3 [3] Maimonides (Moses Maimonides (1135-1204 CE) was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher and one of the most prolific Torah scholars and Rabbis. He wrote works on Jewish Law that Jews largely degrees are accepted and followed [4].) It also states that the Messiah will not have supernatural powers, raise the dead, or perform other similar acts, and that in every generation there is a person with the potential to act as the Messiah.
Jesus did not keep the Torah. Jews believe that according to Deuteronomy 12:1-4, the Messiah must keep the Torah, since any Prophet who does not keep the Torah is a false one.
Passages about Jesus that are not accurately translated. When Jews read scripture, they use the original Hebrew text, which they believe is the only way to understand Bible verses. Two fundamental biblical texts that Jews believe are misunderstood or mistranslated are Isaiah 7:14 and Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and they will call his name Immanuel.”

Jews claim that the word "Virgin" was replaced by Christians hundreds of years after the death of Christ. In Hebrew, the word alma, rendered virgin, means a young woman of childbearing age. Based on this, Jews believe that the birth of Christ comes from the pagan tradition, when representatives of the human race were conceived by the gods.

Today, many Jews believe that the “suffering of the servant of the Lord,” considered a prophecy about Jesus, actually refers to Isaiah 52, the exile and return of the Jewish people. They say Isaiah 53 uses the singular form because the Jews are one people. Jews believe that the redemptive end in Isaiah 53 describes a time to come when the Jews will be freed and the people who harmed them will realize this and accept responsibility for their suffering. It should be noted that, nevertheless, all Jews considered this chapter to be a Messianic prophecy before the coming of Christ.

Responding to Jewish Criticism

The above reasons for the unbelief of the Jews can be easily explained if you understand the nature of these prophecies. Many of the prophecies are much easier to understand if you have an understanding of the New Testament.

The ultimate goal: everyone humbly trusts in mercy

What is the ultimate goal of this roundabout way of salvation? Paul puts it this way: “For God has imprisoned all in disobedience, that He might have mercy on all” (Rom. 11:32). Paul had already said that the goal was that “every mouth might be stopped, and the whole world might become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19). This is a negative goal. Each ethnic group humbled itself because of its disobedience.

The Jews humbled themselves because, despite their advantages, they were like broken branches, and the Gentiles took their place in the Abrahamic covenant only by faith (Rom. 11:19; 9:30-31). The Gentile nations humbled themselves because they held on by faith alone (Rom. 11:20), and because it was the Hebrew root that sustained them, and not the other way around (Rom. 11:18). You need to become a “Jew” to be saved (Gal. 3:7). But no Jew is saved because of his ethnicity. “For not all are Israelites that are of Israel” (Rom. 9:6). “And do not think to say within yourself, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you that from these stones God is able to raise up children for Abraham” (Matthew 3:9).

Every mouth is blocked. The pride and boasting of every ethnic group fell silent. All are locked in disobedience. Everyone is forced to swallow their pride. Gentiles must become Jews (including Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members) in order to be saved. The Jews must renounce all confidence in their Jewishness and join the Gentiles in their dependence on mercy.

People you should know

Herod the Great

Herod the Great was the Roman governor of Judea until a year after the birth of Christ. He was hated, feared and respected. He was a descendant of Esau (an Edomite) and therefore was not considered a Jew among his Jewish subjects. He married Mariamne, who was from the Hasmonean (Maccabean) family, and this helped the attitude towards him, but then he executed her. He undertook huge construction projects, including the expansion of the 2nd Temple, the construction of the gigantic Roman port and resort of Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast, the fortress of Masada and his palace at Herodium. He ruled a mixture of cultures and tried to please everyone, but killed family members and others who threatened his position. He committed the murder of innocent babies in Bethlehem in an attempt to get rid of the newborn Jesus.

Herod Antipas

Herod Antipas was the son of Herod the Great and the Roman governor of Galilee when Christ stood trial. Because Jesus was from Galilee, Pontius Pilate sent Jesus to him rather than judge him himself. Herod Antipas killed John the Baptist when he accused him of adultery. He lost his position in 39 AD. BC, when his nephew accused him of plotting against the Roman emperor of the time, Caligula.

Pontius Pilate

Pontius Pilate was prefect of Judea when Tiberius was emperor in Rome, from about 26 – 36 AD. uh.. He was a Roman of the upper class. Pilate, as we see in the scriptures, doubted the charges against Jesus, sending him to Herod and offering Barabbas in His place. Pilate was overthrown in 37 after he brutally suppressed a Samaritan revolt.

Caiaphas

Caiaphas was a Sadducee and was appointed by the Romans to the position of High Priest. He was the son-in-law of Annas, the former high priest, who (having paid money to the Romans) also gave several of his sons the same position. Caiaphas remained in his position for quite a long time because he knew how to please the Romans. He was still holding his position when Pontius Pilate was recalled to Rome.

Pharisees

The Pharisees (“set apart”) did not belong to any particular sect, but their religious beliefs influenced culture and politics. They believed in the purity of the Jews, strictly following the law of Moses. They believed in the resurrection and in oral traditions that were not directly recorded in Scripture. The Pharisees rejected Greek influence. They could be poor or middle class, but some were very rich. As a rule, they condemned and outwardly demonstrated life according to the law. When the Jews were scattered by the Romans in 70 AD. BC, their form of Judaism became Rabbinic Judaism.

Sadducees

The Sadducees (from Zadok, the high priest) were wealthy Jews from influential families. They accepted only what was found in the scriptures and did not believe in the resurrection. They adopted Greek culture and used Greek architecture for their homes in Judea. The Sadducees focused on priestly lineage and social status. This movement disappeared after the Romans dispersed the Jews in 70 AD. uh..

Scribes

Scribes (or scribes) during the Babylonian captivity kept records, copied and restored the Holy Scriptures. When the Jews began to speak Aramaic and Greek, the scribes began to expound and teach the Holy Scriptures, which were written in Hebrew. The scribes were not united in their philosophy, but most likely followed the ideas of the Pharisees.

Essenes

During Hasmonean rule, the Essenes began to feel that both the temple and the priesthood had been desecrated. While some lived consecrated lives in the community, others isolated themselves at Qumran, hoping to someday return to consecrated Jerusalem and the temple. They followed a different calendar than the Pharisees in Jerusalem, so their holiest days (the Days of Awe) did not coincide with those observed by most Jews in the city. They bound themselves to a vow of celibacy and required that their members live by very strict laws of purification. They kept records and hid them in caves. These records are now called the Dead Sea Scrolls (although scholars still debate whether the Essenes are the authors of these scrolls).

Sanhedrin

The Sanhedrin ("joint sitting") consisted of twenty-three or seventy-one rabbis appointed to sit as a tribunal in each city in the land of Israel in ancient times. Small assemblies in cities were considered "lesser" compared to the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. They met in a place called the "Hall of Hewn Stones" every day except the Sabbath and the Days of Awe. Caiaphas, who famously accused and persecuted Christ, leading to His crucifixion, paid for his seat on the Sanhedrin, which had previously belonged to other members of his family.

The Sanhedrin continued to operate effectively after the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 AD. e. and moved to Galilee. It functioned under various names and iterations until 425 AD. e. and finally ceased due to intense persecution by the Eastern Roman Empire.

The Law of Moses dictated many rules that the Sanhedrin had to follow to ensure a fair trial for those accused of crimes, almost every one of which was broken in order to condemn the Savior.

Sicarii

The Sicarii were fanatics who opposed Roman rule over the Jews. Their name comes from the daggers they hid under their clothes. They used these daggers during public meetings, attacking Romans and Jewish sympathizers, then blending into the crowd to avoid arrest. “The killers preferred to act in the crowd, which made it possible to produce a greater effect and, at the same time, gave the attacker the opportunity to escape” (Wikipedia). Together with the Zealots, they were one of the driving forces in the First Jewish War. The Jews who were cornered by the Romans at Masada after the destruction of the temple were Zealots and Sicarii.

Family of Christ

Matthew 13:54–56 says: “...Is not this the son of carpenters? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers Jacob and Joses and Simon and Judas? And his brothers Jacob and Joseph and Simon and Judah? And are not His sisters all among us?” Therefore, we know that Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters. Jesus' brother James continues to be mentioned in the Bible after Christ's crucifixion. According to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, when the Apostle Peter left Jerusalem, it was James who became the head of the church in Jerusalem and was highly respected among Jewish Christians. Hegesippus reports that Jacob was executed by the Sanhedrin in 62 AD. uh..

Both Mary (Miriam) and Joseph (Yosef) were descendants of David from the tribe of Judah. It is interesting that Mary and Joseph lived in Galilee rather than closer to the temple in Judea, given their allegiance and lineage. Some scholars suggest that their ancestors may have had government appointments to be there under the Hasmoneans.

One mercy-dependent and mercy-loving race

Jesus was born a Jew—and with that came all the other parts of God's “unsearchable” and “unfathomable” wisdom—to achieve this goal. To silence all national and racial pride, including Jewish pride, and to bring every race and every ethnicity to humble trust in mercy.

Christ was born a Jew so that every race would rejoice because of mercy, not the amount of melanin; so that each ethnic group would be more pleased with mercy than with its ethnic traditions; and that every nationality should rejoice more because of mercy than because of national traits. Jesus was born a Jew to suppress all boasting of ethnic superiority. And in order to create one new, joyful and mercy-loving race.

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