6. Jesus the Jew

The majority of professing Christians have only put their faith in “Jesus” or “Jesus the Savior” but have never put their faith in “the Messiah Jesus.” Even though they know the Messiah is God’s anointed one, Jesus as the Messiah bears no real significance to their faith. Influenced by the popular 1979 film, JESUS, many Christians envision Jesus as a blue-eyed American who came into the world to save us. Was Jesus a white man? Was he a European? He was born in the Middle East! Even though we know that Jesus was a Jew, we nonetheless ignore his Jewish roots. How embarrassing! Jesus Christ is the most influential person in the world, yet he is the most misunderstood figure.

Our Christian traditions distance us from the Jewish context in which Jesus lived his life. We end up creating a popular “Gentile Jesus” that is not in accordance with the Bible. Ever since the 4^th century, the entire identity of Jesus has turned non-Jewish, because the Greek fathers failed to interpret the texts of Scripture through Hebrew lenses. As a result, the Jewish Messiah turned into a Gentile God, God the Son.

Christianity has been trapped for the past 1700 years in believing in a “Gentile Jesus”. Christians love the Gentile Jesus. It’s hard to get out of this trap unless you love the truth and embrace it to the end of your days. The call to return to faith in the “Messiah Jesus” of the Bible could end up being a lone voice crying in the wilderness.

Some years ago, I read the enlightening book, “Who Moved My Cheese?”[1] The book encourages people to let go of old beliefs and embrace changes in their lives. The amusing parable of the cheese reveals a profound truth: Nobody wants to have his cheese removed. Who dares to move my cheese?! It is in our human nature to hide within the boundaries of our comfort zones for fear of change, and even to the peril of living under the covers of lies. Making changes can be disturbing. A pastor recently confided in me that she understood the truth about the Messiah Jesus, but she found it difficult to let go of her emotional attachment to the Gentile Jesus. “Please leave my cheese alone!” I feel sorry for her. Most Christians do not want to be disturbed and prefer to cling to the Gentile Jesus that they have grown up with all their lives. Are you one of them?

In the minds of most Christians, Jesus’ mission ended on the cross when he died for the sins of the world. Consequently, the altar call to accept Jesus as their personal Savior is all that matters in their Christian life. Who is concerned about receiving Jesus as their Messiah at the altar call? That’s for the Jews, and so we think.

For the longest time in my Christian life, the word “Messiah” had no significant meaning. I never understood the rich meaning of “Christ = Messiah”. Whenever I read about “Christ” in the New Testament, “Christ” just meant another word for “Jesus”. My faith rested in just “Jesus”, not “Christ, the Messiah”. You may ask, “Is there a difference?” Definitely, thus the importance of this chapter and the following chapters. By God’s grace, I will walk you through step-by-step to help you put your faith in the “Messiah Jesus”, and not just in “Jesus” or in a “Gentile Jesus”.

To understand the Messiah Jesus, we must come to know Jesus within the Jewish context and grasp how the first-century audience understood him. Surprisingly, many Christians are unfamiliar with the Jew Jesus and what he believed in. In my time, I have read many of my Gentile thinking into the Jew Jesus of the Bible. Perhaps you have as well. And for this reason, Jesus as the “Christ/the Messiah” bears no significance to us. This leads to eternal consequences, as our salvation depends on whether Jesus is our Messiah.

When Jesus is our Messiah, we experience the eternal life that is available through him. Receiving Jesus into our lives is critically connected to his role as Christ, the Messiah. Disassociating Jesus from his role as the Messiah will lead to “another Jesus” that Paul speaks of to the Corinthian church (2 Cor 11:4). Just as the serpent cunningly deceived Eve, our mind can also be led astray from “a sincere and pure devotion to the Messiah” (v.3). Loving Jesus has to do with devoting ourselves to him, who is the Messiah. Satan has been using all cunning devices to lead Christians away to “another Jesus”. We need to watch out for the imposters, the false Christs that are not taught by the apostles. Not only do we watch out for people who claim to be Christ, but we also need to be alert, to guard against false teachings about Jesus.

Jesus lived in the Jewish culture of ancient Israel. He was born in Judah to a Jewish mother and was raised as a Jew in a Jewish home. Jesus had a very deep and rich Hebrew heritage.

The opening sentence of the New Testament introduces Jesus as the Messiah, highlighting his Jewish lineage: the son of David and the son of Abraham. We need to understand the Jewish Messiah within the rich tapestry of his Hebrew heritage. The Messiah Jesus is closely linked to the Hebraic roots of David and Abraham.

Yahweh God is a God of history in working out His redemptive work, primarily through David and Abraham. Have you ever wondered why there are 39 books in the Old Testament? Why is the Old Testament so thick? Our God is a God of history. He reveals Himself through the Jewish people whom He first chose to be His people. The Jews have had a long and rich history with Yahweh. History is about human life. God works through human life and He makes Himself known in life and not outside of life.

To understand God’s Messianic redemptive plan, we need to study the history of the Jews in the Old Testament. Jewish history is our history and heritage. “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Rom 15:4) Every word written in the Old Testament is for our edification. Have you even read through the Old Testament once? I encourage all our brothers and sisters to make it their goal to read the entire Bible at least once every three years. By reading a chapter a day, they would finish both testaments in three years. God has already done all the hard work in writing 39 books through the prophets, kings, and priests. Come to our Father early in the morning to hear His voice through His written Word. Words that come from our Father’s heart need to enter into our hearts. Open your heart to Yahweh God. Not only do we read with our eyes and hearts, but we also need to meditate on God’s word day and night, and apply all the spiritual principles into our daily lives. You will then come to know and personally experience how good Yahweh is to His children.

The Old Testament is as important as the New. The genealogy in Matthew chapter 1 is a compelling record of individuals from the Old Testament. All Scripture (OT) is breathed out by God (2Tim 3:16). However, when the church severed herself from her Hebraic root, the interpretation of the New Testament was heavily influenced by the prevailing Greco-Roman cultural context. One of the early heresies the church faced in the 2^nd Century was propounded by Marcion of Sinope, who argued that the Old Testament was inferior to the New. Marcion was influenced by the dualistic teachings of Gnosticism and Platonism, which persist in the thoughts of many Christians even today. Christianity was cradled in a Hellenistic culture that has dominated the Church to this day.

Jesus would not have visualized a church that would grow apart from God’s chosen people of Israel. Jesus did not come down on a parachute, but was born through the seed of David and Abraham.

Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience. Out of the 16 “son of David” occurrences, ten are found in Matthew. The Jew Jesus is firmly rooted in Israel, with a focus on David, to whom God promised that a king from his lineage would sit on his throne forever.

The promised Messiah will be a real human offspring, a descendant of the royal blood of David, from the house of David.

Jesus came directly from the line of David, the Jewish king of Israel. As the son of David, Jesus is the heir to the throne of David. He will reign over the Kingdom forever. The goal of the Messiah is to restore the Kingdom to Israel and extend its impact to all the nations of the world.

The Jews had always been longing intensely for the Kingdom of God to come on earth. Most Gentile Christians do not have the kingdom concept because they have detached Jesus from his Messianic root. Whether Jesus is the son of David bears no significance to most Christians. When Jesus returns in his second coming, he is going to sit on the Davidic throne in the city of Jerusalem. He is the King Messiah, who will set up the Kingdom physically on earth for our final salvation. This physical Kingdom will be established forever on earth.

I’ve spoken with many Christians and asked them about their thoughts on the Kingdom of God. Most of them perceive the Kingdom as a place called heaven where they will go after they die. But is this the Gospel message of the Bible? When Jesus returns, he will not be taking anyone to a paradise in heaven. Instead, he will return to Jerusalem to rule as the Davidic King and establish God’s Kingdom on earth.

Jesus is the son of Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, through whom God promised to bless the Gentiles.

The Jewish Jesus came from the line of Abraham. Abraham’s ultimate calling is that kings shall come forth from his body. Abraham is the patriarch of the royal line. God promised Abraham: a seed, a land, and a nation to bless all other nations.

(1) God promised Abraham that a seed from his family will be the ultimate king.

The concept of “seed” or “offspring” plays a significant role in God’s promises to Abraham. God promised to give to Abraham a descendant who will be Christ, the Messiah. The Messiah is identified as the “ultimate seed” who will rule as king.

(2) God promised Abraham a land. The promise of the land to Abraham and his descendants holds profound significance in relation to the Messiah’s role as king. The promise is that his royal seed and descendants will inherit the land of Israel and beyond.

Abraham was given clear instructions to explore and walk through the land that will one day become his inheritance. God intends to fulfil His promise in connection to the land. The Messiah will rule over the land God promised to give to Abraham in his covenant.

(3) The ultimate promise was that a nation will come out of Abraham to bless all other nations. True to God’s promise, the birth of the nation of Israel came through Jacob, the grandson of Abraham. Jacob had 12 sons, and their descendants were collectively called the house of Israel, the tribes of Israel, the children of Israel, the sons of Israel, or the Israelites. From this nation of Israel came the Jew Jesus.

The Gospel did not begin in the New Testament, but was already rooted in the Old Testament. God had already preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. The Messiah is the promised royal seed of Abraham. In the Messiah Jesus, the blessings promised to Abraham will come to the Gentile nations.

All the nations of the earth, including you and me, will benefit from the Messiah of Israel. God’s covenant will also include the non-Jews, and they can call Abraham their father and receive the blessing of Abraham.

Conclusion: Jesus, the Jew, is deeply connected to God’s promise to Abraham of inheriting the land. By faith, the patriarchs all died without receiving what was promised (Heb 11:39). This land is given through the Messiah, and he will share it with all the true sons of Abraham. When we fail to interpret the Bible within its Jewish context, we miss out on the profound salvation message God has prepared for all humanity.

I grew up in a church culture that hardly ever talked about the promise of the Kingdom, let alone inheriting the Kingdom. The promise to Abraham and his offspring was that he will be “the heir of the world” (Rom 4:13). This land rightfully belongs to Abraham and his descendants, with a special emphasis on the ultimate king who will rule in the Kingdom of Israel. Jesus, the Messiah, is the ultimate heir to the land. If we are children of Abraham, we, too, become coheirs with the Messiah in inheriting the land. Not only to inherit the land in Israel, but Jesus invites all his followers to inherit the earth with him, and so to delight themselves in abundant peace. (Mt 5:5; Psa 37:11)

In the Middle East, there are currently unending tensions and conflicts regarding who owns the land. When the Messiah rules, God will give it to whomever it seems fitting to him (Jer 27:5). God has complete sovereignty over the entire earth and will grant His dominion and rulership to His faithful children. He is the One who owns a cattle on a thousand hill (Psa 50:10). Everything is His. Let us love God and follow the Messiah so that we may be worthy heirs of the kingdom. (Jms 2:5)

Jesus, like David, came from the “tribe of Judah”. Who is Judah? Judah’s great-grandfather is Abraham. Jesus carried the biological genes of Abraham and David.

Jacob’s blessing to his son Judah was prophetic regarding the future king Messiah: “Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” (Gen 49:9-10). The fact that the Jew Jesus came from the tribe of Judah is of great significance to our faith. Micah foretold that the one who will rule over Israel will arise from the tribe of Judah. (Mic 5:2). Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne, and he will return to rule as the King of Israel. Today, Christians worship a Gentile Jesus that has lost its Messianic mission. If we do not understand Jesus in the Jewish context, we may end up believing another Jesus of our making.

Conclusion: Jesus, as a Jew, came to fulfill the covenants God had made with the forefathers Abraham and David. To fully understand Jesus’ Messianic mission, the Church must reconnect Jesus to his Jewish roots. Most Christians have only believed in a Gentile Jesus that has lost its biblical Hebraic roots. If Jesus is indeed our Messiah, we will long for his coming Kingdom to take place on earth. But today, Christians long to go to heaven when they die, or to be raptured to go to a place called heaven when Jesus returns. Is this the mission of the Messiah Jesus? The Messiah Jesus is not taking anyone to heaven but returning to earth to reign. Have you believed in the Messiah Jesus?

Jesus lived by faith. In the minds of most Christians, it never dawns on them that Jesus lived by faith. The Bible speaks of “the faith of Jesus Christ” [2] (Rom 3:22; Gal 2:16; 3:22), “the faith of Christ” (Phil 3:9), and “the faith of Jesus” (Rev 14:12). Jesus exercised faith. He demonstrated his faith by living a life of perfect obedience to God. Who was (and is) Jesus’ God?

(1) Where is the starting point of Jesus’ faith? His faith has its origin in his religious training by godly parents. On the 8^th day, Jesus was circumcised (Lk 2:21). He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Following the Torah, Mary underwent a purification in a mikvah, a ritual bath, and participated in the ceremony of the firstborn in the Temple. (Lk 2:22-24; cf. Lev 12:1-8) The Jewish Jesus received training in the Hebrew Scriptures. Studying the Torah was supremely important in Jewish tradition. The goal was to bring every Jewish boy to obey and worship Yahweh, the Almighty.

 Jesus was the eldest in the family with four brothers (James, Joseph, Simon, Judas) and two sisters. Mary and Joseph followed all the Jewish requirements and “performed everything according to the Law (Torah) of the Lord” (Lk 2:39). The family would have had their weekly sabbath meals, synagogue worship and participated in the major Jewish festivals. In recent archaeological excavations, archaeologists discovered that those living in Nazareth observed the Jewish purity laws much more strictly than those living in the nearby cosmopolitan city, Sepphoris.[3] One can imagine Jesus’ strict religious discipline in his home. His parents went up to Jerusalem every year for the Passover (Lk 2:41). For more than 30 years, Jesus always participated in the Feast of the Pesach.

(2) A significant event happened when Jesus was 12. When the Passover feast ended in Jerusalem, the twelve-year-old Jewish boy stayed behind in the Temple discussing Scripture with the teachers, and “all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Lk 2:47). The little boy was totally immersed in the Hebrew Scriptures. His insight into the Torah was outstanding. He was a young devout Jew whose total concern was on his Father’s business (v.49). Even as a young boy, Jesus had a deep affection for his Father. He was mindful of his unique relationship with his Father. Yahweh was very much active in his life even at a young age. This should bring much encouragement to parents who struggle to bring up children to grow healthily through their adolescent years. When young teens are nurtured with the proper teaching of the Word of God, they will grow readily by obeying God’s truth and authority. Jesus is our example. His obedience and devotion to Yahweh was the driving force that guided his actions and life priorities. As he grew into adulthood, Jesus increased in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man. (v.52) Can you imagine how Jesus’ faith in God continued to grow during the silent years in Nazareth? Faith is not stagnant but grows from strength to strength.

(3) The Jewish Jesus studied the Torah for many years before he came out to preach. As a devout Jewish boy growing up in Nazareth, he would have regularly attended the synagogue services there. “And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day” (Lk 4:16). He studied the Torah and the Prophets in the synagogue. He quoted the Torah when he preached. Jesus did not come to rewrite the Torah to create a new theology of his own but to fulfill the Torah and the Prophets (Mt 5:17). In Jesus’ ministry, he came to fulfill the will of God, especially the spirit of the Torah. When Satan tempted him, he used the Torah to overcome the temptations. Jesus believed in the Scriptures and lived by every word that came from the mouth of Yahweh. (Lk 4:4; cf. Deut 8:3) In every temptation, Jesus exercised his faith, always trusting in Yahweh to live victoriously without sinning.

(4) Jesus took the opportunity to express his faith when one of the teachers of the Torah asked him which commandment was the most important of all.

This statement echoes the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4, “Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one.” Jesus’ God is Yahweh. His faith was firmly rooted in the Hebraic root of the one God Yahweh. The “one God” specifically points to “one Yahweh”, meaning there is only one Yahweh. Yahweh is one singular God. The Shema was Jesus’ confession of faith.

Jesus was strictly monotheistic and never included himself in the Shema. Let’s obey Jesus’ words and not replace him as God. If we ever need a creed, let’s hold onto this Jesus’ creed in his confession of faith: Yahweh is God, Yahweh is one.

Jesus is firmly committed to the monotheism of “one Yahweh”. His faith was not in himself but in his Father Yahweh. When he prayed on earth, he prayed to Yahweh. He is now in heaven praying to his Father as our intercessor. Jesus does not pray to himself. Let us not stray from the path of Jesus, but follow his footsteps closely.

(5) The Jewish Jesus came to establish a new covenant, a concept that was already promised to Israel in the Hebrew Scripture.

The prophets in the Old Testament were purely monotheistic and always believed in Yahweh as their God. In the new covenant, the same holds true that Yahweh is the God of his people. Jesus did not come to set up a new religion of another faith in a different and novel God. He never put himself up as a second member of God, claiming equality with Yahweh. In this new covenant, the Shema continues to hold true that Yahweh will be their God.

In this new covenant, Jesus is the mediator for God. A mediator has a different role from God.

As the mediator for God in this new covenant, Jesus’ blood was shed and he accomplished our salvation by offering himself without blemish to God (v.14). As our high priest, he opened a way for us to receive eternal inheritance. “Christ has entered, not into the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (v.24). The mediator goes to the presence of God, so how can he be God?

Even in the new covenant, the faith of Jesus was rooted in the one and only God, Yahweh as expressed in the Torah. He never changed into a deity nor included himself into the Godhead. The doctrine of Trinity came much later in the 4^th century, 300 years after Jesus’ exaltation. Jesus was not a trinitarian.

Conclusion: For more than 30+ years, Jesus lived by faith, trusting in His Father in all that he did, be it healing, performing miracles or his teaching. Jesus did not just come to die on the cross but lived a life of faith which finally culminated in his death for our redemption. Paul says, “For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.” (Rom 5:10) We are reconciled to God through Jesus’ death, but much more, our salvation is dependent on his life. Jesus showed us how to live a life that pleases God. If salvation was all about dying on the cross, he could have gone straight to the cross without the three years of ministry. Why did Jesus raise up disciples? Why did he spend so much time teaching them about the Kingdom of God? Obviously, it tells us that our salvation is more than the cross, as he also came to leave us an example so that we can follow in his footsteps. (1Pet 2:21) We must imitate his life of faith and apply all his teachings into our lives. There is nothing that he taught that he didn’t apply to himself. We are to live by the “faith of the son of God.” (KJV; Gal 2:20) To believe in Jesus is to have the same faith of Jesus. As people of the new covenant, our faith needs to be the same as that of Jesus. Jesus’ God is Yahweh. Let Yahweh be our God, as He alone deserves our total devotion.

(1) The Jew Jesus believed in the God of the forefathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). In answering the Sadducee’s question regarding resurrection, he said:

Jesus identified his God as Abraham’s God. The God of Abraham is called Yahweh (Exo 3:15). Jesus did not believe in a new God. Nor did he teach a new doctrine of a triune God. Yahweh God is the God of the living because He will resurrect Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to life. Though the patriarchs are dead now and died in faith, they looked forward by faith to a future resurrection to claim the inheritance of the promised land. Not only will they receive the land, “God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” (Heb 11:16)

(2) The early apostles followed Jesus’ faith closely in their concept of God as they, too, believed in the same God, “the God of our fathers.”

“The God of our fathers” is called Yahweh.

(3) Jesus and the apostles were deeply rooted in the same God of Abraham, the father of faith. We must also imitate “the faith of Abraham” (Rom 4:12, 16).

(4) When Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (Jn 8:58), it does not mean that he preexisted nor that he was the God of Abraham. This statement is often misinterpreted because of failing to understand the Jewish context of the passage. In John 8, Jesus was challenging the Jews about their confidence in the flesh, for if they were Abraham’s children, they would do the works of Abraham (v.39). But the Jews sought to kill Jesus who told them the truth. If the Jews had the faith of Abraham, they too would rejoice as “Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad” (v.56). Here is the faith of Abraham: He believed God who promised to bless him through his ultimate seed. The ultimate seed did not come in Abraham’s lifetime. Abraham had faith in Yahweh regarding the promised Messiah that would come through him. So, if these Jews had the faith of Abraham, they would also believe Jesus was the promised one, the Messiah. “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham.” (Gal 3:8) This is what Jesus meant by “before” Abraham, as God already had the Messiah in mind in the time of Abraham. In fact, the Messianic plan goes even further back to the time of Eve (Gen 3:15). God had already promised He would come to redeem mankind through His Messiah. If we want to use the word “preexisted”, God’s plan for the Messiah preexisted, but it doesn’t mean Jesus himself preexisted before birth.

(1) “The God of Israel” occurs about 204 times in the Bible. Today, when people mention the word “God”, the word “God” can mean different things to different people. But the term “the God of Israel” is very precise, for He is the God whose Name is Yahweh.

Yahweh is “the God of Israel”. Out of 204 occurrences, 96 times has God’s Name “Yahweh” attached to the title “the God of Israel”. The God of Israel is Yahweh. Why Israel? The One and Unique God sets apart the one people, Israel, to be His own possessions. For what purpose? God bestowed His blessings freely on Israel so that through them all nations can share in God’s blessings. “He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation.” (Psa 147:19-20) Did God just choose Israel and not the other nations? God chose Israel to be a light to the nations, so that the nations will also come to know Yahweh as the one true God. The God of Israel has all the nations in mind when He chose Israel. Regardless of which nation we belong to, let us all worship the God of Israel! Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel! (1Sam 25:32; 1Ki 1:48; 8:25; 1Chr 16:36; 2Chr 2:12; 6:4; Psa 41:13; 106:48)

(2) In Jesus’ teaching and ministry, he always directed people to “the God of Israel”.

When the crowd saw the sick getting healed miraculously, we would have expected them to glorify Jesus. Instead, they glorified the God of Israel. Their reactions of wonder and glorifying God show that they understood that it was God who performed these miraculous acts through Jesus. All the signs and wonders that Jesus did were to direct people to worship the God of Israel.

On another occasion, Jesus said to the Jews that he did not come to receive glory from people (Jn 5:41) but to seek the glory that comes from the only God (v.44). Jesus’ focus of attention was always on the God of Israel.

Conclusion: Jesus, the Jew, worshipped the same God of Israel spoken of Moses and the prophets. The God of Israel was (and is) not a Trinity. Jesus did not come to introduce a new religion of faith. Jesus’ faith was deeply rooted in his Jewish heritage of “the God of Israel”. Only in this context can we understand the life of Jesus, his Messianic mission, and his teaching.

When we recognize Yahweh as the God of Israel, the Church is “the Israel of God”. Interestingly, Paul greets the church in Galatia as “the Israel of God”.

On April 11, 2009, in a Hong Kong Easter camp conference of 1000 attendees, Pastor Eric Chang greeted the Hong Kong churches with these words: “Peace and mercy be upon all of you who are the Israel of God.” Why did Pastor Eric call us the Israel of God? Those of us who were there are Chinese, and our churches are filled with Chinese people, so how is it that we are the Israel of God?

Pastor Eric continued to say, “The term that I used Israel of God may sound unusual and foreign to you, but it actually comes from Paul’s farewell greeting to the Galatians.” (Gal 6:15-16) He mentioned that the vital truth of Christians being the Israel of God has been lost from the Church today. Do you know that you are Israel? Anyone who belongs to Israel is an Israelite.

This was the first time that I started realizing that I am an Israelite. Israel was chosen as God’s people, and the church is a continuation of Israel. I need not be hesitant to call myself an Israelite, because the God of Israel is my God precisely because I am an Israelite. People of Israel are called Jews, so an Israelite is also called a Jew. If you are a true Christian, you are a Jew. Pastor Eric said that this important truth is practically unknown to today’s Church.

Spiritually, not externally, true believers are true Israelites. We are descendants of Abraham, therefore we are also Jews or Israelites. For our salvation, we need to become a new person, to be a true Israelite, a true Christian. When Jesus met with Nathanael, he made this interesting remark: “Look! A true Israelite in whom is no deceit!” (LEB; Jn 1:47) Nathanael was already an Israelite, so what did Jesus mean by saying Nathanael was a true Israelite? Nathanael was not just a common Israelite, but a true Israelite in the eyes of the Messiah. Why?

The concept of a true Israelite has its roots in the Torah. Echoing the Shema, Moses said, “And Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” (Deut 30:6) All the Israelites had already received the circumcision in the flesh, and Moses reminded them they needed to be circumcised in the heart to be God’s chosen people. The inward circumcision is necessary to being a true Israelite.

Paul carries on the same teaching by saying that a Jew is not one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly (Rom 2:28-29). True circumcision is a matter of the heart. Nathanael was ethnically an Israelite, circumcised in the body, and he was also circumcised in the heart, therefore a true Israelite.

The central truth of salvation is that we must be circumcised in the heart to be saved. What does it mean to be circumcised in the heart? “In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of the Messiah.” (Col 2:11) A circumcision that is made without hands indicates that the circumcision is not a physical and outward act, but a circumcision that happens inwardly in the heart. The person is required to renounce the body of the flesh, and put to death the life of sin. How is this renunciation possible? It is done by the circumcision of the Messiah, that is, through his death and resurrection. When we are buried with the Messiah in baptism and raised with him through faith (v.12), we undergo a spiritual circumcision, an inward transformation of the heart by the Spirit.

To be a true Jew or true Israelite, both ethnic Jews and Christians need to go through the spiritual circumcision of the heart by Christ. Salvation has to do with our being the true Israel, with our hearts circumcised, through our union with the death and resurrection of the Messiah.

Our churches must not separate ourselves from the Hebraic root of the Old Testament. The Church, the international Israel of God, worships the God of Israel. The focus of Jesus’ life is that he worships and brings glory to Yahweh, the God of Israel.

The early apostles followed the Jew Jesus closely and their faith was firmly rooted in the same God, Yahweh. Even after Jesus was exalted to sit at his Father’s right hand, they remained true in their Jewish faith of the one God. They were strictly monotheistic, as they did not make any switch by turning Jesus into a second member of the Godhead. Throughout their writings, they believed in the “one” and “only” God, Yahweh.

1. “There is one God, the Father” (1Cor 8:6)
2. “Since God is one” (Rom 3:30)
3. He is the “one God and Father of all” (Eph 4:6)
4. “For there is one God” (1Tim 2:5)
5. “But God is one“ (Gal 3:20)
6. “You believe that God is one; you do well” (Jms 2:19)
7. “To the only God” (Jude 25)
8. “To the king of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God be honor and glory” (1Tim 1:17)

The early apostles remained connected to their Jewish roots in their faith and did not give a new definition of God in the New Testament. The God in the New Testament is the same God of Israel in the Old Testament.

Our Christian upbringing has disconnected us from the Hebraic roots of the Bible. Let’s put some effort into understanding the Bible with Hebrew lenses, or else we are in danger of misinterpreting Scripture by creating a Gentile Jesus devoid of his Jewish roots. Our culture has lost the Hebraic root of Jesus as the Messiah.

As followers of Jesus Christ, let our hearts align with the faith of the Jew Jesus: to believe in the same God of Jesus and to have the same faith of Jesus. Yahweh is the God of Jesus. The early apostles uncompromisingly followed Jesus’ God. It is vital that our definition and understanding of God be in line with that of Jesus. At the most basic level, we need to be speaking of the same God whom Jesus called God.

The Church today has deviated from the truth of Yahweh, the God of Jesus, and believes in a triune God without a name. The creation of a triune God stems from a Gentile background, as the Greek fathers in the 4^th century lost their Jewish roots. This was a sad page of church history that chaotically rocked the foundation of Christianity into confusion. The Jewish Jesus became a Gentile deified Jesus. And for the last 1700 years, the Church has been preaching a Gentile Jesus without his Jewish roots. In failing to interpret the Scriptural texts through Hebrew lenses, the Gospel message lost the full significance of Jesus’ calling as the Messiah and his kingly mission for our salvation.

It is the Jew Jesus, the Messiah, who saves, not the Gentile Jesus. This chapter is sounding an alarm, calling Christians to put their faith in the Messiah Jesus.

Is your faith in the Jew Jesus, the Messiah?

Or is your faith in the Gentile Jesus?