I don't think Judaism is Jesus' religion.
We can asses the Jewishness of Jesus by His relationship to the people of His day, the Jewish religion, and His followers.
www.chosenpeople.com
“Was Jesus a Jew? Or was Jesus a Christian?” These are the first two questions I pose when leading workshops on the Jewish roots of Christianity. About half the hands go up for Jewish. More go up for Christian. Several for both. A few aren’t sure how to respond. How would you respond? Does it...
rebekahsimonpeter.com
The biblical record sets out the facts: Jesus Christ is “the
son of David, the son of Abraham” (
Matthew 1:1). When the angel Gabriel announced Jesus’ birth, he spoke of Jesus’ having “the throne of his father David” and of His “reign over Jacob’s descendants forever” (
Luke 1:32–33). In writing of Jesus’ unique priesthood, the author of Hebrews says, “It is clear that our Lord descended from Judah” (
Hebrews 7:14). Judah was a son of Jacob, and it’s from his name that we get the word
Jew. Mary’s genealogy, in Luke chapter 3, shows that the mother of Jesus was a direct descendant of King David, giving Jesus the legal right to the Jewish throne and establishing without a doubt that Jesus was a Jew by descent.
The biblical record also presents Jesus as living a Jewish lifestyle and keeping the Jewish law. He was reared in a Jewish home, and Jesus’ parents were careful to do all that the law required of them (
Luke 2:39). In His ministry, Jesus often taught in synagogues (
Matthew 13:54;
Luke 6:6;
John 18:20), and even in the temple (
Luke 21:37). In His teaching, Jesus pointed to the Law and the Prophets as authoritative (
Matthew 5:17;
12:5;
Mark 10:19), He taught others to keep the law (
Matthew 23:1–3), and He Himself observed the commandments. Jesus identified with the religion of the Jews and was considered a rabbi (
John 1:38;
6:25), although He strongly rejected the pharisaical reinterpretation of that religion.
As a Jew, Jesus observed Passover (
John 2:13), the Feast of Tabernacles (
John 7:2,
10), and Hanukkah, (
John 10:22). Jesus was called the King of the Jews (
Mark 15:2).
The Messiah
prophesied in the Old Testament was a Jewish savior, one chosen by God for a special purpose. The Messiah was to serve God by redeeming Israel and then ruling from Zion, bringing peace, righteousness, and security to Israel (see
Isaiah 9:6—7;
32:1;
Jeremiah 23:5;
Zechariah 9:9). Jesus is the Jewish
Messiah, the Son of David sent to the Jews, and in His earthly ministry He focused on “the lost sheep of Israel” (
Matthew 15:24). But in His death and resurrection, Jesus secured salvation for all who would trust in Him, regardless of their nationality or background. The Jewish Messiah became the worldwide Savior (
Ephesians 2:11–22).
Was Jesus a Jew? Was Jesus a Jew religiously? Was Jesus a Jew ethnically?
www.gotquestions.org
He was born in the Jewish town of Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth. Jesus was fully immersed in Jewish culture, nationality, and religion.
Jesus practiced the religion of first-century Judaism. He was “born under the law” (
Galatians 4:4) and grew up learning the Torah and following its precepts. He perfectly obeyed the Mosaic Law—all the commandments, ordinances, and feasts (
Hebrews 4:14–16). He not only obeyed the Law;
He fulfilled it and brought its requirements to a close (
Matthew 5:17–18;
Romans 10:4).
Jesus and His disciples observed the Passover (
John 2:13,
23;
Luke 22:7–8) and the Feast of Tabernacles (
John 7:2,
10). He kept an unnamed Jewish feast in
John 5:1. He attended worship services and taught in synagogues (
Mark 1:21;
3:1;
John 6:59;
18:20). He advised others to observe the Law of Moses and offer sacrifices (
Mark 1:44). He promoted respect for the Law as it was being taught by the scribes and Pharisees of His day (
Matthew 23:1–3). He quoted the
Tanakh often (e.g.,
Mark 12:28–31;
Luke 4:4,
8,
12). In all of this, Jesus showed that His religion was Judaism.
As Jesus spoke to a group of Jews, He issued a bold challenge to them: “Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?” (
John 8:46). If Jesus had in any way departed from the religious observances of Judaism, His enemies would have immediately seized this opportunity to condemn Him. As it was, Jesus had a knack for silencing His critics (
Matthew 22:46).
Jesus had many harsh words for the leaders within His own religion. It’s important to remember that Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees (
Matthew 23) was not a condemnation of the Law or of the Judaism of the day. Jesus’ denunciations of hypocrites, corrupt officials, and the self-righteous were in sharp contrast to His commendation of those who were devout before God and lived out their faith honestly (see
Luke 21:1–4). Jesus spoke out against certain religious leaders because “they teach man-made ideas as commands from God” (
Matthew 15:9, NLT). On two occasions, Jesus cleared the temple of thieving, rapacious sinners (
John 2:14–17;
Matthew 21:12–13). These actions were not designed to destroy Judaism but to purify it.
Jesus was an observant Jew who perfectly followed the Law. His death brought an end to the Old Covenant God had made with Israel—shown in the tearing of the temple veil (
Mark 15:38)—and established the New Covenant (
Luke 22:20). The early church was rooted in Judaism and Jewish messianism, and the earliest believers in Christ were mostly Jews. But as the believers proclaimed the risen Jesus as the Messiah, the unbelieving Jews rejected them, and they were forced to make a clean break from Judaism (see
Acts 13:45–47).
Jesus was the Messiah that the Jews had been anticipating. He was born into the religion of Judaism, fulfilled the Jewish religion, and, when His own rejected Him, He gave His life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. His blood ratified the
New Covenant, and, soon after His death, Judaism lost its temple, its priesthood, and its sacrifices.
