If Jesus is Jewish, why are we not Jews?


On January 1, 2017, an interesting conversation was held during the children’s catechism in the Jerusalem kehilla.

jewish jesus

On the Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Father David explained to the children attending the weekly catechism in the Jerusalem kehilla that Jesus is Jewish and on the eighth day his parents brought him to be circumcised. One of the children, Nil, asked: “If Jesus is Jewish, why are we not Jewish?”

A very interesting conversation ensued which attempted to explain the complex question of identity to a group of children who are not Jewish but who live at the heart of Jewish Israeli society.

“Jesus belongs to the people that are entrusted with the Word of God. This people is the Jewish people. However, he came with a mission to tear down the barrier of separation between Jews and non-Jews and create a people that bring together Israel and the Nations, all united in their faith that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God.”

“And the Jews today?”

“Among the Jews today there are those that believe in Jesus. They are very few. The majority do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah and many continue to wait for the Messiah. Many people who are not Jews, people in the Philippines and in India, people in Europe and in America, believe that Jesus is the Messiah and together with the Jews who believe in Jesus as Messiah they form the Church, whose members are called Christians, those who believe in Christ. Christians and Jews share many things including the expectation that the Messiah will come at the end of time to bring peace and love. They differ because Jews who do not believe in Jesus say that it will be the first time the Messiah comes but Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah and he already came two thousand years ago but that he will come again.”

“Why did most of the Jews not believe that Jesus is the Messiah?”

“Only God knows the answer to that question. Having faith is a gift from God. One thing is clear though and that is we, who do believe, need to behave like Jesus did so that people can see Jesus in us. The most important way to behave like Jesus is to love everyone. While we wait for Jesus to come again, we must work with Jews and with everyone else to repair our broken world, loving and spreading love. We, as Christians, and Jews have a common vision of what the world should look like and so we can work well together in building a world based on justice, peace, love and reconciliation.”

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