Jesus Was Not a “Faithful Jew”

No one would call a Christian a “faithful Jew.” Why, then, do some—men who should know better—call Jesus, the author of Christianity, a “faithful Jew?”

Was Jesus really a “faithful Jew?” Asserting as much has become a common rhetorical ploy of those—such as Cardinal Dolan and Professor Robert P. George—who wish to exaggerate the continuity between Judaism and Christianity. Like all effective rhetorical ploys, it contains a measure of truth, yet it neglects important distinctions, generating confusion rather than clarity.

In fact, although Jesus was an ethnic Jew initiated into the Mosaic covenant (Luke 2:21), and blameless and just in every regard, He was not a “faithful Jew” in the contemporary religious sense, as the phrase misleadingly implies. To contend otherwise is to do a disservice to Judaism and Christianity by obscuring their respective theological presuppositions and commitments. Worse still, the suggestion that Jesus was a “faithful Jew” subtly cultivates the error that Judaism and Christianity are essentially similar, discouraging evangelization.

Undoubtedly, Jesus was—is!—a Jew according to the flesh, as He is a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob by way of Judah and, significantly, David (Matthew 1:1-16, Romans 1:3). Indeed, He is in some respects the descendant of the patriarchs: the foretold Seed prophesied to die and rise, crushing the serpent’s head, ushering in universal blessing, and receiving an everlasting kingdom comprehending all men (Galatians 3:16). Thus did our Lord offer Himself to the children of Israel: as the Promised One about whom the Law and the Prophets speak, the Christ, the Son of God (Matthew 13:16-16, Luke 4:16-21, John 5:39).

And while He was born under the Mosaic dispensation (Galatians 4:4), and while He respected its regulations (Matthew 5:17), He nevertheless exhibited a unique relationship to the Law, treating it with a sovereign mastery that startled His audience (Mark 7:19). We might say that He handled the Law not as a lawyer but as a legislator (Matthew 7:28-29). He never disobeyed the Law, surely; yet He elucidated, elevated, and perfected it.

Now this exposes a critical problem with the notion that Jesus was a “faithful Jew.” To be a “faithful Jew” at present—to adhere to the Law of Moses filtered through the exoteric and esoteric rabbinic traditions—necessarily entails the denial that Jesus is the Savior anticipated by Scripture. It is, therefore, to negate what Jesus Himself affirmed.

Moreover, to be a “faithful Jew” in the modern world involves taking offense at our Lord’s treatment of the Law (to say nothing of the treatment of the Law by His apostles). Jesus evidently saw Himself not as the student of Moses but as His superior, and He dealt with the Mosaic prescriptions accordingly, drawing the ire of the Pharisees and their rabbinic successors.

In short, the things by which Christ defined Himself, the things that render Him worthy of worship in the eyes of His followers, are the same things that disturb the sensibilities of the “faithful Jew.” The very deeds and words that mark our Lord as the Lord simultaneously set Him apart from and at odds with Judaism, as normally understood. If Jesus was a “faithful Jew,” then, for example, Maimonides was not, and vice versa.

The same can be said of the ethnically Jewish members of the primitive Church. Following the doctrine of Jesus, and operating in the light of His death, Resurrection, and glorification, they espoused a reading of Scripture sharply disputed within Israel. Consequently, the mode and substance of their worship and teaching radically diverged from that of their kinsmen who spurned Christ, and they were charged with blasphemy and subjected to severe persecution (Acts 6:11, Galatians 1:13-14).

The divergence between Christianity and Judaism only accelerated with the influx of Gentiles into the New Covenant assembly, which diminished certain Jewish cultural characteristics that initially attached thereto, and the destruction of the second temple by the Romans, which fundamentally altered the practice of Judaism. The two religions subsequently developed in parallel, often reacting against the other, such that today they are quite estranged, if not utterly alienated.

But, note well, this separation has its root in none other than Jesus and His message, which many Jews, then and now, dismiss as totally incompatible with Judaism. From the standard Jewish perspective, Jesus was a faithless Jew (Matthew 26:65, John 10:33). The ultimate heretic, arguably!

No one would call a Christian a “faithful Jew.” Why, then, do some—men who should know better—call Jesus, the author of Christianity, a “faithful Jew?” Jesus made claims that the “faithful Jew” (again, in the modern sense) does not receive. He delivered to mankind a religion that the “faithful Jew” does not embrace. (Of course, Jesus was a “faithful Jew” insofar as He realized and completed the true meaning of the Law that distinguishes Judaism, but this does not seem to be the import of the term as used by the likes of Cardinal Dolan and Professor George.)

The idea is just not intellectually serious. At best, it is a well-intentioned but deceptive expression meant to draw attention to the origins of Christianity in the Law and the Prophets. At worst, it is a bit of clever wordplay meant to conceal discrepancies that should be illuminated, lest souls perish—namely, the souls of our Lord’s own brethren according to the flesh, the Jews. God retains a mysterious affection for them (Romans 11:28-32). We honor this affection by dispensing with verbal sleights of hand and preaching to them the Gospel, which has ever been heralded in their midst (Galatians 3:8) and which they will, by God’s grace, eventually heed (Romans 11:25-27).

* Philip Primeau’s work has appeared in Catholic World Report, Aleteia, Catholic Exchange, and Homiletic & Pastoral Review, among other places. His devotional poetry is found at gladsomelight.substack.com. He may be contacted at primeau.philip1 -at- gmail -dot-com.

Source: https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/jesus-was-not-a-faithful-jew