JESUS THE JEW

Rev. Willem Glashouwer
Sometimes people wonder: Why was Jesus Jewish? Was it just a random choice? Could the Saviour of the world very well have been an Arab, a Chinese, a Negro, or – being from Holland myself – even a Dutchman? Wasn’t it just necessary that He would be a human being in order to save mankind? When one looks at pictures, paintings, sculptures, drawings and other art forms that portray Him, most of the time Jesus does not even look Jewish… So why was Jesus Jewish?

What biblical conditions had to be fulfilled for the Saviour to be born? Paul writes in Galatians 4:4 “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law…” So two things are said by Paul of Him. At the appointed time Jesus was to be born of a woman - the first biblical reference to a virgin birth (Genesis 3:15), and born under ‘Torah’, under the Covenant of the Law.

This Covenant was made with Israel in the desert when Moses led the people of Israel out of the slavery of Egypt, the Great Exodus, to the Promised Land. At Mount Sinai God appeared to Moses and gave the Law to Moses, and the people of Israel entered into this Covenant relationship with the Almighty One through Moses, Exodus 19:1-7 and Exodus 24.

And the third thing that was necessary for Him is that he had to be born as the Son of David, to be able to fulfill the promise made by the angel Gabriel in Luke 1:26-33. “…The Lord God will give Him the throne of his father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end."

It is clear that everyone in Israel in those days knew that Jesus was of the lineage of King David, because on various occasions people addressed Him as “Son of David.” The blind beggar near Jericho called out: “…Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!…” Luke 18:38. But they probably did not know or realised themselves that He was ‘Son of David’ through two lines. One was the line of His mother Mary; the other was the line of His adoptive father, Joseph. The name of Nathan, David’s son, appears in the lineage of Mary, and that of Solomon in the lineage of Joseph.

Jesus had also to be without ‘sin’ Himself, Romans 5:12-14, Hebrews 4:15, 9:14, in order to be the spotless Lamb who would take the sins of the world upon Himself, John 1:29, 36.

So born from the seed of a woman, born as a son of David, but also born under Torah, born under the Covenant of the Law, made with Israel. Why? Because in order to be able to be the Lamb of God, to be slain for the ‘sins’, plural, of the world – yes, even to be made into ‘sin’, singular, itself, 2 Corinthians 5:21 – He had to be a perfect Lamb, without spot or blemish.

God cannot simply redeem mankind at the expense of His Holiness by simply overlooking and ignoring the requirements of the Holy Law. The requirements of the Holy Law, of the Holy Ten Commandments, have to be met. So someone first of all had to keep them, if that someone could be a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Only then he would be a perfect lamb, a perfect sacrifice. If he had sins of himself, he could only die for his own sins and could not carry upon him the sins of others and even be made into ‘sin’- singular. And to meet the requirements of the Law he had to be under the Law and thus had to be born into this Covenant of the Law, made with Israel. So He had to be a Jew.

Jesus kept the Law in our place and then died in our place. Only a Jew was in a position to do so, and this Jewish man did it. God created His life in the womb of His mother, so He was without ‘sin’. And during His lifetime He did not commit ‘sins’, but was in full accordance with the Father in heaven. God really has chosen the Jewish people to bless the world. Salvation is from the Jews, John 4:22.
Now where does this all lead to with respect to our relationship with Israel and the Jewish people today? Jesus was a Jew, and could not have been anything else but Jewish, if He would ever be the Saviour of the world. Paul was a Jew, so the Gospel to the Gentile world was preached by this Jewish apostle for the Gentiles. Paul sums up the privileges of the Jewish people in Romans 9:3-5: “…For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is (not: once was, but: still today is) the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants (plural, all the covenants were made with Israel, also the New Covenant, not one covenant was made with the Church – only the New Covenant was opened up in Gods grace for Gentiles in Acts 10), the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises (and all the promises God made to Israel will be fulfilled by Him for and to Israel). Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen…” Jews are not without God, but have a blind spot for Who Jesus is. And even that one-day will change. Their role is not finished yet.
One-day peace shall flow forth from Jerusalem and will cover the earth. And the nations shall train for war no more. To be prepared for that glorious future the Lord is bringing His Jewish people back to the Promised Land. National restoration first, but it will be followed by spiritual restoration, “I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh…You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God…” (Ezekiel 36:24-2)
One-day Jesus will sit on the throne of His father David and He will rule as the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and the Messiah of Israel, among Jacob (= Israel) and of His Kingdom there shall be no end, the angel Gabriel promised His Jewish mother Mary, Luke 1:31-33: “…the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end…"
So Israel and Jerusalem are a sign of hope, pointing towards the Coming of the Lord. This world will not finish in total pollution or in total destruction and annihilation by A(tomic), B(acteriological) or C(hemical) weapons, but is moving forward towards the Kingdom and the Coming of the King of the Kingdom and the renewal of all things. We are not there yet. But the Lord is acting in history and we have passed points of no return. One-day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

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