Top Ten Things I Wish Every Jew Knew

Top Ten Things I Wish Every Jew Knew (Going Deeper)

Glad you could join me by going deeper into my explanations.

I don’t blame you for the crucifixion of Jesus. What I understand when I read both the Tanakh and the Christian (New) testament is that all of us crucified Jesus because it was the only way to solve our sin problem and usher in the ultimate vindication of God’s faithful people with return of our Messiah.

I didn’t cause the Holocaust—I’m as outraged as you are that it happened. I won’t pretend to know the pain in the same way you do, just as I know discrimination holds a pain altogether unique to those affected. But I am still very sorry that any culture or people would engage in such horrific behavior as the Holocaust, particularly in any nation that might suggest they follow Jesus. Jesus was not a man of violence or torture. Therefore, His followers ought not to be either.

I love the Jewish people. All Christians are supposed to have a special reverence and respect for the Jewish heritage of our common forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jesus was Jewish. All of the original disciples were Jewish. People of Jewish heritage wrote almost all of the Bible.

I won’t force my beliefs on you. Christianity is not a faith of force or coercion, but of invitation and grace. Jesus didn’t force Himself on others therefore His followers ought to act likewise.

I don’t refer to the Tanakh as the Old Testament because the New Testament supplanted it. It’s not even former and current. A better description would be ancient words of faith (therefore old) and Jesus’ explanation of what Jewish history and the Tanakh taught (new because it’s the way Jesus taught it).

I am not like every other Christian just as I respect that not all Jews are exactly alike. The only thing we all have in common is a mutual sin problem we’ve had since humanity fell into sin. Our personalities and beliefs are as diverse as sand on the seashore.

I don’t view myself as superior or you as inferior. If anyone, Christians ought to understand that we’ve all been created equally in the image of God and we are all equally loved by Him.

I don’t view your faith as wrong–Jesus practiced it. As a matter of fact, Christianity is an outgrowth of the same monotheistic belief (One Holy Creator God) that undergirds all of historic religious Judaism. In this sense, Christianity is kind of like Judaism in High Definition because the picture of what God intended is bigger, clearer, and fulfilled in more detail.

Discrimination on the basis of our faith is wrong—whether Jew or Christian. Discrimination is a passing of judgment, assuming someone is better—as their inherent identity. No one but God is in a position to see our identity, to know our hearts /faith, or to be an accurate judge.

I am Christian because I follow Jesus, who was Jewish. Because Jesus was Jewish, followed Jewish customs, and fulfilled Biblical prophecy present in the Tanakh, I can honestly affirm the rich history of Judaism and be thankful that God set apart the Jewish people as the community through whom Messiah would come.

As a Christian, I can support all of my claims with both the Tanakh (JPS) and the Christian testament. If you’d like to go deeper still, please join me on the next page where I explain more fully why I don’t blame you for Jesus’ death.