There are a lot of words the Bible uses that people today have no idea what they mean. Try this experiment: ask ten non-Christian friends what the word "gospel" means. Tell them, "I don't mean the music; I mean the message the the music celebrates. What's the message?" Changes are, they won't be able to tell you. But some words, everyone seems to know what they mean. Take the word "scapegoat" for example. Yet most people don't know the origin of the word. It's a Jewish concept, and it was first used to mean a literal goat that was executed in place of guilty people. Tonight we'll talk about its origins, on "Jewish Roots", an Internet pod-cast live talk radio show at www.scripturedramatized.com Your host, Rev. Rick Anderson, each Thursday night 9:30 pm, EST. To call with a question or comment: 347-324-5759.
Here's our weekly blog post:
How Your Jewish & Muslim Friends View Jesus
The short answer is this: to Jews, He's a non-entity; probably a good man who was mis-represented, but they believe they'd deny their heritage if they ever believe in Him and become a Christian. To Muslims, He's the greatest prophet next to Mohammad but don't dare confuse Him with Deity, or say He was crucified, or call him "the Son of God." So ... how did these views come about?
With the Jews, it came by stages and over time. With Muslims, it was more immediate. Their view of Jesus solidified from the time the Qu'ran was completed, and then was accepted in its present form as authoritative, and then all "unauthorized" copies of it destroyed by official edict of the caliphs. That whole process took 38 years.
On the other hand, Jewish views of Jesus hardened into their present form by four stages. First Stage: most Jews rejected His followers' claims of messiahship and deity. This was a reaction of both Pharisee and Sadducee. From this rejection came attempts by a minority of Jews who believed He was Messiah but who feared persecution by the Synagogue. And so they required that Gentile converts to the new faith first become Jews through circumcision and obedience to the ceremonial laws. (Acts 15:1 ff) The apostles and Paul especially, opposed both views. During this time you could still believe in Jesus and be considered Jewish by the Synagogue, but were regarded as lapsed or heretical.
The Second Stage of Jewish hardening towards Jesus came at the time of the First Jewish War with Rome (66-70 AD), written about by Josephus in his Wars of the Jews. The sect of the Nazarenes fled Jerusalem before the Romans came, remembering the words of Christ to do this very thing (Matt. 24:15 ff). The Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, already violently divided against itself was nonetheless unified against the Hebrew-Christians and regarded their flight as treason and disloyalty. But the apostles' insistence Gentiles be included in the new "Israel of God" without first becoming Jews did not help matters with the Jewish leadership.
The Third Step came in 80 AD when the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling court) met at Jabne (Roman: "Jamnia"), in what was left of their country. And by court edict it pronounced a malediction (a curse): "May the "minim" ("heretics") perish in an instant, may they be effaced from the Book of Life and not be counted among the just." This malediction was codified in the "Shemoneh Esrei" the week-day prayers of the Synagogue that 2000 years ago religious Jews recited thrice daily. [Simon, Verus Israel, p. 144, as quoted by Fr. Edw. Flannery, The Anguish of the Jews]
The word "minim" is a broad term however, and today's synagogues do not "curse" Christians or Jewish-Christians. But back then the malediction was formulated especially against the Nazarenes who insisted they were still Jewish as well as Gentile Christians. Consider Paul's anger before his conversion to the faith he at first hated (Acts 22:4; Acts 26:11). The malediction was written because they had become so numerous and were perceived as a threat to the Synagogue. Because the numbers of Gentiles coming to Christ far outweighed the number of Jews in the new faith who were now cut off culturally from their brethren, the claims of Christ and the gospel appeared more and more an alien religion to the Synagogue and seemed to them to further justify hostilities. Aside from the issue of new conversions, there was for other reasons as well an increasing Jewish-Gentile hostility throughout the Roman Empire.
The Fourth Stage came with two events, one political and one scholarly. The political was the Third Jewish War against Rome (132-136 AD), and the catalysts for this war were two men: Rabbi Akiba (40-137 AD), and a military commander: Simeon Bar-Kokhba, who many hailed as the Messiah and who came to do what, according to the Synagogue, Jesus failed to do: overthrow the Romans. Akiba undoubted supported Bar-Kokhba, at least initially but that he proclaimed him as Messiah is disputed. But many Jews did, however, and the fact that the remaining Christians among them did not nor would they support the rebellion against Rome, increased the hatred of the Synagogue against the Nazarenes.
The scholarly event of Stage Four was the occasion of three re-translations of the Old Testament Hebrew text into Greek. This was done largely due to the Christians' use of the Septuagint to "proof-text" the Messiahship of Jesus to the Jews. Many Jews spoke Greek as a common language, and the Old Testament prophesies that Jesus used of Himself were an embarrassment to the Synagogue. By every indication, the New Testament in its original Greek was written with a heavy reliance on the Septuagint, and accepted by Jews in general. The first alternate translation (150 AD) was by a disciple of Akiba's named Aquila, who translated with an extreme literalness and with definite anti-Christian bias. [Ellis R. Brotzman, Old Testament Textual Criticism, p. 74,75] Two other translations followed as the Synagogue sought to debunk what they saw as the myth of Jesus.
Today's modern Jewish translations of the Hebrew text (they don't call it the "Old Testament") show a similar pro-synagogue/anti-Christian bias. For example, Psalm 2:12 "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way ... Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." "Kiss the Son" is an accurate translation of the transliterated "Nash-ku Bar". Jewish translations into English translate it as "Worship in purity", not "Kiss the Son".
Yet despite these attempts, prophesies of Jesus shine through, even into the English of Jewish translations. One such example: Isaiah chapter 53, which is still a major text used by those in gospel outreach to the Jewish People. One such example of this is the life-changing experience that Jewish believer Dr. Richard L. Ganz, Pastor of Ottawa Reformed Presbyterian Church had with this text. www.richardganz.com
Scholarly and theological arguments have passed back and forth between Jewish and Christian apologists for the past 1900 years about Jesus. But the real reason most Jews don't believe in Him is simply because it's a cultural taboo; one that originated 1900 years ago when the Jewish High Court (Sanhedrin) ruled at the Council of Jabne (Jamnia) that Jews can't be called Jews if they believe in Jesus. Some Jews, however, are more "brainy" about this, and give their reason thusly: "If Jesus were really the Messiah, he would have issued in the Messianic Age. But since his time, the world has seen more blood, more violence and more persecution than ever, and often by the very churches that presume to speak in his name!" (If you were a Christian, how would you answer a charge like that?) Next week's blog will explain, but in the mean-time, think about it. Imagine you're "on the spot". How would you answer it?
More about Muslim and Jewish views of Jesus in next week's blog.
Here's our weekly blog post:
How Your Jewish & Muslim Friends View Jesus
The short answer is this: to Jews, He's a non-entity; probably a good man who was mis-represented, but they believe they'd deny their heritage if they ever believe in Him and become a Christian. To Muslims, He's the greatest prophet next to Mohammad but don't dare confuse Him with Deity, or say He was crucified, or call him "the Son of God." So ... how did these views come about?
With the Jews, it came by stages and over time. With Muslims, it was more immediate. Their view of Jesus solidified from the time the Qu'ran was completed, and then was accepted in its present form as authoritative, and then all "unauthorized" copies of it destroyed by official edict of the caliphs. That whole process took 38 years.
On the other hand, Jewish views of Jesus hardened into their present form by four stages. First Stage: most Jews rejected His followers' claims of messiahship and deity. This was a reaction of both Pharisee and Sadducee. From this rejection came attempts by a minority of Jews who believed He was Messiah but who feared persecution by the Synagogue. And so they required that Gentile converts to the new faith first become Jews through circumcision and obedience to the ceremonial laws. (Acts 15:1 ff) The apostles and Paul especially, opposed both views. During this time you could still believe in Jesus and be considered Jewish by the Synagogue, but were regarded as lapsed or heretical.
The Second Stage of Jewish hardening towards Jesus came at the time of the First Jewish War with Rome (66-70 AD), written about by Josephus in his Wars of the Jews. The sect of the Nazarenes fled Jerusalem before the Romans came, remembering the words of Christ to do this very thing (Matt. 24:15 ff). The Jewish leadership in Jerusalem, already violently divided against itself was nonetheless unified against the Hebrew-Christians and regarded their flight as treason and disloyalty. But the apostles' insistence Gentiles be included in the new "Israel of God" without first becoming Jews did not help matters with the Jewish leadership.
The Third Step came in 80 AD when the Sanhedrin (the Jewish ruling court) met at Jabne (Roman: "Jamnia"), in what was left of their country. And by court edict it pronounced a malediction (a curse): "May the "minim" ("heretics") perish in an instant, may they be effaced from the Book of Life and not be counted among the just." This malediction was codified in the "Shemoneh Esrei" the week-day prayers of the Synagogue that 2000 years ago religious Jews recited thrice daily. [Simon, Verus Israel, p. 144, as quoted by Fr. Edw. Flannery, The Anguish of the Jews]
The word "minim" is a broad term however, and today's synagogues do not "curse" Christians or Jewish-Christians. But back then the malediction was formulated especially against the Nazarenes who insisted they were still Jewish as well as Gentile Christians. Consider Paul's anger before his conversion to the faith he at first hated (Acts 22:4; Acts 26:11). The malediction was written because they had become so numerous and were perceived as a threat to the Synagogue. Because the numbers of Gentiles coming to Christ far outweighed the number of Jews in the new faith who were now cut off culturally from their brethren, the claims of Christ and the gospel appeared more and more an alien religion to the Synagogue and seemed to them to further justify hostilities. Aside from the issue of new conversions, there was for other reasons as well an increasing Jewish-Gentile hostility throughout the Roman Empire.
The Fourth Stage came with two events, one political and one scholarly. The political was the Third Jewish War against Rome (132-136 AD), and the catalysts for this war were two men: Rabbi Akiba (40-137 AD), and a military commander: Simeon Bar-Kokhba, who many hailed as the Messiah and who came to do what, according to the Synagogue, Jesus failed to do: overthrow the Romans. Akiba undoubted supported Bar-Kokhba, at least initially but that he proclaimed him as Messiah is disputed. But many Jews did, however, and the fact that the remaining Christians among them did not nor would they support the rebellion against Rome, increased the hatred of the Synagogue against the Nazarenes.
The scholarly event of Stage Four was the occasion of three re-translations of the Old Testament Hebrew text into Greek. This was done largely due to the Christians' use of the Septuagint to "proof-text" the Messiahship of Jesus to the Jews. Many Jews spoke Greek as a common language, and the Old Testament prophesies that Jesus used of Himself were an embarrassment to the Synagogue. By every indication, the New Testament in its original Greek was written with a heavy reliance on the Septuagint, and accepted by Jews in general. The first alternate translation (150 AD) was by a disciple of Akiba's named Aquila, who translated with an extreme literalness and with definite anti-Christian bias. [Ellis R. Brotzman, Old Testament Textual Criticism, p. 74,75] Two other translations followed as the Synagogue sought to debunk what they saw as the myth of Jesus.
Today's modern Jewish translations of the Hebrew text (they don't call it the "Old Testament") show a similar pro-synagogue/anti-Christian bias. For example, Psalm 2:12 "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, And you perish in the way ... Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him." "Kiss the Son" is an accurate translation of the transliterated "Nash-ku Bar". Jewish translations into English translate it as "Worship in purity", not "Kiss the Son".
Yet despite these attempts, prophesies of Jesus shine through, even into the English of Jewish translations. One such example: Isaiah chapter 53, which is still a major text used by those in gospel outreach to the Jewish People. One such example of this is the life-changing experience that Jewish believer Dr. Richard L. Ganz, Pastor of Ottawa Reformed Presbyterian Church had with this text. www.richardganz.com
Scholarly and theological arguments have passed back and forth between Jewish and Christian apologists for the past 1900 years about Jesus. But the real reason most Jews don't believe in Him is simply because it's a cultural taboo; one that originated 1900 years ago when the Jewish High Court (Sanhedrin) ruled at the Council of Jabne (Jamnia) that Jews can't be called Jews if they believe in Jesus. Some Jews, however, are more "brainy" about this, and give their reason thusly: "If Jesus were really the Messiah, he would have issued in the Messianic Age. But since his time, the world has seen more blood, more violence and more persecution than ever, and often by the very churches that presume to speak in his name!" (If you were a Christian, how would you answer a charge like that?) Next week's blog will explain, but in the mean-time, think about it. Imagine you're "on the spot". How would you answer it?
More about Muslim and Jewish views of Jesus in next week's blog.