Jesus was a Jew. This fact slips past most casual readers of the New Testament, but it is crucial to understanding Jesus and the book written about him—the Bible. Unfortunately, we are far removed from the ancient world of Roman-occupied Judea and the life of Israel in which Jesus lived.
Let me ask you a few questions. Were you born and raised in Israel? Did you study the Torah with the rabbis from an early age? Have you traversed the rocky hills and dusty paths to celebrate the mandatory feasts in Jerusalem? Do you speak Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic? I have not found many in my Catholic circle of friends who have. Without this background, we are at a disadvantage when studying the word of God as contained in the Bible.
When we open the pages of our English Bible, we find a Jewish book! The setting revolves around the country of Israel and the worship of Yahweh. With one exception, the more than forty biblical writers were all Jews, and the one exception was most likely a Jewish proselyte. (Do you know who the only non-Jewish author in the Bible is? I’ll give you a few hints: he was a physician, one of St. Paul’s co-workers, and he wrote the first history of the Church.) But the point is, how can we understand the Bible and the teachings surrounding Jesus without understanding his people, his culture, and his Jewish identity?
Paul wrote, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law” (Gal. 4:4-5).
David H. Stern, a Messianic Jew, writes, “The Messiah’s vicarious atonement is rooted in the Jewish sacrificial system; the Lord’s Supper is rooted in the Jewish Passover traditions; baptism is a Jewish practice; and indeed the entire New Testament is built on the Hebrew Bible, with its prophecies and its promise of a New Covenant, so that the New Testament without the Old is as impossible as the second floor of a house without the first. Moreover, much of what is written in the New Testament is incomprehensible apart from Judaism” (62). Even if a skeptic ignores the importance of the Jews in God’s plan of salvation, which would be ridiculous, it would not change the fact that the Bible is Jewish, and Christianity sprouts from thoroughly Jewish roots.
Studying the Bible comes alive when the fresh breeze of Jewish understanding wafts over the pages. When reading any good book, it is difficult to reap the benefits without immersing ourselves in the world and spirit of the “story.” When reading Gone with the Wind, the reader benefits from plunging himself into the “feeling” of the Old South during the Civil War and soaking in the culture and surroundings of the characters. One doesn’t start the novel in the middle, for that would cut him off from the foundation and beginning of the story and make it impossible to gain a full appreciation of the setting, plot, mood, and characters. Too often, the New Testament is read without a familiarity with the first “chapters” of God’s Jewish story, which begins several millennia earlier in the covenants and life of the Old Testament.
Let’s take an example that is dear to the heart of any Catholic. St. Matthew records profound words between Jesus and Simon the fisherman. Jesus actually changes the disciple’s name, which in Jewish tradition signifies a change of status, from Simon to Rock. For us Westerners two millennia removed, without understanding the Semitic importance of a name, this means little. But to Jesus’ cadre of disciples from the stock of Abraham, the name change was profound and earth-shattering. Abraham himself had received a name change from God, which corresponded to the ratification of the Old Covenant. Abram’s name (meaning “father”) was changed to Abraham (meaning “father of nations”) which signified Abraham’s new status or standing before God.
Simon’s name change was significant. But what it was changed to was even more important. A Jew would instantly notice what most English readers miss: the name Peter is an English rendering of the Greek word for “Rock.” Jesus spoke Aramaic, and the word he used to rename Simon was the Aramaic word for rock: kepha. This is why we find Simon referred to as Cephas throughout the New Testament (e.g., John 1:42; 1 Cor. 15:5; Gal. 1:18). No one but God alone (and Abraham) had previously been referred to as “Rock.” Abraham was the rock from which the Jews had been hewn (Isa. 51:1). But God was the only one with the descriptive title of Rock (26:4). Peter now shares that title. What would a Jew think about such a name for a mere man?
Another striking example of the necessity of understanding the Jewish ambiance of the Bible comes from the same passage. This involves Matthew 16:19, which mentions the “keys of the Kingdom.” Due in part to an ignorance of Jewish culture, this passage is frequently truncated, reducing the “keys of the kingdom” merely to Peter’s preaching on Pentecost (another word unknown outside the Jewish religion) “unlocking the doors of heaven.” Many Protestants make this mistake in trying to understand this passage without the benefit of a “Jewish background.” What did “keys” represent to the Jews who heard Jesus? What would a Jew understand from the image of the keys given to Peter by King Jesus?
The Pharisees had large portions of the Old Testament memorized, if not the whole Tanakh. The average Jew of Jesus’ time was intimately familiar with the scriptures. When Jesus told Peter he would receive the “keys of the kingdom of heaven,” the Jews would immediately be drawn back to Isaiah 22 and the monarchical office of the royal steward, who ruled over the house of the king. Read Isaiah 22 yourself and consider the royal office of steward “over the house” in the Davidic kingdom. For those Jews who first believed in Yeshua the Messiah, who was soon to be seated on the throne of his father David and given an eternal kingdom (Dan. 7:13-14, Luke 1:26-33), these were profound words. When the new king is enthroned, wouldn’t the Jewish subjects expect the king to appoint his royal steward? Alleluia! Simon is renamed Rock, a foundation, and the Israelite name for the strength of God, and he is then delegated the keys of the royal stewards to govern the kingdom of King Jesus.
Ah, the Jews understood! What about twentieth-century men and women?
This should not discourage us from reading the Bible; rather, it should inspire us to excel in our knowledge of Scripture, its background, and the world of the Jewish people. The Church is growing from a Jewish root; the Church and the scriptures are Jewish. May the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob enlighten us and give us a love for the word of God as contained in the scriptures and the Sacred Tradition of the Church.