The Jewish-ness of Jesus and the Jew in Me

As many Christians come together to celebrate Good Friday this year, many Jews are also coming together to celebrate Passover. Are they one in the same? The short answer is YES but, why then, is there not more unity amongst Jews and Christians during this very-important-holiday season? 

After taking a walk with a friend, I made a comment to her that I think took me by surprise more than her. My dear, faith-filled believing friend heard my words and immediately responded with: Oh! I have something for you. I don't remember what lead up to me saying this, but what came out of my mouth was

Well, I'm not really a Christian.

This Christian sister flinched not! In the authentic love of Christ, she ran into her home and came out with a gift. She said she'd had it for me for a while and handed over a beautiful decorative medal piece, inscribed with the word SHALOM, framed by two doves. 

This sweet encounter reminded me of something so important. We can follow God- the TRUE GOD- the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, through the Anointed One, Jesus, God's Son, without being a "Christian".

In 1 Corinthians 7,  Paul says: 

19 Your identity before God has nothing to do with circumcision [Jew] or uncircumcision [Gentile]. What really matters is following God’s commandments. 20 So everyone should continue to live faithful in the situation of life in which they were called to follow Jesus. (TPT)

"Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them." (verse 20 NIV)

As a paraphrase I'll comment: If you are Jewish, stay Jewish and follow Messiah Yeshua. I will boldly add that if you are Muslim, continue to be a Muslim (culturally) but love Isa, and if you are Hindu, stay that way but follow Yesu and him ONLY. 

When I was preparing to go to India, I learned this concept for the first time in my "Christian missions training". We are all commissioned by Jesus to go and make disciples * students * of God, and baptize *immerse* them in His Name. We are all called to love God alone, the One True God, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; AND to love our neighbors as ourself. But how can we love other people if we don't love ourselves? How can I present a realistic version of the message of grace to others, as a Jew, if I have "converted" to Christian? How can I love and relate to my own people if I have turned my back on them?

Over the years, I have, like Hadassah to Esther in a way, hidden my Jewishness among my brothers and sisters in the Church.

On our current calendar, Passover falls on March 26-27, while Good Friday (the same day in biblical history) is the following week, April 2nd. Why is that? I can't say that I know the answer, but this year more than any other I'm stirred to question why? Why is it that many Christians don't celebrate or even know about the Passover? Why is that the Church teaches the story of Jesus celebrating Passover and yet doesn't celebrate it in the same way as the Messiah did?

In my years of church-going (approaching 12), I have never heard the story of Good Friday taught as the story of the celebration of Exodus, rather as the story of the day Jesus died. But there is such deep and relevant significance when we understand why Jesus died on that particular day. Jesus, the Lamb of God, was called this because he was the PASSOVER Lamb. How many of you, growing up in Church, or attending as an adult, connect the story of Good Friday with the the story of Exodus? Or, is it taught merely from the Gospels' point of view?

In the story of Exodus, which every Jewish kid learns growing up, the people of Israel were enslaved in Egypt. They had traveled there from their own land over 400 years prior, when Joseph (remember the Disney-version's technicolor dream-coat story?) was sold in to slavery there. And yet, by God's mysterious grace, Joseph paved the way for the salvation of his entire family during a 7-year famine. Generations later, the Pharaoh, king of Egypt, says of the people of Israel, "I don't know of this Joseph." He continues to put harsh bondage upon God's chosen people. They were slave labor, and although they were great in number, they were held captive.

Did you know that when Jesus ate the "Final Supper" with his 12 that it was a Passover Sedar? It wasn't a freshly baked challah or ciabatta passed around the table, but matzah- a flatbread made without yeast. It was the traditional Jewish Feast that Adonai commanded the Israelites to celebrate every year in order to commemorate and remember the Exodus - deliverance- from their slavery in Egypt. We need to remember that we are set free, too! Jesus (Yeshua) was to be the "Greater than Moses" because as Moses delivered the Jews from Egypt, so Jesus delivers not only Jews, but ALL who come to him for safety and salvation, out of the bondage of all bondages: sin. Death. 

How many Christians today are like Egyptians in that they don't know of the Jewish Jesus? Please read this: I am not blaming Christians for enslaving Jews. It is through the love of many Christians that I came to know this Jesus myself! But even though I grew up Jewish, I became a Christian, and in this way, lost sight of my Jewishness and the Jewishness of Jesus, the Jewish King.

As we approach Passover this week and Good Friday/Resurrection Day next, my prayer is simply this: 

Great and Mighty King, show me me.

We are all in need of a great deliverance. How will you celebrate Passover and Easter this year?