CHAPTER-ONE
THE JEWISH BACKGROUND OF JESUS
WAS JESUS A JEW ETHNICALLY, OR WAS HIS MOTHER A JEW?
YES! Jesus clearly identified with the Jews of His day, His physical people and tribe, and their religion (although correcting its errors). God purposely sent Him to Judah: "He came to His own [Judah], and His own [Judah] did not receive Him. But as many [Jews] as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name... (), and He clearly said, "You [Gentiles] worship what you do not know; we [Jews] know what we [Jews] worship, for salvation is of the Jews" ().
The very first verse of the New Testament clearly proclaims the Jewish ethnicity of Jesus. "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" (). It is evident from passages like , "For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah," that Jesus descended from the tribe of Judah, from which we get the name "Jew."
And what about Mary, the mother of Jesus? In the genealogy in Luke Chapter 3, we see clearly that Mary was a direct descendant of King David which gave Jesus the legal right to ascend the Jewish throne as well as establishing without any doubt that Jesus was a Jew ethnically.
Was Jesus an observant Jew religiously? Both of Jesus' parents had "done everything required by the Law of the Lord" (Luke 2:39).
His aunt and uncle, Zechariah and Elizabeth, were also Torah-observant Jews (Luke 1:6), so we can see that the whole family took their Jewish faith very seriously.
In the Sermon on the Mount (), Jesus continually affirmed the authority of the Torah and the Prophets () even in the Kingdom of Heaven ().
He regularly attended synagogue (), and His teaching was respected by the other Jews of His day (). He taught in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem (), and if He were not a Jew, His going into that part of the Temple would simply not have been allowed ().
Jesus also displayed the outward signs of being an observant Jew. He wore tzitzit (tassles) on His clothing (; ) to serve as a reminder of the commandments ().
He observed Passover () and went up to Jerusalem () on this very important Jewish pilgrimage feast day. He observed Succoth, or the feast of tabernacles (, ) and went up to Jerusalem () as required in the Torah.
He also observed Hanukkah, the festival of lights () and probably Rosh Hashanah, the feast of trumpets (), going up to Jerusalem on both those occasions as well, even though it isn't commanded in the Torah.
Clearly, Jesus identified Himself as a Jew () and as King of the Jews (). From His birth to His last Passover Seder (), Jesus lived as an observant Jew.
BLACKS ARE THE TRUE JEWS OF THE BIBLE
The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Psalm 24:1
Africans look similar to the Israelites and the God of Israel expresses this in the Bible book of Amos 9:7 Are you not as children of the Ethiopians unto me, O children of Israel? saith the LORD... Remember in Genesis 1:26, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:...
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Jesus Is A Black Man: An Inconvenient Truth
Non-FictionIn the ancient times, it was no secret that Jesus Christ was a Black man from the tribe of Judah. The early Jews knew it because they were also Blacks. The Romans knew it, and the Greeks knew it. In fact, all the people of his time, and long afterwa...
