If Jesus was a Jew why were people so mean to them and why are Christians not Jews if they believe in Jesus?

Answer 1

Jesus was described in the Bible as a Jew from Galilee, a province north of Judea and Samaria. Jesus would have spoken Aramaic, not Hebrew. He would not have been regarded highly by the Temple Sadducees in Jerusalem. So, although he was followed by his twelve Jewish disciples, he was considered to be out of his element when arriving in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday for what would be the last week of his earthly life.

Contrary to popular belief, Jesus himself was a Pharisee and observed Judaism. Jesus was Torah observant and upheld many beliefs that only the Pharisees did, such as observance of Hanukkah (Feast of dedication John 10:22-39), wore Tallit/Tzitzit (Num 15:38 / Matt 14:36 / Mark 6:56 etc), acknowledged the Sanhedrin and the Pharisees authority (Matt 23:2-3), believed in a resurrection (which the other Jewish groups didnt), acknowledged the Temple mount (which the Samaritans didnt), believed in Angels (which the Sadducees didnt), etc. Jesus also had several pharisee followers yet no Essene, or Sadducee follower is ever mentioned. This is due to the great differences in belief and doctrine between Jesus and the other groups. However, being a pharisee, was able to engage in discussions with other pharisees, many times successfully. Jesus, and others, such as John the Baptist, Peter and James, are actually mentioned as being successful at garnering followers (all of whom were Jews, of course). The only time that "Christianity" start to become very opposing to Judaism and starts being rejected as incompatible with Judaism and the Old Testament, is the introduction of Paul. Paul's teachings (which went on to create modern gentile antinomian Christianity) is was is utterly rejected by Judaism. Teachings such as

1. The Torah is over, despite God saying it was eternal. (notice how the christians such as James and Peter are troubled by the rumors that Paul is teaching against keeping Torah. Read acts 21- acts 22. This chapter clarifies that the early Church lead by Peter and James, was compiled of Jewish members who all still observed the Law, and how they wind up thinking that the rumors about Paul are false , which we all know today, were in fact true* see Galatians and other works of his.

2. The Temple in Jerusalem not being anything important since God doesnt dwell in temples made by humans (contrary to what the Old testament prophets and Jesus himself said (compare Jesus' teaching in Matthew 23:21 with Paul's teaching in Acts 17:24)

3. You can eat anything, even food offered to idols as long as you pray (contrary to what the OT and Jesus himself teaches in Rev. Compare 1 cor 8:8 with Rev 2:14)

4. Etc

These are the issues that make Judaism incompatible with Christianity, but none of these teachings were teachings of Jesus. Many Jews do not differentiate between Paul and the other writings in the NT. However, a few Jews are aware of this, and thus accept Jesus as being compatible with Judaism.

sources: (experience speaking with Rabbis as to what it was about Christianity that made it incompatible

Jewish AnswerContrary to what many Christians think, Jesus is of no concern to Jews and is usually only thought of when Christians mention him to us. He plays no role whatsoever in Judaism and is neither liked nor disliked by most Jews.

Answer 2

A physical "Jew" is a person born into one of the families of Jacob's twelve sons. (Genesis 35:22-26) (Genesis 49:28)

**Joseph and Mary were both Jews from the tribe of Judah, King David's line.

**Jesus was born a Jew, into this lineage....the line of David

(Matthew 21:9)(Psalm 132:11 compare:Acts 13:22-23).

**The first disciples and all twelve of the apostles were Jews, by birth.

They became 'Christians' when they:

-accepted Jesus as the foretold Messiah(or "Christ") (Matthew 16:16),

-started obeying the NEW commandments laid down by Jesus(John 13:34-35), and

-began to pattern their lives after Jesus, including preaching + teaching publicly and from house to house.(Acts 5:42)(Matthew 28:19&20)

When Jesus came to earth, he was sent, initially, to preach "to the lost sheep of the house of Israel"(the 'Jews') (Isaiah 9:2 / Matthew 4:16+17)(Matthew 15:24) , so Jesus preached to the Jews and to a Samaritan woman at the well. Samaritans had some history in common with the Jews, but were not considered Jews. (John 4:7-26)(2 Kings 17:24) Jesus indicated that, after his death, his followers would do works greater than his, including preaching to the 'world'(John 14:11-14)

The Mosaic Law forbid the Jews from mixing with the nations around them, but with Jesus' death (as the foretold Messiah), the Mosaic Law was fulfilled and ended.(Colossians 2:13-14)

**Peter was then the first one commanded to actually preach to a Gentile (Acts 10:1-35) After this event, the other apostles did the same.

Saul, once a Pharisee, became the Apostle Paul, and spent much time preaching to ALL nations, as Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:19+20)(Acts 20:20-21)

So, before God's judgment 'Day', Christians would come from ALL nationalities, tribes and tongues (Matthew 24:14)(Revelation 7:9)

Answer 3

There are two questions here:

Why were Christians so mean to Jews even though Jesus was a Jew?
While Christianity is not inherently Anti-Semitic, its doctrines are easily to melded to an Anti-Semitic world vision and historically have been melded in such ways. Christianity's main thrust of Anti-Semitism comes from the crucifixion of Jesus, i.e. deicide. The argument goes that the Jews took the blame for and supported the crucifixion of Jesus. (In my view, were it true, this should make the Christians rather fond of Jews since without this call to execute Jesus, he could not have achieved his purpose of being a sacrifice for the sins of humanity, but most Christians do not see it this way.) Christians also focused on the passages of the Old Testament which argue that Jews were in contravention to Divine Edicts and passages in the New Testament where Jesus condemns the actions of the Pharisees.

Additionally, there is the argument that the persistence and survival of the Jews is the strongest indictment of Christianity's claim to truth. If anyone were to know who the Messiah was when he arrived, it should have been the Jews: the people from whose tradition the Messiah comes. As a result, the Jewish rejection of Jesus is a clear symbol that he was not the Messiah, making him a danger to Christianity, whose entire theology hinges on Jesus being the Messiah.

Why are Christians not Jews if they believe in Jesus?

Believing in Jesus as a divinity has nothing to do with Judaism, even though the person of Jesus was a Jew. Further the core message of Christianity is: "God made Himself incarnate through His Son, the Messiah, who sacrificed Himself on Earth as atonement for all of humanity's sins." None of that has anything to do with Judaism.

God, in Judaism, does not take physical form or self-incarnate. The human sacrifice of Jesus and communion is at fundamental odds with the Torah's prohibition on Human Sacrifice, its prohibition of blood consumption, its prohibition on cannibalism, and its prohibition on expiation for another's sins. There is no verse in the Old Testament that explains that one of the purposes of the Messiah is to die for sin at all (never mind for the sins of other people), even though there are numerous explicit requirements that Jews point to the Messiah needing to perform. The Jewish Messiah is to be an Earthly King. As a result, a person claiming to be God himself is instantly recognized as not being the Messiah in Judaism.