A wonderful sermon this morning! Happy Easter everyone!
“Was Jesus a Jew?
Of course, Jesus was a Jew. He was born of a Jewish mother, in Galilee, a Jewish part of the world. All of his friends, associates, colleagues, disciples, all of them were Jews. He regularly worshipped in Jewish communal worship, what we call synagogues. He preached from Jewish text, from the Bible. He celebrated the Jewish festivals. He went on pilgrimage to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem where he was under the authority of priests….
Jesus was born, lived, died, taught as a Jew.
It is obvious to any casual reader of the Gospels is that Jesus was Jewish. The Gospels make no pretense that he wasn’t. The Gospels have no sense yet that Jesus was anything other than a Jew. The Gospels don’t even have a sense that he came to found a new religion, an idea completely foreign to all who read the Gospels, and if you read Paul’s letters, an idea completely foreign to the Apostle Paul.”
“People from far-flung regions were coming into the Temple to purchase, mostly goats and sheep, to make sacrifice at Passover, an event that had been taking place every year in Jerusalem for centuries. Pilgrims were everywhere, no different that the way Pilgrims descend on Rome during Easter.
The Passover pilgrims, their currency was different. It had to be converted into the local currency of Jerusalem – Roman currency – as Jerusalem was a province ruled over and controlled by Rome. During Passover, Rome brought in reinforcments of soldiers, and they filled the City, and they filled the Towers in the Temple to keep anything that might be disruptive, under control.
And Jesus? Jesus turning over the Tables of the money-changers? It was essentially the event that gets him killed.
Jesus was most likely immediately arrested and, after a trial, executed by Roman authorities whose principal concern was to keep the peace. The Romans had little tolerance for those it judged disruptive of the Pax Romana, punishing them in many ways, including crucifixion. The death of Jesus was a Roman act; there was little if any notice taken by Jewish people. Jesus was another victim of the Pax Romana.”
The persons responsible for the actual execution of Jesus were the Romans. The Romans practiced crucifixion. Crucifixion sites were usually near a main road into the city. It was a warning location. The uprights for the crosses were usually left there permanently. It an abhorrent site. It’s a warning, even when nobody is hanging there.
A wonderful sermon this morning! Happy Easter everyone!
“Was Jesus a Jew?
Of course, Jesus was a Jew. He was born of a Jewish mother, in Galilee, a Jewish part of the world. All of his friends, associates, colleagues, disciples, all of them were Jews. He regularly worshipped in Jewish communal worship, what we call synagogues. He preached from Jewish text, from the Bible. He celebrated the Jewish festivals. He went on pilgrimage to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem where he was under the authority of priests….
Jesus was born, lived, died, taught as a Jew.
It is obvious to any casual reader of the Gospels is that Jesus was Jewish. The Gospels make no pretense that he wasn’t. The Gospels have no sense yet that Jesus was anything other than a Jew. The Gospels don’t even have a sense that he came to found a new religion, an idea completely foreign to all who read the Gospels, and if you read Paul’s letters, an idea completely foreign to the Apostle Paul.”
“People from far-flung regions were coming into the Temple to purchase, mostly goats and sheep, to make sacrifice at Passover, an event that had been taking place every year in Jerusalem for centuries. Pilgrims were everywhere, no different that the way Pilgrims descend on Rome during Easter.
The Passover pilgrims, their currency was different. It had to be converted into the local currency of Jerusalem – Roman currency – as Jerusalem was a province ruled over and controlled by Rome. During Passover, Rome brought in reinforcments of soldiers, and they filled the City, and they filled the Towers in the Temple to keep anything that might be disruptive, under control.
And Jesus? Jesus turning over the Tables of the money-changers? It was essentially the event that gets him killed.
Jesus was most likely immediately arrested and, after a trial, executed by Roman authorities whose principal concern was to keep the peace. The Romans had little tolerance for those it judged disruptive of the Pax Romana, punishing them in many ways, including crucifixion. The death of Jesus was a Roman act; there was little if any notice taken by Jewish people. Jesus was another victim of the Pax Romana.”
The persons responsible for the actual execution of Jesus were the Romans. The Romans practiced crucifixion. Crucifixion sites were usually near a main road into the city. It was a warning location. The uprights for the crosses were usually left there permanently. It an abhorrent site. It’s a warning, even when nobody is hanging there.
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