Category:Jewish views of Jesus (subject)

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Jewish views on Jesus of Nazareth

1st stage: A Jew among Jews (I century)

Jesus was a Jew, a respected (though controversial) teacher (rabbi), who died a martyr at the hands of the Romans. His first disciples were all Jewish. Christianity was born as a Jewish messianic and apocalyptic movement. Some Jews joined the movement, others opposed it, most viewed it with different degrees of sympathy and appreciation.

Early Jewish Sources: (a) Opinions about Jesus

Fellow Jews had different opinions about Jesus; some Jews regarded him as a prophets, others like Elijah (who according to Jewish tradition, would come as God's messenger at the end of time). Jesus's disciples believed that he was the Messiah announced by ancient Scriptures as the Savior of Israel and the King of the everlasting, eschatological kingdom of God.

Mark 8:27–30 (NRSV) [see Peter's Confession] -- 27 Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" 28 And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." 29 He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." 30 And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Early Jewish Sources: (b) The Testimony of Gamaliel (according to the Acts of Apostles)

In the eyes of 1st-century Jews, Jesus appeared as one of many religious leaders who at that time claimed to be the Messiah and announced the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus records the exploits of leaders like Judas the Galilean, Theudas, the Samaritan prophet, and the Egyptian prophet. Their experience was not very different from that of Jesus. They preached, they had many followers, until their movement was brutally repressed by the Romans, who were religiously tolerant but did not accept any challenge to their political authority. It didn't take much to be considered a troublemaker and incur Roman repression, as the case of Jesus ben Ananias shows us.

Acts 5:34-39 -- The high priest rose up, and all they that were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy, and laid hands on the apostles, and put them in public ward…. A Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up and… said: Fellow Israelites… some time ago Theudas stood up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him; but he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and disappeared. After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So is the case [of Jesus]
Cf. Josephus, Ant 18:3-10, 23 (Judas the Galilean) -- At the time of the census… Judas (with the support of Saddok) threw himself into the cause of rebellion… He urged people that Heaven would be their zealous helper… if with high devotion in their hearts they stood firm and did not shrink from the bloodshed that might be necessary… Judas and Saddok started among us a new school which in all other aspects agrees with the opinion of the Pharisees, except that they have a passion for liberty that is almost unconquerable, since they are convinced that God alone is their leader and master.
Cf. Josephus, Ant 20:97-98 (Theudas) -- During the period when Fadus was procurator of Judea, a certain impostor named Theudas persuaded the majority of the masses to take up their possessions and to follow him to the Jordan River. He stated that he was a prophet and that at his command the river would be parted and would provide them an easy passage. With this talk he deceived many. Fadus, however, did not permit them to reap the fruit of their folly, but sent against him a squadron of cavalry. They fell upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them and took many prisoners. Theudas himself was captured, whereupon they cut off his head and brought it to Jerusalem.
Cf. Josephus, Ant 18:85-89 (the Samaritan Prophet) -- A Samaritan rallied the mob, bidding them go in a body with him on Mount Gerizim, which in their belief is the most sacred of mountains. He assured that on their arrival he would show them the sacred vessels which were buried there, where Moses had deposited them. His hearers, viewing this tale as possible, appeared in arms… But before they could ascend, Pilate blocked their projected route up the mountain with a detachment of cavalry and heavy-armed infantry… Some were killed, the other dispersed. Many prisoners were taken, of whom Pilate put to death the principal leaders.
Cf. Ant 20:167-172 (the Egyptian Prophet) -- At this time there came to Jerusalem from Egypt a man who declared that he was a prophet and advised the masses of the common people to go out with him to the mountain called the Mount of Olives… For he asserted that he wished to demonstrate from there that at his command Jerusalem’s walls would fall down, through which he promised to provide an entrance into the city. When Felix heard of this, he ordered his soldiers to take up their arms… He fell upon the Egyptian and his followers, slaying four hundred of them and taking two hundred prisoners. The Egyptian himself escaped from the battle and disappeared.
Cf. War 6:300-305 (Jesus ben Ananias) -- As he stood in the Temple, he suddenly began to shout: “…A voice against the Jerusalem and the sanctuary…” Day and night he uttered this cry as he went through all the streets. Some of the more prominent citizens [were] very annoyed at these ominous words…The Jewish authorities… took him before the Roman procurator. There, though scourged till his flesh hung in ribbons, he neither begged for mercy nor shed a tear but lowering his voice to the most mournful of tones answered every blow with “Woe to Jerusalem!” When Albinus – for that was the procurator’s name – demanded to know who he was, where he came from and why he uttered such cries, he made no reply whatever to the questions but endlessly repeated his lament over the city, till Albinus decided that he was a madman and released him.

Early Jewish Sources: (c) The Testimony of Josephus (Testimonium Flavianum) (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities)

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus was not a follower of Jesus but speaks of Jesus in two passages of his work. When we remove the interpolations (<...>) that were not written by Josephus but added later by a Christian scribe, we have a good representation of the general opinion of most 1st-century Jews about Jesus: a wise man, a miracle-worker, a teacher of righteousness, who had many followers and died at the hands of the Romans. We are told that his disciples, led by James (the brother of Jesus), were also highly respected. The execution of James by the "insolent" High Priest Ananias was condemned by the majority of the people.

Ant 18:63-64 -- About the time (of Pilate) lived Jesus, a wise man <if indeed it be lawful to call him a man>. He was a doer of wonderful things and a teacher of men who delight in accepting the truth. He attracted many Jews and also many from the Greek world. He was called the Christ <He was indeed the Christ>; and when, on the accusation of our leading men. Pilate condemned him to the cross, those who loved him from the first did not cease to do so. <For he appeared to them again alive on the third day, the divine prophets having foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things about him.> The race of Christians named after him has survived to this day
Cf. Ant 20:199-203 -- [The High Priest Ananias] was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, who were very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews... He assembled the Sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some of his companions; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the Law, he delivered them to be stoned

Early Jewish Sources: (d) The Testimony of Rabbi Trypho (according to Justin Martyr)

The problem was never Jesus (what he did or said), but what the Christians began claiming about him, in particular about his divinity.

Justin, Dialogue with Trypho (2nd cent. CE) -- Rabbi Trypho said: It would be better for us to have obeyed our teachers who warned us not to listen to you Christians, nor to converse with you on these subjects, for you have blasphemed many times in your attempt to convince us that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron, and spoke with them in the pillar of the cloud; that he became man, was crucified, and ascended into Heaven, and will return again to this earth, and that should be worshipped.

2nd stage: A "Bad" Jew (the Middle Ages)

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The parting of the Ways between Christians and Jews and the rise of Christian anti-Judaism made relations between the two religions increasingly difficult. When the Church persecuted Jews in an effort to convert them and segregated them in ghettos, Jewish sympathy or indifference towards Jesus turned into hostility. It is a sad fact of history that the followers of this great Jew have brought much suffering upon the Jewish people, so that for centuries it was very hard for any Jew even to think of Jesus without difficulty. Eventually, Jesus himself began to be presented in some Jewish sources as a "bad" Jew, a heretic who sought to mislead Israel. The recognition of the Jewishness of Jesus never completely vanished over the centuries, in authors like Maimonides, Mendelssohn, etc.

Tosefta (3rd cent. CE) -- Rabbi Eliazer [end of the first cent. CE] said: Once I was walking on the street of Sepphoris. I chanced upon Jacob of Kefar Sikhnin, and he said a word of minut [=heresy] in the name of Yeshua ben Pantira [=Jesus], and it gave me pleasure. I was arrested on charge of minut [=heresy], for I have transgressed the words of the Torah: Keep your path far from her and do not draw near to the entrance of her house [Prov 5:8] (Tosefta, Hullin 2:24).
Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 43a -- On the [eve of the] Sabbath day of the Passover festival Yeshu of Nazareth was hanged. For forty days before execution took place, a herald went forth and cried: “Here is Yeshu of Nazareth, who is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Anyone who can say anything in his favor, let him come forth and plead on his behalf.” But since nothing was brought forth in his favor, he was hanged on the eve of Passover.
Toledot Yeshu -- At the time of King Jannaeus [around 90 BCE] a great misfortune befell to Israel. A certain disreputable man of the tribe of Judah arose, whose name was Joseph Pandera… He lustfully gazed at Miriam… and betrayed her by pretending that he was her betrothed husband, Yohanan… She submitted only against her will... Yohanan left to Babylon. Miriam gave birth to a son and named him Yehoshua, after her brother… On the eight day he was circumcised… He was instructed in the Jewish tradition… When it was known, that he was the illegitimate son of Joseph Pandera, Yeshu flew to Upper Galilee… Yeshu claimed: “I am the Messiah”… His disciples worshipped him as the Messiah, the Son of the Highest. When word of these things came to Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin decided to arrest Yeshu… with the accusation: “This man is a sorcerer and entices everyone”… Yeshu was arrested and put to death on the sixth hour before the Passover, which that year was also the Sabbath… On the first day of the week his bold followers reported that he was not in his grave; he had ascended to heaven as he had prophesied…

3rd stage: The Rediscovery of Jesus's Jewishness (the modern period)

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Only after the French Revolution (1789) and the Napoleon age, Jews obtained civil rights in some parts of Europe and ghettoes were abolished. With the end of Jewish segregation in the 19th cent. the relationships between Christians and Jews gradually improved and Jewish scholars and rabbis began rediscovering the important role played by Jesus in their own tradition, as a Jew among Jews. Today some of the most influential scholars on Jesus are Jewish and Jewish religious authorities (although rejecting the Christian claims on Jesus) look at Jesus with great respect as a "faithful" Jew who died a martyr to sanctify the name of God.

From the Jewish perspective, claiming to be the Messiah is not against the Jewish law (as we have seen, there are other Jews who made the same claim), since the true identity of the Messiah will be revealed only at the end of times. Jesus was born, lived and died a Jew. Judaism was his religion. The faith in Jesus divides Christians and Jews, but the faith of Jesus in the God of Israel unites them.

The open rejection of antisemitism by the Church has created a new climate of dialogue between Christians and Jews and a new common appreciation of the figure of Jesus. <Here you see pictures of the meeting in 1986 between Pope John Paul II and the Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff; see April 13, 1986, NBC Nightly News>

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