CHRISTIANITY’S TWO BEST-KEPT SECRETS
Christianity has some very big secrets it has kept hidden for twenty centuries. They are still so well concealed that few people would suspect they exist. The first secret was revealed in the incarnation of Jesus, while the second mystery was revealed later by the Apostle Paul.
THE FIRST SECRET
Jesus was Jewish. Now, so far as we know, he is the only being in the heavenly places with a resurrected and glorified fleshly body. When he returns, he will come just as he left, as a resurrected and glorified Jewish Messiah. We can imagine the cries that will go up. We will probably hear a billion and a half Muslims crying out, “O no! He’s the one we’ve been fighting against for over 1400 years!” A lot of Gentiles, even some Christians, may cry out, “O my God, he’s Jewish!” We Christians have been persecuting the Jews for two thousand years! We can understand why millions of people will be looking for a hole in the ground where they can hide, or why they will be calling for the mountains to fall and cover them (Rev. 6:16).
Jesus was a Jew. He was born to a Jewish mother, and for that reason alone he could qualify for aliya (immigration in Israel) by present standards. Jesus was born in a Jewish town, circumcised according to Jewish law, worshipped in a Jewish synagogue, and read the Jewish Bible as was customary. He undoubtedly spoke the Hebrew language.
The Lord has been pictured in the garb and with the skin coloration of virtually every Gentile person on earth. However, only in recent years has he been pictured to any degree as a Jew. The theologian James Charlesworth states, “…if two facts are unassailable today, they are Jesus’ deep Jewishness – he was a Jew – and his paradigmatic effect on Jews and Gentiles.” 1
It would shock many Christians today to see Jesus wearing a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl). Yet, we can be assured that he wore one. Had he not done so, he would have broken the very law that he came to uphold. The law concerning the wearing of such garments is found in Numbers 15:37-49. These garments were certainly still worn in Jesus’ time because along with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a tallit was found almost intact. It can be seen on display today at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.
There is much evidence of Jesus’ Jewishness in scripture if we take time to search it out and consider it. Jesus was born to Jewish parents and into a devout Jewish home. He was circumcised on the eighth day (Lk. 2:21). After Jesus’ birth, his mother performed the required purification rites by presenting him at the Temple in Jerusalem and by making the necessary sacrifice (Lk. 2:22-24). Jesus’ parents were faithful in journeying to Jerusalem every year for the feast of Passover (Lk. 2:41). When we remember the distance between Galilee and Jerusalem, and when we consider most people traveled on foot, this was a considerable demonstration of their devotion.
Even as a child, Jesus was deeply attracted to the Temple. He was also interested in the theological discussions carried on in its precincts. On one of his many trips to Jerusalem, he talked at length with the teachers (Lk. 2:42-49), both answering their questions and asking questions of them. The teachers were astounded at his wisdom since he was only a child of twelve years.
We learn also from scripture that Jesus was no stranger to the synagogue, for in Luke 4:16 we see him standing to read as was his custom. As an adult, Jesus himself kept the various Jewish holidays and festivals. He ate the Passover meal with his disciples (Matt. 26:17, cf. Jn. 2:23). In John 5:1, Jesus attends some unnamed feast in Jerusalem. We also read in John’s gospel that Jesus went up to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2, 14). He even made one of his truly beautiful teachings at this event, claiming himself to be the water of life.
David Flusser, Professor Emeritus of Hebrew University, remarks, “Jesus was part and parcel of the world of the Jewish Sages. He was no ignorant peasant, and his acquaintance with the Written and the Oral Law was considerable.” In another place, Flusser points out that Jesus had a “…profound Jewish education…” 2
Jesus, or Yeshua as he is called in Hebrew, came to this earth as God’s promised Servant to the Jewish people. As a part of his great mission to Israel, he also came to bring judgment or deliverance to the Gentiles (Isa. 42:1). As Matthew says: “In his name the nations will put their hope” (Mat. 12:21). Unfortunately, the Gentile Christian church has done much to obscure the Jewishness of Jesus. We have hidden his Jewishness from the Jews since many of them still consider him a Gentile.
THE SECOND SECRET
The Apostle Paul, who often revealed great spiritual mysteries, made this second secret known in the Book of Romans, chapters 9 through 11, as well as in Ephesians, chapters 2 and 3. The light of his revelation quickly faded and then was lost completely for almost two thousand years. Perhaps, in this end-day, the secret can be known once more.
In Romans chapters 9 through 11, Paul takes time out to carefully explain the church’s relationship to Israel. This second secret is clearly pictured for us in Romans 11:17-21, where the apostle deals with the olive tree heritage: “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.”
What astounding information this is! How could we have missed it for so long? Our Christian family tree is Jewish! We Christians are grafted into the House of Israel, into that old olive tree. Regardless of what antisemites have said over the centuries, the tree is still around. It is also alive and well. Furthermore, this passage makes it clear that all the branches of the old tree were never broken off as we have been taught, but only some of them.
The olive tree is one of the longest-living trees on earth. While we may have problems getting our regular fruit trees to live fifty years, the olive can live hundreds of years and still remain fruitful. Some people think the old olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane were alive at the time of Christ. They have probably been cut down a few times since then, but the olive has the remarkable ability to sprout from its roots and keep on living. These olive sprouts are probably referred to in Psalm 128:3: “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.”
We can see by this that we are grafted into something very old, very sturdy and very much alive. When I was a young person, I once heard a professor say something like this: “Christianity is a very young religion.” At the time, this statement shocked and discouraged me. Now I realize that the professor did not understand much about the Christian heritage. We are part of something old. We have roots, ancient roots!
This great biblical fact should change many things in the church. It should certainly change our relationship with the Jewish people and with the nation of Israel. The spiritual implications of this fact could enrich our study and our biblical meditation. In Bible times the olive tree was the source of light (revelation), of nourishment, of healing, of anointing. All these things and many more are now available to us in our family tree.
Paul gives us more information on this second secret, beginning in Ephesians 2:11 and continuing through 3:13. He sums it up in 3:6 saying: “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” We Gentile Christians are now fellow citizens with the redeemed of Israel in God’s great kingdom (2:19). Together we make up a glorious, new, holy temple in the Lord (2:21). Paul adds: “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace,” (2:15).
All this information should change forever our attitude toward the Jewish people and Israel. It should thrust us into a new understanding and mode of living. It should change the way we pray. For instance, we should want to start praying for Jerusalem as we have been commanded (Psa. 122:6; Isa. 62:7). From this point on, our lives should be full of thanksgiving and praise to God for what he has done, and full of supreme love toward his people Israel.
-Jim Gerrish
Published, November 2024
This article is a condensed portion of the author’s book, Does God Play Favorites? For your free copy of this book check under Israel Books at churchisraelforum.com.
1 James H. Charlesworth, Jesus Within Judaism (New York: Doubleday, 1988), p. 167.
2 David Flusser, Jewish Sources in Early Christianity (New York: Adama Books, 1987)
pp. 19, 62, 25.