Jesus is a Jew

I was recently admonished on a blog when I claimed that "Jesus is a Jew". The young woman doing the admonishing responded to my comment with "Of course he isn't a Jew. He's a Christian!"
If one were to ask the question "what religion is Jesus" I suspect the response would almost always be "He is a Christian". What some people don't realize is that Jesus is a Jew.
How did I arrive at this conclusion? Let's take a look.

Wikipedia defines Jews as:
"Followers of Judaism or, more generally, members of the Jewish people (also known as the Jewish nation, or the Children of Israel), an ethno-religious group descended from the ancient Israelites and from converts who joined their religion. The term also includes those who have undergone an officially recognized formal process of religious conversion to Judaism."⁽¹⁾

In addition to that, Israelites are defined as:
"An Israelite is a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve sons of the Biblical patriarch Jacob who was renamed Israel by God in the book of Genesis, 32:28. The Israelites were a group of Hebrews, as described in the Hebrew Bible."⁽²⁾

Both in the Gospels of Matthew (1:1-17) and Luke (3:23-38), genealogies are presented for Jesus. One can draw several conclusions concerning Bible prophecy from these genealogies, but the point I would like to make is the direct line drawn from Jesus back to Jacob, who made Him a direct descendant.

We find in Luke 2:22 "And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord."
And in Luke 2:41 "Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover."
As the end of Jesus' ministry ended, we find Him celebrating Passover with His disciples in the upper room.

Why is it important to understand that Jesus is a Jew?

God says in Malachi 3:6 "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed."
God is always the same. It follows then that all of the Laws given to the Jews in Exodus, Numbers and Leviticus were still very much in effect when Jesus was here on Earth. He celebrated all the Jewish holidays and made the sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. Failure to do any of these things would have been a sin and according to Hebrews 4:14-15, Jesus lived sinless.

In Matthew 5:17-18, Jesus says "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished."

In order for Jesus to be acceptable to God as the final sacrifice for man's sins, past, present and future, He would have had to follow all of God's laws to the letter.
So the perfect Lamb of God died on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

To answer the young lady's statement concerning Jesus as a Christian, the term "Christian" is first mentioned in Acts 11:25-26 "And he (Barnabas)left for Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.
Jesus was never called a "Christian".
This term is reserved for those who believe in Jesus as the Lord and Savior of mankind.
If you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, click here or . We'd be happy to help you understand who Jesus is and how you can have a relationship with God. We welcome you with open arms as a fellow Christian. Won't you join us?

-Steve
Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian Family

References:
1. Definition of "Jew" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
2. Definition of "Israelite" From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia