These days, there appears to be a lot of confusion about whether or not Jesus was a Jew. While I believe that most people do not question whether or not He was born of the tribe of Judah, we will cover it anyway before we go further into the meaning of the word, Jew.
Turning to Matthew chapter 1 will bring us to a long genealogy. This genealogy brings us from Abraham to Judas, who is the father of all the members of the tribe of Judas, then continues on all the way to Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Joseph as many of you know, didn’t have anything to do with Jesus’ conception, making his genealogy moot. Mary’s genealogy is a bit more hidden, but can be found in the pages of Luke.
Luke begins his gospel, not with Jesus, but with “a certain priest named Zacharias.”
Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
We are told here that Elisabeth is of the daughters of Aaron, which means she is from the tribe of Levi. Later in the chapter we learn that Elisabeth is Mary’s cousin:
Luke 1:36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
Thus making Mary at least half Levite. Why only half Levite? Let’s back up to when the angel told Mary she was to conceive as a virgin.
Luke 1:30-33 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. (31) And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. (32) He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (33) And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
So let’s answer the question, why only half Levite? Because we see that in verse 32 it tells us He will be given the throne of His father David, who we all know was a member of the tribe of Judah.
Why then is there a lot of confusion about whether or not Jesus is a Jew? It is because of the word Jew itself, not only what it means, but who calls themselves Jews.
late 12c. (in plural, giwis), from Anglo-French iuw, Old French giu, from Latin Iudaeum (nominative Iudaeus), from Greek Ioudaios, from Aramaic jehudhai (Hebrewy’hudi) “Jew,” from Y’hudah “Judah,” literally “celebrated,” name of Jacob’s fourth son and of the tribe descended from him. Replaced Old English Iudeas “the Jews.” Originally, “Hebrew of the kingdom of Judah.”
Clearly the word doesn’t go back as far as the tribe of Judah itself, but has come to be the word we use in English to describe those who are descended from Judah himself along with those from the southern kingdom called Judah, which mainly included not only members of the tribe of Judah, but Levi and Benjamin as well.
This is why Paul called himself a Jew despite being of the tribe of Benjamin
Acts 21:39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.
Romans 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
Jesus himself had no problem being called a Jew despite the fact He was a Galilean.
John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
So what on earth is the cause of the problem? The problem lies with the kenite.
Revelation 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Personally I am not a huge fan of the word Jew. I much prefer to use the word Judah because among other things, it is more precise, however the rest of the world uses the word Jew to describe what they believe to be the tribe of Judah, and all of Israel, and it is our job, as Christians, to go out and preach the Word of God, not to confuse others.
Remember that when the Holy Spirit descended upon Peter and company on Pentecost day they did not try to change the way people understood their language. For the Holy Spirit will use your language to make itself understood.
Acts 2:5-8 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. (6) Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. (7) And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? (8) And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
If you speak in a language or a vocabulary that no one understands, then it is certainly not from God.
1 Corinthians 14:9-11 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. (10) There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. (11) Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
Many of you out there know who the synagogue of Satan is and that they, the kenites, call themselves Jews, but that doesn’t change the meaning of the word and it certainly wont change what the world believes the word means. So why would we argue and fight about the meaning of the word when the wise already understand who the synagogue of Satan is, but it confuses and turns away the young in Christ? Despite how difficult it can be sometimes we have to remember that Christ told us in Matthew 13 that the reapers are the angels and that we are not to gather up the tares lest we root up some wheat as well.
