-Jesus Blog Part 2: Jesus Ate Kosher-

I think that movies mess us up when it comes to our perception of Jesus. In most movies I've seen that portray Him, Jesus has long hair (sometimes blond), a beard, blue eyes, and is in pretty good shape. He wears Birkenstocks, and a white "dress" with either or red or blue sash around it. Seriously, we portray Jesus as a 1st Century metro-sexual. In some of the movies He's even wearing guy-liner.

But that's not really how Jesus would have looked. I mean, He would have had a beard, sure, but that's where most of the similarities end. The idea that He had long hair is highly debatable, I promise his hair was dark and there is no way He had blue eyes. (The only way we can argue that point is by alluding to the fact that maybe "his Dad has blue eyes." But that's a scary discussion in of itself.) His clothing would have typical for the day too. So, not likely white and no "sash" around him; just a tunic. Oh and He wasn't white. Caucasian Jesus is a myth. This comparison may freak some people out, but Jesus probably looked more like Osama bin Laden than he does our own mental depictions of him. Because what we often forget here in the west is that Jesus wasn't a Christian, He was a Jew.

Now, the idea of a Jewish Jesus really doesn't surprise anyone. We "know" He was Jewish. But do we really? Do we even know what that means? As a 1st Century Jew, Jesus' life and upbringing would have revolved around the Torah, (1st 5 Books of the Old Testament). We see Him at 12 years old going to Jerusalem for the Passover, the New Testament talks about Pentecost (the Jewish feast, not the "christian" version of it), and even what we call "The Last Supper" takes place in the context of a Jewish Passover meal. Jesus was a Jew. He lived in a Jewish region of a Jewish country, was raised by Jewish parents, celebrated Jewish holidays, learned Jewish tradition, spoke Hebrew as well as Aramaic, and ate Kosher.

The reason this is important is because as Western Christians, I feel like we have lost some of the richness of Jesus' words and life because we view them OUTSIDE of His cultural lens. As a church, Christianity has stepped away from our parent faith, Judaism. We've become like the 18-20 year old who just moved out of his parents house and is trying to be independent. But in declaring our independence we are only robbing OURSELVES of our full and rich family history. WE are the ones missing out. But in our arrogance we fail to recognize it. We miss the truth that if i really, truly want to learn about Jesus and the things He said, then I must also be a student of Judaism. I must try to see the Torah the way he did. I must try to understand the importance of those Jewish feasts. If I want Jesus to invade my world fully, I must also be willing to invade His world.

I'm not saying we should all put on a yamaka and start spinning a dradle. I'm not saying we all need to convert to Judaism or start saying, "Oy Vey!" I am simply saying that if we want to know Jesus the way we say we do, we need to learn about the faith and religion that He practiced. Otherwise, we're not really getting to know the real Him. I think my own life, (and quite possibly yours), is proof of this. It would be impossible to really know me if you tried to understand me OUTSIDE of my faith and religion. Because every single part of my life is penetrated and influenced by my spiritual beliefs and faith. So if you removed all the "Christian undertones" from my life, you wouldn't be left with much to get to know. Jesus is the same. By trying to know Him OUTSIDE of His Jewishness, we are left with only a shell of who and what He really is. So, hey, lets get together for some good kosher and learn more about what Jesus was like.