Un-Jewing Christianity?

 
 White Crucifixion Marc Chagall
 
It seems absurd that at as we enter into Holy Week we might forget that Jesus was Jewish, as were most of his earliest followers. They would not have been in Jerusalem except for the Jewish festival of the Passover. Jewish authorities wouldn't have been in conflict with Jesus except for his unsettling interpretation of Jewish law. Pontius Pilate, his executioner wouldn't have been in the city either, but his role as procurator was to maintain the Pax Romana, the Roman peace, and the Jewish people were more inclined to proclaim fealty to Yahweh than the Emperor. 

Yet, through the centuries some Christians have distanced themselves from the Jewishness of Jesus to the extent that they have persecuted and killed Jews in many different cultures. 

In a recent article in Sojourners magazine by Deborah Pardo-Kaplan called The Un-Jewing of Modern Christianity she expresses her concern that Christianity ignores its Jewish grounding:

 I find myself continually frustrated by the culture and theology of Christianity that neglects Jewish people — the people through whom Jesus arose, the people he first addressed, and the people for whom he also sacrificed his life as an atonement. Christians clearly love Jesus and are inspired to deeply love others because of him — both of which stem from the Jewish commandments to love God and neighbor. But loving someone without familiarizing yourself with that person’s family or history, loving Jesus without knowing about his Jewish community, is like trying to love your spouse while you suffer from amnesia.

When I sought counsel from a close friend, who holds a doctorate in theology from Fuller Seminary, about the validity of love disconnected from Jesus’ community of origin, she put it in this illuminating way: “Like a tree with no roots, their actions can be virtuous,” said Jen Rosner, “while lacking a certain depth and anchoring in the fullness of the story of God and God’s redemptive plans for the world.”

Tragically, Holy Week has been a time  for anti-Jewish rhetoric and persecution to ramp up through history as Jews were vilified as Christ-killers. This year we can remember those who died at Beth Shalom synagogue in Pittsburgh last October as the result of a hate crime. And we must remember that anti-Jewish sentiment is on the rise in a number of democracies in Europe and even here in Canada.