i'm a jew ..

ha
readers that know me are laughing at the title ..

actually i'm adopted ..

there are things that swish around in my mind, sometimes for years
it's just that putting them in an understandable format can be difficult, not to speak of the horror they could well elicit ..
not to speak of the response " well who are you that i should listen to you " ..

this is one of those things

i'm sitting in a noble bookstore with a recent issue of newsweek, titled 'the birth of Jesus Christ'
and i have to laugh
really
we are so silly
stupid?

i merely glanced through it, by the way; no serious reading
first thing that hits me with all the classic paintings is .. everybody is white
except for those 'three wise men'
which absolutely begs the question - if the renowned artists were able to find a darker colour for them, why is Jesus and Mary and Paul and Matthew and ... white?
why indeed

one other mentionable issue: the brilliant contributors to newsweek completely confused matthew and luke (see caption p 48) .. crazy

which leads me to .. Jesus was an Israelite, a Jew
his last name is not 'Christ'; that's a title meaning 'anointed one', and is the greek translation of the hebrew 'messiah'

although his purpose was to boost God's intention of reconciliation for the cosmos as a whole, for the Earth as a whole, for creation as a whole, for humanity as a whole, he entered the scene with a nod to Israel first, in acknowledgement of his own Jewish identity as well as God's covenant with Israel

there's a passage that states
' He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
But to all who did receive Him, to those who trust in Him, He gave them the right to be children of God. '

Jesus opened the door to all people everywhere without their having to subscribe to Judaism, as in the past; no more need for circumcision, for observing sabbath, for eating/not eating certain foods, etc.
in his death he destroyed absolutely the dividing wall between Jew and non-jew (gentile)
all people everywhere are now on the same footing
which is how i became adopted

however
that's not to say that God has rejected Israel's place in his scheme of reconciliation
God is not a man that he should lie; he made a covenant with himself that Israel would be his chosen people in the earth, to represent him to all peoples, and apparently he's not going to back-off that covenant, even if Israel is unfaithful to it

apostle paul speaks to this in his letter to Roman christians, chapters 9-11 specifically, but addressed throughout the letter
the book known as 'Hebrews' speaks to it as well, big time
Paul points out that Christ-ians are 'wild olive branches' 'grafted on to the olive tree', i.e. Israel
he asserts that christians shouldn't neglect recognizing that adoption, because God has chosen to work through Israel
christians shouldn't be arrogant, as if Israel is a done-deal, as if christianity has replaced Israel ..
Paul was not throwing Israel out in his theology (even though God had changed tactics)
Christ-followers are made a part of Israel by trusting in Messiah Jesus

so
what's the point

i don't know .. you figure out how that affects you and your theology

for me, the issue is that it's another illustration of how we simply passover significant themes in the biblical narrative, as if they aren't important
and it's important, for it speaks to who God is, how he operates, who we are
who i am ..

be careful who you listen to
be careful who interprets scripture, who decides for you what is important and what isn't
be careful to get it for yourself
do not depend on someone else
God had it written down for you

if you claim to trust Jesus, to be his disciple, it's the very least you can do
considering what he has done for you
don't slight him
honour him by getting to know him and the God who is there behind it all, in scripture

peace