Introduction

Jesus’ life was very simple. He spent it walking from place to place and meeting the needs of the people, the Jewish people in particular. By the time of His ascension, however, He had commanded His disciples, and subsequently commands us, to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19) and to be His witnesses “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). He was born a Jew, was raised a Jew, and died as the Savior of the world.

In this devotional, we will be looking at the life of Jesus, specifically His Jewish upbringing and influence. This is often overlooked today. In fact, I’ve noticed that there are three groups of people who don’t concern themselves with Jesus’ life as a Jew.

First, I daresay many American Christians subconsciously view Jesus as a white-skinned English-speaking man who wrote the King James Bible. Our perception is simply not based in reality. It is highly doubtful that most churches today would even allow Jesus to preach from their pulpit. Let’s be honest—who would allow this plainly clothed Man without a seminary degree, with no possessions to His name and with only His feet as transportation, to be given a place of authority in the church?

Second, there are those who believe that the Jewishness of Jesus is just not important. They believe that the Church completely replaced Israel as God’s chosen people because Israel failed to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. They also believe that whatever happens to modern-day political or spiritual Israel or to the Jewish people corporately has no relation to the Church or to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy. They believe God now only calls the Church “His people”. The Jews and Israel had their chance and missed it.

Last, there are many believers who just don’t know or seem to care about Jesus’ life as a Jew. They walk in ignorance of this crucial aspect of His life. They mainly read the Bible at face value, rarely seeking to understand historical, religious, or cultural context, and have an inadequate commitment to know God’s Word. Let’s face it: we’re all a little guilty of this laziness.

The commonality tying all three viewpoints together is a self-centered Gospel. Instead of studying the Bible and its context objectively and with a whole-hearted passion to know the full truth of God’s message, we allow biases and lethargy to take over.

From the Old Testament law and prophecies to Jesus’ birth, upbringing, and ministry, we’ll look broadly at the Jewish religious culture, customs, and influence in His life and beyond. The majority of Scripture references will be from the Old Testament and two New Testament books (Matthew and Hebrews) written to a Jewish audience. Several names from the Old Testament will also continue to pop up.

As with any devotional I write, it is impossible to be exhaustive. Rather, it is meant to encourage and inspire you to dig deeper into God’s Word in your own personal study time. If I achieve this objective, then to Him be the glory!