Posted by Dinah on April 27, 2005, at 9:55:40
In reply to Re: Lou's reply to Dinah- » Dinah, posted by rayww on April 26, 2005, at 23:37:42
I would disagree, Ray. The people who stuck by him through the bad times, the people he returned to after his resurrection, were also Jewish. I don't think he felt let down by his faith, or his friends. Again, if I were to be falsely accused of something and punished severely, I would be angry with the individuals, not with Americans.
What I'm trying to say was that race and culture don't play much of a role in the thinking of someone immersed in them.
Jesus loved Judaism, before and after his resurrection. He loved Peter and Paul and Thomas and Mary and Mary. He didn't feel betrayed by the "Jews". He felt betrayed by individuals perhaps. And since crucifixion was clearly a Roman form of execution, he probably wasn't too happy with them. But then, historically, he wouldn't have been before either.
There is a passage in some interpretations of the New Testament that say that Jesus' followers were hiding out in homes from the Jews. And I always speak up and say, "Well, what did they do when they looked at each other? Screech and run from each other and the mirror?" Because they WERE Jews themselves. They can't possibly have been hiding from the Jews. Until Paul spread the gospel of Jesus to the pagans, Jesus's followers were Jewish. They weren't afraid of the Jews. They were afraid of the people out to get them. It wouldn't have occurred to them to be afraid of the Jews any more than it would occur to me to be afraid of the Americans. What am I going to do? Be afraid of myself? My son? My mother? My husband?
Jesus wasn't betrayed by the Jews. His remaining followers were Jews. He was abandoned by those who believed that a Messiah meant something completely different than what Jesus meant, that much is true. The traditional Jewish Messiah, descendent of the house of David, was supposed to come and release the Jewish people from worldly bondage. Overthrow the Roman Empire. To those who believed that, they didn't accept, and couldn't under that understanding accept Jesus as Messiah.
But he was supported by those who believed in him. And if it weren't for the Jews that believed in Jesus and kept his name alive, Paul would have never had a chance to spread Christianity to the Pagans. It wasn't a racial thing at all. And IMHO, it's not fair to say that the "Jews" betrayed Jesus, or that Jesus was unhappy with the "Jews".
poster:Dinah
thread:487466
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20050312/msgs/490308.html