Jesus was Jewish. I know many Christian who really don't like to acknowledge that. In fact one of the first church 'councils', perhaps the council of Jerusalem, fielded quite vocal arguments for and against why a person becoming a Christin might have to convert to Judaism first. The term "Christian" had not been coined yet and the early church was looked at as a sect of Judaism more than anything else. All the Apostles were Jewish as well. It is all so amusing then when people or groups blame the Jews for killing Jesus. Jesus himself was a Jew.
Had we never separated from Judaism we might have a broader and more inclusive picture of the world, history and God. As it is, Christians often see Hebrew Scriptures ( 'The Old Testament' ) as having little connection to Jesus. Had we not separated we'd see a definite connection. As in todays' passages, we see the prophets speaking about Jesus long before the incarnation. Hebrew scripture and Christian scripture dovetail nicely in many respects. You'd see just how much of our Christian beliefs, practices and worship clearly are heavily influenced by our common history.
What is the point though besides how much we lose by intentionally disregarding Judaism or blaming them for 'killing Jesus'? God in his magnificent wisdom and beauty chooses to reveal himself in stages or in pieces that we hopefully can understand. Mentioning neutrons, protons and electrons were far beyond the comprehension of man 4000 years ago. The big bang would have been a big bust. God first revealed the fundamentals. That is, it is He who created the world and then gave man a rudimentary story to explain it. Now we know considerably more, but still God is behind the big bang and we are now drawn deeper into seeking our creator.
God revealed different things to different peoples. In love and cooperation and understanding we can paint a magnificent mosaic of God not tainted by the singular vision of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism or of the Muslim faith.
If the splinter group of Christianity shows us anything more than the need for cooperation, understanding and most of all love, let it be. Jesus became incarnate, lived as a human and died for us as a human so we could understand so much more, live much more fruitfully and meaningful lives. Appreciating each other and our respective visions and histories makes us all the richer and closer still to God.
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