March 12, 2017 – “The Real Jesus: A Palestinian Jew”

An audio file of the sermon from March 12, 2017 is available at this link.

The Scripture readings are Psalm 122 and John 2:13-25.

A downloadable PDF file of the worship bulletin is at this link.

“Not that long ago it was possible for Christians to ignore the fact that Jesus was Jewish. The Holocaust was perpetrated by people whose cultural heritage was Christian (even though they themselves mostly were not Christians), people who ignored or rejected the obvious historical truth that Jesus was a Jew. But the Holocaust also made it imperative for us as Christians to remind ourselves of this fact. Today, it would be as strange to find a Christian who thinks Jesus wasn’t Jewish, or that his Jewishness didn’t matter, as to find one who thinks the earth is flat.

“What may not be so clear, though, is how Jesus understood himself within Judaism, and how he thought he was transforming Israel’s life with God.  What was the meaning of the life, death, and resurrection of this specifically Jewish man?”