The Orthodox Jews of Jerusalem were irreconcilable in their hostility to the teachings of Christ. Does this mean that Jesus was not a Jew? Is it ethical to question the virgin birth of the Virgin Mary?
Jesus Christ often called himself the Son of Man. The nationality of the parents, according to the theologians, will shed light on the Savior's belonging to one or another ethnic group.
According to the Bible, all mankind came from Adam. Later, people themselves divided themselves into races, nationalities. Yes, and Christ during his lifetime, given the gospels of the apostles, did not comment on his nationality.
Birth of Christ
The country of Judea, where Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born, in those ancient times was a province of Rome. Emperor Augustus ordered a census. He wanted to find out how many inhabitants each of the cities of Judea.
Mary and Joseph, the parents of Christ, lived in the city of Nazareth. But they had to return to the homeland of their ancestors, to Bethlehem, in order to put their names on the lists. Caught inBethlehem, the couple could not find shelter - so many people came to the census. They decided to stop outside the city, in a cave that served as a shelter for shepherds during bad weather.
During the night Mary gave birth to a son. Wrapping the baby in diapers, she put him to sleep where they put the cattle feed - in the manger.
Shepherds were the first to know about the birth of the Messiah. They were tending their flocks in the vicinity of Bethlehem when an angel appeared to them. He broadcast that the savior of mankind was born. This is a joy for all people, and the sign for the identification of the baby will be that he lies in the manger.
The shepherds immediately went to Bethlehem and came across a cave in which they saw the future Savior. They told Mary and Joseph about the words of the angel. On the 8th day, the couple gave the child a name - Jesus, which means "savior" or "God saves."
Was Jesus Christ a Jew? Nationality by father or mother was determined at that time?
Star of Bethlehem
On the very night that Christ was born, a bright, unusual star appeared in the sky. The Magi, who studied the movements of celestial bodies, went after her. They knew that the appearance of such a star indicates the birth of the Messiah.
Magi began their journey from the eastern country (Babylonia or Persia). The star, moving across the sky, showed the wise men the way.
Meanwhile, the numerous people who came to Bethlehem for the census dispersed. And the parents of Jesus returned to the city. Above the place where the baby was, the star stopped, and the Magicame to the house to give gifts to the future Messiah.
They brought gold as a tribute to the future king. They gave incense as a gift to God (even then incense was used in worship). And myrrh (the fragrant oil used to rub the dead) as a mortal man.
King Herod
The local king Herod the Great, who obeyed Rome, knew about the great prophecy - a bright star in the sky marks the birth of a new king of the Jews. He called to himself the Magi, priests, soothsayers. Herod wanted to know where the baby Messiah was.
False speeches, deceit, he tried to find out the whereabouts of Christ. Unable to get an answer, King Herod decided to exterminate all the babies in the area. 14,000 children under the age of 2 were killed in and around Bethlehem.
However, ancient historians, including Josephus Flavius, do not mention this bloody event. Perhaps this is due to the fact that the number of children killed was much smaller.
It is believed that after such villainy, the wrath of God punished the king. He died a painful death, eaten alive by worms in his luxurious palace. After his terrible death, power passed to the three sons of Herod. The lands were also divided. The regions of Perea and Galilee went to Herod the Younger. Christ spent about 30 years in these lands.
Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, beheaded John the Baptist to please his wife Herodias. The sons of Herod the Great did not receive the royal title. Judea was ruled by a Roman procurator. Herod Antipas and other local rulers obeyed him.
Mother of the Savior
The parents of the Virgin Mary have long beenchildless. At that time it was considered a sin, such a union was a sign of the wrath of God.
Joachim and Anna lived in the city of Nazareth. They prayed and believed that they would definitely have a child. Decades later, an angel appeared to them and announced that the couple would soon become parents.
According to legend, the Virgin Mary was born on September 21st. The happy parents swore that this child would belong to God. Until the age of 14, Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was brought up in the temple. From a young age, she saw angels. According to legend, the Archangel Gabriel took care of and guarded the future Mother of God.
Mary's parents had died by the time the Virgin had to leave the temple. The priests could not keep her. But they were sorry to let the orphan go. Then the priests betrothed her to the carpenter Joseph. He was more of a guardian of the Virgin than her husband. Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, remained a virgin.
What was the nationality of the Virgin? Her parents were natives of Galilee. This means that the Virgin Mary was not a Jew, but a Galilean. By confession, she belonged to the law of Moses. Her life in the temple also points to her upbringing in the faith of Moses. So who was Jesus Christ? The nationality of the mother, who lived in pagan Galilee, remains unknown. Scythians predominated in the mixed population of the region. It is possible that Christ inherited his appearance from his mother.
Savior Father
Theologians have long debated whether Joseph should be considered the biological father of Christ? He had a fatherly attitude towards Mary, he knew that she was innocent. Therefore, the news of her pregnancy shocked the carpenter Joseph. The Law of Moses severely punished women for adultery. Joseph had to stone his young wife.
He prayed for a long time and decided to let Mary go, not to keep her near him. But an angel appeared to Joseph, announcing an ancient prophecy. The carpenter realized what a great responsibility lies on him for the safety of mother and child.
Joseph is Jewish by nationality. Is it possible to consider him a biological father if Mary had an immaculate conception? Who is the father of Jesus Christ?
There is a version that the Roman soldier Pantira became the biological father of the Messiah. In addition, there is a possibility that Christ had an Aramaic origin. This assumption is due to the fact that the Savior preached in Aramaic. However, at that time this language was common throughout the Middle East.
The Jews of Jerusalem had no doubt that the real father of Jesus Christ existed somewhere. But all versions are too doubtful to be true.
Christ Face
The document of those times, describing the appearance of Christ, is called the "Message of Leptulus". This is a report to the Roman Senate, written by the proconsul of Palestine, Leptulus. He claims that Christ was of medium height with a noble face and a good figure. He has expressive blue-green eyes. Hair, the color of a ripe walnut, combed into a straight parting. The lines of the mouth and nose are impeccable. In conversation, he is serious and modest. Teaches softly, friendly. Terrible in anger. Sometimes he cries, but he never laughs. A face without wrinkles, calm and strong.
At the Seventh Ecumenical Council (VIII century) wasapproved the official image of Jesus Christ. The Savior should have been written on the icons in accordance with his human appearance. After the Council, painstaking work began. It consisted in the reconstruction of a verbal portrait, on the basis of which a recognizable image of Jesus Christ was created.
Anthropologists claim that the iconography uses not the Semitic, but the Greco-Syrian type of appearance: a thin, straight nose and deep-set, large eyes.
In early Christian icon painting, they were able to accurately convey the individual, ethnic features of the portrait. The earliest depiction of Christ was found on an icon dated to the beginning of the 6th century. It is kept in Sinai, in the monastery of St. Catherine. The face of the icon is similar to the canonized image of the Savior. Apparently, the early Christians considered Christ to be of the European type.
Nationality of Christ
There are still people who claim that Jesus Christ is a Jew. At the same time, a huge number of works have been published on the topic of the non-Jewish origin of the Savior.
At the beginning of the 1st century AD, as Hebraic scholars found out, Palestine broke up into 3 regions, which differed in their confessional and ethnic characteristics.
- Judea, headed by the city of Jerusalem, was inhabited by Orthodox Jews. They obeyed the law of Moses.
- Samaria was closer to the Mediterranean Sea. The Jews and Samaritans were old enemies. Even mixed marriages between them were forbidden. In Samaria there were no more than 15% of the Jews of the total number of inhabitants.
- Galilee consisted ofmixed population, part of which remained faithful to Judaism.
Some theologians claim that the typical Jew was Jesus Christ. His nationality is not in doubt, since he did not deny the entire system of Judaism. And only he did not agree with some postulates of the Mosaic law. Then why did Christ react so calmly to the fact that the Jews of Jerusalem called him a Samaritan? This word was an insult to a true Jew.
God or man?
So who is right? Those who claim that Jesus Christ is God? But then what nationality can be demanded from God? He is out of ethnicity. If God is the basis of all things, including people, there is no need to talk about nationality at all.
And if Jesus Christ is a man? Who is his biological father? Why did he get the Greek name Christos, which means "anointed"?
Jesus never claimed to be God. But he is not a man in the usual sense of the word. His dual nature was to acquire a human body and a divine essence within this body. Therefore, as a man, Christ could feel hunger, pain, anger. And as a vessel of God - to work miracles, filling the space around him with love. Christ said that he does not heal from himself, but only with the help of a divine gift.
Jesus worshiped and prayed to the Father. He completely submitted himself to His will in the last years of his life and called on the people to believe in the One God in heaven.
As the Son of Man he was crucified for salvationof people. As the Son of God, he was resurrected and incarnated in the trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Miracles of Jesus Christ
About 40 miracles are described in the Gospels. The first happened in the city of Cana, where Christ, his mother and the apostles were invited to the wedding. He turned water into wine.
The second miracle Christ performed by curing a sick man whose illness lasted 38 years. The Jews of Jerusalem were angry with the Savior - he violated the Sabbath rule. It was on this day that Christ worked himself (healed the sick man) and forced another to work (the sick man himself carried his bed).
The Savior resurrected the dead girl, Lazarus and the widow's son. He healed the possessed and tamed the storm on the lake of Galilee. Christ fed the people with five loaves after the sermon - about 5 thousand of them gathered, not counting children and women. Walked on water, healed ten lepers and blind men of Jericho.
The miracles of Jesus Christ prove his Divine essence. He had power over demons, sickness, death. But he never performed miracles for his glory or to collect offerings. Even during the interrogation of Herod, Christ did not show a sign as evidence of his strength. He did not try to protect himself, but only asked for sincere faith.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
It was the resurrection of the Savior that became the basis for a new faith - Christianity. The facts about him are reliable: they appeared at a time when eyewitnesses of the events were still alive. All recorded episodes have slight discrepancies, but do not contradict each other as a whole.
The empty tomb of Christindicates that the body was taken away (enemies, friends) or Jesus rose from the dead.
If the body was taken by the enemies, they would not fail to mock the students, thus stopping the emerging new faith. Friends had little faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they were disappointed and depressed by his tragic death.
Honorary Roman citizen and Jewish historian Flavius Josephus mentions the spread of Christianity in his book. He confirms that on the third day Christ appeared alive to his disciples.
Even modern scholars do not deny that Jesus appeared to some followers after death. But they attribute it to hallucinations or some other phenomenon without questioning the authenticity of the evidence.
The appearance of Christ after death, the empty tomb, the rapid development of the new faith are proof of his resurrection. There is not a single known fact that denies this information.
God Appointed
Already from the first Ecumenical Councils, the Church unites the human and divine nature of the Savior. He is one of the 3 hypostases of the One God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This form of Christianity was recorded and declared the official version at the Council of Nicaea (in 325), Constantinople (in 381), Ephesus (in 431) and Chalcedon (in 451).
However, the debate about the Savior did not stop. Some Christians have claimed that Jesus Christ is God. Others claimed that he was only the Son of God and completely subject to his will. The basic idea of the trinity of God is oftencompared with paganism. Therefore, disputes about the essence of Christ, as well as about his nationality, do not subside to this day.
The cross of Jesus Christ is a symbol of martyrdom for the atonement of human sins. Does it make sense to discuss the nationality of the Savior if faith in him is able to unite different ethnic groups? All people on the planet are children of God. The humanity of Christ transcends national characteristics and classifications.
