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Hi Joanne,
Thank you for your questions.
I'm going to answer your questions. However, in addition, I'm going to encourage you to start reading the Holy Bible, and I'll give you the Books that answer your questions.
Let's start with the fact that Jesus was born a Hebrew, from the Tribe of Judah, of the Royal line of King David. He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies about the Messiah, written hundreds and even thousands of years before He entered creation, taking on the form of a Man. Jesus is the Eternal Living Word of God the Father. He's the Second person of the Holy Trinity. He always existed, along with the Father, and the Holy Spirit.
We read this in the first Chapter of the Gospel of John. He was Incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, and became Man. He was God before He was Incarnate in Mary's Womb. In Mary's womb He took on Human Flesh and became Man, being both 100% God and 100% Man.
He came to fully reveal God to the World, to Proclaim that Gospel. That is the Good News, that we can be saved from sin and death, because of His Sacrifice on the Cross, His Resurrection, and Ascension back to Heaven. He will return to raise all the dead and judge us at the end of time.
So, His mission wasn't just about promoting God and Charity. He came to save us from our sin. His Salvation is a free gift of His Grace, that we access by Faith In Him. We cannot earn that Salvation, but at the same time we have free will. Hence, we must cooperate with the Grace He bestows on us. We can also choose to reject His Grace and Mercy, in which case we won't be saved. This is all distilled in John 3:16. For God so loved the World that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Ethnically Jesus remains a Jew just like His Blessed Mother, and the Apostles. But He came to fulfill the law and thus Judaism. But He tells us in Matthew 16:18, and in the following verses, that He intends to build a Church. This Church not only would include Jews that believed in Him, but the non-Jews. We can see this happening in the entire Book of the Acts of the Apostle. St. Paul explains this . . . calling it a great Mystery, in His epistle to the Ephesians 3. He unites both Jews and Gentiles into one new man, His Body, the Church.
So, Christianity, is the fulfillment of Biblical Judaism. Hence, the Church, more specifically the Catholic Church, is the New Israel. Within the Church there are people of all ethnicities, including Jews. That doesn't mean that ethnic Jews, are no longer Israel, but that they are no-longer following Biblical Judaism, which is fulfilled in the Church. I'm not saying that all current Jews, can't be saved. God can save anyone, but the normal means of salvation is found in the Catholic Church. All Salvation comes from Jesus Christ and somehow through His Body, which is the Church.
After Jesus rose from the dead, He spent 40 days with His Apostles and Disciples. At which point He ascended to Heaven. Ten days later, He sent the Holy Spirit, to indwell the Church and the members of the Church. We receive the Holy Spirit through Baptism, then again through Confirmation. This initiates us into the Body of Christ, His Church.
There was a period of time, in the very early Church, that all the believers were Jewish. Later in the Book of Acts (Chapter 10) we see that God made it evident to the Apostles that they should also preach the Gospel to non-Jews (called Gentiles). Throughout the Book of Acts we see the Apostles performing Miracles, we also see ordinary Christians being vehicles through which Christ performs miracles and that still happens today. Even in the 4 Gospels we read that Jesus sent out His Apostles 2 by 2 to preach, teach, and perform miracles. They healed the sick, they cast out demons, and in the Book of Acts we read that they raised the dead. All of this is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit, who indwells in the Church and Her members.
At first the followers of Christ were called "The Way." Later we read in Acts, that in the city of Antioch, we were first called Christians. Literally this means “little Christs”. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah. So, Christians are little Messiahs. The word Church is the Greek word "Ecclesia". We get terms like Ecclesial, or Ecclesiology from it. It literally means "The Called Out" or "the Called-Out People of God." This is precisely what Hebrews were in the Old Testament.
We read in Acts that at first there was some confusion and controversy. Some of the Apostles believed that in order for a Gentile to become a Christian, they first had to become Jews and then follow the entirety of the Ceremonial Jewish Law and Temple Worship. This included all the men becoming circumcised to become initiated.
However, it was discerned by the help of the Holy Spirit, at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts Chapter 15), that this was not necessary.
For about 40 years, the Church existed within Judaism. It was considered a sect. It was like a gestation period for the Early Church, with Judaism serving as a womb. But in 70 A.D., the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. So there were no longer daily animal sacrifices being offered for sin. They were no longer necessary, because Christ provided that only acceptable Sacrifice on the Cross. So Biblical Judaism no longer exists. Today's ethnic Jews retain certain aspects of their ceremonial laws, but they can no longer offer sacrifices for their sins.
There is no more Temple. They have synagogues, places of teaching. But Biblical Judaism required that these Sacrifices be done at the one Temple in Jerusalem.
So today, we have what's called Rabbinic Judaism. A system designed by Rabbis (Teachers) as opposed to the system of worship designed by God. Biblical Judaism is found in the Catholic Church, because at Mass, the very same Sacrifice, offered once for all by Jesus, on the Cross of Calvary, is made present on the Altar. When we as Catholics attend Mass, they are made Mystically Present at Calvary to unite ourselves to the Sacrifice of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He is the Passover Lamb... indeed Good Friday took place during Passover. And just as the Passover Lamb had to be eaten for the Sacrifice to be complete, so too we consume Jesus Himself, when we receive Communion.
Now as an aside, this Sacrifice of the Mass, is also found in the Orthodox Church. The split between Catholics and Orthodox is one that revolves around Church Government. So, the Orthodox, are in an imperfect connection to the Catholic Church.
Other Protestant Christians, no longer have a legitimate and valid priesthood, so they don't have the Mass. They have services. Even still, they are in a less perfect communion with the Catholic Church. They are Christians because of their Baptism and faith in Christ. So, in a very loose sense, all Christians are somehow part of the Catholic Church, but not fully.
The bottom line is that Jesus was and remains ethnically Jewish. But Judaism is 100% percent fulfilled in Christianity. The current Jews (unless they've converted) are trying to live in the Old Covenant, but they have no means to fulfill its requirements.
I would encourage you to start reading the Bible, beginning with the New Testaments. Start with Matthew, then read the Book of Acts, then the letters or epistles that follow. In between, you can go back and read the other three Gospels. I'm assuming you're Catholic, so pay attention to the readings at Mass. Arrive early and read them first. Then listen attentively to them and then pay attention to the Homily. Pay attention to the words of the various prayers we say and the prayers that are only said by the priest.
I hope this helps,
John DiMascio |
