Is Jesus Still a Jewish Man?

Jesus was born of the house of David through both Mary and Joseph. The virgin birth means that, though a physical and legal descendant of David through Mary, and legally a descendant of Joseph, He is not a physical descendant of Joseph. This means that the curse placed upon King Jeconiah’s seed does not apply to Him. In Jeremiah 22:30 the Lord guaranteed that none of King Jeconiah’s descendants would prosper sitting upon the throne of David.

Though the Bible is clear that Jesus was born as a Jew and lived as a Jew, is He still a Jewish man now in His resurrection body?

First of all, Jesus is indeed still a man. Yet that statement requires some clarifications. To think of Him as a mortal man who is still subject to infirmity is wrong. Often, when Jesus’ incarnation and humanity are referred to, the context implies that the reference is to His humanity during His first coming when He was indeed in a mortal body that was subject to physical infirmities.

Philippians 2:6-8: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Jesus did not cease being in a physical body when He rose from the dead. Consider what He told His disciples after His resurrection.

Reading from Luke 24:38-39: “…Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”

Though Jesus is still a man with a physical body, He is an immortal, glorified man who is not in a body subject to physical infirmities such as pain, weakness, fatigue, hunger, and thirst. Jesus was raised from the dead as a human by the power of the Holy Spirit like He was conceived in Mary’s womb as a human by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is now a resurrected, glorified man.

1 Timothy 2:5-6: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

Hebrews 10:12-13: “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.”

Acts 1:10-11: “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

Therefore, He is indeed still a man. Yet it is also an error to not regard His utter dominion over all weaknesses associated with mortal humanity, and His dominion over death itself, in His resurrection body.

The Apostle John wrote in Revelation 1:10-18: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

1 Timothy 6:15-16: “Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen.”

Jesus was born as a man, died as a man, was buried as a man, was raised from the dead as a resurrected glorified man, He ascended to heaven as the same, and He will return as the same- yet He always was and always will be fully God.

With that established, is Jesus still Jewish?

He was never a fair skinned guy with long hair. He was born a Jew and died a Jew. The Bible also gives no reason to say that Jesus ceased being Jewish when He was raised from the dead. When He returns, He will reign from the throne of David as Psalm 2, Psalm 110, and Luke 1:32-33 demonstrate. It can even be inferred from passages such as Isaiah chapter 53 and Psalm 110 that He would be put in humiliating circumstances before He crushes His enemies under His feet and reigns over all.

However, as there are important clarifications to be made in saying Jesus is still a man, there are also clarifications that ought to be made in saying that He is still Jewish.

Jesus already came to the Jews and they rejected Him in spite of sufficient evidence that He is the Jewish Messiah. He rebuked the sins and unbiblical traditions which prevailed among the Jews. Jesus made it clear that they did not believe Him because they did not believe Moses (John 5:39-47).

Jesus didn’t come to prosper the Jews materially and deliver them from Roman rule. They were so wicked themselves, even in the first century, that siding with them against the Romans would not have been any more appropriate than it would have been for God to fight for them against the Philistines in Eli’s time or to deliver them from the Babylonians in Jeremiah’s time.

People who claim that Jesus didn’t cast off the Jewish people typically don’t regard the reality established in Romans 11 that the remnant of natural Israel which the Lord did not cast away are faithful Christians following Jesus as the Messiah. His worship is not centered among the Jews anymore even though individual Jews can still obtain by grace through repentance and obedient faith in Him like others can.

Though His birth as the Son of David still has legal implications regarding His right to reign from the throne of David, and though He did not cease to be Jewish in His resurrection, it is wrong to associate Jesus with the Jewish people (in terms of what they have become) and with the deeds of modern Israel. This is the same reason why the term “Judeo-Christian” is misleading.

John 1:11: “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”

The Jewish people rejected Jesus. Jesus then rejected the Jewish people as the keepers of His prescribed worship. Yet false teachers afterwards persuade many Christians to justify the sins and crimes of the Jews and to call them “God’s chosen people.” This is evil, astounding, and pathetic. Some even illogically defend this evil by saying “Jesus is Jewish.” By their logic, we should expect to open the Gospel accounts and find that Jesus refused to criticize the Jewish leaders and to interfere with their wicked schemes. That is obviously not what we actually find.