Jen Rosner | The Jewishness in the Gospel, 174

Jen Rosner | The Jewishness of the Gospel

Jen Rosner | The Jewishness in the Gospel

Jennifer M. Rosner is affiliate assistant professor of systematic theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, where she completed her PhD on the relationship between Judaism and Christianity.

She is the author of Healing the Schism and coauthor of At the Foot of the Mountain. She and her family live in Northern California.

Jen Rosner and Amber discuss historical events that ultimately declared Judaism and Christianity as two separate religious traditions, Jesus as a Jewish rabbi, and how a deeper knowledge of Judaism can add to our Christian faith. 

The Jewishness of the Gospel Questions Discussed:

  1. (1:54) You and your family are Messianic Jews. Share a bit of your faith journey with Jesus and what it means to be a Messianic Jew.
  2. (7:30) As a Christian, we often forget “Jesus was a Jewish rabbi whose life was patterned around the Jewish calendar, not the Christian calendar.” To lay a foundation for today’s conversation, share a little background of how Judaism and Christianity became separate religions and why that is important today.
  3. (14:00) In your book, Finding Messiah: A Journey into the Jewishness of the Gospel, you help the reader understand the Jewish roots of our Christian faith and practice.  Will you share a few of those roots that give us a robust understanding of our faith?
  4. (24:09) How can Jewish traditions enrich our walk with Jesus?
  5. (29:58) As a Messianic Jew, what does your week look like?
  6. (32:30) How do you combat that yoke of legalism that can easily slip in?
  7. (36:11) So if someone who is a Christian is interested in some Messianic Jewish practices where would you tell them to begin?
  8. (40:02) Are Jews welcoming conversations from Christians about their common roots? 

The Jewishness of the Gospel Quotes to Remember:

“I call myself a Messianic Jew. I feel very at home in both the Jewish and Christian worlds and all kinds of iterations of both.”

“It’s really important to note, as we read our New Testaments, Jesus was very embedded in a Jewish context. His early followers were Jewish. Their rhythm of life was this Jewish rhythm of life, and it centered around the Jerusalem temple.”

“Pressing into what Sabbath has always meant to Jews, I think helps us understand this bigger story of what it means to be God’s people, and what it looks like to live into this commission and calling as the covenant people of God.”

“The other thing I think is important to say is….I think the New Testament lays a framework whereby it looks a little bit different for Jews to follow Jesus than it does for Gentiles to follow Jesus. So in my understanding of the text, Jews are very much called to continue living as Jews to continue embodying these covenantal practices that have always characterized the Jewish community….But I think that the New Testament sets a precedent for Jewish followers of Jesus continuing to live as Jews and Gentile followers of Jesus not being required to take on all of those practices that have always been the center of God’s covenant with the people of Israel.”

“I don’t regularly encourage Christians to practice Sabbath in the same way that Jews do. But I think that there’s so much to be gained from looking at it almost like a Sabbath ethic. What does it mean to take a day where we stop?….While I don’t advocate, Christians should take on all these Jewish practices, I think there’s so much richness to be gained from entering into these spiritual rhythms that can ground our lives. I think it forces us to ask the question, what if our week doesn’t revolve around Sabbath? What does it revolve around?”

“I don’t think that all Christians should go and start living as Jews. I do think that every Christian has something to learn from the covenantal contours of God’s relationship with the people of Israel, which is what we read about in the Old Testament.”

“I would want to encourage, almost challenge Christians to just make space for some of these conversations and to realize that Christianity actually…grew out of God’s covenant with the people of Israel, and how can it once again, renew that connection that has been very much lost?”

Scripture References

Resources Mentioned:

Related Episodes:

While I don't advocate, Christians should take on all these Jewish practices, I think there's so much richness to be gained from entering into these spiritual rhythms that can ground our lives.
I don't think that all Christians should go and start living as Jews. I do think that every Christian has something to learn from the covenantal contours of God's relationship with the people of Israel, which is what we read about in the Old Testament.
Jesus was very embedded in a Jewish context. His early followers were Jewish. Their rhythm of life was this Jewish rhythm of life, and it centered around the Jerusalem temple.

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