Jesus and Judaism

Collect for the Saturday after Ash Wednesday

Almighty and everlasting God, mercifully look upon our infirmities, and in all our dangers and necessities stretch forth your right hand to help and defend us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jesus and Judaism, or Matthew's understanding of Torah

“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20)

Among the unique features of the Gospel of Matthew is the author’s complex relationship with Judaism. On the one hand, verses like the one quoted above seem to imply that the problem with the scribes and the Pharisees was that they were too lax in their interpretation and practice of Jewish law (Torah). On the other hand, Jesus later denounces the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites, a brood of vipers (Matthew 12:34), he calls them. It is tempting to interpret Matthew’s depiction of Jesus’ relationship to Judaism as one of stark opposition and denunciation. Our task is made more difficult because from our perspective Christianity and Judaism are two distinct religions, with different rituals, ethics, and theologies. When we encounter Jesus criticizing Jewish practice or interpretation, we interpret them as reflecting the different perspectives of two quite different religions.

However, in the first century, such distinctions did not exist. The line between Judaism and Christianity wasn’t completely drawn until well into the next century. Jesus was a Jew. His followers were Jews; it is probably the case that Matthew himself was a Jew. It’s likely that he was trying to make Jesus as sympathetic a figure as possible to Jews, and to Jewish Christians. The conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees was not between two different religions. It was not a conflict between Law and Gospel. It was a conflict within a single religion—Judaism—and it was a conflict about the Law, about its interpretation and its meaning. The Pharisees and Jesus agreed that the law was important, where they disagreed was on how faithful people should seek to live it out.

It’s not always clear, either from the gospels or from our growing understanding of Judaism in Jesus’ day, where precisely the two groups disagreed. We know that Jesus downplayed the elaborate purity codes that had developed within Judaism and that he ate with tax collectors and sinners. We know that he criticized some of Pharisaic interpretation: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith..” (Matthew 23:23)  We also know that leaders of the Pharisees, roughly contemporary with Jesus, taught some things that are quite similar to Jesus’ statements as recorded in the gospels. Rabbi Hillel is reported to have said, “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary--go and learn it.” It is a statement, in negative terms, of the Golden Rule.

As we read the Gospel of Matthew, especially as we look forward to Holy Week, it’s important to keep in mind that complex relationship between Jesus and Judaism, and Matthew and Judaism, in order to understand better who Jesus was and how he was received by those among whom he ministered.

Written by The Rev. Dr. Jonathan Greiser

Rector

Grace Church, Madison