Loving Jesus Is Not the Same as Agreeing with Judaism or Modern Israel
“Jesus was a Jew born in Israel. You cannot hate Jews and Israel without hating Jesus Himself.”
It sounds spiritual, but it is a false argument. It confuses Jesus’ historical birth among the Jews with unconditional approval of Jewish religion, traditions, and even the modern political state of Israel.
Yes, Jesus was born among the Jewish people (Matthew 1:1; John 4:9). The apostles were Jews. Salvation came through Israel’s history (John 4:22). Christians are not called to hate anyone including Jews . But the slogan goes much further than the Bible. It implies that any criticism of Judaism or Israel is hatred of Christ. Scripture never teaches that.
Jesus Confronted the Religious System
Jesus did not simply endorse the religion of His day. He repeatedly rebuked its leaders:
- “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” (Matthew 23:13–33)
- “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” (Mark 7:8)
- He drove out the money changers from the temple (John 2:13–16).
These are not the words of someone who approved every religious practice around Him. Jesus exposed corruption, hypocrisy, and human traditions that had obscured God’s word.
Many Jews Opposed Jesus
The New Testament records that many Jewish leaders rejected Him,
plotted against Him, and delivered Him to be crucified (John 11:53; Mark
15:1–15). If opposing Jewish leaders automatically meant hating Jews,
then Jesus Himself would be guilty of hatred—which is impossible. He
loved His people deeply and even wept over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41–44).
Jesus Came to Fulfil, Not Preserve, the Old System
Jesus declared, “I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them” (Matthew 5:17). Through His death and resurrection, the old covenant reached its fulfillment (Hebrews 8:13). Access to God is now through Christ, not through temple rituals, ethnic identity, or the Mosaic system.
Paul, a Jew himself, wrote that in Christ “there is neither Jew nor Greek” (Galatians 3:28) and that true belonging to God is found in Christ (Romans 2:28–29; Galatians 3:29).
The Real Issue
The issue is not Jew versus Christian. The issue is truth versus error. Christians may respectfully disagree with Judaism, rabbinic tradition, or the policies of the modern state of Israel without hating Jewish people. In the same way, one may criticise Christian institutions without hating Christians.
To say, “If you criticise Judaism or Israel, you hate Jesus,” is emotional manipulation, not biblical reasoning.
A Better Biblical Statement
Jesus was born among the Jews, loved the Jewish people, confronted their sins, fulfilled their Scriptures, and now calls all nations to follow Him.
Christ is not the property of one ethnicity, one nation, or one political movement. He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36).
The church must reject both antisemitism and the unbiblical idea that loyalty to Jesus requires unquestioning loyalty to Judaism or modern Israel. True love for Jesus means believing His words, following His gospel, and submitting to His kingdom above every tribe, nation, and ideology.
Was Jesus a Jew? A Question We Should Not Be Afraid to Ask
The question raised in this video may immediately make many Christians uncomfortable: Was Jesus a Jew? For generations, the statement “Jesus was a Jew” has often been treated as though it automatically settles a much larger theological question. But perhaps we need to slow down and ask what we actually mean by the word Jew, and more importantly, what Scripture itself says about the identity and mission of Jesus.
There is no question that Jesus was born among the people of Israel. He came through the line of David and Judah, lived under the Law, attended Israel's festivals, worshipped in the Temple, and entered fully into the history of His people. Yet Jesus did not come merely as another religious Jew defending an existing religious system. He came as the Messiah, the Son of God, the fulfilment of Israel's Scriptures, and the Lord of all nations. Again and again, He challenged traditions, confronted religious leaders, exposed hypocrisy, and declared that the true people of God could not be defined simply by ancestry, religious status, or external observance.
This is where the discussion becomes important. To say that Jesus came through Israel is biblical; to conclude from this that everything associated with Judaism, Jewish tradition, or modern political Israel must therefore be affirmed is another matter entirely. Jesus did not come to make God the possession of one ethnicity. He came to fulfil God's purpose through Israel and to bring salvation to the nations. As Revelation declares, He is ultimately “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Revelation 19:16).
The following video by Charles A. Jennings raises this question from a particularly provocative perspective. Some of his historical and theological conclusions may deserve careful examination and should not simply be accepted without testing them against Scripture. Nevertheless, the question he raises is worth hearing: Have we sometimes confused Jesus' historical connection with Israel with an obligation to defend everything that later came to be associated with Jewish religious or national identity?
Watch the video critically. Test every argument by Scripture. And above all, let us remember that Jesus did not come merely to be the Messiah of one ethnic group. He came from Israel, but He is Lord over Israel and the nations alike.
“For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all.” — Romans 10:12
