2. Of what importance is it to us as Christians that Jesus was an observant Jew?
The God whom Jesus called "Father" and whom he taught us also to call "Father"
is the
God of Abraham, Sarah and Hagar, of Isaac and Rebekah, of Jacob, Rachel
and Leah. The
one God of Israel is the only God there is. The relationship the one God
has with the People
Israel is the covenant relationship into which Jesus was born and within
which he was
nourished. His teachings were about that relationship, and for it he died
and was resurrected.
Apart from that covenantal relationship nothing we know about Jesus would
make any sense
and nothing we teach about ourselves as the Church would have any foundation.
Following the lead of St. Paul (Romans 9 - 11), we Christians believe our
covenant with
God through Jesus to be inseparably related to the covenant God has with
the Jewish people.
Furthermore, ours has enduring substance only if theirs does also. Otherwise
God would have
to be thought capricious, which God is not. Because God's love and promises
are steadfast and
sure, we believe God's covenant with the Jewish people to be of enduring
substance.
Therefore, we boldly believe the same about God's covenant with us.
Jews and Christians worship, love, and serve one and the same God, the
only God there
is, though we do it in quite distinctive ways.