God has always had a special relationship with the Jewish people. The scriptures of the Old Testament are more accurately referred to as the Hebrew Bible because Christianity actually borrowed the books from Judaism. The first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) are the Hebrew Torah. Moses is perhaps the most important prophet in Judaism and Abraham is said to be the patriarch of the Abrahamic Religions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. God established the Mosaic covenant with the Israelites when he freed them from slavery in Egypt, and the covenant between God and the Jewish people remains valid today. When he came to live among us, Jesus himself was Jewish. He observed Jewish customs, he celebrated Jewish festivals, and he followed Jewish law. When Jesus established his Church on earth, he also shared with us the New Covenant. Over the centuries, the New Covenant shared by Christians has been misunderstood and the Jewish community has subsequently experienced much suffering as a result. The official position of the Christian Church is that the Covenant between God and the Jewish people remains very much intact. To be very clear, anti-Judaism and antisemitism in all their forms are sinful, as they cause harm to the victims, tarnish the nature of the perpetrators, and violate God’s creation.
Since the early days of the Church, some Christians have believed in something called supersessionism. Supersessionism is the belief that when Jesus established the Church, Christianity superseded Judaism as the religion bearing the Mosaic covenant. Many prominent historical figures in the Church have believed in supersessionsim. Justin Martyer, Augustine of Hippo, and John Chrysostom are all known for their supersessionist ideas. Martin Luther was also a supersessionist, and there continues to exist supersessionist theology among Christians today. While there are varied views about supersessionim among Christian denominations, most mainline churches, including the Episcopal Church, officially reject supersessionism. Supersessionism is harmful to our relationships with the Jewish people and it contributes to a slippery slope that normalizes and justifies anti-Jewish and antisemetic behavior.
The term antisemitism refers to prejudice against the Jewish people as a race or culture, while anti-Judaism is prejudice against the religion of Judaism. There are a number of reasons some Christians have given for engaging these behaviors. Perhaps the biggest reason is a misinterpretation of scripture. Lent is an important time to discuss antisemitism and anti-Judaism because some of these troubling passages appear in the lectionary during Lent and Holy Week. During Lent, we read from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah and we read from the Gospel of John. Both of these texts have been used to justify anti-Jewish activity. Isaiah is potentially problematic because if we read it incorrectly, we can get the impression that the stories are foretelling the birth, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ. During Christmas time, pageants and carols are quick to quote Isaiah 9:6. The passage says, “For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace”. In a Christian context, this certainly sounds like it’s telling us about Jesus. But the Isaiah writer was not talking about Jesus. The writer was talking about a ruler named Hezekiah. Remember, Isaiah was a Jewish passage of scripture. It was not a Christian passage. In Lent we read about the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53. Although the suffering this person (or people) experienced sounds quite similar to the suffering experienced by Jesus in a Christian context, the Jewish scriptures are not telling us about Jesus. So why do we read these passages on Christmas and during Lent? Well, because we can draw parallels to the birth of a king and to the suffering of Jesus. These stories can help us to develop an illustration for what Jesus’ birth and death may have been like. But we must be careful not to go down the road of accepting that the Jewish scriptures are talking about Jesus. They simply are not.
So what about the Gospel of John? When read in an incorrect context, the Gospel of John makes it seem like the Jewish people are responsible for the death of Jesus. This idea has led to a tremendous amount of anti-Jewish sentiment in the world by Christians. If you’ve ever heard someone say something like, “The Jews killed Jesus!”, then this is where that idea comes from. In our NRSV translation, and many other translations, John seems to implicate “the Jews” time and time again. It is “the Jews” who bring Jesus to Pilate (Jn. 18:31). It is “the Jews” who request the release of Barabbas instead of the release of Jesus (Jn. 18:38-40). “The Jews” beg for Jesus to receive a death sentence (Jn. 19:7). “The Jews” in John’s gospel sound like really bad people. But we must remember that “the Jews” in John’s gospel are not the entirety of the Jewish people. They are very specific people. Caiaphas and Annas, Jewish High Priests, were essentially scared by the power Jesus seemed to hold over those who heard him speak. It was Caiaphas who claimed that even if Jesus was innocent of any crime, it was “better to have one person die for the people” (Jn. 18:14). Instead of translating the term as “the Jews” collectively, it is far more helpful to translate it as “the Jewish authorities” or “the Judeans”. It was not the Jewish people who crucified Jesus. Jesus, his mother, his disciples, his friends, his family, and plenty of his followers (although not all) were Jewish. It is ridiculous to blame the entirety of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus when Jesus was one of them.
Sadly, anti-Jewish activity still happens in this country and around the world. The Holocaust is the most extreme example in the 1940s, when over six million Jewish people were exterminated by truly evil acts. Although this may seem like it was a very long time ago, Holocaust survivors are still alive today. Nearly 80 years after the end of World War II, we still hear reports of vandalism on synagogues, violence against Jewish families, and people marching down the street protesting Jewish existence. The Episcopal Church, along with other Christian denominations, commit to healthy dialogue with our Jewish sisters and brothers. When necessary, we commit to work toward reconciliation. Christians must be mindful that the Jewish people believe in the same God we do. Our scriptures are borrowed from the Jewish scriptures. Christian worship derived from Jewish worship. And the person Christians worship was Jewish. There is no place for anti-Judaism or antisemitism in our world.