Philippians 3:2-11
“Belonging to Israel” in After Jesus: Before Christianity (Westar)
We think of the apostle Paul as one of the most influential early Christians. Paul thought of himself as an Israelite, a Hebrew, or a Judean – all ways to describe people connected to southern Israel in the first century. Interestingly, although he was also a Roman citizen, he doesn’t call himself Roman. He was from Tarsus, a city now in Turkey. But because of his Judean heritage, he identifies with what we call “the Jews.”
Paul also identifies as a follower of Jesus, “the anointed” or “the Christ.” In fact, he writes in the passage we read today that his most important identification is as a follower of Jesus. In Paul’s day it was absolutely possible to be both. Jesus was also an Israelite who believed in Israel’s God. His mission was about a better way to connect with that God. He wasn’t interested in starting a new religion, “Christianity.” He was trying to get people to understand Israel’s religion in a more profound, life-changing way. Those who signed on to his mission and became his followers were attracted by his life-changing teachings.
We keep reminding ourselves that the first century was a time of Roman conquest and rule. Rome was becoming a great Empire by wiping out neighboring nations, as far north as the British Isles, as far east as Syria and Iraq, as far south as Egypt and northern Africa, as far west as Spain and Portugal. When each of those people were defeated they didn’t become Romans, they became subhuman – with no identity. So one of the most important questions of the century was “who am I? who are my people?”
Jesus had been an Israelite. So people who signed on to the Jesus people found it easy to identify as an Israelite. We call them “Jews” and think of them as a religion. They called themselves “Judeans” or “Israelites” and thought of themselves as a nation, a people. Yes, there was the God of Israel whom some of them worshiped, but every nation had a God. You worshiped the god of the place you identified with. It wasn’t about belief. It was about origin and ethnicity. It was about place and belonging.
Paul invited all the various Jesus clubs he connected with in the Empire to not only accept the teachings of Jesus but also to become part of his nationality – Israel. It was a welcoming place to belong. It was also a natural step for Israel because for centuries it had a vision of drawing all nations to itself and its god. For a country so often defeated and of relatively little significance (except for its geographical position on many trade routes), it had a grand vision of itself as the people and the God which would attract all others. And there again Israel is at odds with Empire. It’s Empire that’s uniting all people, not the conquered Israel. There’s audacity in the invitation to all people to unite as Israelites and follow the crucified hero, Jesus.
This vision of Israel, embraced by Jesus groups, was also a natural because Israelites or Judeans were already spread across the Empire. They had traveled because of commerce or previous wars to virtually every major city. They were and Empire-wide presence, so being connected to them carried some weight, if not official significance. The fact that Paul encouraged those who became part of the Jesus movement to also worship Jesus’ God, Israel’s God, was also unifying. You may be originally from some place far from Israel, but if you adopted the worship of Israel’s God, you could be “in” with the others who shared that God.
The Jesus followers weren’t the only clubs turning to religion for identity in an Empire trying to erase identity. Some turned to Isis and Osiris, gods from Egypt, for signs of hope. Stories told of Isis finding a dismembered Osiris and putting his body back together, bringing him new life. Others reinvigorated the worship of Eleusis and Dionysos with similar stories. Stories of Jesus, who died and rose to life again, were equally attractive. When all you’ve ever known has died, the promise of new life gives you hope.
There are other reasons first century folks found Israel and her God attractive. One is the claim that there is only one god – ours. Before small nations each had their own small god taking care of local business. But first century Rome is a global enterprise. Rome is uniting all nations under its umbrella. It begins to make sense that one god would unify the Empire. It takes a bigger, mightier god to represent a bigger, mightier world. In addition, Israel’s god required things like goodness, compassion, mercy and justice. The Empire worshiped the Emperor who rarely had any of these qualities. The idea of one God creating good for the benefit of all people had mass appeal. And third, people were becoming familiar with some of the holy writings which eventually became the Hebrew Bible. These said interesting things like “welcome the stranger”, “feed the hungry” and “God is good.” People began to see Israel’s literature as holding wisdom for everyone and describing a better way of living.
These are the same themes that Jesus has lifted up in his teaching. So the Jesus followers are emphasizing the same life-affirming teachings that are attracting people to Judaism in their day. There’s a convergence that supports what’s happening in the small groups who are meeting to try to live a more kind and whole life in the midst of violence and chaos. Far from differentiating themselves from Israel, Jesus followers embrace those things Jesus valued about Israel’s God. Certainly there was tension with Jewish leaders who didn’t follow Jesus or see his critique of their religion as positive. But perhaps longer than we’ve imagined the two strands of practice – Jesus followers or not – remained interwoven. Following Jesus was a way of being Jewish and claiming the identity of the long history of Israel and the unique teachings of her God.
Here's one possible learning we can gather from this journey through the first century: rather than focusing on how different we are from the Jews of our time, we might learn more about what we have in common. What are the teachings of Judaism which Jesus most valued? What are the ideals he dreamed of expanding? How does his identity as a Jew enrich our heritage as followers of Jesus? Welcoming all people, embracing the stranger, feeding the hungry, practicing kindness and mercy, standing for justice – these aren’t just Christian themes but resonate through the long development of Judaism. It’s possible that they do more to hold us together than those things which pull us apart.