False Roots of Antisemitism
Although I am no bible scholar, my encounter with the wonderful people I met during my many trips to Saudi Arabia and my own curiosity led me to try to understand this sentiment that seems to underscore, at least partially, the rationale for the World War II holocaust, and the current rise of antisemitism. I purchased an English language translation of the Qur'an. [Note: Islam believes that only the Arabic version of the Qur'an is authentic.] There I learned that the foundation of Islam is the Torah, the first five books of Moses contained in the Old Testament of the bible, used by Jews and Christians alike. Islam reveres Moses (Musa), Noah (Nuh), Jesus (Asa), and Abraham (Ibrahim). The Qur'an is believed to be the transcription by Muhammad as dictated by the Archangel Gabriel beginning in year 610 of the Common Era (AD to Christians.)
As a dedicated Christian, I have been greatly troubled by antisemitism, especially since much of my family are practicing Jews. From my own understanding, I need to tell the story of the life of Jesus from my own perspective, which may not be the viewpoint of many theologians.
Jesus of Nazareth was a man who lived and died in ancient Israel. He was the son of a carpenter, and probably was an apprentice to his father Joseph. His mother, Mary was a young girl who at the time of Jesus' conception, was engaged to Joseph. Jesus was obviously a brilliant student of the scripture, and felt a strong calling to fix the prevailing religious practices and beliefs of his faith. When he was about 30 years old, he began his ministry by contacting has cousin John (the Baptist.) He recruited several young men and women to help him and began to demonstrate his mission by performing acts of healing and by teaching in the synagogue and to crowds gathered to hear his speeches. Sometime during his ministry, he began to understand that the people were looking for a political leader to free them from the Roman occupiers, not for a new religious leader.
I am convinced that Jesus realized that he had to create an event that would be accurately recorded in history, be completely undeniable and authentic, and be spectacularly dramatic to illustrate the message that he was convinced needed to be told. The old Covenant of Moses was not enough to assure salvation; following the letter of the Law was insufficient to obtain the Grace of God. Half of the leaders of the Jewish clergy did not even believe in the afterlife. He felt the need to prove that there was life after death, and the only way to prove it was for him to die a proven death, and then rise from the dead himself. He had told this to his disciples over and over again, but they did not believe him. If his closest friends were not convinced, then how were others to believe. HE HAD TO DIE, AND RISE AGAIN FROM THE DEAD.
Jesus had earlier raised Lazarus from his death, but Jewish elders easily dismissed this as a recovery from an unknown disease. From that time, Jesus was determined to find a way for himself to die in such a way as to remove all doubt about his death, although he asked God to find another way. The New Testament gospels detail the many attempts of Jesus to violate provisions of the Law that seem to have no real valid purpose other than to irritate the Pharisees, but they did not have the power to execute Jesus; only Rome had that power. So Jesus had to do something that offended the Pharisees so much that they would accuse him of a crime against Rome itself so that he would be put to death by Rome authorities. The timing also had to be right - he probably knew that a total eclipse of the sun was about to happen during the upcoming Passover (always observed during a full moon. Note: this would be a miracle, since the position of the earth, moon, and sun can make a lunar eclipse possible during Passover, but a solar eclipse would require the moon to pass across the sun - this is not possible with a full moon that defines Passover.) That was the day for his death to occur. We know that Jesus refused to defend himself before Pilot. and a crucifixion was scheduled at that time. The Roman crucifixion was a public and undeniable death, just what was needed - and so it happened. Death upon the cross verified by a Roman guard when he pierced his side and bodily fluid ran out, but not blood; the Roman proof of death beyond a doubt. The sun was obscured during the eclipse and there was an earthquake as well splitting the veil in the Temple.
At sundown immediately following the crucifixion was the start of Passover, forcing his disciples to wait in hiding until the following Sunday to prepare his body for burial. In those days, it was considered woman's work to prepare the body for proper burial. A group of his women followers, including Mary of Magdala went to the temporary tomb where Jesus' body had been laid, but the heavy stone sealing the tomb had been rolled away and there was no body inside. The risen Jesus spoke to Mary who ran back to tell the rest of the disciples the good news, Jesus had risen from the dead just as he had been telling them. Jesus visited his disciples twice in the upper room and was seen by thousands of people in the following days. On the 40th day after his living body reappearance, scripture tells us that he ascended into heaven.
However, his work was still not done. His work was to correct the behavior of mankind, in his own words to establish the New Covenant that he had attempted to teach his disciples. While the remaining 11 disciples lead by Peter, and now including Stephen who replaced Judas, were good men, they seemed to be insufficient to the task of spreading the Gospel to the rest of the world. As promised, he returned, at Pentecost, after his Ascension as the Holy Spirit giving them the power to speak and understand the languages of the people of the world, and granting them the power of healing as well. But, even then that was not enough - he needed a powerful speaker and organizer who was a Roman citizen and spoke and wrote in the language of the Roman empire of that day - Greek. For this, he needed to accomplish the greatest miracle of all - he needed to convert the most antagonistic Pharisee of that time - Saul of Tarsus.
The bible does not detail what happened after the healing of Saul's blindness resulting from his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, but Saul was converted to Paul, the most published author in the New Testament - without question the leading advocate of Christianity. In the biblical novel The Road to Bithynia by Frank G. Slaughter, the author postulates that Saul/Paul returned to his hometown, Tarsus, on the Mediterranean coast and supported himself in his trade as a sail and tent maker. During a period of three years, Paul had almost daily contact with Jesus to educate him and to instill in him the necessary spirit to take on the task of spreading the Good News among the Gentiles. To me, the conversion of Saul is one of the greatest miracle of the bible. The first and greatest miracle of the bible is the Resurrection of Jesus, the very foundation of Christianity. Since Jesus had to die in order to be resurrected, how can his death be the fault of any group of people. Blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus is the root of antisemitism and the holocaust, and as we have learned from this analysis - antisemitism is a false belief - a lie.
