The Colonization of Jesus
The Colonization of Baptism
December 22, 2018 • Matt Rosenberg
Jesus has been colonized meaning his jewishness was stripped and just about every other culture in the world has been given to him instead. Along with Jesus himself, different traditions were created in celebration of this colonized Jesus and one of those traditions is Baptism. But, baptism is not a new invention of Jesus, his disciples or the writers of the New Testament. In fact, baptism, or immersion from the Hebrew, has deep roots in the Old Testament and Judaism of the first century. The Jewish context of this important part of faith in Jesus is crucial to understanding the New Testament and for the application of immersion in your own life!
The Colonization of Communion
December 15, 2018 • Matt Rosenberg
Jesus has been colonized meaning his jewishness was stripped and just about every other culture in the world has been given to him instead. Along with Jesus himself, different traditions were created in celebration of this colonized Jesus and one of those traditions is communion. But, communion is not a new invention of Jesus, his disciples or the writers of the New Testament. While the drinking of the wine and the eating of bread as the blood and body of Yeshua is certainly from the New Testament the way and timing of what Yeshua and his disciples were actually doing have deep roots in the Old Testament and Jewish tradition.
The Colonization of Christmas
December 8, 2018 • Matt Rosenberg
To make Jesus anything but Jewish is to colonize him, stripping his Jewishness from him and remaking him into any other image. This has happened all over the world where Jesus has been made into the image of other cultures with little or no Jewishness. Perhaps this is seen most vividly in the celebrations of his birth, Christmas. Along, with Jesus himself, the celebration of his birth has been colonized and we miss the heart of the birth narratives in the Gospels. In the birth of Yeshua, God keeps his promises to the Jewish people so that He could give Israel the mission to tell the nations that there in no other God than the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This message is part 2 of the series "The Colonization of Jesus."
The Colonization of Jesus
December 1, 2018 • Matt Rosenberg
Jesus has been colonized meaning his jewishness was stripped and just about every other culture in the world has been given to him instead. In different cultures he is made into the image of the people who are worshipping him. There is a White Jesus, black Jesus, Mongolian Jesus, Mexican Jesus, Jamaican Jesus, Ethiopian Jesus, etc. He is everywhere. The intent of people is an honest attempt to relate to Jesus by making him one of them. This is why understanding Jesus in his jewishness is important for every follower of Jesus: you can't understand him, his words or his mission if you separate him from his Jewishness. Join us in the conversation of bringing the Jewishness of Yeshua back so we can all, Jew and Gentile, understand him and follow him better!