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adark cloud of death hung over Christianity and its severance from its Jewish ca, in Eccles'iastical H/s/opT, substantiates
roots. the land. Mv mind tricked me as the Acts account: "the church at Jerusalem,
I walked along the dusty, train was first formed of the circumcision.., and Jesus Born a Jew ,:7 S
cks and looked up at the bro- consisted of faithful Hebrews who continued
n claimney in the distance. I Jesus was born a Jew and observed the from the time of the apostles, until the siege
could see the black, crumbling bricks; and Torah. Although Jesus was a faithful Jew of Jerusalem."
for a split second, I smelled burning flesh. I who esteemed the Law, He broadened and In the Second Century, Hegesippus, a
had to pull myseff back to reality. deepened its message with His compassion. chronicler of the Early Church, listed the
I will never forget the intense feeling of Everything Jesus did cast new light on old Jewish pastors of the Jerusalem Church
wickedness that tried to leave its stain on my traditions. He challenged the "letter of the after the death of James (the brother of
soul during nay first visit to the World War II Law" by His parables, miracles, choices, Jesus) as being Simeon (who succeeded
concentration camp in Auschwitz, Poland. I friendships with women and those or~ the James), Justus, Zaccheus, Tobias, Benjmnin,
felt like I was standing at the lowest point fringe of society, relationship with the Fa- John, Mathias, Philip, Seneca, Justus, Levi,
on the earth, a sense of "unleashed evil" de- ther, and ultimately by His death and res- Ephraim, Joseph, and Jude. They were called
scended on me, and I found it difficult for urrection; but His authenticity, as a Jew was the Desposynoi, meaning heirs (Evidence of
never questioned. a short time to dig out of that pit and join the Jewish Background of the Church by
normal life again. Ron Moseley). The Jewishness of the Early Church
Unjust bloodshed wounds eveD'thing in Gentiles Embrace
its pathway. With the passing of decades, the The Early Church was born in Jerusalem the Gospel Message
after the Ascension of Yeshua. His followers physical signs of the concentration camps
have begun to deteriorate; but the darMaess remained in the Temple praising God (Luke Peter's unusual dream about unclean
continues to hovel'. Before this happened. 24:53). As Jesus instructed them, they waited animals at Simon the Tanner's house in Jop-
who would have guessed that human preju- for the empowerment of the Holy Spirit (Acts pa opened the door for the Gentile world to
dices in Christian Europe would flame into 1:4-5). With the coming of the Spirit in Acts receive the Good News of salvation through
2, the Church experienced amazing growth. hatred and finally rage across half the globe Yeshua (Acts 10:11-12). Later, when Peter
The Book of Acts supplies solid evidence for Mlling six-million Jews? entered the home Of the Roman centurion,
This harrowing event eclipses an}" trage- the Jewishness of the earliest Church: The Cornelius, the Jewish Believers criticized him
dy in human history. It is even more stagger- Jewish Apostles taught daily in the Temple (Acts 11:2-3). When Peter explained about
ing that it happened in a so-called "Chris- (5:42). They had contact with the high priest all that had happened and the outpouring
tian" nation. Manv "Christians" must have (7:1). They intersected with Hebrew teachers of the Holy Spirit on the Gentile household
participated, willingly or unwillingl.v in ():a). In fact, the first nine chapters of Acts ""4 of Cornelius, their criticism ceased (Acts
these inhumane acts that cuhninated in the reveal that the first Jewish members of the 11:18).
torture and human-torching of God's Early Church included the 12 Apostles, 120 Later, more controversy arose and the
disciples who waited in the Upper Room, Chosen People. Jewish Believers struggled with the inclu-
To understand why this happened we 3,000 who became new Believem on the fol- sion of uncircumcised Gentiles. Paul and
must ask, "What caused such deep ha- lowing Pentecost (Shavuot), and 5,000 who Barnabas eventually traveled to Jerusalem
came to salvation after Pentecost. tred toward the Jews?" To fully answer this for a conference with James and Peter (Acts
question, we must look back at the birth of Early Chumh Father, Eusebius of Caesar- 15 mid Galatians 2). Eventually, Paul mid
8 Jewish Voice Today
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