A Message from the Editor:
Dear JP Readers,
Over the last few months we at JP have been working hard to demonstrate what Jerusalem Perspective is all about and to show what value it has for our readers. Our core function at JP is to help readers understand Jesus and the Gospels in their first-century contexts. With respect to Jesus, this means striving to interpret the events in Jesus’ life, the choices he made, and the words that he spoke as part of the texture of late Second Temple Judaism. With respect to the Gospels, this means examining their relationship to one another and scrutinizing their witness to the emergence of a distinct Christian identity from the fraying fabric of Second Temple Judaism.
But what is the value of better understanding Jesus and the Gospels? What is the practical use for readers today? I can think of at least three answers that recent JP articles can give to these questions:
- Understanding Jesus and the formation of the Gospels can help readers stand in opposition to anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism.
- Understanding Jesus and the Gospels can embolden readers to stand up for religious pluralism, by which I mean mutual respect and equality between peoples of different faiths.
- Understanding Jesus and the Gospels can help readers to speak out in favor of Jesus’ vision of social justice through peacemaking, compassion, and the healing power of the Holy Spirit.
These three outgrowths of learning about Jesus and the Gospels are, to my mind, what make Jerusalem Perspective so valuable and, perhaps, distinct from other organizations. Each of these “spiritual fruits” are positive goods that make the world we inhabit a better place. They are not specifically Christian—any person of goodwill, no matter what their religious background, can embrace them—but they are entirely consistent with Jesus’ message. In that sense, Jerusalem Perspective is doing the work of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Anti-Semitism (hatred of Jews) and anti-Judaism (contempt for the Jewish religion) have caused unspeakable harm to the Jewish people down through the centuries of the Christian Era. In the realm of Jesus and Gospel studies, anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism have produced distorted and dangerous portraits of Jesus and the essence of Christianity, such that what many theologians and scholars have passed off as “Christian” would have been unrecognizable to Jesus and his earliest followers. JP’s recent article “Review and Reflections Upon: The Aryan Jesus by Susannah Heschel” provides one example of how anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism were put into the service of a Christian Nationalist ideology that advocated the elimination of Jewish influence from Christian teaching at the same time as Jewish souls were being eradicated from Europe during the Second World War. The irony is that the Aryan Jesus was used to justify the kind of militant nationalist ideology that Jesus himself opposed during his lifetime. Jesus’ opposition to first-century Jewish militant nationalists are discussed in a new article, “False Prophets in the Gospels,” for JP’s Character Profile series.
Recent articles by Jewish scholars Ze’ev Safrai and Moshe Navon demonstrate JP’s commitment to religious pluralism. Only when there is mutual respect and equality between Christians, Jews, and people of other faiths or no faith at all is the kind of dialogue JP advocates possible. From Ze’ev Safrai and Moshe Navon we hear Jewish perspectives on Jesus’ teaching on the love commandment (“Reflecting on David Flusser’s Interpretation of the Love Commandment”) and John the Baptist’s eschatological hopes (“The Good Tidings of John the Baptist”), and gain deeper insight into the identity of Barabbas and why the Jewish populace of Jerusalem preferred to release a notorious insurgent instead of the peace-making Jesus (“Who Was ‘Bar-Abba’?”; “The So-called ‘Privilegium Paschale’ in Light of Jewish Sources”). Understanding that Jesus participated in an ideological struggle over the essence of Judaism (a nationalistic kingdom of flesh and blood versus the universal reign of the Kingdom of Heaven) helps readers combat the notion that Jesus was opposed to Judaism itself. Knowing what position Jesus took in this struggle can inform how readers engage in similar struggles today (see “Locating Jesus’ Place on the Political-Ideological Spectrum of Second Temple Jewish Society”).
Examples of JP’s speaking out for Jesus’ vision of social justice are found in Katia Motzeva’s recent article “Love That Costs: Jesus, the Good Samaritan, and the Enemy Next Door,” in which Motzeva finds that the challenging message of Jesus’ parable is that we have an obligation to love our rivals who are close at hand, not just abstract enemies who, maybe, only exist in our minds. Another example is in the investigation of Jesus’ economic theories in “A Satisfied Mind: Jesus’ Attitude Toward Wealth,” where we find that Jesus combined ideas about money and wealth originating among the Essenes with attitudes toward poverty and riches stemming from Hasidic groups in the Galilee. Jesus’ optimistic mindset of abundance and his embrace of simplicity offer a different model for readers to consider than that which is glorified by billionaire capitalists and kleptocratic politicians so familiar today.
Together these three “spiritual fruits”—standing in opposition to anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism, standing up for religious pluralism, and speaking out for Jesus’ vision—are the redemptive work Jerusalem Perspective is committed to carrying out. If you find this work to be meaningful and valuable, then I am appealing to you, JP readers, to consider increasing your support of our work by becoming a Friend of Jerusalem Perspective at the Jaffa Gate ($25/month), Damascus Gate ($50/month) or Lion’s Gate ($100/month) levels. To learn more about the Friends of Jerusalem Perspective program, including the perks for upgrading your membership, follow this link: https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/friends-of-jerusalem-perspective/.
The reason we are asking for this additional support now is that an important source of JP’s funding, the donations that for the last twelve and a half years have supported the Life of Yeshua project (LOY), have temporarily paused. Our faithful donor has single-handedly shouldered this burden all this time, but on account of various health and financial challenges his support is no longer able to remain steady—at least for the time being. As a result, Jerusalem Perspective no longer has any full-time staff.
This change in JP’s funding does not mean that Jerusalem Perspective’s work will not continue: in fact, we have several exciting new articles already underway (subjects include the image of the threshing floor in John the Baptist’s preaching, the identity of false prophets in the Gospels, the famed first-century glass-maker Ennion, and a close examination of the practice of crucifixion in the first century). It does mean, however, that there will be less time spent on the Life of Yeshua project until new funding can be secured (more on this in a future newsletter). Since the research that goes into the Life of Yeshua project not only produces the LOY reconstructions and commentaries published on the website, but also generates the inspiration and groundwork for numerous JP articles, there is a chance that going forward JP could be less productive than it has been, and that JP’s ability to continue to bear the good fruit of standing in opposition to anti-Judaism, standing up for religious freedom and equality, and speaking out for Jesus’ vision could be diminished. Those of you with faith in the mission and the means to support it could help prevent that from happening.
If becoming a Friend of Jerusalem Perspective is not within your means, there are other ways to contribute financially to our mission. The “Buy Me a Coffee” link on free JP articles and on JP’s home page allows readers to give the JP staff a “tip” for any amount. Purchasing a mug or a tee-shirt from our Dashery Store with a JP design or with the logo of one of our light-hearted “first-century sponsors” (learn more at this link: https://www.jerusalemperspective.com/first-century-sponsors/) gets you a personal item to enjoy and helps fund JP at the same time. And just making sure that your subscription to a JP membership has not expired will ensure that you are aiding the cause at the most basic level.
Finally, your prayers for JP’s continued work and for the well being of David Bivin, who founded this venture, are immensely valuable. David Bivin and his wife Josa continue to face significant health challenges in their twilight years, but it brings them great comfort to know that the work they began continues unhindered.
Thank you, all, for your interest in Jerusalem Perspective’s work and your desire for its continued success. In the next newsletter we will share some updates about a few new initiatives JP has recently undertaken.
Joshua N. Tilton, editor
Jerusalem Perspective, LLC
