Christianity... with a sprinkle of Antisemitism?

[Hestha]

I think there is a contradiction in Matthew.

Matthew 5
43 You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.

How does it account for the next verse?

Matthew 6
2 Therefore when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward in full.

OK. I think Jesus wants his followers to do good things and give alms genuinely rather than just to look good for themselves - pure altruism. However, what's up with the "in the synagogues" thing? Jesus, the radical Jewish rabbi, is criticizing the men of the synagogues for being too showy for giving alms? In other words, he is criticizing Judaism??? Is this where Christians get their Antisemitic feelings against Jews? Just earlier, Jesus wants his followers to love his enemies, presumably those hypocrites in the synagogues. How can you love and hate at the same time?

 

[KimberlyAA]

He said in the synagogues and the streets. Those are where the haughty religious men wanted the world to know how righteous they were. He was saying to not be like them and be humble. This is in no way criticizing Judaism. That's an assumption you've made. As a Christian, I have no antisemitic feelings toward Jews. In fact, I respect them greatly for presenting the oracles of God to the world. Also, saying not to be showy in almsgiving is in no way saying to hate the hypocrites. I don't know where you've gotten that idea from. There is no contradiction here.

 

[ViaCrucis]

I think there is a contradiction in Matthew.

Matthew 5
43 You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.

How does it account for the next verse?

Matthew 6
2 Therefore when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward in full.

OK. I think Jesus wants his followers to do good things and give alms genuinely rather than just to look good for themselves - pure altruism. However, what's up with the "in the synagogues" thing? Jesus, the radical Jewish rabbi, is criticizing the men of the synagogues for being too showy for giving alms? In other words, he is criticizing Judaism??? Is this where Christians get their Antisemitic feelings against Jews? Just earlier, Jesus wants his followers to love his enemies, presumably those hypocrites in the synagogues. How can you love and hate at the same time?

Jesus routinely criticizes religious hypocrisy and the self-righteous behavior of the religious elite. Jesus isn't making blanket statements about His own people, or attacking Judaism en masse.

Transplanting Jesus teachings to today, these sorts of criticisms are just as relevant against religious hypocrites and the self-righteous elitism one can find in the Christian Church.

It wasn't about being Jewish, or even about being a Pharisee, it was about hypocritical self-righteousness, imagining oneself as pious without the substance of piety: love, sacrifice, mercy, and justice.

This is why Jesus offers the example of a Pharisee at the temple who gloats in his righteousness, and a tax collector who beats his breast, saying only, "Lord, have mercy on me a sinner." And it is the tax collector, humble and knowing his faults, that walks away justified. Not because tax collectors are more righteous than Pharisees; but because God desires the contrite and humble heart--something which the Bible routinely talks about.

Also, the Pharisees are regularly employed as "the bad guys" not because all Pharisees were bad, but because Jesus routinely is trying to shock His hearers. The typical "good guys" are made the "bad guys" while the typical "bad guys" (tax collectors, prostitutes, drunkards, various sorts of sinners) are made the "good guys". Jesus does this precisely because this is the sort of kingdom He is proclaiming: Where the least is greatest. Because it is the despised, the hated, the unloved and the unwanted in the world that God has chosen to become the instruments of His glory.

Again: Not because being a Pharisee was bad, and not because being a tax collector were good. But rather Jesus was playing off the expectations and general mindset of His hearers, and forcing them to re-think the status quo and normative standards of society, to see the world through God's eyes.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[hedrick]

Perhaps most of us are getting a different meaning from the verse. To me it talks only about what hypocrites do in the synagogues. There's no implication that everyone there is a hypocrite.

I'm not aware of this passage being used antisemitically. The usual citation is Mat 27:25. But even if some people actually said this, there's no reason to apply it to every Jew. And Jesus forgave them anyway.

 

[Sketcher]

I think there is a contradiction in Matthew.

Matthew 5
43 You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.

How does it account for the next verse?

Matthew 6
2 Therefore when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward in full.

OK. I think Jesus wants his followers to do good things and give alms genuinely rather than just to look good for themselves - pure altruism. However, what's up with the "in the synagogues" thing? Jesus, the radical Jewish rabbi, is criticizing the men of the synagogues for being too showy for giving alms? In other words, he is criticizing Judaism??? Is this where Christians get their Antisemitic feelings against Jews? Just earlier, Jesus wants his followers to love his enemies, presumably those hypocrites in the synagogues. How can you love and hate at the same time?

He wasn't criticizing Judaism, he was criticizing Jewish hypocrites. Jesus also was a Jew, as were his disciples. Jews, Christians, anybody can criticize people who identify with their group without condemning the whole group. Unfortunately, this had been lost on a good number of Gentile believers who did not understand the full context of Jewish culture, and who had grown up in a culture that was already very suspicious of Judaism - whether it be Roman after various revolts, or Western European due to sheer ignorance.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

I think there is a contradiction in Matthew.

Matthew 5
43 You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.

How does it account for the next verse?

Matthew 6
2 Therefore when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward in full.

OK. I think Jesus wants his followers to do good things and give alms genuinely rather than just to look good for themselves - pure altruism. However, what's up with the "in the synagogues" thing? Jesus, the radical Jewish rabbi, is criticizing the men of the synagogues for being too showy for giving alms? In other words, he is criticizing Judaism??? Is this where Christians get their Antisemitic feelings against Jews? Just earlier, Jesus wants his followers to love his enemies, presumably those hypocrites in the synagogues. How can you love and hate at the same time?

The meaning of 'hypocrite' has changed from then til now. Today it means one who is insincere. In Jesus' day it referred to 'play acting' as in theatre. Those Jews were probably sincere in their giving but made a public 'show' of it. This is what Jesus objected to.

Regarding 'love'. God does not require that we even 'like' the people that we 'love'. Some people just aren't likeable.

 

[GrayAngel]

Jesus was a Jew, you know. Christians were originally considered a Jewish sect too, and participated in all of the Jewish rituals.

 

[bling]

Always keep the context in mind: Jesus audience was only Jewish at this time. We have no record of the gentile pagans giving any “alms” to the poor as a religious practice.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Always keep the context in mind: Jesus audience was only Jewish at this time. We have no record of the gentile pagans giving any “alms” to the poor as a religious practice.

Also keep in mind what "Jew" means in it's context. Paul was "a Jew of the Jews", but his ancestry was Benjamite, not Judahite. He went on to expain away much of "Judaism", as did Jesus. Jesus uses the word Jew in the same context that we would use Catholic. It wasn't a racial/ethnic term.

 

[bling]

Also keep in mind what "Jew" means in it's context. Paul was "a Jew of the Jews", but his ancestry was Benjamite, not Judahite. He went on to expain away much of "Judaism", as did Jesus. Jesus uses the word Jew in the same context that we would use Catholic. It wasn't a racial/ethnic term.

Jew is not even mentioned in the context. I do not know if they at this time divided out Jews from all of Israel or used them interchangably.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Jew is not even mentioned in the context

.

The OP raised the question sighting implication or inference.

I do not know if they at this time divided out Jews from all of Israel or used them interchangably.

Most were Jews 'religiously' (Judaism) but not all were descendants of Judah. The more I carefully read the NT the more I believe that the term 'Israel' was used to refer to both jews and the 'house of Israel'-the descendants of the northern tribes. There is much scriptural evidence for this in Pauls writing. Acts 2 also reveals this.

 

[PureDose]

I think there is a contradiction in Matthew.

Matthew 5
43 You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy."
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.

How does it account for the next verse?

Matthew 6
2 Therefore when you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be glorified by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward in full.

OK. I think Jesus wants his followers to do good things and give alms genuinely rather than just to look good for themselves - pure altruism. However, what's up with the "in the synagogues" thing? Jesus, the radical Jewish rabbi, is criticizing the men of the synagogues for being too showy for giving alms? In other words, he is criticizing Judaism??? Is this where Christians get their Antisemitic feelings against Jews? Just earlier, Jesus wants his followers to love his enemies, presumably those hypocrites in the synagogues. How can you love and hate at the same time?

What about Moses and the Prophets when they were critical of other Jews?


People can take these things as ammo to fuel their hatred, or their blind accusations, but that does not mean slanderous accusations are correct because they distort the context of Scripture, does it?