[x_plus_one]

Just once it would be nice to see a real jewish Jesus. Maybe 5'7" tall, black hair, brown eyes, jewish nose....An authentic Jesus would go a long way towards making it real for so many christians...

Taking the Jewish out of Jesus is like taking the salt off the pretzel...

[Star Traveler]

You said — “An authentic Jesus would go a long way towards making it real for so many christians...”

Well, an “authentic Jesus” after the crucifixion is a barely recognizable Jesus from what He was before. So, His appearance was dramatically and very negatively altered at that time. I would say that many, instead of appreciating the “authentic Jesus” would be more “shocked” instead...

Regards,
Star Traveler

[TUX]

Taking the Jewish out of Jesus is like taking the salt off the pretzel...
Well said!

Early Christians were seen as an illegal Jewish cult. The first question of the Church was the issue of allowing gentiles. Later one of the first heretics rewrote scripture to redact things Jewish.

[giotto]

Taking the Jewish out of Jesus is like taking the salt off the pretzel...

Or not boiling a bagel before you bake it.

[giotto]

I couldn't agree with you more about the Jewish Jesus. Would it be so hard for film directors to cast a Semitic actor as Jesus? The Passion of the Christ was OK, but instead of two hours of bloody torture, why not depict the child Jesus expounding in the temple? In that scene, He would not have been speaking in parables as in the Gospels, but rather He would have been preparing for His Bar Mitzvah. But this was no ordinary bright Jewish kid. For three days He had been discussing the finer points of the Holy Scriptures and Jewish law with the elders of the temple.

There would be nothing controversial about creating this scene in words or film. Twelve year old Jesus was a dutiful son whose wisdom and knowledge were on the level of an aged rabbi. But at that age He would not have challenged the teachings of the Jewish religion. Just the fact that the crowd of scholars did not toss Him out on His ear is proof of that. A film that recreates a scene in this manner would be good for both Christianity and Judaism.