Jews and Gentiles: Law and Early Christianity
As Christianity surfaced, it was adhered to not as a religion other than Judaism but rather as a continuation of Judaism where adherents believed Jesus to be the promised Jewish Messiah whose birth, life, death, and resurrection bring forth salvation to Israel and a light for the Gentile nations. Thus, early Christians, most of whom were of a Jewish descent, welcomed Gentiles to join the fold of God. At the core of the Christian faith is the celebration of the Eucharistic meal, the consecrated bread and wine that become truly and mystically the body and blood of Christ. The struggle then hinged on how Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians can share a single meal without Jewish Christians necessarily breaking their Kashrut laws.
Cleansing the Unclean: God’s Infinite Presence Through the Cross
St. Paul teaches us that “we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews…” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Crucifixion is a stumbling block as the Law proclaims, “anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse” (Deuteronomy 21:23).