Are Christians the same as Jews?

That is an interesting question because Jesus was born a Jew, wasn’t he? So, if Jesus was Jewish and was even called “King of the Jews,” then it stands to reason that Christians are the same as Jews, right? Well, that’s not true, of course.

While many of the original Christians were probably Jewish, when Christ was crucified and then He was resurrected, they realized that he was the long-awaited Messiah and the early Christians started their own church based on the teachings of Jesus. This is all described in the first two chapters of the Book of Acts. While they still believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the Old Testament, they knew that Jesus was the Son of God and that they didn’t need a Rabbi or any religious leader to perform religious rituals for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus offered them salvation and a personal relationship with God through his sacrifice on the cross.

Peter, one of Jesus’ original disciples, became the first Christian priest. The rest of the disciples followed suit and spread the good news of Jesus throughout the land. Many people during this time converted to this new belief but there were still many who did not convert. Many of the people in Jerusalem refused to convert and sided with the Pharisee’s and continued to practice their Jewish faith.

That’s why, even today, there are Jews in Israel and they don’t believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Why did Jesus rise three days later instead of one?

Wow. Interesting question!!! First of all, did you know that there are over 300 Messianic prophesies that Jesus fulfilled? What that means is that in the Old Testament there are over 300 verses that specifically predict Jesus as the Messiah. Of those 300 prophesies, I counted 33 that specifically addressed his betrayal, death and resurrection. Remember, that the last book of the Old Testament was written nearly 400 years before Jesus’ birth!

Unfortunately, the Old Testament scriptures don’t specifically refer to the three-day resurrection. However, Jesus, Himself, predicted that He would be betrayed, crucified and killed then rise on the third day. Take a look at Matthew 12:40, which reads:

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”

John 2:19-22 says it this way:

“Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.”

The Apostle Paul wrote, in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, the following:

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”

But this doesn’t really answer why three days, right? And, quite frankly, I couldn’t find a compelling reason either. There are several theories and I’d like to offer you two that I believe are significant. First, back in the day of Jesus’ death, it was Jewish custom to wait three days before declaring someone dead. I guess they figured after three days in a tomb, you had to be dead and you just weren’t sleeping! So, by coming back to life after three days, Jesus proved that He truly did “rise from the dead.”

Why did only certain people go on the cross?

Wow, awesome question! First of all, let me be clear about crucifixion…it was basically a death sentence. Crucifixion wasn’t intended to be a punishment with set time. It wasn’t like the Roman judges said, “You will be crucified for a period of three hours.” The act of crucifying someone was meant to kill them. Not only that, but it was meant to kill them in a very slow, painful and tortuous way. Roman crucifixion was also meant to humiliate and dishonor a person.

Now, having said that, crucifixion was reserved only for the worst criminals, basically your murderers and thieves. In the Bible, we only have two instances of crucifixion mentioned. The first involves Jesus and two thieves, the second is when the Apostle Peter is told he will be crucified as a martyr (John 21:18-19).

Since the second instance is vague and has been debated by many Biblical scholars, let’s go to the first instance, which we know to be true. Here we have two thieves and Jesus who are being crucified. Do you remember what Jesus did to warrant death by crucifixion? According to the Jewish leaders, He blasphemed by claiming to be God. Even Pontius Pilate couldn’t find a reason to crucify Jesus so he handed Jesus to the Jews who had Him crucified by the Roman soldiers. So, Jesus, who was perfect and without sin and who had committed no crime, was crucified along with two thieves.

As unfair and unjust as that seems, it fulfills Old Testament prophesy about the Messiah. Jesus had to die on that cross. But, here’s the glorious and wonderful part about his death on the cross: when Jesus died He took the sins of world past, present and future with him and redeemed us. And because Christ died for us, we can have eternal life with God, the Father, in Heaven.

So, even though the cross was reserved for certain criminals, Jesus’ crucifixion was necessary to fulfill God’s unstoppable plan.