Faith in Jesus?

In the age of information, we are afforded access to a world of ancient texts and understanding previously unavailable. With this has come a world of new New Testament scholarship, particularly in the domain of contemporaneous Jewish thought. For the last few decades, incredible strides have been made to put Yeshua, and especially Paul back into their Jewish context.

As one might expect, this changes everything. Sometimes, these findings are inconsequential, or novel - and other times, not so much. For many religious Jews, it is not Yeshua they have a problem with, but the writings of Paul, which they may perceive as an intentional departure from Judaism.

A Revealing Story

This reminds me of a conversation with a Rabbi a few years ago, at that time, I was shocked he had no knowledge of the New Testament considering he had setup his shul in a Christian town. I reasoned, it might be helpful to know something about the local beliefs in the event you have to help shed light on them. He said something that I won't forget. Discussing his perception of a teaching from the New Testament, he mentioned how Paul and the Apostle switched Shabbat to Sunday. Of course this was a huge violation of the Torah, but this is not what the New Testament teaches. Quite logically, he admitted, that he was told this by multiple Pastors. "I assume they know about their own writings better than I do", he exclaimed.

A new light

Today, though, we are beginning to see that this was not Paul's intent. Through the works of modern scholars like Paula Fredriksen, and Mark Nanos, we can see that these writings have been misunderstood.

One example of this new scholarship reframes the way we read Romans 3. Here is the verse in the ESV (English Standard Version):  

the righteousness of G_D through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. - Romans 3:22

For many centuries, verse 22 has read that it is faith in Jesus that brings redemption. Some might add that this alone, and nothing more is required - that is to say, lifestyle, practices, and observance of commandments are of no value if one does not 'believe', or have 'faith' in Jesus. Practically speaking, this interpretation has been problematic, taking on a life of its own apart from its Jewish conception.

However, read how this verse is rendered in the NET Bible.

namely, the righteousness of G_D through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe.
- Romans 3:22

A note in the NET Bible explains:

Though traditionally translated as "faith in Jesus Christ", an increasing number of NT scholars are arguing that Pistis Christou and similar phrases in Paul (here Rom3:22, 26; Gal 2:16, 20, 3:22; Phil 3:9) involve a subjective genitive and mean "Christ's faith" or "Christ's faithfulness" - NET Bible note on Romans 3:22

Faith vs Emunah

One major difference is how we look at the word "faith". In Hebrew, the word for "faith" is Emunah. (Technically, a few words could be used to define faith; trust, belief, but the operative word in this text is Emunah).

Emunah is not the same as "faith" in the modern sense. The word in Greek is "Pistis", which can be more closely defined as acquisition of knowledge. Pistis kind of faith is similar to learning [something], or making a mental ascent to an idea.

Emunah, however, derives from the word "Uman" which means a 'craft'. In this sense, Emunah is something that we continually have to work at, daily, weekly, continually, over the course of a lifetime. As Paul says elsewhere, this is something one must develop with fear and trembling.

On a deeper level, Emunah is something we can tap into, a higher state of consciousness that we strive to connect with, and guard when we grasp it.

In these passages, it is the effort and dedication of Yeshua that Paul is referring to as the driving force behind this gift to his gentile audience. Verse 26 continues to build this idea further.

... this was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just, and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus' faithfulness.
- Romans 3:26

This of course has implications which may cause more questions for some, but it moves the concept back into Jewish territory. With this shift, we understand that it is the faithfulness of a righteous person that brings benefits to those they represent.

The Shepherd and the Flock

And though the interpretation is cutting-edge to New Testament scholarship, the idea is not new to Judaism. In fact, this idea is very ancient, that a righteous leader stands in the place of the people they represent. This is the idea behind the Kohen Gadol (High Priest), and the role Moses and Aaron played before the establishment of the Levitical priesthood. Also, it was upon the emunah of Abraham, that the entire Jewish people were earmarked for a special covenant in the first place.

An ancient Midrash says,

as Moses is Israel and Israel is Moses. [This comes] to teach you that the head of a generation is surely equivalent to the whole generation.
- Numbers Rabbah 19:28

Similarly, this is what we see in the Zohar:

Moses was equivalent to all of Israel, and we learn that the shepherd of the people is really the whole of the people. If he is worthy, then all the people are worthy; if he is unworthy, then all the people are unworthy and are punished because of him, as has been established
- Zohar 2:47a

With this idea, we need to be careful to make wise decisions when choosing leaders.

Additionally, we should continue to explore these critical passages in their context, uncovering more insights and truths, allowing our presuppositions to be challenged along the way.