Is Our Glorified Lord Jesus Christ Still Jewish?
Is Our Glorified Lord Jesus Christ Still Jewish?
For some reason, I have had this question in my mind for a while. I would rather write about something else, but this seems to keep coming up (in my thinking). My approach will be unique to me: I am going to start writing, and see where we end up. I am not even sure what I believe about the question (above) right now. If I go astray somewhere, please correct me. Thank-you. Let us embark on this adventure, and trust God for a good result. . . .
First of all, let us establish the easy part: we know that Jesus Christ was Jewish, from at least the moment of His circumcision on the eighth day (Lk. 2:21). The Lord Jesus had to come through the tribe of Judah, and the Davidic line--and He possessed this (properly) through Mary's humanity. So, we know that our Lord Jesus was Jewish, from at least His circumcision, to the point of His entrance into the heavenly temple, to offer His blood sacrifice to His Father on behalf of His elect church. In the abstract, I do not think the hypostatic union of The Second Person of The Holy Trinity to humankind absolutely required the Christ to be Jewish; but I do think this was requisite as a covenantal stipulation.
So, the entire question now, is, "Is our glorified Lord Jesus Christ still Jewish; or is this inquiry now of no consequence anymore?" . . . To try to answer this question, I will approach it from several different angles. First of all, let us talk about the priestly ministry of Jesus in the heavenly temple. The Book of Hebrews will be our greatest scriptural asset here. In this respect it would seem to mitigate against an absolute requirement of "Jewishness." The reason? Because Christ was a Melchizedekian priest, and not a Levitical (Jewish) one (see Heb. 7:11-22).
Next, let us consider the question of the nature of The Redeemer's heavenly Kingdom (itself). There is an intriguing teaching found in Matt. 19:28, where we read these words: "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,' " (ESV/cf. also Lk. 22:30). Just exactly how this is to be understood is not abundantly clear to me. Does our Lord mean, by, "the twelve tribes of Israel," the church generally (Jew and Gentile); or, does He somehow mean people from the twelve different tribes of Israel? The problem with the latter suggestion (among perhaps others), is the indistinguishability of who would make-up these tribes, (especially the ten tribes that got assimilated into pagan cultures). At any rate, the twelve apostles (including Paul/[which would be my supposition]?) would have some special honor in the heavenly Kingdom.
Along these lines, semantics becomes something of an issue for us. What is meant by "Jewishness," even in the era before the New Testament was completed? Paul, for instance, was not of "Judah," but was, instead, from the tribe of Benjamin (Php. 3:5)--and yet, he was certainly considered "Jewish." I think any circumcised tribesmen of Israel who could trace their lineage back to a verifiable tribe; and who submitted to Judah's primacy with regard to the old temple, probably was considered "Jewish." . . . The question of "Israel," on the other hand, is quite a different one altogether. I would argue--alongside my Reformed brethren--that Christ *is* still part of "Israel" in the heavenly Kingdom. (In fact, Jesus Christ is the perfect "Israel.") Christ is The "Head" of Israel, the Body of Christ, the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church, constituted of both Jews and Gentiles, (cf. Gal. 6:16b and other places). So, there is no question that Christ remains "of Israel" in His heavenly Kingdom--the only question is, "Is He still a 'Jew' there?" And this query may come down to being one of no more significance than, "Where were you born?"; or, "From what ethnicity do you come?" One person is born in Judea, another in North Africa, another in France, another in Iowa. There are a lot of ethnicities, as well. What difference, in heaven, does any of this make--other than providing us interesting reflections on God's providential goodness to us during our earthly sojourns?
Another angle we might look at is that of Paul's words of Gal. 3:28, which say this: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus," (ESV). If all this is true in the church (militant) on earth, it is certainly the case with the (triumphant) church in heaven. But surely we do not "lose" our maleness or femaleness in glory--even though "slave [or] free" goes away. The question is, "What about 'Jew' [or] 'Greek'?" I am inclined to think that this is not an important distinction in heaven; and, if this is true of us, the redeemed sinner/saints who will make up the church above--it is probably true of our Redeemer Himself (as well).
I have one other area to touch on; and that is the "New Jerusalem" of Rev. 21:2. This is an obvious allusion to the completed New Covenant Church--and it is clearly Jew and Gentile without distinction. This element argues against perennial "Jewishness" in our glorified Lord Jesus Christ.
. . . So, where do we end up (so far)? I would say--at this point, at least, being open to correction and suggestion--that the answer to the question, "Is Our Glorified Lord Jesus Christ Still Jewish?"--is, "No," and (maybe), "Yes." "No," in the sense that there is no covenantal distinction between any members of the redeemed church (in heaven or on earth); and, "Yes," in that we come to glory from different people groups on earth--and this is even true of our Lord Jesus Christ.
A sweet way to conclude this discussion may come to us from Paul's words of Eph. 2:19-22, which say this: "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit," (ESV).
Rev. Mark J. Henninger
Treatise #57
26 December 2025
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