135. Expectation of the Messiah: Jews and Christians

Expectation of the Messiah: Jews and Christians

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 135

Ave Maria series

135  What is the relation between the Church and Jews?

Jews are the “older brethren” of Christians, because God loved them first and spoke to them first.  Jesus Christ as man is a Jew, and this fact unites us.  The Church recognizes in him the Son of the Living God, and this fact separates us.  In awaiting the final coming of the Messiah we are one.  [839-840]

Moses and the Ten Commandments. …..135

The Jewish faith is the root of our faith.  The Sacred Scripture of the Jews, which we call the Old Testament, is the first part of our Sacred Scripture.  The Judeo-Christian concept of man and morality, which is informed by the Ten Commandments, is the foundation of Western democracies.  It is shameful that for hundreds of years Christians were unwilling to admit this close relation to Judaism and for pseudo-theological reasons helped foment an anti-Semitism that all too often had lethal effects.  During the Holy Year 2000 Pope John Paul II expressly asked forgiveness for this.  The Second Vatican Council clearly states that the Jews as a people cannot be charged with any collective guilt for the crucifixion of Christ.  96-97, 335

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them”  Matthew 5:17

“The rulers of the Third Reich wanted to crush the entire Jewish people…Deep down, those vicious criminals, by wiping out this people, wanted to kill the God who called Abraham, who spoke on Sinai, and laid down principles to serve as a guide for mankind, principles that are eternally valid.”  Pope Benedict XVI, May 28, 2006, in Auschwitz-Birkenau

“For us the Jewish religion is not something external but in a certain way intrinsically belongs to our religion.  Consequently we have relations with it unlike those with any other religion.  You are our privileged brothers and, one might say, our older brothers.”  Pope St. John Paul II (1920-2005), during his visit to the Great Synagogue in Rome, 1986

[839-840]

The Church and non-Christians

839 "Those who have not yet received the Gospel are related to the People of God in various ways."(Lumen gentium 16)³²⁵

The relationship of the Church with the Jewish People. When she delves into her own mystery, the Church, the People of God in the New Covenant, discovers her link with the Jewish People,(compare Nostra Aetate 4)³²⁶  "the first to hear the Word of God."(Roman Missal, Good Friday 13:General Intercessions,VI)³²⁷  The Jewish faith, unlike other non-Christian religions, is already a response to God's revelation in the Old Covenant. To the Jews "belong the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; to them belong the patriarchs, and of their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ",(Romans 9:4-5)³²⁸ "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable."(Romans 11:29)³²⁹ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

840 And when one considers the future, God's People of the Old Covenant and the new People of God tend towards similar goals: expectation of the coming (or the return) of the Messiah. But one awaits the return of the Messiah who died and rose from the dead and is recognized as Lord and Son of God; the other awaits the coming of a Messiah, whose features remain hidden till the end of time; and the latter waiting is accompanied by the drama of not knowing or of misunderstanding Christ Jesus.—CCC

OT  10 Commandments