my genesis
I was born in 1958 in what we called “the armpit of America,” Flint Michigan. I was born into a loving Jewish family and I was the third and last boy in the family. rumor had that my mom was pregnant with what she thought was a baby girl after I was born, but unfortunately she miscarried.
Both my Mom and Dad were born Jews and from what I can remember their lineage was all Jewish. Now, we’re talking old country Jews too. My Dad’s Dad (my grandfather) was originally from Hungry. My Mothers family from what I remember was more or less American. Her family was from Dayton Ohio Now, my Dads’s side of the family had myriad branches of the tree but my mom on the other hand had smaller little branches of family. but when you traced back both sides of the tree every one to my knowledge was Jewish. Now, there could be a couple of Gentiles on both sides of the tree somewhere down the line, but from what I know, everyone was a jew.
WHAT’S THE BIG WHOOP HERE?
My goal for this blog is to paint a picture of the one in a billion chance that God had his eye on me the whole time and would show up in my life when I doubted the most. Then plucking me from the dark pit of nonbelief to placing my faith in Jesus Christ. The point of this post is to communicate that I didn’t have any outside influences from let’s say mixed marriages. It’s totally possible and feasible that if I had an Aunt or uncle that was not Jewish they might have leaked some non-Jewish dust on me. Had that been the case it could have had an effect on my beliefs as I got older. i definitely didn’t have any outside influences from any of my family or anyone in the lineage that would have had any type of effect on me that could have steered me away from placing my faith in Jesus Christ.
CONCLUSION
Based on the fact that my family lineage, on both sides, was all Jewish there were no outside seeds planted at an early age that might have made me think about the evidence of Jesus. Furthermore, Jews are a proud sect. At an early age, I remember the communication that being Jewish was like some sort of privilege. To be Jewish is to be proud. “You have to protect and defend Judaism,” I remember being told.
Its funny that the Jews have never accepted Jesus as the Messiah. I wish I knew more about the history of the denial of Christ.
As for you being born in 1958, Flint was far from the armpit of America at that time. It Had the highest per Capita income in the country and was the model for the community school system. Of course all that has changed. Conversion from Judaism to Christianity is quite the notable event. I cannot wait to hear more about this.
In regards to Jews not accepting Jesus as the Messiah I found this online: From a Jewish perspective, the concept of the Messiah is rooted in the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament), which outlines various criteria for the coming of the Messiah.
According to Jewish beliefs, the Messiah will be a human being, born of human parents, who will fulfill specific tasks, such as gathering all Jewish exiles to the land of Israel, rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem, and ushering in an era of peace and prosperity for all humanity.
While Jesus is considered the central figure in Christianity and is regarded as the Messiah by Christians, his life and teachings do not fulfill the criteria outlined in Jewish texts. Additionally, Jews interpret Messianic prophecies differently, and many do not believe that Jesus fulfilled the necessary requirements.
Personally, my answer would be that Jewish people don’t believe in the Resurrection. If the resurrection didn’t happen then it would make sense that people wouldn’t believe that jesus is the Messiah. I think if they believed the resurrection is fact, then he would have to be the messiah, right? You’re right about Flint. When we were growing up it wasn’t so much an armpit. Different story now though. #StayTuned