One of the most heinous of crimes for a Christian is anti-semitism. Hatred of Jews is hatred of Jesus, Mary, Peter and Paul. St. John (himself Jewish) has been accused of anti-semitism because of lines in the fourth gospel like “Jesus was delivered up to the Jews.” Obviously, in context, John meant delivered up to the authorities. Countering that narrative are passages like the one from John’s Book of Revelation: “They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.” Moses, the embodiment of Jewish law and practice joins with “the Lamb,” the symbol of Jesus, to sing the song of salvation. Only by joining both voices together, the Old and the New Testament, can the praise of God be sung. As St. Paul puts it, the call and election of God are permanent so the Jewish people are still the chosen people. We only understand Jesus when we recognize him as part of a Jewish world.
