Did Jesus Keep the Kosher Laws?
by Mike James
To answer our question, we need to define the word kosher. This article will define kosher as the laws that the Jews use to determine what food they can eat. These laws deal not only with the food but how the food is prepared. Some of these laws come from the written Word of God (Old Testament), but others are part of an oral tradition.
For example, the Bible tells us in Leviticus 11:7 that we are not to eat swine. This is considered part of the kosher laws of the Jews. The Jews also teach we should not prepare meat foods on the same plates we prepare dairy foods. This law is also kosher, but it is not found in the written Word of God. So it is essential to understand what people mean when they use certain words. Some people think kosher only pertains to animals that the Bible tells us not to eat. Others understand that the kosher laws include written laws from the Bible and other laws that Jewish religious authorities have added to the meaning of kosher.
Another example pertains to not eating the blood of clean animals. Deuteronomy 12:15–16 teaches us not to eat the blood of an animal. It also mentions the blood being poured out of an animal, but no further details are provided. There is also mention of not eating anything that has died on its own (Deuteronomy 14:21). Today, Orthodox Jews have specific regulations on how to slaughter an animal to make it kosher. But these regulations are not part of God's written law in the Bible.
Jesus might have eaten animals that were slaughtered in a certain way due to the cultural norms present at the time He was living. But that does not mean Christians need to observe those traditions. The written law did not give details on how to kill an animal. Jesus also likely observed Hanukkah (John 10:22–23) because He was a Jew, but keeping this festival is not required of Christians because it is not part of God's written law. Leviticus 23 addresses the holy days and festivals God wants us to observe.
This distinction is very important because it gets at the root of arguments on the law of God and whether we still need to observe it. We believe you need to keep God's law until heaven and earth pass away (Matthew 5:17–19). The law does not save us, but it helps us understand God's character and what sin is. By observing it, we are following the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Let's look at an example of Jesus' emphasis on the written law and the Pharisees' focus on their oral tradition of law. Many Christians teach that in Mark 7, Jesus made all meats clean to eat. Swine, shellfish, and catfish were now available to us to eat when previously they were not.
That is not what this chapter is about at all. Notice in verse 3 what the context is. The disciples of Jesus were caught eating with unwashed hands. Nowhere in the Old Testament will you find a law speaking about eating with unwashed hands. Notice that verse 3 speaks of the traditions of the elders. This law was part of the oral tradition of the Pharisees, just like some of the kosher laws. They had created other laws to protect the written laws of God. Jesus is taking issue with these additional laws that were man-made and not God-ordained. See further in verse 7 these are called the rules of men.
In some ancient manuscripts, the phrase "making all foods clean" (Mark 7:19) is not there. Some scholars believe this phrase was added due to the beliefs of some of the translators. Other ancient manuscripts don't add that phrase. They simply end verse 19 with the phrase "purging all meats." This chapter does not address the biblical food laws at all. The point of the chapter is addressed in the next few verses (verses 20–23). Jesus was trying to make the point that what really defiles us is not getting a little dirt on our food but the bad thoughts that come from us internally.
For our discussion, it is important to understand Jesus did not agree with all the laws the Pharisees taught to the people. Some of these laws would include kosher laws like not preparing meat on a plate that is used for cheese or not eating meat and milk together during a meal. These kosher laws are not in the written Word of God.
Another example of the fact Jesus did not keep the Pharisaical oral law (traditions) is found in Luke 6. Notice in Luke 6:6–11, that the Pharisees become upset with Jesus when he heals a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. The reason they were upset was that Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath when He could have waited till the following day to perform the healing. According to the Expositor's Bible Commentary (Volume 8, 1984, p. 887), rabbinical law would have permitted healing on the Sabbath if the illness was of a critical nature. A withered hand was something not critical. It could wait till the next day.
These details about what could and could not be done on the Sabbath were not addressed in the written law of God. The Pharisees came up with other rules and regulations they wanted the people to follow. Jesus makes it clear again that the traditions and rules of the teachers were not required to keep the law of God.
Let us now look at what was happening in the New Testament Church in relation to God's written law and the additional laws of the Pharisees.
I want to begin by addressing some definitions again. To many, the word Torah means the first five books of the Bible. Torah can also mean the law of God or instruction. To Orthodox Jews, Torah can also mean the written law (in the Bible) and the oral traditions that were said to have been passed down from God to Moses.
The Jews believe that God gave Moses the written law on Mount Sinai and Moses wrote it down, and we have it in the first five books of the Bible. But they also believe that oral laws were passed from God to Moses that provided commentary on the written laws that were given. There is no scriptural evidence that this happened. The record from the New Testament makes it clear Christ did not approve of the oral traditions of the Jews.
After the resurrection of Jesus, we continue to see the debate in the early Church about just what laws Christians are supposed to observe. This debate centers around those who believed only the written law was valid versus those who considered the written law and the commentary (oral traditions) about it valid.
Let's not forget that most of the early converts to Christianity were Jewish. The record of history we read in the New Testament is a record of change and confusion. The Jewish Christians were only beginning to understand that God was saving the Gentiles also (Acts 11:18). The early Church was trying to figure things out. Remember, the first-century Christians did not have a New Testament to help them figure out what they should be doing as we do. The New Testament books are a record of the Church figuring things out about God's law, among other things.
The Old Testament law taught that the alien/stranger (think Gentile) could be part of Israel as long as they obeyed God's law (Exodus 12:48-49, Leviticus 24:22). God wanted Israel to love the stranger/alien (Gentile) too (Leviticus 19:33-34, Deuteronomy 10:19). Paul had to correct Peter at Antioch because he was separating himself from eating with the Gentiles because of his fear of "them which were of the circumcision" (Galatians 2:11-12). This refers to the "circumcision party" of the early Church.
Look at Titus 1:9–11 as an example. Here we read about "they of the circumcision." This refers to the "circumcision party." They were a faction within the early Church who were Jewish and believed that the oral traditions and the written law were necessary for Christians to observe. Remember, all Jews (male) were circumcised, so this is not just speaking about Jewish believers. This was a faction in the early Church that saw things a certain way. We have the same thing in the Church today. There are some who believe we need to say God's name in Hebrew. There are others who think we need to keep the holy days based on observation of the moon from Jerusalem. Others believe in observation from their local area, while we in CGI and many other Church of God groups follow the Hebrew calendar to determine the holy days.
Notice carefully something very interesting in Titus 1:14. It mentions that this party of the circumcision is into "Jewish myths." One of the myths popular at this time in history was the idea God provided additional laws to Moses orally that Moses did not write down. They also believed God was only working with Israelites. Some of these other myths were written down in books at this time that never made it into the Bible. Today we have some people in the greater Church (including some in the Hebrew Roots movement) who teach that the oral traditions must also be observed. Some others teach that pseudepigraphical books should be considered Scripture. This is not what Jesus and the apostles taught.
Jesus made it clear in Luke 11:51 that He believed in our Old Testament as Scripture. Many don't realize that the Jews ordered their Scriptures differently than we order the Old Testament. Genesis was their first book, but in their canon of Scripture, 2 Chronicles is the last book. In Luke 11:51, Jesus confirms this by mentioning the first and last books of the Jewish Scriptures. All the other books in the Old Testament fell between Genesis and 2 Chronicles. Jesus further confirms His acceptance of only our present Old Testament by mentioning the three divisions of the Old Testament in Luke 24:44 (Law, Prophets, and Psalms). Those three divisions contain all our Old Testament books. Scholars confirm this threefold division of the Old Testament did not include the apocryphal books of the Catholic Bible or the pseudepigraphical books.
For further evidence of the need to observe the written law rather than the oral law, we will investigate how the early Church dealt with some of these factional issues. Let us turn to Acts 15:5 and see one big example. Notice that within the early Church, there was a group from the sect of the Pharisees who believed that new Gentile converts should be circumcised (physically) and keep the law of Moses. Now, what does "law of Moses" mean here? Some argue that the "law of Moses" here means the written law of God in our Bible. That is partially true. It does mean that, but since this was the Pharisees, they also believed that the oral traditions were equal to the written law of God. So, if they said "law of Moses," it would include those extra laws that Christ had already taught were unnecessary.
As we continue to read Acts 15, we will find further evidence to this point. Notice what we read in Acts 15:19–21:
"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath."
Some erroneously argue that the Church decided that the law of God did not matter any longer here. That is completely wrong. If you think the Church is saying that Gentiles should only worry about these four things, then what about the laws against murder, stealing, having no other gods, etc.? These four items (food sacrificed to idols, no blood, no strangled animals, and fornication) were addressed in the written law of God and would be more common practices to Gentiles than Jews. Food sacrificed to idols is addressed in Exodus 34:15. The admonition against eating blood is mentioned in Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 3:17, and Leviticus 7:26. Strangulation of animals is not mentioned in the law, but some Gentiles slaughtered animals in this way. This would leave much of the blood in the animal instead of letting the blood bleed out. Therefore, this would go against the law of not eating blood. Therefore strangulation is mentioned here. Finally, the Gentiles were very familiar with temple prostitution which is why fornication is mentioned (Exodus 20:14; 22:16; Jeremiah 2:20–36; Ezekiel 16:15–43).
The Church is concerned here about issues that the gentile/pagan converts were likely to be involved in. The Church knew that the new converts would be learning the written law of God by visiting the synagogues (Acts 15:21). That is where they would pick up the rest of the information they needed to be obedient to God. Notice that James says Moses is read in the synagogues. This is evidence he expected the new converts to follow the written law of God. The oral traditions could not be read in the synagogues because they were not written down yet. The oral traditions were not finally written down until AD 200. The oral law was recited from memory.
According to Ron Dart's book, Digging Up Hebrew Roots (Wasteland Press, 2008), many of the Gentiles coming to Christianity at this time were "God-fearers" and acquainted with the synagogue and the law. "Raw" Gentile converts did not come into the Church in large numbers until about 80 years later. The Church was just getting started, and many issues had not been resolved yet.
We must remember that the sacrifices were still being observed at this time. Not until after AD 70 did the sacrificial system cease due to the destruction of the temple. The early Christians did not have the New Testament to help them resolve issues as we do. They were in the midst of figuring these questions out for us. We can now go to the New Testament to help us determine how we are to observe God's law.
The Jerusalem Conference addressed in Acts 15 helps us to understand something like circumcision today. Let's not forget even the Old Testament teaches that circumcision is of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6). This is not just a New Testament principle (Romans 2:29).
We know through the New Testament that the Old Testament sacrificial law is no longer required because Christ's sacrifice took all of that on (Hebrews 10:1–10). But is sacrifice over? No, because Christ's sacrifice is there for any future Christians who repent and get baptized and for present Christians who sin and repent.
The New Testament and New Covenant do not do away with God's law. We learn more about the detail of God's law in the New Testament (Matthew 5:21–42; 1 Timothy 5:17–18; Hebrews 10:1–10). The New Testament books of Matthew, 1 Timothy, and Hebrews provide more information on how to understand Old Testament laws, as do other parts of the New Testament. By studying God's entire written Word with God's Holy Spirit in us we can better understand how to observe and follow His law. But I emphasize God's written law provided to us in the Bible—not additional laws, like some of the kosher laws that are not required. Jesus probably kept Jewish kosher laws because He was a Jew living among Jews. But it is obvious from the New Testament record that Christians must only observe God's written law, which is more fully understood by the New Testament Scriptures. If you have not read Ron Dart's book, Law and Covenant, please do so. It provides great information on understanding how to observe God's law today.
Sources
"Kosher," Wikipedia, https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher.
Digging Up Hebrew Roots: Is This the Faith Once Delivered?, by Ronald L. Dart and Pam Dewey, Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wastleland Press, 2008.
Holy Cow (Third Edition), by Hope Egan, Clarksville, Maryland: Lederer Books, 2020.
Expositor's Bible Commentary (Volume 8), Frank E. Gaebelein Editor, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984.
Expositor's Bible Commentary (Volume 9), Frank E. Gaebelein Editor, Grand Rapids, Michiagn: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984.
Law and Covenant, by Ron Dart, Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007.
"The Law, the Prophets and the Writings Part 1—The Book of Origins," by David Hulme, Vision, Winter 2012, Religion and Spirituality, https://www.vision.org/law-prophets-and-writings-part-1-genesis-book-of-origins-109.
"What Was Jesus' View of the Old Testament," by Don Stewart, blueletterbible.org.