Tallit or Keffiyeh? Recasting Jesus’ Identity

Entering Caesarea Philippi, the Lord Jesus asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” (Mt. 16:13).

They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (v. 14).

Today, a growing number of people answer, “A Palestinian freedom fighter.”

Attempting to delegitimize Israel and defame its Christian supporters, many of the Jewish nation’s enemies recast Jesus’ identity. To them, He is not the Messiah of Israel who wore a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl) but, rather, the victim of so-called Israeli oppression who wore a keffiyeh (Arab head scarf).

In the YouTube video “If Jesus Was Born Today, He Would Be Born Under the Rubble,” self-proclaimed independent journalist Richard Medhurst castigates Western Christians for supporting Israel, a nation he claims persecutes Palestinians.

“Seriously, don’t bother celebrating Christmas this year,” he says. “Don’t bother singing Christmas carols about Jesus and Bethlehem when you support Israel murdering His people.”¹

Medhurst ties Jesus’ ancestry to Arabs in Bethlehem. Though Arabs currently occupy “Bethlehem of Judea” (Mt. 2:1, 5), Medhurst disregards its Jewish name and Jewish history and fails to recognize Jesus’ Jewish heritage. And the war Medhurst rails against has taken place not in Bethlehem but in distant Gaza.

He claims that if Jesus walked the earth today, the Jewish state would attack Him, a charge alarmingly similar to the centuries-old antisemitic claim of deicide—that all Jewish people are guilty of killing the Messiah. He believes Jesus “would be persecuted in His mother’s womb like so many Palestinians who’ve died stillborn because of Israeli bombardment.”

Most alarming of all is Medhurst’s argument that Palestinians, whom he claims are “the closest descendants to Jesus and His disciples,” are justified in murdering Jewish people in what he calls “resistance”:

Arab Christians, they know very well what Zionism really is. They live under Israeli occupation, and that is why they support resistance against Israel. They support Hamas, they support Hezbollah, because these groups fight for all Arabs, regardless of their religion.

Medhurst hijacks Jesus’ true identity to paint Him as a supporter of Hamas and the Palestinian conflict with Israel.

Wearing a T-shirt that says “Jesus is Palestinian,” Walid S. Mosarsaa protests against Israel to claim “Jesus as [his] ancestor to reclaim [His] identity as a Jewish subject under Roman occupation in first century Palestine.”² Since Jesus lived under Roman-occupied Judea, Mosarsaa argues, He is “a direct ancestor, a beacon of resistance whose life under occupation mirrors the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people.”

Mosarsaa, who labels biblical accounts such as the Exodus “fictional,” believes recasting Jesus as a Palestinian “affirms a historical truth.” He argues, “The Jesus who preached liberation and justice in the face of imperial tyranny is a direct ancestor of the Palestinian people.”

No one should remodel Jesus to fit a narrative or endorse a political agenda. Rather, we must recognize whom He has revealed Himself to be. It’s difficult to think of a more heinous way to co-opt Jesus’ image than to tie His name to a genocidal regime and to weaponize Him against His own people, Israel.

As the Lord and His disciples walked through Caesarea Philippi, the apostle Peter clearly and powerfully declared who Jesus of Nazareth is: “You are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God” (v. 16).

Believers should share Peter’s conclusion: Jesus is the long-awaited Jewish Messiah who came to take away the sins of the whole world.

ENDNOTES

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Richard Medhurst, “If Jesus Was Born Today, He Would Be Born Under the Rubble,” YouTube, December 25, 2023 (tinyurl.com/UnderRubble).
            2. Walid S. Mosarsaa, “What Does It Mean to Say ‘Jesus Is Palestinian’?” Sojourners, February 20, 2024 (tinyurl.com/JesusPalestinian).