If you ask this question to almost any Christian, they answer YES. Jesus was a Jew. Well, they would all be incorrect. Jesu was not a Jew. This is a common misconception among the church-going crowd that has very little understanding of the Written Word of God. In Luke 3:23, we have an interesting thing. It states there that Heli was the father of Joseph. But there is an interesting quote there that clarifies what I just stated. “As was supposed,” which means he was not the son of Heli but his son-in-law. That is what “as was supposed” means. That means that Mary, Joseph’s wife, was the daughter of Heli, who was by birth born in Judah. He is called Judean, and he was a Jew. Thus Mary was by birth half from Judah and half Jewish and the other half from whatever her mother was. Being born in Judah does not mean that you are Jewish by birth.
There is only one true tribe of Jews, and they are called the tribe of Judah, but they do not necessarily live in Judah. So, where was Mary’s mother born? As you read the story of the immaculate conception, you will read in Luke chapter 0ne about Elizabeth and Zacharias and the conception of their son, John the Baptist. Later in chapter one, verses 32 forward, you read about Mary’s conception and that she rose immediately after the angel of the Lord departed and went to the house of Elizabeth and Zacharias where John the Baptist, six months in Elizabeth’s womb, lept at the presence of the Holy Spirit which was the presence of Christ. Now Zacharias was Priest. In order to be a priest, one must be from the tribe of Levi. Mary and Elizabeth were blood sisters.
Mary’s mother was married to a Jew, and Elizabeth was married to a Levite. Elizabeth was also a Levite as stated in Like 1:5-7. She was in line of Aaron. Thus Mary’s mother was also a Levite. So Mary was half Jewish and half Levite. Jesus was God. He was born of Mary, but God is His Father. So, Jesus was not a Jew by birth. He was called a Nazarene. What is a Nazarene? The word means “Adherents to the faith.”Supposedly” Jesus was born in Bethlem, and that is true because of the census taken by Ceasar at the time of His birth. The family fled to Egypt to escape the murderous hand of Ceasar Augustus. But shortly after the family returned from Egypt, they lived in Nazareth from then on. Jesus referred to Himself as a Nazarene in Acts 22:8. I cannot figure out how or why any Christian would be so ignorant to call Jesus a Jew. Jesus is God, and He is neither Jew nor Levite. He is God. in the flesh. He always has been, and He still is forever!!!!!