Is Jesus a Jew by birth or by choice?

Domenic,
I have a serious question.  If Joseph was not the father of Jesus, did Jesus acquire his Jewish identity from his mother?  It becomes confusing especially when Jews are not considered a race, but a religion.  How does this affect genealogy?

The word Jew comes from the tribe of Judah, one of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Mary's cousin Elisabeth (Luke 1:36) was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke 1:5) which makes Elisabeth a descendant of Levi. (Elisabeth was the mother of John the Baptist.) This also means that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ was a descendant of Levi on her mothers side. The Levitical priesthood are descendants of Levi. Jesus Christ was both a Jew and a Levite.

Jesus came to earth to die. Of the twelve tribes, only the tribe of Judah would have killed him. Of the tribe of Judah, God says, “They are the most hard headed, and heard hearted of all the people of the earth.” To this day the tribe of Judah does not believe Jesus was the Messiah. One of the things the Messiah had to do was prove his line back to Abraham. Three years after the death of Jesus the Romans destroyed Jerusalem, and all the Jewish records. No Jew can trace their line of decent before the destruction on Jerusalem. If the story of the Messiah is true, he would have had to come before those records were destroyed.

Was Jesus a Jew? Yes. Both Jew, and Levi on his mothers side.

Thanks Domenic for your confirmation.  I find it interesting that in today's world, descendants are followed by the father, not the mother.

Descendants are followed by the Father, but in the case of Jesus, God was his Father. Mary's line came from Abraham. Elisabeth the mother of John the Baptist, gave birth to John six months before Jesus was born. She told everybody, "God got me pregnant." It was the same story Mary told when she had Jesus.
I'm sure few people believed her. Joseph did not believe it. He married her so they would not stone her to death.
When writing "Clay of the Gods," I had fun with that story. I can just hear other women saying to Mary, "If he's the son of God, why are you living in a mud hut?" I don't think I would have believed it if I had lived back then, and knew them.
Jesus brother, James(by Joseph) did not believe Jesus was Gods son until three years after Jesus death. I'm sure Mary, and Joseph had words over that issue in front of the other children for many years. That would be a hard thing to believe. I wonder if Joseph held back love from Jesus because  he thought some other man had gotten the women he loved pregnant?
Mary was at Jesus death, but Joseph was not.

The original and current Jewish definition of a born Jew is someone whose mother is Jewish. Even though the Torah forbids a Jewish woman to marry a Gentile man, if she does, her children will still be Jewish.

The Torah also forbids a Jewish man to marry a Gentile woman, and if he does, his children by that woman will not be Jewish.

This annoys a great many people who wish to consider themselves Jewish, despite their non-Jewish mother.

The question of being a Jew, however, is not the same thing, unfortunately. Having a Jewish heart and Jewish feelings does not make someone Jewish. One has to be Jewish according to Jewish Law.



Since Mary's mother was Jewish, Mary would be a Jew. Because Jesus mother was a Jew, Jesus would be a Jew. Being a Jew seems to be more than just a religion...one would have to be born into it by a Jewish mother. So Sammy Davis was never a Jew.