Pope Francis and Jesus the Palestinian

As the whole world knows, Pope Francis has now visited the Holy Land. Now when it comes to Israel and the Middle East, words and photo-ops are all very symbolic and communicate subtle attitudes.

The fact that the Pope visited the Holy Land and not Israel is certainly a big signal that the Roman Catholic Church still has difficulty recognizing the State of Israel as a fulfillment of Bible prophecy. They are still captive to their teaching of replacement theology. Furthermore, the Pope flew directly from Jordan to Bethlehem bypassing Israel. This is a huge signal that the Pope, and the Vatican led Roman Catholic Church, recognizes a Palestinian State on the holy soil God promised to the Jewish people.

Among other signals, during his visit to Jerusalem, the Pope met with the Palestinian mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammed Hussein. The Pope addressed the mufti and his associates as his “dear brothers.” This is the same Hussein who has said it was the destiny of Muslims to kill Jews, who he claims are subhuman beasts and “the enemies of Allah.”

In a lighter moment, the Pope argued with Prime Minister Netanyahu about whether Jesus spoke Hebrew or Aramaic. The Pope argued that Jesus spoke Aramaic. Netanyahu rightly argued that Jesus spoke Hebrew as it clearly says in the New Testament (Acts 26:14). While this may not seem significant, those who argue that Jesus spoke Aramaic contribute towards denying the Jewishness of Jesus.
Furthermore, the Pope invited President Peres and pretend president Mahmoud Abbas to the Vatican to pray and discuss peace strategies between the Palestinians and Israel. I am sure the Pope wants peace but this is all such a farce. President Peres has never seen a phony peace agreement he didn’t fawn over and Abbas has never seen a young
“Palestinian” child who was not a future terrorist. Mark my words, Pope Francis will not be good for Israel.

But the worse symbol was the huge mural behind the Pope when he spoke at Bethlehem. The whole watching world saw it. It shows Joseph and Mary and baby Jesus in a manager scene appropriate for Bethlehem. But instead of Jesus being wrapped in swaddling clothes, he was wrapped in a kufiah. The kufiah is the Palestinian head dress that has become the symbol of Palestinian defiance and rejection of Israel.

No one listening to the Pope’s speech would ever know that Jesus was and always will be a Jew. They saw him as a Palestinian. If there ever was such a thing as a Palestinian, which there is not, it would be the Jews because they were the ones living in Israel when the Romans changed the name of Israel to Palestine.

The Pope called Abbas a “man of peace.” I am certain that if the real Jesus would have somehow showed up at the Bethlehem gathering to hear the Pope, this man of peace and his murderous followers would have killed Jesus in a rage of anti-Semitic hatred.