Your belief that "Jesus was indeed a Jew" is part of the strong delusion which is advancing the end‑time mystery of iniquity. As our Savior said to Nicodemus (paraphrase):
"How is it that at this juncture, Nicodemus, at the very time when you are a sage, you are ignorant of/fail to understand basics ?"
Our Savior was of the tribe of Judah, but that certainly does not earmark him as a Jew ! Judaism is (and has been since our Savior's first earthly ministry) a sick religion of "the traditions of men", condemned, forever! Have you not read the Scripture "No fruit grow on thee, anymore!?"
“And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went and told the chief captain, saying, Take heed what thou doest: for this man is a Roman. Then the chief captain came, and said unto him, TELL ME, ART THOU (Paul) A ROMAN? He said, Yea. And the chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this freedom. And PAUL SAID, BUT I WAS FREE BORN. Then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him: and the chief captain also was afraid, after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. On the morrow, because he would have known the certainty WHEREFORE HE WAS ACCUSED OF THE JEWS, he loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them.” (Acts 22:25‑30)
“But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.” (Acts 21:39)
Ferror Fenton states it this way:
“Paul replied, ‘I am indeed a Judean, a man of Tarsus of Cilicia; a citizen of no inglorious city; and I beg of you to grant me permission to address the people.”
“I speak as concerning reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit whereinsoever any is bold, (I speak foolishly,) I am bold also.” (2 Corinthans 11:21)
Here we can see that Paul WAS NOT A JEW but was a Judean, meaning that he was born in a city, in the portion of the “Promised Land” that had been assigned to Judah. Ferror Fenton goes on to say:
“I am a Jew (here he wanted the crowd to listen to him, so he called himself a Jew, because he was speaking to Jews) born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but educated at the feet of Gamaliel in this city, disciplined very strictly in the law of our forefathers (Paul believed that the traditions of the elders was the law of their forefathers.”
Now let’s look at this word “Jew” as it is used in this verse and see what it really should say:
Jew: Strong’s Concordance: #2453 Ioudaios (ee‑oo‑dah'‑yos); from 2448 (in the sense of 2455 as a country); JUDAEAN, i.e. BELONGING TO JEHUDAH: KJV‑‑ Jew (‑ess), OF JUDAEA.
It says also from #2448 so let’s look at this:
Strong’s Concordance: #2448 2448 Iouda (ee‑oo‑dah'); of Hebrew origin [3063 or perhaps 3194]; Judah (i.e. Jehudah or Juttah), a part of (or place in) Palestine: KJV‑‑ JUDAH.
Therefore, this verse should be rendered:
“But Paul said, I am a man which am a (Judaean) of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.”
He claimed to be a Judaean, meaning that he was born in Judea, so that they would allow him to speak to the crowd. Not beaus he was a Jew by birth, but was one by religion, before he became a Christian, a follower of Christ on the road to Damascus.
He later stated that he was a Jew because he followed the laws of the Jews:
“Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee.” (Philippians 3:5)
We also need to take a look at Acts 26:2‑7..........
(2) I think myself happy, king Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things whereof I AM ACCUSED OF THE JEWS (you notice that he did not say “his brother Jews):
(3) Especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews: wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
(4) My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews;
(5) Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
(7) Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope¹s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
Here, Paul posits the hopes of the 12 tribes as the impetus for Jewish accusations against himself. The 12 tribes includes the whole house of Judah and the whole house of Israel. Who, then are the "Jews," in this discourse ? Text and context forbid any interpretation that they were Judahites, Israelites, or Levites.
And, of course, Paul himself was a racial Benjaminite who; “RELIGIOUSLY,” was a Jew, until
his conversion on the Damascus road. Matter of fact, he was an orthodox Jew (a Pharisee) and an oppressor/murderer of his Israelite/Judahite kinsmen, until that juncture.
The reason they hated Paul was not only that Paul accepted Christ, but that he knew THEM very well, having, in his carnality, been one of THEM. They certainly didn't hate him when he was a Jew! None of the other apostles were Jews, either (except Iscariot); they, too, were Benjaminites.
Paul tells us to beware of the "concision" (Jewry) as Philippians 3:1‑3 attests:
(1) Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.
(2) Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. (Here Paul warns of the Jews and calls them evil workers)
(3) For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Sadly, Doctor Kennedy is linking the deniers/enemies of Christ and his servants with Biblical true believers every time he uses the oxymoron "Judaeo‑Christian(ity)." He is without excuse. Shame, shame, shame!
2 Corinthians 6:
(14) Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
(15) And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
(16) And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
(17) Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
(18) And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
(Act 26:21) Because of these things, having seized me in the temple, the Jews tried to kill me.
(Act 23:27) This man being seized by the Jews, and being about to be killed by them, coming on with the
soldiers I rescued him, learning that he was a Roman.
(2Co 11:24) Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews.
(Act 23:21) Therefore, you must not be persuaded by them, for more than forty men of them lie in wait for him
who put themselves under a curse neither to eat nor to drink until they kill him. And now they are ready,
awaiting the promise from you.
(Act 23:12) And it becoming day, some of the Jews making a conspiracy cursed themselves, saying neither to
eat nor to drink until they should kill Paul.
Not one single time did he ever say "my fellow jews tried to kill me", or "my brethren tried to kill me", or "the
Israelites tried to kill me", or "my fellow Israelites tried to kill me". It was always:
THE JEWS TRIED TO KILL ME!!!!!
Now, the Apostle Paul would not talk like this if he had BEEN a jew, would he?