Jewish Jesus – Author Danyelle Wolfe Read

The DayWolfe Imprint

“What’s in a name?” asked Juliet, pondering sadly how her beloved Romeo’s family name was so at odds with her own. I can relate to this dilemma. Born under the name Wolfe became a source of mixed feelings as I got older.

Wolfe – my maiden name – created several controversies for me growing up. But, if given the choice of a pet between other wild animals, such as the lion or the bear (David’s foes), I’d choose the wolf. Loyal mates and marvelous parents, wolves are characterized by the personality of their pack. Numerous studies of wolves have been completed at Yellowstone National Park, as part of conservation efforts to preserve them. These have revealed that only rogue wolves kill for the sake of killing. Nor are they ravenous when the ecosystem supports their feeding. Known for skilled team effort in hunting, the eat as a team, too, sharing the spoil with all the pack, not just those who hunted but also those who watched the den and the cubs. Their social structure is complex, elegant and defined. An alpha wolf will take a mate, who usually becomes the beta wolf, but if the alpha dies, the beta will often take over as alpha. This is only one example of the many complex, sensible structures of wolf society that makes them both loving and strong. When it comes to their families, wolves are very self-sacrificing, and both father or mother wolf are known to fast rather than let their cubs go hungry. Wolves have been known to adopt abandoned baby animals of other species, nurse them and raise them. Lone wolves are in fact very rare and will usually be absorbed by a pack eventually. Like people, wolves would rather not be alone. Meanwhile, let’s not forget that some dog breeds are descended from wolves, and we all know dogs are cool, right?

And yet, the bible has little if anything good to say about the wolf, or the dog, for that matter. It’s not like wolves are singled out for slander – snakes get a very bad rap as well. Lions are often characterized as ravenous, cruel and heartless. I think most of us know that these references are meant to be symbolic. One giveaway of this is the way that lions have another identity, being a symbol of holy boldness and even of the Lord Himself, the Lion of Judah!

Hollywood hasn’t done much better by the wolf. From werewolves to the series, Raised by Wolves, there just hasn’t been much good said about them. Though I did like the werewolves in Twilight. They were different, just as the vampires are in that series. But that’s another article. I have to say the giant wolves that come and pick people up for a ride to Great Wolf Lodge make quite a wonderful commercial, as well. But I’m not holding out great hopes for an improvement of the wolf’s image.

I suppose it could have been worse. I could have been named Rattler or Viper. Nothing is more identified with the satan than a snake. And yet, I have had friends with pet snakes, and while I personally wouldn’t want one, I appreciate that they are one of God’s creatures. It’s not their fault that this was the form the devil decided to take, and to a degree Jesus redeemed them when he told us to be wise as serpents.

The most important issue with my name growing up, however, was that it is Jewish. I never dreamed this would be an issue. I grew up around my Christian relatives more than my Jewish ones; so I was surprised when anti-semitism reared its ugly head toward and around me. Writing in the 1920s, Agatha Christie wrote of one of her characters who turned out to be the hero of the story, yet who had a definitively Jewish last name, that he was of “unfortunate ancestry”. I’m almost ashamed to disclose this but I think it really needs to be said that as a female, being a “Wolfe” was sometimes misconstrued by hopeful teenage boys. It was not always fun to be a wolfe on the playground. I mean, give me a break! What a bunch of heathens. And can I add that it was even a problem in bible school. But that was long ago, before the awakening to our Judaic roots among Christian circles.

So how to own the name Wolfe as a Christian? While my last name is now Read, I refuse to leave the name Wolfe behind. Like many Jews under Hitler’s regime, I refuse to bow to unclean prejudice and hide my identity. I am a Wolfe. In fact it’s precious to me, because it’s really a beautiful name when I think of all it symbolizes. It’s the name my friends used when they dubbed me “Wolfie”. And it’s the name my father bore, the man I have loved more than almost any other in this world.

Enter the imprint DayWolfe. In case you are not familiar with it, the reference “day” comes from I Thess 5 which says that we are not children of the darkness or the night, but of the day, the light. A Day Wolfe speaks of one who has been redeemed, it speaks of a God-given identity in Christ. And it speaks of my Judaism. It carries the connotations of loyalty and fealty, kindness and compassion, teamwork and passion demonstrated by wolves toward their fellow wolves, with few exceptions. All qualities of the Holy Spirit, by the way. And in a way, it is a constant reminder to choose to walk and to write in the Holy Spirit’s light which indwells me. In Christ, I am indeed a Day Wolfe. Nice to meet you.

The DayWolfe logo was created by Danyelle Wolfe Read and has been and is protected by copyright since 2019.

Glimpses of Jesus bar-David Part Two

This post is part of the l’Chaim! series on topics related to the Jewishness of the Messiah Jesus and how this can further our understanding and the living under the power of Holy Spirit in this generation.

As a Jew, Jesus was capable of acting in the role of rabbi. He knew every law and tradition, and could have certainly risen to the rank of chief priest, had this been His mission. However, the mission of Jesus went far beyond that of being a Jew, for Jesus bar-David was also Yeshua bar-Yahweh, or more appropriately, Yeshua bar-Elohim, the Son of God as well as the Son of Man. I believe this is why the Savior’s own Judaism in His earthly life has easily been overlooked, because He Himself explodes out of it. No culture can contain Him!

And yet, the Creator chose a people on earth to represent Him. Their mission was to be a light to the nations. So when He came to die for us, He came as a Jew, fulfilling all that His Father had intended in setting a people apart. As many Jews today will readily agree, Jews have never existed to hoard the goodness or the revelation of God, but to share it. In Jesus, our loving God has provided a new covenant, one which when received and lived frees anyone and everyone from the curses originating in the Fall in Genesis 3. This is the Blessing! The Blessing as promised to Abraham and to his seed through Isaac, the children who come through Faith.

There are many examples of how Jesus points to this mission to the entire world in His earthly ministry: His encounters with the non-Jews as written in the gospels are probably only a few of many more times when He offered them the same blessings He gave to His fellow Israelites. A centurion (one of the Roman oppressors, no less), a Samaritan, and a woman with enough faith to plead with Him on His own terms, “even the dogs get to eat the crumbs beneath the table,” she said. There are probably many others, those who in those days were known as God-fearers, people who believed in the God of the Jews, who read and revered their scriptures.

Returning to the prophetic decree declared over Simon Peter, if we look at this with a different lens, understanding that Jesus is not only bar-David but also bar-Elohim, the son of the Creator, we understand the astounding truth Jesus is proclaiming.

“‘And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’” MT 16:16-17

Here is a truth whoever believes on the Name of Jesus can stand on! It is not only for Jews but for everyone who accepts the grace offered in Jesus as the One Who represented us all on the cross! He makes us the Church, Jew and Gentile, male and female, barbarian, uneducated, ignorant, educated and civilized, all, all, all, all, all of us who believe, we have the promise that the gates of hell will give way, and are even flimsy, compared to the might that is within us.

My friend, I understand if churches have let you down. But churches are not the Kingdom of God, they are human organizations and they have flaws. You are the Church when you believe on Jesus in a way that produces evidence and substance. You have that power to tread on serpents and see the gates of hell cave as you advance upon them.

Still, if one can put a thousand to flight, two can vanquish 10,000! Our Lord’s purpose was to build you up as part of a body. Get to a fellowship where you can experience this Church blessing if at all possible. That is to say, find a Spirit-Filled, Bible-believing church which stands in the supernatural, the anointing and the blessing you can count on.

I find myself groping for a way to get across the full import of this promise which Jesus verbally proclaimed (and I SAY to you) to Simon Peter. How many know that when Jesus says something it’s scripture? This 40-second clip from a powerful sermon by Evangelist Rev. Daniel Kolenda conveys the immensity of the truth of what Peter received and which we inherit! I encourage you to study this topic out for yourselves. Tell me if it doesn’t make you hungry to learn from our Lord how to put this into practice in your own sphere of influence.

Receive everything that is yours, dear friend and family, as you pursue the One who is always pursuing you.

Glimpses of Jesus bar-David Part One

My Jewish father used to bring us kids to Brooklyn to visit his mother. Grandma Wolfe-Cole stood at 4’11. Having escaped Hitler’s armies by emigrating to NYC, she kept a kosher household. As soon as we crossed the threshold of her modest Flatbush apartment, she would place her hands on we children’s heads and mutter in Hebrew and Yiddish, a mixture of Hebrew and German often spoke by immigrant Jews in New York. My father stopped to allow this, just as anyone else in the house fell silent, honoring, observing and agreeing. “What did she say, Daddy?” I asked and in response to my query, he would translate the beautiful prayers my grandmother had declared, ordaining blessings and peace. The effect on me was a profound sense of Adonai’s Presence.

Interestingly, speaking blessings over the children is very much alive in today’s Jewish households. A Jew may or may not choose to extend their faith in other ways, but blessing the children is one tradition seen everywhere, from orthodox to non-practicing.

Another cultural attribute is to encourage PDAs. Jews hug, men hug men and they also hug women, everybody hugs everybody. They express their feelings. Jewish men are not afraid to cry. There is good evidence that this makes people stronger and healthier, as long as it is kept positive.

Another thing which is often practiced among Jews, including my Dad, is to catch someone being good. When there may be a need to correct, it is done in a way that is not shaming.

Jesus often displays these hallmarks of Jewish culture. He was kind yet no wimp, He could express affection. He understood the ramifications of His authority, not for oppression but for service. He was a teacher par excellence, a counselor to all. His Jewishness clothed Him like a coat of many colors and sometimes we can catch a glimpse of it in the nuances of the written gospels. Here’s one example from Matthew, also a Jew:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He questioned His disciples: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

“But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon bar-Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Matthew 16:13-17

As many will know, “bar” is Aramaic for son. “Blessed are you, Simon bar-Jonah,” there is such warmth and brotherly, even fatherly, affection conveyed in this phrase. Imagine a tutor or an elder calling you by your full name and calling you blessed at the same time. This is Jesus gushing, it goes way beyond approval, it’s love and pride mixed together, it’s joy because here, Jesus is “catching” Simon Peter being good. He’s ecstatic to see the fruition of what He knew was in Peter. The Savior then prophesies over him, bestowing upon him almost inconceivable honor and one of the most powerful calls anyone has ever received.

I’m not saying that Jesus was only a warm and fuzzy Jewish guy. He did a lot of rebuking and correcting, name calling and even whipped a few people at least a couple of times. He hated sickness and spiritual blindness, but lowest on His list were those who took advantage of others through religious belief. Highest were those who showed the qualities of recognizing God’s righteousness and love, faith in Him, and living out their radical faith. Actually, this is one of a few times I know of that Jesus ever gushed. The others were when He praised the woman who had given her last two mites in the offering, when the woman touched Him and was healed, and when the centurion (a non-Jew mind you) told Him not to take the time to come to his house but rather that if He simply said the word, his servant would be healed. Much as here with Peter, Jesus “marveled” at this man’s faith. (Mt 8:13). The recorded memoirs of the apostles tell us that He took greatest delight in people believing God was God. It wasn’t just that Peter’s answer was correct but that his heart was open to hearing from God, as radical as what he heard might be, which made Jesus so so happy.

Jesus was not a humanist. Every action of His short time on earth was pinned upon the axis of delivering and teaching supernatural faith which pulls us out of our self-absorption. Unlike Maslow, He didn’t put self actualization at the epitome of human achievement. He honored laying one’s life down for the revealed will of God.

That’s a very very different emphasis. He said only by Me can you find access to heaven, to God, to eternal life. And while the by product would often be many earthly joys, those should not be, and in fact cannot be, the focus for us to fully live as salt and light.

What if the Son of God had put His own “happiness” first. Would anything have stopped Him from achieving earthly fame and fortune? If He had decided to use His immense talents, gifts and power to become a general and take over the known world, He could have. His riches and His harem could have far exceeded those of Solomon. Jesus told us clearly, My kingdom is not of this world. The King of love and peace also knew what it would cost to achieve it, that His very own purpose was to come as a sacrifice, an atonement, a substitionary vessel for wrath, and as victor. Every generation of believers since Him have the overarching purpose of living out this victory, and showing the way to others. It is a cardboard facade to reduce the purpose of life to nothing more than self actualization or achievement for it’s own sake.

We are here to serve God according to how we are called. In Christ our lives are hid. This is only possible when we connect with God through the Holy Spirit after our full surrender to His salvation offered by grace and mercy. It’s only possible when we seek Him about one’s individual purpose and to hear from Him about every action, every decision, and oh thank you Jesus that it is possible! That He answers all such prayers. Wait, and though you wait, you will receive an answer in due time. Jesus honored this level of faith above all others.

This post would not be complete without an overview which the Judaic perspective would offer. Observe carefully the Body of Christ today. They are all in different stages of progress. Some are mature, these are the ones with generations of blessings that have fallen upon their descendants. They have given much, and they are reaping a hundred -fold. Spiritually blind critics may see only how much they have, not understanding how much they have given and are still giving.

Others among the fellowship are just beginning, others are at 30- and 60-fold. Jews understood this well. We too must realize that in surrendering to Jesus, there will be a return in this life, and glory in the next. There absolutely will be. I should really insert a few scriptures here. 3 John 2- “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Mark 19: 29-31 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Here we see Jesus talking about the subject of prosperity. He gives two caveats: one is that there will be persecution for living out the gospel. The other is that there will be those who seem to be prominent on this earth (even among believers) who are not so in heaven. This is making the same point that I am making, that even in having wealth as part of the blessing of God, the person’s heart stance toward their wealth, how they continue to serve God while having it, is what is weighed by God.

What we do with the 30 to 100-fold return will be dependent on our ministry and calling. Some may be led to stay on the mission field until they die, and possibly reinvest every cent into it, so they may even appear to be poor. Yet they are not. They are the ones who know how to call in the funds and resources, who have developed a deep and abiding relationship with the Father who gives beyond measure. George Mueller comes to mind here. Others who have families and wish to enjoy nice houses, and lands and cars, jewelry and gorgeous dresses, and TV ministries with only the best makeup and hair, and whatever, they are free to do so. But for many many of these people, that was not what what they were after in the first place. This is what just happens when we really live for and hear from God! (Now of course, some have gotten side tracked, but let us pray for them, God is able to get them back on track.)

Those stuck in poverty may actually have a hindrance in their souls to receiving what God is trying to get to them. This is a subject for another time and there is much in the Bible about it. Only the truly spiritual can discern the motives of the heart. Alternatively, there are people who have been poor all their lives who are coming out of this cycle by God’s grace and by faith, who are so focused on their material success that they have lost the ability to see how others who are also being blessed, maybe much more than they, are serving God with their blessings in a different way. They are bragging on their blessings because they are bragging on God! And yet, the spiritual sensitivity just is not there. These are like the nouveau riche of Christendom. They are harmless. Let them enjoy their newfound blessings. But stay the course yourself! Seek to fellowship with those who remain humble, and who share. Be one of them. Don’t be afraid to wear your expensive jacket or dress, but neither shirk from taking someone out to the grocery store or the mall and buying them a few outfits either. Give a car away if you are at that level. Yet keep it on the down low, or people will seek you out simply because of this. If necessary, give anonymously. Above all, let them see Jesus.