One commonly hears, especially in church, that Jesus routinely transgressed the Torah, the law of Israel. Indeed, at least one New Testament writer agreed, saying that Jesus "abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances" (Ephesians 2:15). So what about Jesus? Did he observe the Torah like most other Jews of his day, or did he transgress it?

Most historians and biblical scholars agree: Jesus lived his life as a Torah-observant Jew. Jesus was Jewish. His parents were Jewish. His followers, including James and Mary and Peter and Paul, were Jewish. And, so far as we can tell, the movement of his followers remained both Jewish and Torah-observant for some time.