Must Christians Keep Kosher? Decoding Matthew’s Answer (VIDEO)

Must Christians Keep Kosher? Decoding Matthew’s Answer (vIDEO)

Welcome to the home of Episode 170 of the Misquoting Jesus Podcast with Bart Ehrman. Below, you can watch the entire episode, read its description, and see links to related resources.

links mentioned in this episode:

Ancient Christianity: The First 500 Years

episode description

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This episode explores one of the most debated questions in early Christianity: Did the Gospel of Matthew believe Christians had to keep Jewish law, including kosher regulations? Bart Ehrman argues that Matthew presents a much more Torah-observant Jesus than most modern Christians realize. Unlike Mark, Matthew insists that Jesus did not come to abolish the Law of Moses but to fulfill it, and his followers are expected to keep the law even more faithfully than the scribes and Pharisees.

The discussion examines Matthew's treatment of dietary laws, circumcision, Sabbath observance, and the Sermon on the Mount. Ehrman explains that rather than abolishing Jewish law, Matthew consistently intensifies it, moving from external obedience to internal motivations such as anger and lust. At the same time, Matthew never explicitly states whether Gentile converts must keep kosher or become fully Jewish.

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The conversation argues that Matthew ultimately places greatest emphasis not on ritual observance but on the heart of the law: loving God and loving one's neighbor. Ehrman points to the Golden Rule and the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats as evidence that, for Matthew, salvation depends on caring for those in need rather than ethnic identity or ritual practices alone.

The episode concludes by discussing who Matthew's intended audience may have been, suggesting the Gospel was likely written for a mixed Jewish-Gentile Christian community wrestling with whether followers of Jesus should continue observing the Jewish law.