This episode reiterates the main theme of the last several episodes, that belief in Christ as the Messiah is essential if one were to consider himself/herself a true Jew. Almost all early Christians (30-42 A.D.) were Jewish, and they would not have maintained that their belief in Christ was a peculiarly Christian contribution, as opposed to the god of the Jews. The God of Abraham and the God of Moses pointed to the second person of the Trinity. The New Testament authors and Christ Himself affirmed that true Jewishness required accepting Christ as the Messiah, Paul even arguing that physical circumcision without the circumcision of the Spirit accounted for nothing, and one's claim to be a Jew was spurious. (Romans 2:28-29, 1 Corinthians 7:19) The last part of the episode addresses the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Ezekiel had predicted that future believers would receive the Spirit and consequently keep God's law. (Ezekiel 36:27) Christ spoke of this regeneration as necessary for entering into the kingdom of God. (John 3:6)
