The series so far has mostly emphasized the continuity of the Old and New Testaments regarding belief in the one God revealed in the Scriptures. This and subsequent episodes however press home the discontinuity between the God of the Jews and the God of Christians. This discontinuity becomes obvious in the gospels where Christ's messiahship, deity and exclusive mediatorial role are affirmed. Christ said that "all things have been handed over to Me by My Father." (Matthew 11:27) He told the Jews "unless you believe that I am He (a declaration of his messiahship and deity), you will die in your sins." (John 8:24) John later declares that "whoever denies the Son does not have the Father." (1 John 2:23) Once the Son is raised from the dead, faith in Christ as the divine Messiah and only mediator between God and man is absolutely necessary for salvation. Faith in Christ is moreover the natural response of any who are TRUE sons of Abraham and Moses. Abraham saw Christ's day and was glad. (John 8:56) Moses prophesied of the coming Messiah and made obedience to His authority the very essence of true Judaism. (Deuteronomy18:18-19) Peter said that any Jew who rejected Christ would be "cut off from His people." (Acts 3:23, NIV) A fair conclusion of all these Scriptures is that Jews who reject Christ are not children of Abraham or true Jews, and Christians and Jews do NOT believe in the same God.
Who was the God of Jesus?
"This initial episode sets the stage for the question by asking ""who was the God of Jesus?"" All Jews were monotheists, daily reciting the shema, ""Here o Israel, the Lord Our God, the Lord is One."" Christ, a good Jew, affirmed this core belief of Judaism, but identified this God as His own Father, even claiming that He was the God of the Old Testament, citing the Name of God made known to Moses, ""I am that I am."" [YHWH} (Exodus 3:14, John 8:58) So, while the New Testament affirms that Jesus' God was Yahweh, it also describes the Trinitarian nature of the One God, Jesus being God the Son. Both God the Father and God the Son are one is essence, but distinct persons of the Godhead. John 1:1 consequently affirms the oneness of God described in the shema, but notes distinctions within the godhead, ""In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God."" Jews prior to Christ only had glimpses of this Trinitarian God in the Old Testament, for the explicit revelation of the godhead only came with the incarnate Christ, who ""explained"" the Father. (John 1:18)