The historical Jesus was a Jew who followed Jewish law and interpreted how it should be lived in everyday life. He was more strict in some areas and less strict in others, but well within the range of debate among Jews at the time. Furthermore, there is some evidence that the ministry of Jesus was conceived (at least originally) as only for Jews, not Gentiles, “Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, ‘Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel’” (Matthew 10:5–6). Soon enough this changed. In fact, the Jesus movement spread much faster among Gentiles than it did among Jews. Although the Essenes and Qumran sects seemed to have allowed Gentiles to convert, they did not promote it actively as the Jesus movement did.
Scholars believe the debate was nastier than the sources suggest
The question quickly arose whether Gentiles who became followers of Jesus had to observe Jewish laws, such a circumcision. It may have been most important to believe that Jesus is Lord, son of God, who died and rose from the dead. Even if less important, the laws which Jesus himself practiced and interpreted could still be important parts of how the followers of Jesus should live their lives. On the other hand, those laws were not an easy sell, and circumcision in particular can be rather uncomfortable, especially for adults. These details of practice came to be seen as impediments to the most important points of faith. In the end, Christianity rejected the Law of Moses as binding on Gentile followers of Jesus (Jewish followers of Jesus seem to have continued to practice the laws). Continue reading 3.6.4. Attitudes toward Gentiles and Jewish law