In December 2013, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas caused a stir when he wrote a Christmas letter declaring that Jesus was “a Palestinian messenger who would become a guiding light for millions around the world.”

That same year, the PLO produced a Christmas video making a similar claim, that “Every Christmas Palestine celebrates the birth of one of its own, Jesus Christ.”

Three years earlier, in an interview with a Palestinian Authority TV network, author Samih Ghanadreh referred to Jesus as the “the first Palestinian martyr“, He added that former PLO leader Yasser Arafat was the first to make the claim.

Though these claims allege that Jesus was not a Jew, they contradict the Gospel narrative, that clearly portrayed Jesus’ Jewish heritage as the ‘son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1).

Now in 2024, Pope Francis seemed to lend his support to this contentious Palestinian claim as he presided over the unveiling of a politicized nativity scene presented by Palestinian officials to the Vatican, Charisma News reports.

While the Vatican’s main Nativity theme is found in St Peter’s Square, this secondary scene which is displayed in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall was created by Palestinian artists.

It depicts Jesus lying on a keffiyeh, the head scarf historically worn by Palestinians. It is white with distinctive patterns woven into the clothes. While the patterns can come in many different colors, black has become the identifying color for Palestinians.

Having Jesus lying on a Palestinian keffiyeh is not necessarily problematic as Christ came for all men, but it is invariably tied to earlier Palestinian claims that Jesus was not a Jew.

“By allowing such a depiction, the Pope risks aligning the church with narratives that distort biblical truth to fit political agendas,” writes James Lasher in his article for Charisma News.

While some question the Pope Francis’ actions, two of the Gospel writers went to great lengths to prove Christ’s Jewish heritage.

Both Matthew and Luke provided a break down of Christ’s Jewish genealogy, but from two different perspectives.

In chapter one of his Gospel, Matthew breaks down Christ’s lineage through his adoptive father, Joseph,

Luke, meanwhile, provided Christ’s genealogy through Mary, Though she is not specifically named, this was not an uncommon practice for the time.

Nevertheless, the mother’s lineage was vital because a person’s Jewish heritage was determined by the mother, not the father. The father’s lineage determined such things as the birthrite and whether a person was part of the priestly line.

Importantly, both genealogies give evidence of Jesus’ lineage through King David. Joseph through David’s son Solomon (Matthew 1:6) and Mary through David’s son, Nathan (Luke 3:31).

Over the past few years, Pope Francis has seen his fair share of controversy as he has challenged the Roman Catholic Church’s traditional views on many Biblical issues.

This included:

• A statement that all religions are paths to God, which clearly contradicts the Bible’s message that Jesus Christ is the sole mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).
• In an interview with 60 Minutes, Pope Francis said that all humans are fundamentally good, again contradicting the Bible which states heart is deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).
• In a letter to an atheist, Pope Francis said that he would go to heaven if he simply followed his conscience which contradicted Apostle Paul who wrote we are saved through our faith in Christ (Ephesian 2:8).

Over the past few years, conservative Bishops who have questioned Pope Francis’ actions have been targeted. This included one ArchBishop who referred to Pope Francis as a servant of Satan.