[Serious] The Story

[The Grand Nudger]

The two stories are from separate cultures thousands of years removed from each other.  There is no singular narrative from beginning to end largely because of that fact and the differences between.

Why do gospels and epistles make such a massive effort to show how the death and resurrection fit into prophecy and the whole OT narrative? Surely Jesus' death only means what it means because it is in a pretty rigid OT/prophecy framework?

In a rigid OT framework, jesus' death means nothing in particular.  Why do the gospels and epistles make effort to recast the OT as it's own supporting documentation?  Because they felt it useful to their new religion.  There was quite a bit of debate in proto christianity whether the whole lot could be cast aside.  It could have been - but that's not the camp that won out in the end.  For better and for worse (largely for worse..I'd contend, obvs) christian authority determined that christianity could not make it on it's own.

I've always found it odd that the line on this is that the jews got it wrong..rather than the christians getting it right.  

Would a better historical model be that Judaism forked between those who decided Jesus did bring in forgiveness etc and those who disagree?

There's nothing explicitly historically accurate about relative moral ideologies.  There, I'm expressing my amazement that this is even contextualized as an item of historical disagreement, rather than ideological.  As though the christian's new religion was the proper historical form of judaism, through the implication of prophecy.  It isn't.  It is, however, a much more inclusive view of The People than judaisms ethnocentric wargod. Judaism did not get itself wrong. Christianity got an item of moral import right, and in so doing, ideologically distinguished itself from it's (alleged.....)predecessor.

You could not become, by self affirmation, a member of the chosen people under the previous view of divinity. This necessarrily constrained it's share of the religious market. Altering that notion was both good....and profitable.