As I mentioned in my last post, I intend to address an issue that the writers of the New Testament discuss at great length. I will not, indeed cannot, discuss this at great length in this blog. Yet, I will briefly discuss Luke’s tackling of this reality in Acts, with a glance back to his Gospel, and Paul’s letter to the Romans.
Let me start by saying something about Luke and Paul. In telling of Paul’s travels, Luke often uses the pronoun, “we.” In these sections, Luke lets his readers know that he was an eyewitness to the events he describes. These sections also tell us that he knew Paul well, and he likely reflects Paul’s views accurately. It seems certain to me that Luke either read Romans or was well-aware of Paul’s discussion of Jewish unbelief in Romans 9-11.
Here are some bullet points.
Jewish unbelief was and remains a painful reality.
In John’s prologue, he says, “[The Word] came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him (John 1:11 NIV).” The rest of John’s gospel demonstrates that reality. Luke also places Jewish opposition to Jesus up front in his gospel. Simeon points to it in his prophetic word to Mary. Luke moves the story of Jesus’ sermon at His hometown synagogue in Nazareth to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. That story ends with the attenders attempt to throw Jesus off a high cliff. Such opposition grows until Jesus’ trial and crucifixion.
Throughout Acts, Jewish leaders oppose those who proclaim that Jesus is the crucified, yet risen, Messiah. Peter, and other apostles, are arrested and beaten. Stephen is stoned to death by a furious mob, ironically led by Saul of Tarsus. After that same Saul is confronted by the risen Messiah he had persecuted, he becomes the Messiah’s great proclaimer, and constantly experiences the very persecution he had once inflicted. There is throughout the rest of Acts a repeated pattern of Paul preaching first in a synagogue, experiencing (at some level) rejection, and then turning to Gentiles, which often intensifies Jewish opposition. That opposition climaxes with Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem, which leads to his trials and his eventual journey to Rome, as a prisoner.
Jewish unbelief is THE heartbreak of the New Testament.
In Luke 19:41, as Jesus approached Jerusalem, He stopped and wept over the city because He foresaw that their unbelief, both in Him and the peace He could bring, would lead to the city and its Temple’s complete destruction. The use of the word “weep” in the New Testament as a descriptive word for intense mourning—often wailing, should keep us from minimizing Jesus’ weeping over His people’s great city.
In unbelievably strong language, Paul says, “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel (Romans 9:1-4 NIV).”
Jewish unbelief was never simply an historical fact, an interesting curiosity, or an academic discussion. It broke hearts! It should still break our hearts!
Jewish unbelief was never total.
The earliest church, like our Lord and His apostles, was Jewish. Thousands of Jews believed in the Messiah, Jesus. In Acts 21:20, James (the Lord’s brother) pointed out to Paul that many thousands of Jews had believed. In Paul’s own experience, while most Jews may have rejected Jesus, many believed and became the leaders of new Jewish and Gentile churches. These believing Jews would be seen as a remnant that pointed to a more hopeful future for a faithful and believing Jewish people. That’s a future for which we should pray and work. Tragically, the intervening years, which often included “Christian” persecution of Jews, have badly soured our relations with Jews. For belief to be in a Jewish future, confession and repentance should be in ours.
In Romans 11, Paul expresses confidence that God has a future in mind for His people—I repeat, His people. It’s hard to imagine what that future might look like, but faith in that future should guide us. What I can imagine is that someday, and I pray it’s soon, Christians will exclaim, “So this is what Paul foresaw!”
To the Jew first
In Acts, we see Paul living out what he expresses in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile (NIV).” That sequence is an historical reality, but, for Paul, it is also a faith imperative. Paul’s practice of first going to a synagogue was a good mission-strategy, but Paul saw it as much more. Going back to Romans 11, God didn’t cut down the olive tree of Israel. Instead, He grafted us onto it. Whatever our DNA says about our ethnicity, the bloodline that matters is Jesus’ blood. In Him, we are children of Abraham! How do we know about Abraham and his descendants? God spoke (breathed) these words, His Word, through His chosen people, the Jews. What we call the Old Testament, was the only Bible of the New Testament church. What a debt we owe to the Jews! We follow a Jew, named Jesus. The apostles were all Jews. With the possible, not certain, exception of Luke, all the writers of our New Testament were Jews.
How can we, the grafted-on branches to Israel, EVER be anti-Jewish? We are all saved by God’s grace—Jew and Gentile, and grace-receivers dare not exclude others based on race, gender, or social status (Galatians 3:28)! Let us weep with the Messiah, Jesus, and His Jewish apostle, Paul. Let us pray for God’s people through those tears, confessing that our own history has been filled with terrible acts of bigotry against His people. Finally, with hope in God’s will and empowered by God’s Holy Spirit, may we work to bring the good news of Messiah Jesus to God’s people, the Jews. Their rejection will one day turn to acceptance. Praise God!