When the Jew Said No

There is a better way to understand the divide between Jew and Christian.

“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,” Titus 2:11-12 NIV

God's plan to redeem His fallen world began with Abraham and the creation of His people, Israel. Abraham was called to say "No" to the pagan worship all around him and to travel to a distant land (Gen 12:1,2). There he would become a "great nation." Thus began His plan, first described in Genesis (Gen 1:28) to create a "People for Himself" (1Sam 12:22).

Saying "No" to evil over the centuries is no small task and when the history of Israel is read, the sad refrain ". . . and the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord" is heard often. "Stop acting like those evil gentiles" would be a condensed version of much of what their prophets said.

By the time of Jesus of Nazareth, the depraved worship of Moloch and Baal had been conquered, but the cost had been high. Hopes of having their own kingdom had been dashed. Most of the twelve tribes were lost. The remaining tribe was under the heel of Rome. They had become bitter and hardened (Matt 13:15), had begun to turn on themselves (Matt 23:4) and rule each other like the gentiles who oppressed them (Matt 20:25, 26). Jesus was called to save His people from their sins (Matt 1:21). He knew that by exposing those things they would reject Him (Mark 8:31) and that they would later be scattered (Matt 23:35-38). He also knew that His message would go to the gentiles (Matt 12:21), to those who had caused His people so many problems.

The Christian Faith that emerged, drew from those hard-won lessons and their steely grip on their faith. It produced something new; vast numbers of gentiles who said that same "No" and whose lives flourished. The gentile that the Jew faces now is not always the same awful pagan Moses warned them about.

When we read Jewish history without this proper context, the Jew can look bad. Some Jewish scholars point out that the modern Jew doesn't like to read their own prophets because they are always yelling at them. The task given to Israel by Yahweh was not small. The effect on the world, huge.

The modern Jew and the mostly gentile Christian have emerged, side by side after many painful lessons on how not to treat each other. The Jew no longer requires gentile believers in Jesus to follow the minutiae of the Law. Christians no longer convert Jews with the sword. Both faiths have reformed and matured. Neither has absorbed the other. Doctrines may divide, but common ground on ethics can be found. Knowing how the two got to this place is helpful.

This student of scripture sees the two camps standing side by side in a final battle before Messiah comes (Rev 11:3-6) that conquers death itself (Rev 11:7-12; Rom 11:15). Perhaps the terms Jew and Christian will be dropped and we will call ourselves "The People" making the circle complete and the scriptures fulfilled.

Until then there is much evil for both to say no to.