The Birth of Anti-Semitism
The first disciples of Jesus were Jews – they worshipped him in synagogues and they saw in him the fulfillment of the biblical messianic prophecies given to the fathers. But as more Gentiles came to faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they began to distance themselves from their Jewish roots. By the third century, the church decided to cut of all connections to the Jewish roots of the New Testament.
The date of the resurrection was recalculated by a new calendar and thus Easter was created as a separate and autonomous festival from the Jewish Passover, which represented the exact date of Messiah’s death and resurrection.
Jews were accused of murdering Jesus and the church forgot that He died not because of the Jews but because and for the sins of the world, both Jew and Gentile. In truth the Roman authorities were as guilty for his death, if not more, as the Jews. In the centuries to come, the Jews became the target of Christian hatred. From history we learn that anti-Semitism existed almost from the beginning of the second century.
The Anti-Semitism revealed its face in many forms. Laws were introduced to marginalize the Jewish people. Certain vocations were prohibited to them, and they were denied the rights of other citizens. Some of these prohibitions are not familiar to most of us. However, most of us know of the Crusaders from Europe, the Inquisition in Spain, the pogroms in Russia and the Ukraine, and not last but worst, the Holocaust. All of these were acts of hatred perpetrated against the Jewish people in the name of “Christianity.” Unfortunately the world has not learned since then. Even today there are those such as Ahmadinijad, the president of Iran, who not only publicly deny the Holocaust but seek to destroy Israel utterly. And even today the church at times acts against the Jewish State and its people.
The extent of anti-Semitism and Christian anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism does not stop at the door of churches. Anti-Semitism finds expression in an unbalanced view of the political and security situation of the Middle East and anti-Israel bias. The reaction of the world towards the last war in Gaza clearly shows the media bias against Israel. I have to admit that there are churches that go to the other extreme and blindly support Israel in any action or decision that it makes. Both of these groups are grievously mistaken. There must be a balanced view of the State of Israel and its government.
However, to me the worst kind of anti-Semitism is the one that denies the need of the Jewish people for the Gospel. Some Christians today say that Jewish people do not need Jesus the Messiah to be saved. They completely ignore the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John – when he says “I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me.” (John 14:6). This kind of theology brings a second and far worse holocaust on my people. The first holocaust was about destroying the body, but this one is spiritual and eternal.
To the Jew First
The message of the Gospel is for all people but it is to the Jew first. Paul tells us this in Rom. 1:16 – and he himself, the apostle to the Gentiles, exemplifies it by going first to the Jews in the synagogues in every city that he entered. I believe the author of the Gospel of John brings this out in the subtle structure of the Gospel. John 3:16, the most quoted verse in the scriptures, is sandwiched between two significant conversations. The first , in the first verses of John 3, is a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee and religious leader. The second, in chapter four, is between Jesus and a Samaritan woman. She is the antitheses of Nicodemus: female, a Samaritan (considered the Jews’ worst enemies) and morally loose. In between these two conversations is John 3:16, that speaks so clearly of God’s love for the world. I believe that by this structure John is telling us that the love of God in Christ extends to all people, the Jews and Samaritans – and anyone in between. It is all people, and to the Jew first.
It is our duty to bring the Gospel to all people, but to the Jew first. We should be a mission- oriented people, and we need to respect God’s priority. Hudson Taylor, the famous missionary to China, made sure that his first check of the year was sent to a Jewish mission. I believe he sent it to what is now Christian Witness to Israel. This was a man who understood God’s priority.
Replacement Theology
Today sincere Christians believe that the promises Paul talks of, no longer pertain to the people of Israel, but rather to the Church. Furthermore they believe that Israel as a people have ended their role in God’s plan of redemption. This view is called “Replacement Theology”: namely that the church has replaced Israel. But I think that it is false.
God’s faithfulness to his covenant is one of the main pillars of our faith. If God is not faithful, then we have no security and therefore no hope for our lives, or for our future. His faithfulness is completely dependent on his character, not on our behavior. This is seen clearly throughout the history of my people as recorded in the Old Testament. Despite our unbelief and our idolatry, He preserved us as a people, He sent us his prophets, and He sent his Son to atone for us and to deliver us from the wrath of the world.
Based on this principle, the apostle Paul argues in the epistle to the Romans for the future salvation of Israel. There he speaks passionately of his heart’s desire for his kinsmen, for whom he was willing to be cut off from his inheritance in Christ, if only they would come to faith. Moses in a similar situation, when the people sinned grievously against God, was willing to be blotted out for their sakes.
So Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Alas, this people have sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin - but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written." But the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them." Ex. 32:31-34
Both men desired the salvation of their people, so much so that they were willing to be damned on their account. Of course, ultimately, Christ was the one on whom the full judgment of God fell. He alone was the true Passover lamb, who took upon himself the sins of his people. Moses and Paul were willing, but Christ accomplished it. Paul recognized that God’s plan of salvation for Israel had not ended – many would yet come to their Messiah.
Romans 11 clarifies the role of Israel today and in the future. Paul asks, has God rejected his people? His answer is “by no means!”. The Greek word is ge,noito from the root of gi,nomai that means “to become” or “to be” with the negative; here it can be read “it can not be” .
Paul goes on to prove this by his own example, being a Jew and afollower of the Messiah; and then he reminds us of Elijah who thought he was the only God-worshipper left, until God told him he had kept for himself seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal. There is a remnant among the Jewish people. Furthermore Paul tells us that through the rejection of the Messiah by the Jewish people, salvation has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke Israel to jealousy (11:11). Israel’s rejection of Messiah should not surprise us in view of the history of the Old Testament and even in view of what is happening in our churches today. But can you imagine what would have happened, humanly speaking, if they had as a nation have accepted Christ! Perhaps some of you would not have been here today. The Gospel would have remained among the Jewish people. So in a sense, we should be grateful for Israel’s unbelief, because it has brought salvation to the gentiles.
Further, Paul argues that if their rejection meant richness to the gentiles, how much more would their acceptance, or ‘full inclusion’ (11:12) mean to the gentiles. He concludes that it is more natural for the natural branches to be grafted back in than for the wild olive shoots to be grafted in. The hardening of Israel is partial, until the fullness of the Gentiles, after which all Israel will be saved. Paul does not see an end for his kinsmen, but rather a great hope that all Israel would be saved.
The words of Paul clearly indicate a future mass conversion of the people of Israel. Paul teaches that this is a part of God’s plan of salvation for the world. He calls it a mystery, a word used in the New Testament to mean something that was hidden in the Old Testament era but has now been revealed. And this is the mystery: that partial blindness has come on Israel, until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. And then, all Israel will be saved. God has not transferred his promises from people of Israel to the church – and if he had done so, then what guarantee would you and I have, that he will not transfer his blessings from us to others?!
The church of God has always been one. There is only one church. Under the Old Testament economy the church was made of mainly Jews, with but a few non-Jews and foreigners, sojourners and others who, like Ruth the Moabite or Rahab of Jericho, took upon themselves the God of Israel. Under the New Testament economy the church is still one and consists of the predestined people of God. But the majority is gentile, with a minority of Jewish believers. Look around you and you see the numbers!
Our Calling and Duty
God is still not done with the people of Israel. He has not finished with us. He is working among us, giving us new birth and new life. A day will come, and I pray and hope it will be soon, that there will be a mass conversion of my people. This is what God has promised and this is consistent with his plan of salvation, a great and wonderful plan. If the rejection of Messiah by the Jews has meant blessing to Gentiles, then how much more should their conversion be but life from the dead? Romans 11:15.
So my dear brothers and sisters in Hong Kong – if you want to have "life", then help to bring the Gospel to the Jewish people. Let us replace the replacement theology with Enrichment Theology by God’s grace and the power of his Spirit. God in His great wisdom has given us this great and glorious responsibility. May we all be faithful to fulfill our duty to God and to the Jewish people. Amen.
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