By: Dale Weckbacher
Romans 10:14-15
How then shall they
call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him
of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And
how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:
"How beautiful
are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad
tidings of good things!"
NKJV
Jewish people are very resistant to the Gospel due to their
upbringing and almost 2000 years of teaching that Jesus is the God of
Christians and not the God of the Jews.
However, this is no different from secular resistance to the Gospel by
people seeing Jesus as someone depriving them of enjoying the pleasures of this
world. Therefore, reaching Jewish people
with the Gospel is not impossible but does require different methods.
Some things to avoid when sharing the Gospel with a Jewish
person are to
1)
Not to speak of convert or conversion (1) – Many of the common terms Christians use when
speaking of their faith, what I like to call Christianeze can mean something
totally different to the person with whom we are speaking. This is a fact not only for when we are
sharing the Gospel with a Jewish person but for also when we are sharing with a
Gentile. For a Jewish person, the
mention of convert or conversion means stop being a Jew and become a
Christian. God never intended Judaism
and Christianity to become separate religions.
When we are sharing the Gospel with a Jew, we are not asking them to
quit being a Jew for that is the nationality into which they were born. Instead, we know that Jesus or Yeshua is
their Messiah and we simply want to introduce them to Him.
2)
Not to speak of the Church (1) – To a Jew, the Church is another religious
institution, an institution that unfortunately has a history of oppression of
the Jews. Parents teach Jewish children
how the church oppressed them during the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition
and more recently signs in Nazi concentration camps telling Jews they were
being murdered in the name of Christ. We
must assure them that true Christians, like ourselves, love the Jewish people
and want to introduce them to their Messiah.
We also demonstrate our love for them by supporting them and Israel’s
right to exist as a nation.
3)
Not to speak of Baptize (1)
– To a Jew, baptize or baptism speaks of
conversion to Christianity and ceasing being a Jew. When in Israel in 2008, we had a church
service on the south steps of the Temple area.
Located in this area are several mikvahs. A mikvah looks similar to the baptisteries in
many Christian churches today and has a similar purpose for the mikvah was a
place where someone would immerse themselves in water prior to entering the
Temple area as a way of ritually cleansing themselves. We can tell our Jewish friends that Christian
baptism is like the mikvah and is how we identify with the work of cleansing by
Messiah in our lives.
4)
Not to speak of Christ (1)
– As Christians, we understand the power
in the name of Jesus. As such, we hold
the word Christ in high esteem. However,
once again, when a Jewish person hears the word Christ they think of the God of
Christianity and having to stop being a Jew.
The word Christ comes from the Greek word Christos and means anointed
one. The Hebrew equivalent of this word
is Maschiach or Messiah. When sharing
the Gospel with a Jewish person refer to Maschiach or Messiah instead of Christ
remembering that we are not asking them to convert to another religion and
cease being a Jew but are introducing them to their Messiah, Yeshua.
5)
Not to speak of the symbol of the cross (1) – The cross was not always a positive symbol
in the Church for many early Christians were martyred by crucifixion on a
cross. It was not until later in Church
history that the cross became a positive symbol of salvation. To Jewish people, the cross remains a
negative symbol for it reminds them of crusaders who carried a banner with a
cross. Jews remember how they were also
forced to convert to Christianity or die during the Spanish Inquisition in the
name of the Cross. They also remember
Nazi soldiers having a cross, all be it a broken cross, on their uniforms. Instead of mentioning the work of Jesus on
the cross, when speaking to a Jewish person, mention the atoning work of the
Messiah who knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and yet shed his blood as an
atoning sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
Language is how we as human beings communicate with each
other. However, sometimes the listener
does not interpret well-meaning words we use with the same meaning we
intended. We therefore must avoid using
convert, church, baptism, Christ, or the cross when sharing with Jewish
people. Instead, speak of introducing
them to Messiah, and accepting the atoning sacrifice of Messiah’s shed blood
for their sins.
Next Saturday we will look at what we can do when sharing
the Gospel with Jewish people.
1. Bernis, Jonathan. A Rabbi Looks at theLast Days. Bloomington MN 55438 : Chosen Books, 2013.
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