Uncompromisingly loving Jesus and our Jewish neighbors

“Most American Jews feel less safe in the US since Oct. 7” reports the Jewish Telegraph Agency. “Only one-third of Jews said they felt safe living in the United States today.”

The poll conducted by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also found that “roughly 1 in 10 Jewish adults say they or someone else in their household was the victim of physical assault or property damage due to their Jewish identity in the past year, while about 2 in 10 have faced verbal or online harassment.”

If these stats bear out across the 5.8 million Jews who live in the United States (Pew 2020) then

• 580,000 have experienced physical assault or property damage in their household
• More than 1 million have encountered verbal or online harassment.

Jews who live in smaller towns feel ignored or not believed by law enforcement and neighbors when they report antisemitic incidents, according to Jewish Federations Across America.

Jesus calls us to love our neighbors when they are in distress. Our Jewish neighbors are in distress. We have an obligation to listen, to comfort, to be present, to speak out against anti-Jewish rhetoric, especially in the church. We also need to do it without denying who Jesus is and what Jesus says about himself.

Building bridges in the South

 We at CMJ USA have been coaching a church in South Carolina on how to engage with their Jewish neighbors. I’ve met with the head of their outreach committee, answered questions over email, and recorded an interview that was then played for key people at the church.

Finally, they decided to reach out to a synagogue on the other side of town. The head of the church outreach committee met with the rabbi. They discussed several topics, including potential ministries where the two congregations might intersect.

At the end of the meeting, the rabbi hugged the Christian and said, “To be continued.”

We’re excited by the open door this church has found with their Jewish neighbors. Pray that the relationship would grow in trust and neighborly love.

Remembering why we build bridges

Recently, I gathered with a group of Christians doing reconciliation work with Jews in our area. They are good earnest people. Yet, the sermons they presented as evidence of their work said Jesus is just for non-Jews, just for Gentiles. They said it that plainly, in contradiction to what Jesus says about himself, what the apostles say about Jesus.

Being a Christian working to love our Jewish neighbors is a hard space to be in. Christianity – as declared in the Nicene Creed – believes that Jesus of Nazareth is LORD and Messiah (Christ). That term Messiah only makes sense in a Jewish context. It means Anointed One, as in King of Israel. Most of our Jewish neighbors do not agree with us, though nearly 2 million Americans of Jewish descent do. Add to that the antisemitic history of the church like the Inquisition, the expulsions, the pogroms, and there is a deep temptation to tweak what we believe.

Even as we teach against supersessionism (replacement theology), which says that Israel forfeited their covenantal place before God and has been replaced by the church, we must also be on guard for the over correction in the other direction: dual covenant theology. Dual covenant says that Jews have one way to God and Gentiles have Jesus. It is bad theology even if it is born out of love.

We must love Jesus more than we love others and even ourselves. When we deny what we believe, when we deviate from what the Bible teaches about Jesus, we fail to love Jesus with all whole hearts.

The New Testament is Jewish text written by Jewish authors. It announces the arrival of a long-awaited Jewish figure, the Anointed One (Messiah, Christ), the Son of David.

• Jesus is Jewish, as detailed in his genealogy (Matt 1, Luke 3). No where is there any indication that Jesus stopped being Jewish. The risen, glorified Jesus is described in Revelation with Jewish titles including Son of Man (Dan 7:13; Rev. 1:13, 14:14), Lion of Judah (Gen 49:9; Rev 5:5), Root of David (Rev 5:5, 22:16, cf Isa 11:1)
• Jesus came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt 10:6, 15:24). At the beginning of his ministry, he limited the disciples to only minister among Israel. When the mission expanded globally, it did not leave the Jewish people off the list of nations.
• The gospel – the proclaimed good news of God – promised in advance through his prophets in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is that Jesus of Nazareth, descended from David physically, was powerfully demonstrated to be Son of God spiritually by his having been resurrected from the dead. (Rom 1:1-14 CJB)
• The gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Rom 1:16). This pronouncement that Jesus is for everyone is not contradicted or invalidated anywhere in the New Testament.

These truths are among what motivate us to love our Jewish neighbors and to worship the God of Israel. We love Jesus – the Messiah of Israel – and for his sake we love our Jewish neighbors.

Let us love the Jewish people without compromising our love and devotion to Jesus, the Redeemer of Israel and the Nations. Let us be confident in our faith as we share the love of Jesus. If somebody says no to Jesus, we do not walk away. We say, I love you anyway. How can we be friends?

Not sure where to start? We’d love to coach your congregation or small group on how to faithfully build bridges with our Jewish neighbors. Let us know how we can help.