Today’s Scripture Reading (November
24, 2014): Acts 18
I recently
listened to a Jewish Rabbi as he expounded on the reasons why Jesus of Nazareth
could not be the Messiah. Admittedly, from a Christian point of view his
argument was unconvincing. But at the tail end of the discussion he made an
emotional comment which I think sums up the problem of Jewish acceptance of
Jesus better than any of the Rabbi’s more reasoned theological arguments. The
truth is that to believe that Jesus was the Messiah means an end not just to
Judaism, but to Jewish culture as well. The Rabbi pointed with his finger at
this comment and added “and that I just can’t accept.”
We have to
understand that this is a very real problem that bars Jewish acceptance of
Jesus as Messiah. And I believe that it is also an unintended barrier. But I have
to admit that what the Rabbi says is very true. As Jews accept that Jesus is
the Messiah and they seem to begin to slowly lose their Jewish heritage. Maybe
it starts with a change of names for their children. Instead of choosing Jewish
names they begin to be influenced by names used by Christians, even if it is as
small a move as calling their sons Paul instead of Saul. And whether we want to
admit it or not, it is the emotional aspect of all of our arguments that move
us. In recent years it seems that the use of apologetics in Christianity (the
idea of proving from the Scriptures or from the view point of Philosophy, or
Science, or Law that God is real and that Jesus is indeed the Messiah) has
produced less and less tangible results. This is partially because of some of
the really warped attempts at apologetics that have been presented to the
viewing public. (The banana analogy where it is argued that the banana is
evidence of a Godly design comes immediately to mind. The argument is that the
banana is easy to hold with the hand, it comes with its own biodegradable
covering, fits the shape of the mouth and has its own tab, like a pop can that
allows easy access to the fruit inside, and so therefore the banana must be
seen as proof of the existence of God. But the argument is ludicrous and it
seems that the only ones who actually accepted the argument of the banana as being
proof of God were gullible Christians.) But we also need to understand that as
a race we are moved more by emotion than we sometimes want to admit.
So Apollos
argued vigorously from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. For the Jews
that he was arguing with, this would have been an emotional argument. The
emotions of the Jews at the time were deeply wrapped up with the Hebrew Bible;
there is absolutely no way that two Jews could have a dispassionate discussion over
the Scripture. The Hebrew Bible was, and is, and emotional hot button for the
Jews – much more than it is for Christians, although I sincerely wish that that
wasn’t true. Add to this the idea that the Messiah had been waited for, and
that this era had produced a spike in Messianic anticipation, and the emotional
aspect of Apollos argument could only be enhanced. As far as Apollos, and many
other Jewish Christians in the first century – maybe especially the converted
Pharisees, were concerned, that Jesus Christ was the Messiah was a deeply
emotional argument – and so Apollos argument had a chance to take root. Apollos
apologetics would have been much different from modern day attempts simply
because of that emotion.
As far as my
Jewish friend was concerned, I wish I could have delivered to him this message.
As Christians, we have no desire to be part of the cultural collapse of Israel.
In fact, even many of us would argue that Israel continues to be the chosen
people of God. And as the chosen people, Israel has a responsibility to carry
the message of God to the rest of the world. As Christians, all we want to do
is assist Israel in that task. As the children of Abraham by faith, we want to
stand beside our Jewish brothers and proclaim the truth of God and the reality that
Jesus of Nazareth truly was the Messiah. And it is through that Messiah that
the love of God for all of creation, a love that has existed in the Scripture
from the beginning of Genesis, is made a tangible reality for all of the
peoples of the world. Instead of Christianity being the great cultural
replacement, I believe it needs to be the great cultural unifier – so that all
people of all races and of all languages and of all cultures can find fulfillment
and can live up to all that God has created them to be.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1
Thessalonians 1 & 2
No comments:
Post a Comment