HOW TO LOVE THE JEWISH PEOPLE
SERIES: PAUL, AN INSTRUMENT OF THE RISEN CHRIST
By Ron Ritchie
In 1981, Ed and Kathy Woodhall and my wife Anne Marie and I took a group
of people from our church to Israel. At the airport in Tel Aviv, we were
met by our Jewish tour guide Miriam, who was the daughter of a deceased
Supreme Court judge, and our Jewish bus driver Moses. At first we sensed
tension with our guides. How in the world were we going to get along for
the next ten days, a Christian group visiting the Holy Land, traveling,
eating, and living with two Jewish people? I wondered.
Once Miriam began to share with us her knowledge of Christianity and of
the places where Jesus ministered, however, a quiet respect, which later
grew into love for her, began to settle over our group. At each site we
visited, she shared her insight into the person and ministry of Jesus, and
then one of our group gave witness of his or her personal relationship with
Jesus as our Messiah, Lord and Savior. All the while Moses, our bus driver,
was listening. As each day went by he witnessed the love which we were expressing
for one another as well as both he and Miriam.
This is the subject I want to discuss with you today: How to love the Jewish
people. Our model will continue to be the apostle Paul, as we study his
love for his kinsmen living in Rome. The apostle has at last arrived in
the city, following his appeal to Caesar. He had been under house arrest
for two years in Caesarea, falsely charged with desecrating the temple.
Following a series of trials, he at last appealed to Caesar, as was his
right as a Roman citizen. We already have looked at his adventures, including
a shipwreck and his being bitten by a viper, which God had in store for
him on the long journey to Rome. At last, however, he has reached his destination.
It is spring of the year 60 A.D.
Four years earlier, writing from Corinth to the church at Rome, Paul had
penned these words concerning his fellow-countrymen,
For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery,
lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened
to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and thus all Israel
will be saved;... From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for
your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for
the sake of the fathers (Rom.11:25, 28).
Even though they are enemies of the cross of Christ, the Jews, says the
apostle, are "beloved for the sake of the fathers."
So we pick up the story of the apostle again in Acts 28. He had spent the
winter on the island of Malta, where he was washed ashore following the
shipwreck in the Mediterranean. Arriving at last in Puteoli, Italy, he found
some Christian brethren with whom he spent several days. "And thus
we came to Rome," writes our storyteller Luke, in Acts 28:14.
How to love the Jewish people. We must first,
I. Treat them as God's beloved people, Acts 28:16-22
And when we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself,
with the soldier who was guarding him. And it happened that after three
days he called together those who were with the leading men of the Jews,
and when they had come together, he began saying to them, "Brethren,
though I had done nothing against our people, or the customs of our fathers,
yet I was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there
was no ground for putting me to death. But when the Jews objected, I was
forced to appeal to Caesar; not that I had any accusation against my nation.
For this reason therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you,
for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel." And
they said to him, "We have neither received letters from Judea concerning
you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything
bad about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning
this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere."
At last the apostle has arrived in Rome. His heart's desire has been fulfilled.
Although he had never met the believers who formed the church there, earlier
in his letter to them he had written,
For I long to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual
gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged
together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both
yours and mine. ..I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in
Rome (Rom.1:9, 15).
So Paul, Luke and Aristarchus found living quarters in the city of Rome,
which would be their home for the next two years. From other sources we
learn that the praetorian guard of the Emperor became his jailers during
that time. Every six hours, a praetorian guard chained himself to Paul,
and this continued all during his house arrest in the city. Referring to
this time, in the book of Philippians Paul writes, "...my imprisonment
in the cause of Christ has become well-known throughout the whole praetorian
guard and to everyone else" (1:13).
The apostle became very attached to his new room-mates: For every six hours
he was chained to a new praetorian guard. The Paul did not realize that
he would stay in this condominium for the next two years. But if he were
chained to four different guards a day for two years, which is possible,
he would have had opportunity to share the gospel with some 2,920 Roman
guards! What a ministry!
From his house, Paul called together the leading men of the Jews and addressed
them. It seems he thought that word had reached the Jewish community in
Rome that he was coming to the city. Knowing of his reputation, Paul supposed
that they would do everything they could to stop him from testifying that
Jesus was the Messiah. Further, they would probably inform the Roman government
that he was the head of a unauthorized religion that had nothing to do with
Judaism. By his addressing this group, however, Paul may have been hoping
to get a favorable hearing from the Emperor, one that that might win recognition
for Christianity as the true fulfillment of Israel's ancestral religion.
Thus the apostle desired to trod a peaceful path to both the Jews and the
Emperor.
Addressing these men, Paul laid out the reasons for his imprisonment. He
had "done nothing against our people, or the customs of our fathers,
yet I was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,"
he began. The Romans had examined him but found that there was no ground
for putting him to death. When the Jews objected to this, he was forced
to appeal to Caesar, but not to accuse his nation of any wrong. For this
reason he was "wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel."
After the Damascus Road conversion experience, the risen Christ had said
of Paul, "he is a chosen instrument of Mine to bear My name before
the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15). So
the apostle never lost an opportunity to speak of the Hope of Israel to
his Jewish brethren. This was true in the beginning of his ministry in Damascus,
in Jerusalem, later during his three missionary journeys, and even now in
the Gentile capital. In Romans 1:16 he had written, "For I am not ashamed
of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who
believes, to the Jew first and then to the Greek."
The "Hope of Israel," of course, is Jehovah. In Jeremiah14:8 and
17:13, Jehovah is called the "Hope of Israel," its "Savior
in times of distress." Paul told the Jewish leaders in Pisidian Antioch,
Turkey, some 13 years earlier, that God had raised up a King after his own
heart and that "from the offspring of this man according to the promise
God has brought to Israel a Savior Jesus." Then the apostle went on
to explain about John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus, and how he had
alerted the leadership of Israel that the Hope of Israel was about to enter
the stage of Jewish history and that they should prepare their hearts to
receive him. But the leaders in Jerusalem refused to recognize Jesus or
what the prophets had said about him. Finally, they condemned him to the
cross by the hand of Pilate. He was executed, and then buried in a borrowed
tomb. "But God raised Him from the dead," said Paul.
"...And we preach to you the good news of the promise made
to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that
He raised up Jesus, as it is also written in the second Psalm, 'Thou art
My Son, today I have begotten thee.'...Therefore let it be known to you,
brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and
through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you
could not be freed through the Law of Moses" (Acts 13:38-39).
As Peter said when he stood before the Jewish Supreme Court to answer for
his healing of a lame man, "There is no salvation in no one else; for
there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which
we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). The name which Peter was referring to
was Jesus, the Hope of Israel.
Paul's motivation to witness to the Jewish leaders came from a heart of
love given to him by his Savior. Quoting from his letter to the Romans again,
I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience
bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing
grief in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated
from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh"
(Rom. 9:1-3).
"Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayers to God for them is their
salvation" (Rom. 10:1).
The Jewish leadership in Rome responded to what Paul had to say to them,
in these words, "We have neither received letters from Judea concerning
you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything
bad about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning
this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere."
Politically, it would have been unwise to involve themselves with a Jewish
prisoner who had already been declared innocent by both Governor Festus
and King Agrippa, a man who was on his way to meet the Emperor Nero. But
at the same time these men were open to hear about this sect, the people
of "The Way," the "Christians" who seemed to be all
over Rome.
Here once again we have an example of Paul's love for his Jewish brethren.
We see his sensitivity to the these leaders, and his desire to keep the
door open so that he would be invited to share the gospel of Jesus Christ
with them. Paul knew that God was calling out a remnant from the nation
of Israel for his name's sake. He knew that God had already chosen vessels
of mercy to whom he would offer the wonderful gospel, for he had written
to the Roman Gentiles with the nation of Israel in mind, "that if you
confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God
raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved: for with the heart man believes,
resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in
salvation." Salvation for both Jew and Gentile was possible only by
means of the "Hope of Israel," Jesus the Messiah.
During our visit to Israel, we recognized that as our love and respect for
Miriam and Moses grew, they responded with the same love and respect. They
began telling us of their families. They listened to us sing Christians
songs in the bus and taught us Jewish songs and dances as we drove throughout
the countryside. One day Moses arrived with a box of home-made cookies that
his wife had made especially for us. He told us that in all his years of
driving tour buses in Israel, his wife had done this only once before. He
shared that he had fought in all the wars of Israel since l948, and that
his twin daughters were currently serving in the Israeli army. As Miriam
shared some of her life, I could not help but notice how warm she was becoming
towards our people, and how attentive she was as one of our group taught
the scriptures at the different sites. She seemed very interested in our
teaching, and on what was going on when we baptized several of our group
in the Jordan river in Galilee.
How to love the Jewish people. First, we must treat them as God's beloved
people ; and then,
II. Teach them of God's beloved Christ, Acts 28:23-29
And when they had set a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in
large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about
the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from morning
until evening. And some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others
would not believe. And when they did not agree with one another, they began
leaving after Paul had spoken one parting word, "The Holy Spirit rightly
spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying,
"Go to this people and say,
'You will keep on hearing, but will not understand;
And you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;
For the heart of this people has become dull,
And with their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes;
Lest they should see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and turn again,
And I should heal them.'"
"Let it be known to you therefore, that this salvation of God has been
sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen."
Paul's message was that Yahweh is King over all the world and King of Israel.
The Jews looked forward to the time when Yahweh would deliver them from
their enemies, and reign in Zion with his everlasting kingdom, ruling over
the nations of the world. They frequently associated their hopes with the
reign of an anointed King, called the Messiah, who would come from the line
of David (Isa..9:6). Thus the Jews were looking for an earthy king and kingdom.
When Jesus arrived on the stage of history, however, he said, "the
kingdom of God is in your midst" (Luke 17:21). Jesus was speaking of
a spiritual, not an earthy kingdom, the kingdom of the hearts of men. This
world is under the rule of Satan (Matt. 4:9), but the action of God through
Jesus set in process the work of bringing Satan's kingdom to an end and
setting his captives free. If therefore the coming of the kingdom already
means the hour of judgment is upon wicked men (Matt. 3:10), it is also the
hour of deliverance in which men are set free from the demonic powers (Matt
12:28f).
The mystery of the kingdom of God is that God is now at work in the ministry
of Jesus, the risen Lord, Savior and Messiah, for the salvation of men and
women before the time comes for judgement and the opportunity for repentance
is past. Jews and Gentiles alike must enter the kingdom of God by faith
in Jesus as the Christ, for the kingdom of God is at hand.
Ray C. Stedman has written,
Paul spoke of the kingdom of God which had come with the coming
of Jesus. This Kingdom was opposed to the rule of Satan, the powers of darkness
which reigned in human hearts. Human history is the checkered account of
man's struggles to be free from that from which he cannot free himself.
It is this rule of darkness, this authority of the kingdom of Satan, which
the kingdom of God in Christ challenges.
From morning until evening, Paul continued to try and persuade the Jews
concerning Jesus, both from both the Law of Moses and from the prophets.
Utilizing the Jewish scriptures, the Law (the sacrificial system) and the
prophets, Paul tried to show the Jewish leaders in a solemn manner that
Jesus was the promised Prophet, Priest and King. This could be demonstrated
by our Lord's of miracles (signs) during his earthly ministry, but even
more dramatically by his death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and the
sending of the Holy Spirit--all incidents that were recorded beforehand
in the Law and the prophets. However, Satan has blinded men and women to
the spiritual realities that offer them hope and salvation in Jesus Christ.
Following the resurrection of Jesus, the gospels record the wonderful story
of the two discouraged and disappointed disciples of the Lord were on the
way down from Jerusalem to Emmaus (the first site at which Miriam and Moses
taught us). There they were met by a stranger who asked them why they were
so downcast. They explained how they were followers of Jesus but he was
crucified a few days earlier. "We were hoping that it was He who was
going to redeem Israel," they told the stranger, "but he is still
dead even though it is the third day, the day when he promised he would
rise from the dead." Finally, the stranger, who was the risen Lord,
said,
"O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets
have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things
and enter into His glory? And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets,
He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures"
(Luke 24: 25-27).
The reaction of the leading Jewish men in Rome was the same two-fold response
which Christians get today when they share the gospel among either Jews
or Gentiles. Here is how Paul describes this response in his letter to the
Corinthians,
For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are
being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from
death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life (2 Cor. 2:15-16).
The response in Rome was no different: some were persuaded by Paul's words,
but others would not believe.
To those Jews who rejected his gospel message, Paul quoted the words of
Isaiah, written 700 years earlier, in which the prophet issued a warning
to the Jews of his day. The effect of his ministry, divinely ordained though
it was, would be but to make the deaf still more deaf, the blind more blind,
the dull heart duller. It is interesting that Jesus himself is quoted in
all four gospels as having used this passage during his ministry.
On our last evening in Tel Aviv, we invited Moses and his wife and daughters,
together with Miriam, to a farewell dinner. For many of us it was a very
moving time. We were sure we would not see Moses again, but at the same
time were were excited because several in our group committed to fly Miriam
to the United States and be our quest for a few weeks in California. The
Millers and several single adults opened their hearts, homes and pocket
books and gave of their love and time to Miriam. Through word and deed they
witnessed to this lovely Jewish person, seeking to show her how God had
already sent his Messiah and that his name is Jesus. The good news was rejected,
but not our love and friendship. Many have kept in touch with her over the
intervening years, but to this day Miriam, and, I'm sure, Moses, have so
far rejected their Messiah.
But the rejection of Jesus by the Jews became good news for the Gentiles.
Paul says, "Let it be known to you therefore, that this salvation of
God has been sent to the Gentiles, they will also listen," as had some
of the Jews to whom Paul spoke.
During his ministry, Jesus quoted Isaiah 42 and said,
Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen;
My Beloved in Whom My soul is well pleased;
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not quarrel, nor cry out;
Nor will any one hear His voice in the streets.
A battered reed He will not break off,
And a smoldering wick He will not put out,
Until He leads justice to victory.
And in His name the Gentiles will have hope.
Quoting Isaiah 65 in his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote,
I was found by those who sought me not, I became manifest to
those who did not ask for me." But as for Israel, he says, "All
the day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and obstinate
people (Rom. 10:20-21).
Then, referring to the Jews, Paul wrote,
I say then they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May
it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles
to make them jealous. Now if their transgression be riches for the world
and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fulfillment
be! (Rom.11:11- 12).
Just last week, we saw dramatic fulfillment of this good news for the Gentiles.
Our College pastor Doug Goins shared with us that three Gentile students
in his college group had accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
How to love the Jewish people. We must treat them as God's beloved people,
and teach them of God's beloved Christ.
Catalog No. 4113
Acts 28:16-29
28th Message
Ron R. Ritchie
August 14, 1988
Copyright (C) 1995 Discovery Publishing, a ministry of Peninsula Bible Church.
This data file is the sole property of Discovery Publishing, a ministry
of Peninsula Bible Church. It may be copied only in its entirety for circulation
freely without charge. All copies of this data file must contain the above
copyright notice. This data file may not be copied in part, edited, revised,
copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial publications, recordings,
broadcasts, performances, displays or other products offered for sale, without
the written permission of Discovery Publishing. Requests for permission
should be made in writing and addressed to Discovery Publishing, 3505 Middlefield
Rd. Palo Alto, CA. 94306-3695.