Christians and Jews have more in common than what divides them. They walk their paths under the guidance of the one God. Yet Israel has not yet found a place in every Christian life. How can we succeed in integrating Israel into our faith? How can we discover our Jewish roots and be a blessing to Jews? This exploration of the Bible aims to help.
By Dr. Tobias Krämer
Chaos reigns supreme. That's what the Bible describes in its first eleven chapters. After a promising start—God created the world—things go downhill. The story culminates in God's great judgments upon the nations: the Flood and the dispersion after the Tower of Babel. Then comes the turning point! The narrator's "camera" zooms in on a man: Abraham (Genesis 12). Why Abraham in particular? We don't know. But what is clear is that this man is of enormous importance. The focus now rests on him.
The starting point: Abraham
God addresses Abraham and gives him tremendous promises (Genesis 12:1-3): Abraham will receive a land, and from him a people will emerge. People plus land (in modern terms) make a nation. This nation is Israel. The nation of Israel thus springs from a promise by God. This distinguishes Israel from other nations.
Israel, however, is not an end in itself. It is destined to become a blessing to the world, a blessing to all humankind. These are tremendous prospects! But history takes a bumpy course. Israel grows up in Egypt, falls into slavery, and is freed by Moses. This great miracle of salvation—the parting of the Red Sea—is the first experience Israel has as a people with its God. A magnificent start!
The next stop is Mount Sinai. There, God offers Israel the opportunity to become his covenant people. Israel agrees and commits itself to the Torah; God, in turn, commits himself to being Israel's God (Exodus 19–24). The covenant between God and Israel is established. It will never be broken.
But tensions soon arise, for Israel breaks the covenant time and again. For centuries, God struggles for his people, with limited success. Finally, the terrible happens. In 721 BC, the Assyrians destroy the northern kingdom (Israel) and scatter the ten tribes throughout their vast empire. In 586 BC, the Babylonians conquer the southern kingdom (Judah), destroy Jerusalem and the Temple, and take the Jews into exile. God's people could hardly sink lower. Israel seems to be at its end.
To counter this misunderstanding, God has his prophets proclaim a momentous message of salvation: At the end of days, God will gather his people back into their land. The nation of Israel will rise again and shine anew. And: God will renew Israel from within. He will collectively give his people the Holy Spirit, who will write the Torah in the hearts of the Jews (new covenant). Then Israel will be wholeheartedly obedient to God and will have secure permanence—forever (Jeremiah 31–33; Ezekiel 36–39).
New alliance, new era
The new covenant was established by Jesus, the Messiah of Israel (Luke 22:20). Its primary purpose is the restoration of Israel. For redeeming Israel is the central task of the Messiah, indeed, his very definition: The Messiah is the redeemer of Israel. But it soon becomes clear that the redemption inherent in the new covenant is not limited to Israel. For all people are sinners. All need redemption and salvation; all require the effects of the new covenant. Therefore, the gospel of Jesus Christ spread throughout the world. There, it continues to have an impact today and has become a world religion.
This brings us to ourselves, the Christians. We believers from the Gentiles receive, through Jesus, a share in the salvation that was originally intended for Israel. This is the crucial point to understand. Paul describes this with a parable: the olive tree (Romans 11:17–24). We Christians are like branches of wild olive trees, grafted into the olive tree of God, and now receive a share of its good "sap." What a gift!
The Jews who reject the gospel, in turn, will be "uprooted" from their olive tree, but one day they will be "grafted back in." In the end, as Paul emphasizes, "all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26) and will be allowed to enter the eternal kingdom of God. This means salvation for Israel. We Christians are therefore connected to the Jewish people in many ways:
- We believe in Jesus. Jesus belonged to the Jewish people, was raised Jewish, and thought and lived Jewishly. Jesus was a Jew among Jews, a Jewish rabbi, and the long-awaited Messiah (Matthew 1:1; 15:24). To believe in Jesus means to believe in the Messiah of the Jews. The fact is: Our Lord is a circumcised Jew; our faith is a variant of Jewish belief.
- We share in God's saving work for Israel (the olive tree). Whatever we have spiritually, we received from the Jews: our knowledge of God, His revelation in the Old Testament, the New Covenant, the Messiah Jesus, and everything that followed Him. Jews formulated the Gospel and carried it into the world. The apostles were Jewish, and so is the New Testament. Everything that is significant for our faith is Jewish. Jesus puts it clearly: "Salvation is from the Jews." (John 4:22)
- We have a mission for Israel: to point Jews to Jesus. According to Paul, this should happen indirectly: through our being, our way of life, our appreciation, and our love. In this way, Jews should be "drawn to imitate" and be able to find Jesus (Romans 11:11-15). If Jews perceive us positively, it paves the way for them to come to Jesus. The question, therefore, must be: How must we interact with the Jewish world so that we are "the fragrance of Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:15), specifically to "Jewish noses"?
Church history: Guilt and new beginnings
The Church of Jesus, however, took a different path. Christians exalted themselves above the Jews and despised them—despite the urgent warnings of the Apostle Paul (Romans 11:18–21). Christians developed the false doctrine that God had destroyed Israel and replaced it with the Church of Jesus (“replacement theology”). They did this even though Israel is God’s covenant people forever (Romans 11:28!) and Paul emphatically rejects replacement theology (Romans 11:1, 11). According to Romans 11:2, the exact opposite of replacement theology is true: “God has not rejected the people he foreknew!” Clear words that can hardly be misunderstood. How, then, could Christendom proclaim the opposite for almost 2,000 years? That remains a mystery.
The attitude of Christendom had consequences. Jews were seen as the rejected, as enemies of God and Christ-killers, as diabolical and dangerous, indeed as the personification of evil. Therefore, they were persecuted: expulsions, expropriations, burning of prayer books, abuse, rape, murder, and manslaughter – all this was done to Jews by Christians. This is fatal, horrific, shameful, and calls for repentance.
Many say, "We have to take a different approach today!" That's true; it's one of the most important tasks of our time. But how do we do that? The following questions can help us turn a new page and explore new paths:
- How can we today embrace, affirm, and honor Israel's special biblical position in our communities?
- How can we give Israel a proper place in our belief system? How can we integrate Israel's covenant, election, and promise into our faith?
- How can we rediscover our Jewish roots and develop a sense of "roots"? How can we give more weight to the Old Testament and learn to believe in the entire Bible?
- How can we do good to Jews so that our repentance becomes practical and we fulfill our mission?
- Simply put: How can we Jews become a blessing?
The last question is particularly interesting because God says: "Whoever blesses the Jews will be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). God therefore expects us Jews to be a blessing. This applies generally, even though things are far from perfect in Israel. Blessing Israel is an entry point into God's cycle of blessing, into a process of blessing and being blessed. What could be better?
Christians and Jews share the same root (Abraham) and a common future (the eternal Kingdom of God). Both walk their path under the guidance of the one God: the God of Israel. They belong together like brother and sister, like husband and wife, or like close friends. Christians belong at Israel's side. Spiritually speaking, that is their natural place.
This article first appeared in our newspaper "Israelaktuell," issue 144. You can order the newspaper here . We would also be happy to send you several copies for distribution..
