There is an expression in Israel that goes like this,
“Everything about Israel is complicated,”
which implies the title of this essay needs an explanation, even though it comes from the verse in Romans 1:16.
Sadly though, complicated is not something we are likely to invite into our life, so it’s often ignored, which is also why many commentators avoid this verse. When it is explained, it goes something like this,
“The Jews were the first to hear the Gospel, because Jesus was from Israel and preached and taught there for over three years, but
“He came to His own and His own received Him not.”
For that reason, the gospel went to the Gentiles, who formed the Church and have maintained a handle on the gospel ever since, which is mostly accurate.
But was that God’s intention?
The answer is NO.
The spread of the Gospel was intended to be a joint venture. God’s calling was to the Jews centuries before Jesus was born.
“I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6
Jesus resurrected their calling because the Jews ignored it. However, Jesus did not fulfill that prophecy, He made it possible though He never left the land of Israel.
Certainly, Jesus was the Light of the world, yet He called His disciples the light of the world. What did He mean?
Jesus Jewish disciples took the Gospel into the world of the Gentiles.
Growing numbers of them embraced His message and carried it further into their world. It began as a joint effort, which Paul called the one new man. (Eph 2:15)
Luke traveled with Paul and traced their journey for about 30 years through the province of Asia Minor in every city they went, Paul visited the synagogue first. Is it possible that he expected Christians to follow his pattern? History records otherwise because as the Church became largely Gentile in number, the Jews were steadily no longer welcome. By the fourth century the church was void of Jews and never again became more than a small fraction of the population. With the absence of Jews also came a limited understanding of the Old Testament and the culture of the Land where Jesus grew up and taught in.
So, what does “to the Jew first” mean today?
It’s complicated.
Most cities outside of Israel are missing a Jewish population. If there are any, only a small portion of secular Jews would attend a synagogue other than on the High Holy Days.
To follow the pattern of, “to the Jew first”, there first must be a born-again Christian population. However, for a Christian to attend a synagogue and expect to speak would be extremely rare. That is why most Christians let sleeping dogs lie rather than seek to correct the ills of history.
But those who want to fulfill the great commission feel indebted to include the Jews. It is not easy because the dismissal of the Jews from their Bible and their Messiah has made it much more complicated, but not impossible.
For those places that have a Jewish population the “first” part is intercession, which is a deep yearning for God’s will to be done.
It’s amazing how God responds to those cries for His people. Sincere and compassionate prayer conceives relationships with Jewish people.
The next steps will vary widely, but here is my suggestion.
Ask God to make this personal.
Become a student of Church history. Major on the part where Jewish history intersects. Be humble enough to cry.
Support ministries like Comfort My People who are reaching the Jewish people through both Jewish and Gentile believers in Israel. You will notice your heart becoming more tender and your spirit coming alive with increasing revelation.
Read the two books that Paul has written and others we can recommend.
Let God know you want to play your role in restoring the gospel to the people who wrote it and shed their own blood to preserve and deliver it. Speak to your pastors and leaders respectfully about where the Jews fit in. Yes, many Jews rejected Jesus in His day, but many others brought countless Gentiles to faith. There is coming a day when Gentiles love for the Jewish Messiah will birth a revival like none other.
“For if their [present] rejection [of salvation] is for the reconciliation of the
world [to God], what will their acceptance [of salvation] be but [nothing less
than] life from the dead? “ (Romans 11:15)