First Century Jew?

Imagine that you are a first century Jew, living in a time of about five years after Jesus’ death in the city of Antioch.  You have been raised by your parents on all the stories of old: the conquest of your forefathers, and their deliverance out of Egypt by the providential hand of God, through the Red Sea, through the desert wanderings, and finally into the promised land.  You have been told how God wiped out the peoples before your ancestors, and how there was no place for intermarrying or intermixing with the Gentiles. In fact God had said that He himself was going to “blot them out” from before you. And now standing before you are two of your own country men, fellow Jews, and they are trying to turn your world upside down! 

The scene is Acts 13, and Paul and Barnabas are reasoning from the scriptures with the Jews in the local synagogue and what they are saying is this: they are recalling the deliverance of your people from Egypt and the giving of the precious Law of Moses.  They recall your days in slavery, and then remind you of your past kings Saul, and David.  Then they turn their sermon toward John the Baptist, and his message of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke 3:3), and how only genuine belief in Jesus as the Christ can qualify you for entrance into heaven.  Then ,as if that were not  bad enough, they tell you that your own people, the Jews, never really understood the prophets and the purpose of holy days and an d sacrifices, therefore amounting your good deeds to nothing. So furious and seething with anger are you now, that you throw these two heretics out from your midst, and in their departure you hear them say these words: “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you.  Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.” (Acts 13:46)  What?!! You are going to turn to the very people God drove out from before us and take this message of salvation to them?   

Has it been so long that we have forgotten that we, gentiles (non Jews), were and still are the result of a missions effort planned by God to bring us into his family; and that previously we (gentiles) had no shot at salvation (Eph 2:11-13), but that now in Christ we can be children of God (Eph 3:4-6).  Let us make sure that we guard our hearts against the attacks of the enemy, that can blind us from Gods passion to save all peoples from all around the globe.  Let us proclaim from the rooftops the message of salvation that has been whispered into our hearts! Let us not be convinced ourselves that our God is a God of “ Christianity”.   I pray that God will enlighten our minds, soften our hearts, empty our pocket books, and motivate us to action to see the Gospel preached among the nations, for the praise and glory of the Name of our God!! 

Thankfully in Christ !