“Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.'” (John 8:58, NKJV)
We have come to the last part of the subsection about the Jews, which started with Day 341. Readers will agree that there are still many hidden facets surrounding this wonderful nation, but that we were able to start delving into the core. The greatest disadvantage that we could ever put the Jews to would be to place them in a false position of calling and authority. Then there is also the fact that we disadvantage ourselves because we neglect our position in Christ on account of these human fabrications. In this teaching we want to conclude by focussing on two last elements.
Firstly – with the reading of this subsection a reader noted the possible issue of anti-Semitism. Anti-Semitism is obviously an evil not to be tolerated, just as other forms of discrimination against certain groups – misogyny, apartheid, gay bashing, any form of hate speech against a group which is based on their world view/race/colour/orientation/faith, or whatever. If them being different threatens you (and there is no judgement made here in terms of right or wrong) and it thereby makes them your enemies, Jesus’ words are quite explicit in this regard – “You have heard it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.'” (Matt 5:43-45).
This is valid for all groups that Christians are different from, including Jews.
In an exceptional article Anti-Judaism and Anti-Semitism: A Necessary Distinction, E.J. Flannery makes this very important distinction between anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism. It takes as its starting point Jesus’ earth shattering statement in John 8:58 – “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” He then writes – “This is not ant-Semitic, but it is anti-Judaism, if by Judaism one means a religion which sees itself as self-contained apart from finding its meaning in Jesus Christ.”
John, as the New Covenant’s most dedicated evangelist amongst his fellow Jews, uses the word Jews in his gospel 71 times, compared to the combined aggregate of 16 times in the three other gospels. What is however interesting is that he constantly uses the word when referring to people who oppose Jesus. Various researches of this gospel make it clear that John, a Jew writing to the Jews, wants to make it clear that, in the words of the famous theologian Bultmann, ‘the Jews’ are the symbol of the world opposing Jesus.
Secondly – we have already shown that this insight concerning the Jews had a particular influence on how we read and interpret the Bible. What needs to be clear is that the entire Old Testament, which stretches from Genesis up until Jesus being raised from the dead, was specifically written to the Jews. This is the sum total of the Old Testament, and can only be read by us as believers of the New Covenant in the light of its fulfilment in Jesus Christ (Matt 5:17). In 1 Cor 10:6 (Darby) Paul writes that the Old Covenant, in its entirety “happened as types of us”; in verse 11: “And all these things as types did happen to those persons, and they were written for our admonition, to whom the end of the ages did come …” (YLT). Many deceptive and corrupted Biblical view points are the cause of such a misunderstanding of the Old Testament as typology.
- Sela: Explain the last statement to someone.
- Read: Gen 31-33
- Examine the way this has been fulfilled: Gen 33:2 (tip: Heb 11:22)
