Last week, we examined the horrendous massacre perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on October 7th. Hamas still holds about 200 hostages and continues to hurl rockets towards Israel. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have responded with hundreds of airstrikes against terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip. Sadly, many Palestinian civilians have been maimed or killed, often because Hamas uses civilians as human shields – a tactic which is considered a war crime.
The tumult has turned the minds of many towards the little nation of Israel.
Israel is only about the size of New Jersey. It measures 290 miles north/south & 85 miles east/west. Israel’s population is 9.73 million, also very similar to the 9.26 million who reside in New Jersey. 74% are ethnic Jews. However, Israel has a sizable minority population; fully 21% are Arabs.
There are very few Christians in Israel; only 1.9% (or 185,000) are followers of Jesus.
The vicissitudes of history scattered the Jewish people all over the world. Millions of Jews returned when the nation of Israel was founded in 1948. Outside of Israel, by far the most Jews have made their home in the United States – well over 5 million.
Many Christians are puzzled about the Jewish people. Where do these ethnically Jewish people fit into the plans of God? Are they still God’s chosen people? Does God love Jewish people more than other people?
Jesus was crucified as “the king of the Jews” just outside Jerusalem, probably in 30 AD. The land of Israel was then a part of the Roman Empire. We don’t know precisely when Christianity made its way to the city of Rome.
The Roman Emperor Claudius donned the purple in 41 AD. The Roman historian Suetonius recounts a fascinating event which transpired during the reign of Claudius: “Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome because they were generating constant unrest through the instigation of Chrestus.”
The expulsion of the Jews described by Suetonius most likely took place in 49 AD. Most modern historians are convinced that the term Chrestus is an altered version of Christos, the Greek term for the Messiah. It seems that the message of Jesus had reached the imperial capital, resulting in no small commotion within the Jewish community.
We know from the book of Acts that the Christian message often provoked a violent response from the Jews. The “constant unrest” documented by Suetonius was likely riots, touched off when Jewish Christians began announcing Jesus as the Christ. These disturbances were apparently so disruptive that the emperor brought his foot down and expelled the Jews from Rome.
This same event is noted in Acts 18: “After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila…who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.”
So, we learn that Aquila and Priscilla were among the Jews barred from Rome. Since they were Christians, it’s possible (perhaps even likely) that they were among those announcing Jesus as the Messiah.
In 54 AD, the emperor Claudius died and was succeeded by his stepson Nero. At this time, the Jews were allowed to return to Rome.
We can therefore reconstruct the following history:
A small body of Christians likely existed in Rome within a decade after the resurrection of Jesus. The first Roman Christians were undoubtedly Jews, but Gentiles were quickly added to their number. Suetonius indicates that around 49 BC conflict between Christians and Jews caused substantial public disorder, compelling Claudius to expel the Jews from Rome. (Note: the Romans would not have differentiated between Christians and Jews at this time. Christians would have been regarded as a Jewish sect.) The church is Rome would therefore have been reduced to Gentiles. The Jews were not allowed to return until Claudius died five years later.
Thus, for a period of at least 5 years, the Roman church would have been exclusively (or predominantly) composed of Gentiles. Obviously, Jesus was the Jewish Messiah. But the Roman Christians could not help but wonder how ethnic Jews fit into the plans of God. Had God abandoned the Jews only to replace them with Gentiles? This issue took on added intensity when the Jews were finally allowed to return.
It is no coincidence that the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Romans in 57 AD. It would have been at just this moment that the Roman church was struggling to re-assimilate Jews back into their fellowship after a long absence. It was no doubt an awkward reunion.
Paul was determined to help the Roman church see that God had always intended that his people would be composed of both Jews and Gentiles, united in loyalty to Jesus.
The entire book of Romans revolves around this issue. But Paul most explicitly addresses the question of ethnic Israel in chapters 9-11. Let’s dive in and see what we can learn.
“I speak the truth in the Messiah…I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from the Messiah for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.” (Romans 9:1-4)
Paul begins with a surprisingly emotional statement. The first followers of Jesus were all Jews. But the fact remained that the people of Israel had for the most part rejected their rightful king! In doing so, they had forsaken the one true God – the God who had revealed himself to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Jesus himself had made the same point. When the Lord sent his disciples to the towns of Israel, he declared, “He who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Paul had great love for his fellow Israelites; he was deeply grieved that they had squandered their priceless inheritance. Paul is so passionate that he almost wishes that he could trade places with his kin. He sees that nonbelieving Jews had put themselves in a very dangerous position. They had cut themselves off from the Messiah and were therefore “cursed.”
The word “cursed” ought to take our minds back to the covenant God made with Israel. In Deuteronomy chapter 28, God pronounced the consequences of covenant faithfulness or failure. If Israel offered him proper worship and obedience, God promised to pour out his lavish blessing upon them. However, if Israel turned away from God to idolatry and disobedience, then they would suffer his curses.
By using this language, Paul is making it very clear that Jews who reject Jesus, God’s anointed king, had separated themselves from God’s plan and purpose.
Later in Romans, Paul will refer to himself as “the apostle to the Gentiles.” However, this title can be deceiving, for when Paul carried the gospel into the Greco-Roman world, it’s clear that he did not ignore the Jews. In fact, wherever Paul went, the Jewish synagogue was always his first stop.
Paul’s arrival in Thessalonica is typical: “They came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue. As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead.” (Acts 17:1-3)
Paul’s approach made perfect sense. The announcement that Jesus was the Messiah fulfilled all the promises that God had made to Israel down through the centuries. And some Jews did in fact respond by giving their allegiance to the Lord Jesus.
Yet in place after place, most Jews strongly opposed the message. Here’s what happened in the city of Corinth: “When the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles!'”
Once again, we encounter startlingly dark language about the status of Jews who reject their Messiah. “Your blood be on your own heads!” Paul doesn’t elaborate, but he clearly believes that those who refuse to submit in loyalty to God’s anointed king will suffer awful consequences.
We shall continue to consider the plight of Israel. But the starting point for all such reflection is to grasp this central truth: apart from Jesus, ethnic Jews will face God’s certain condemnation.
