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Seeking the Jewish Messiah! |
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| In Romans 1:16, God’s ongoing love for the Jewish people is revealed in the Good News of Messiah. Though Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles, he coined the phrase “To the Jew first” regarding God’s faithfulness, and his personal ministry approach (Acts 13:46). It’s a concept that didn’t begin, nor end with Paul, but from the foundation of the world God’s provision of salvation was to and through the Jewish people. In fact, the birth of Messiah would be God’s declaration that “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).
Gentile Seekers & The Jewish Messiah These Magi were not merely seeking the Sovereign of the Jews, but the Savior of the Jews as well. They understood that in Messiah’s birth the Good News to the world is to the Jew first. Their journey was surely long and difficult, but it was worth it all to gain more than gold, myrrh and frankincense could ever purchase--salvation by faith in the King of the Jews, Yeshua! Good News to the Gentile WorldIsaiah too, prophesied that “To the Jew first” was Good News for the Gentile world. Not only did Isaiah foretell that Messiah would be born of a virgin (see Isaiah 7:14), that He would be God incarnate (Isaiah 9:6), and that He would be David’s seed, born of the root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:1) but this very Jewish Messiah would be the One in whom all the nations, or Gentiles/goyim, would trust: “Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; and His resting place will be glorious” (Isa. 11:10);“He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth’ (49:6); and “Thus He will sprinkle many nations” (52:15) with His atonement (see also 42:1,6). Through Messiah’s death, salvation in His atonement changes our hearts from rebelling against the God of Israel, to relying upon Him and His promises, which alone can nourish our souls. Thus Isaiah predicts that in the time to come the hearts of the nations who turn to the God of Israel will also love the people of Israel. For those who recognize and appreciate the Jewishness of the faith, their hearts will be inclined ‘to the Jew first’. “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isa. 60:3); “Be joyful with Jerusalem and rejoice for her, all you who love her; Be exceedingly glad with her, all you who mourn over her…For thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will be nursed, you will be carried on the hip and fondled on the knees.’ As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you will be comforted in Jerusalem”(Isa. 66:10-13). Yes, for those who allow the King of the Jews to reign in their hearts, His love for the Jewish people will flow like a river. Better understanding that God’s “To the Jew first” program is not only the way to find the Savior, but the way to enjoy all the promises of God (see Romans 11:17,18). Wise Men Still Seek Him The prophecies and promises of Scripture would be fulfilled and authoritatively recorded in yet another Jewish book, the Brit Chadashah, or the New Covenant (New Testament, see Jer. 31:31). As those who sought salvation at Yeshua’s birth followed the ‘trail of clues’ in the Hebrew Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:15), wise men today still must recognize these Jewish apostolic writings to find the Savior of the World. Turning to the pages of the New Covenant we see the faithfulness of God manifested in a manger. To the Jew first was the call upon the Magi, and upon all that seek Him born King of the Jews. Still To The Jew First The birth of Messiah not only prepares us to better understand the rest of His life, but the rest of our lives as well. The Jewish context of the faith is still as relevant now as it was at His birth and in the ministry of Paul. God’s faithfulness to Israel according to His promises is not only manifested in the manger, but in the ministry of Messiah’s followers, who are called to demonstrate that same faithful God who will not forsake a people who He has foreknown (Rom. 11:2). So this year as you celebrate His birth, let that miraculous event orient your life for the coming new year, and forever! Therefore “pray for the peace of Jerusalem” (Ps.122:6), and for our efforts throughout North America, Europe and Israel this coming year, as we endeavor to be faithful to His call and declare His forgiveness and New Life in the New Year, to all with ears to hear both to “To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.” Y |
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