A Passover Meditation

As believers who are growing and maturing in Christ, we will eventually reach the point where we feel a new love for the Jewish nation and for Israel. In studying the book of Romans, we will come to realize that it is God’s desire to call the Jewish nation, who initially rejected Christ, back to Him. We will begin to understand that it will be the Gentile church whom God uses in these last days to provoke Israel - through jealousy - to return to faith in God.

When we first realize all of this, however, we must be careful to make one distinction: Our focus should not be on calling the Jews to something, but to Someone. Our mission is not to call them to be members of our Christian church, but to return to their faith in a covenant-keeping (and very Jewish) God. Historically, as in the Crusades, we can see that Christians may be tempted to take pride in Christianity and seek to make converts to religion, not to God. As Romans 11:24 explains, it is not the Jews who were grafted in to the cultivated olive tree, but the Gentiles, who are like “wild olive branches.” We were estranged from Israel’s communal life – until we came to faith in Messiah. As David Stern writes in the Jewish New Testament Commentary, “Israel constitutes the norm and center of gravity, not the Gentiles." (JNT Commentary, Jewish New Testament Publications, 1992; p. 582).

And again, in Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul urges us to remember that we were Gentiles by birth, alienated from both Christ and the nation of Israel. We have now been brought near by the blood of our Jewish Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are called to pray for, watch, and bless Israel, not only because she plays a central role in worldwide political and end-time events, but also because she is God’s chosen nation, through whom all of His moral laws and covenants have come.

While we are not bound to the legalistic requirements of Mosaic law when we turn to Christ, we do gain access into all the wonderful covenants and promises given to the Jewish nation. In Christ, there is no longer any spiritual distinction between Jew and Gentile; the dividing wall has been abolished and we are members of one Body. Christ fulfilled all the legal requirements for us so that we could partake of the blessings and inheritances promised to our forefathers. In Christ, all God’s promises are “Yes and Amen!” (2 Corinthians. 1:20) 

One of the most touching stories I have ever heard about reaching the Jews is the story of Richard Wurmbrand. You may know him as the Christian founder of the Voice of the Martyrs ministry (visit theFriends page of this website for more), but before that, he was persecuted as an anti-communist, Romanian Jew.*

In 1938, he was converted to Christianity by a Romanian carpenter named Christian Wolfkes. An unknown man of prayer, Christian lived in a remote mountain area which no one ever visited. Yet he longed for God to send him a Jew with whom he could share the gospel. By a miracle, Wurmbrand arrived on his doorstep one day and was converted, along with his wife Sabina. It would not be the end of Wurmbrand's persecutions, but his life would become a seed that would awaken thousands to the issue of Jewish and Christian persecution worldwide. 

One man of prayer. One heart for the Jews. One Jewish conversion in a nameless mountain village. All of which led to a lifetime of impact for the Kingdom of God. How much more relevant is it now, in this end-time, to ask Him to give us a heart for the Jews!

The most exciting promise of all is that Israel will once again turn to her Maker and acknowledge Him as Yeshua Ha-Mashiach, her Messiah and Redeemer. This Passover, ask the Lord to give you a heart for His chosen people. Pray for Jerusalem. Pray for your own outreach to the people He loves so dearly. Pray that He sends you the one that only you can reach, in your own way, with the Love of your Jewish Father who has made Himself one with you! 

I wish all of my Jewish and Messianic Jewish friends a very Happy Passover! May your celebrations and Seders lead you deeper into the knowledge of One who gave His life in fulfillment of all the promises of the Bible. Chag Pesach Sameach!


*Richard Wurmbrand's life story is available through Voice of the Martyrs.
© Deborah Perkins, HisInscriptions.com

Deborah Perkins

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Question for Reflection: Have you ever read or studied Ephesians 2:11-22? What are your thoughts about our Christian response to the Jewish nation? 
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