Should We Evangelise Jewish People?

In recent years, many Christians have developed a deep concern for the Jewish people. I believe this is because God is turning his attention to the Jews in a new way.

My wife developed such a concern in 1982 and describes it in my first book: 'As I was busy in the kitchen, a sense of grief overwhelmed me. There was an experience of weeping deep within my spirit. No tears, no words, but a heart cry to God for his estranged people, the Jews. I continued my tasks with difficulty - the burden was so great.' (That the World May Believe, Marshalls, p 108)

This profound experience influenced the whole church, as the book explains. And many other churches and prayer groups have been affected similarly. There is a new appreciation of the Jewish roots of Christianity; a new awareness that God has a great purpose for the Jewish people in the future, as Romans 11 makes clear.

A renewed consciousness of the dreadful history of anti-semitism - much of it perpetrated by the church - has led many Christians to long to fulfil God's command: 'Comfort my people.'

But through lack of understanding and knowledge, many Christians think Judaism simply holds to the teaching of the Old Testament. They therefore reason that since the Jews worship the same God -the God of the OT - and since their religion is the teaching of the OT, they are in an unique relationship with Christianity.

Now there is truth in that, but also danger. Christians who take this line fail to appreciate that Judaism has moved on from the OT. The very extensive oral tradition (traditional teaching passed down by word of mouth) has added much to the biblical teaching. And this tradition (now written down as the Talmud) has very great influence on the Jewish people. Judaism is, in many ways, far from the simple teaching of the OT.

Sadly, through a combination of ignorance and sentiment, some Christians who have a great concern for the Jewish people think Jews do not need to be born again because they are already the people of God.

Some theologians (including the occasional bishop) believe the same thing. Hence the 'Two Covenant Theory', which states that Christians come to God through the New Covenant in Christ, but Jews come via the Old Covenant (made with Moses at Sinai).

It is also sad that Christians concerned for the Jewish people seem less ready to support sensitive, loving evangelism amongst Jews than they are to support ministries 'comforting' the Jews.

Jesus told the Jewish leader Nicodemus he must be born again through faith in him. And Jesus told his (Jewish) audience that he was the only way to the Father. Surely that settles it. We do a grave disservice to the Jewish people if we don't make it clear they need to come to God through Jesus.

However in view of the anti-semitism of which so-called Christian nations have been guilty through the centuries, evangelism among Jews must be done with the utmost sensitivity. But if we only 'comfort' the Jewish people and don't encourage them to come to Christ, we are showing carelessness over their eternal destiny. And nothing could be more unloving than that.

So it is vital that we understand where the Jews stand before God and their need of Christ Judaism has officially replaced the need of animal, blood sacrifices with prayer. This leads then to a total rejection of the need for a mediator - Jesus the Lamb of God.

One Jewish authority puts it like this: 'If by straying from the right path man lapses into sin, regret and penitence will repair the ravages of his transgression and will restore the harmony between him and his Creator.

'But for the restoration of harmony, in Jewish teaching, man does not stand in need of a mediator .. . Man can therefore achieve his own redemption by penitence, being assured that God himself is ever-ready in his abundance of loving kindness to receive the penitent sinner and purge him of all iniquity.'

This is a total denial of the Gospel and shows the difficulty and yet the deep need of sharing the Gospel of Christ crucified and risen with our Jewish friends.