Many
Christians think that the Church was at its
best in the first century. It was blessed in
many ways. It manifested wisdom, power, purity
and zeal. It made a tremendous impact on the
world. Why? The Church that was directed by
the Jewish Apostles was a Church that understood
the Scriptures. It was a Church that understood
the Jewish roots of the Faith. It was a Church
that understood the importance of Israel in
the mind, heart and plan of God. It was a Church
that was faithful to the command to bring the
Good News about the Messiah to the Jew first.
Might one of the reasons why the present-day Church lacks
power, purity and unity be because we have failed
to understand the importance of Israel ?
The Lord declared to Abraham: I will bless
those who bless you, and the one who curses
you I will curse. To be blessed, Gentiles
are to pray for the Jewish people’s well-being
and success. Non-Jews, even Christian ones (and
particularly Christian ones), are to seek Israel’s
good and support God’s special plans for the
Chosen People. Might the Church be lacking all
of the blessing it should be enjoying because
Messiah’s Holy Community has not blessed the
descendants of Abraham with the best blessing
of all: bringing the Message of Salvation to
the Jewish people first? Hasn’t the Church neglected
the command to bring the Gospel to the Jew first?
Hasn’t the Church abandoned the God-ordained
priority of Jewish evangelism?
One
of the fundamental responsibilities of the Church
is to carry out the Great Commission - that
important task that Messiah commanded His followers
to engage in with Him: Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and the Son and the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I commanded you (Matthew 28:18-20). Since
world evangelism is an essential duty of the
Church, it is vital that we follow the Bible’s
evangelistic methods and priorities. The
sequence for world evangelism is stated by the
Jewish Apostle to the Gentiles in Romans 1:16:
“I am not ashamed of the Gospel (the Good
News about salvation made possible by the Messiah
for those who trust in Him), for it is the power
of God for salvation to everyone who believes,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
This is the biblical order for evangelism, regardless
of the medium (radio, television, street meetings,
literature distribution, door-to-door visitation,
mass evangelism, ads in the media, the Internet,
etc.).
What
is true for the local church is also true for
the missionary in the field. He must first take
the Good News about Messiah to any Jewish people
who may be in the region where he is working.
Regardless of his particular place of calling,
his obligation is to give evangelistic priority
to the Jewish people and present them with the
message of salvation. Where there is already
a clear biblical command, no special “leading”
is necessary. Many missionaries may object,
but there is a biblical and an apostolic example
in Paul, even though he was not called to the
Jews, but to the Gentiles: In Romans 11:13 he
tells us: “I am the apostle to the Gentiles.”
Paul’s ministry to the Gentiles was different
from Peter’s ministry to the Jewish people:
Seeing that I had been entrusted with
the Gospel to the uncircumcised, just as
Peter had been to the circumcised (for He who
effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship
to the circumcised effectually worked for me
also to the Gentiles), and recognizing the grace
that had been given to me, James and Peter and
John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to
me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship,
so that we might go to the Gentiles and
they to the circumcised (Galatians 2:7-9).
Only if Romans 1:16 is understood in this way can one
better understand Paul’s actions in the Book
of Acts . While one must be careful not to develop theology from
historical books like the Book of Acts, historical
books can be used to illustrate doctrine. The
doctrinal statement of Romans 1:16 is that the
Good News is to go to the Jewish people first,
and also to the Greeks. In the Book of Acts
we find frequent examples of that doctrinal
point. Acts 13 records the beginning of Paul’s
missionary work. The apostle to the Gentiles
went to the Gentiles, since that was his calling.
Yet, regardless of specific individual calling,
in this case the need to go to the Gentiles,
the principle of Romans 1:16 still stands -
going to the Jewish people first - as Paul’s
procedure shows: So, being sent out by the
Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and
from there they sailed to Cyprus. When they
reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the
word of God in the synagogues of the Jews
(Acts 13:4-5). Going on from Perga, they
arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath
day they went into the synagogue and sat
down (Acts 13:14). In Iconium they
entered the synagogue of the Jews together,
and spoke in such a manner that a large number
of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks
(Acts 14:1).
Putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course
to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis;
and from there to Philippi, which is a leading
city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony;
and we were staying in this city for some days.
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the
gate to a riverside, where we were supposing
that there would be a place of prayer; and
we sat down and began speaking to the women
who had assembled (Acts
16:11-13). Normally, Paul would go immediately
to the synagogue but in Philippi the Rabbi from
Tarsus could not do that because the Jewish
community in that town was too small to finance
a synagogue. By Jewish tradition, if the Jewish
community was too small to afford a synagogue,
on the Sabbath the Jewish people were to congregate
by a body of water. There, he found a little
Jewish group in order to preach the Gospel to
them. Paul, knowing this, waited until the Sabbath
before he preached elsewhere because he knew
that the Good News must go to the Jew first.
Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia,
they came to Thessalonica, where there was
a synagogue of the Jews. And according to
Paul's custom, he went to them, and
for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the
Scriptures (Acts 17:1-2). The brothers immediately sent Paul
and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they
arrived, they went into the synagogue of
the Jews (Acts 17:10).
Acts
17:16-17 is another good example that shows
exactly what Paul’s procedure was. Now while
Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit
was being provoked within him as he was observing
the city full of idols. So he was reasoning
in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing
Gentiles, and in the market place every
day with those who happened to be present.
This great evangelist came to Athens and saw
the city full of idolatry, and he was provoked
to preach to those who worshiped these idols.
It was not the Jews who worshiped idols, because
idolatry ceased to be a Jewish problem with
the Babylonian Captivity. It was the Gentiles
who worshiped these idols, and to these Gentiles
Paul was provoked to preach. However, the principal
of Romans 1:16 had to stand. According to verse
17, “so,” which means, “for that reason,” Paul
went to the Jewish people in the synagogue,
and also to the Gentiles.
After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth...
And he was reasoning in the synagogue every
Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and
Greeks
(Acts 18:1-4). They came to Ephesus... Now
he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned
with the Jews (Acts 18:19). It happened
that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed
through the upper country and came to Ephesus...
And he entered the synagogue and continued
speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning
and persuading them about the kingdom of God
(Acts 19:1, 8).
When
Luke comes to the end of Acts (his book of the
deeds of Messiah’s emissaries), he writes this:
When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to
stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding
him. After three days Paul called together
those who were the leading men of the Jews
(Acts 28:16-17). Paul was a prisoner and could
not go to the synagogue of Rome. Therefore he
invited the Jewish leaders of Rome to his prison
in order to proclaim the Good News about the
Messiah to them first. Everywhere in the
Book of Acts it is recorded that the apostle
to the Gentiles, consistent with his affirmation
in Romans 1:16, always went to the Jew first.
God’s principle is that whenever the Good News
goes out and by whatever means it goes out,
it must go to the Jewish people first.
These examples in the Book of Acts are illustrations
of active evangelism. The principle also
holds true for passive evangelism. Passive
evangelism is when an individual supports those
who do the work of evangelism .
He may not be able to leave home and preach
the Good News to others, but he can commit to
pray and give money to help someone else go.
Although
the Scriptures are very clear about this God-ordained,
to-the-Jew-first evangelistic priority, it is
nevertheless denied by many. A major argument
used to refute this doctrine is based on Acts
28:25-28: And when they did not agree with
one another, they began leaving after Paul had
spoken one parting word, "The Holy Spirit
rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to
your fathers, saying, ‘Go to this people and
say, "you will keep on hearing, but will
not understand; and you will keep on seeing,
but will not perceive; for the heart of this
people has become dull, and with their ears
they scarcely hear, and they have closed their
eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart and return, and I would heal them."'
Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation
of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will
also listen." Because of these concluding
words and Paul’s declaration that the Good News
will now go to the Gentiles, the passage is
taken to mean that the Gospel is no longer to
the Jew first and that God has now changed His
program of evangelism, superceding Romans 1:16,
which was written before the Book of Acts. It
is agreed that Romans was written before Acts,
but this passage does not mean that the Message
of Salvation is no longer to go to the Jewish
people first, or that God has changed His procedure
for evangelism.
The
true meaning of Acts 28:25-28 is found by comparing
this passage with two other passages where similar
words were spoken before. The next Sabbath
nearly the whole city (Pisidian Antioch) assembled
to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews
saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy
and began contradicting the things spoken by
Paul, and were blaspheming. Paul and Barnabas
spoke out boldly and said, "It was necessary
that the word of God be spoken to you first;
since you repudiate it and judge yourselves
unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning
to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded
us, ‘I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the end of the
Earth.'" When the Gentiles heard this,
they began rejoicing and glorifying the word
of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed
to eternal life believed (Acts 13:44-48).
But when Silas and Timothy came down from
Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely
to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews
that Yeshua was the Messiah. But when they resisted
and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and
said to them, "Your blood be on your own
heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to
the Gentiles" (Acts 18:5-6). Acts 28:25-28
is to be understood by these two passages, which
indicate a local change and not
an overall change in the program of world evangelism.
In the first passage, the Jewish people of Antioch
of Pisidia rejected the message about the Messiah;
so now in Antioch of Pisidia, Paul will go to
the Gentiles. In the second passage, the Jews
of Corinth rejected the Gospel; so now Paul
will turn to the Gentiles of Corinth. Whenever
he left for a new territory, he consistently
sought out the Jewish community first, even
in those instances in which he had declared
in the previous locale that he would now go
to the Gentiles. What was true of Antioch
of Pisidia and Corinth is also true of Rome.
The Jewish leaders of Rome rejected the Good
News, and now Paul will go to the Gentiles of
Rome. There is no shift in the procedure
of presenting the Messiah of Salvation. Acts
28 is only a continuation of the procedure already
established of presenting the Gospel to the
Jew first and then turning to the Gentiles.
In relation to evangelism and missions, the Good News
must still go to the Jewish people first. This
is not a matter of preference, but a matter
of God-ordained priority .
It has to do with the plan of God. It has to
do with the nature of the Chosen People. It
is connected to the covenant that God made with
Abraham. It is in the outworking of the Abrahamic
Covenant in this area that the local congregation
can appropriate certain blessings, for in giving
the Gospel to the Jew first, the Church is blessing
the Jews.
There
are certain blessings that the local church
will always have as long as the Gospel is preached
and the local congregation stands true to the
fundamentals of the Faith. However, there are
some blessings that are based on other conditions.
The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant, available
to the local congregation, are conditioned upon
the congregation’s blessing the Jewish people,
by presenting the Good News to the Jew first,
actively and passively, both through direct
evangelism and by financial support and by prayer.
Then the local church can legitimately appropriate
the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant - blessings
that can’t be obtained any other way. By being
faithful to the God-ordained priority of Jewish
evangelism, the Church will be empowered. By
blessing the Jews with the Good News, the Church
will be blessed. Shouldn’t every church, and
every individual, and the entire Church of God,
want those blessings? Maybe then the Church
of the 21st century will enjoy the same kind
of wisdom, power, purity, unity and zeal that
the Apostolic Church enjoyed in the first century,
and we will turn our world upside down - to
His glory!
