Returning to the Judaic Roots of the Christian Faith
by William F. Cheshire, Jr., M.D.

"There is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones,and I am wearily with forbearing, and I cannot contain" Jeremiah 20:9 (ASV)

What would it take to make a reserved Episcopalian like myself dance the horah in church? That is exactly what happened when I attended the recent Restoration Foundation seminar on the Hebrew Foundations of Christian Faith. The shofar sounded, and Gentile and Jewish Christians joined hands in fellowship, worshipping and praising Jesus the Messiah.

STEPS RETRACED

Could it be that Christianity has left behind part of its authentic heritage of Biblical Judaism? Both the Old and the New Testaments are a Jewish testimony of God's intervention into history. To know God as he chooses to reveal himself in his Word requires us to understand also the legacy of the Jews. Although a Gentile myself, in reading the Bible, God's love for the people of Israel overflows into my heart. And while this stirs in me an interest in things Jewish, I have had difficulty reconciling in my own mind the enigmatic relationship between the church and Israel. Separating them is a rupture in the communion of faith spanning two thousand years. The verdict of history would seem to declare that the rift is beyond repair. But the one true God is able literally "to reconcile to himself all things...by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:20). The more improbable the harmony, the more wondrous will be God's glory when he has "made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility" (Ephesians 2:14).

HIS ROOTS SHALL BEAR FRUIT

The time has come for us to restore the Judaic roots of our Christian faith. Our two Testaments are but one unfolding revelation from one God. Recall Paul's illustration in Romans 11 of the Gentile believers having been grafted into the spiritual line of Jewish patriarchs like wild branches to a cultivated olive tree. Our faith is nourished by Jewish roots. this is how God sees us.

The New Testament is incomprehensible apart from its foundation in the Old Testament and completes in the life of Jesus dozens of Jewish prophecies written centuries earlier. Jesus proclaims in John 4:22 that "salvation is from the Jews. He also tells us that he did not invent a new religion: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Matthew 5:17), and "Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms" (Luke 24:44). When we seek God's face, we find the Jewish face of Jesus (Yeshua). This is how God wants us to see him.

I would encourage anyone interested in church origins to rediscover the Judaic design underlying the Gospel. Hidden in the Old Testament narrative are truths that prepare our hearts and minds to discern God's plan of salvation. The Shabbat, the feasts, the Hebraic style of prayer, and the history of God's covenant with Israel are not mere time-honored traditions. Much more, they are divinely ordained foreshadowings that anticipate the Messiah and instruct us in our Christian faith.

The Author of life has woven the Scriptures together with symbols that converge in Christ Jesus. For example, the substitutionary sacrifice of the lamb, in place of Isaac and again at the Passover, and God's requirement that the lamb be without blemish - these all help us to comprehend Christ's ultimate atonement for our sins.

The New Testament writers thought Hebraically, which we must also learn to do if we are truly to understand their message. Just as Hebrew monotheism as strikingly distinct from paganism in Biblical times, our Hebrew spiritual roots are relevant today. This is especially true as we face neopagan influences tracing back to Greek and Roman philosophy and rising once more in secular humanism and in the new age cults. The Hebrew viewpoint values relationships over abstractions, relies on revelation instead of rational self-sufficiency, walks by faith rather than by sight, and regards the physical and the spiritual as an integrated whole. The Hebrew faith also knows a passion that is too seldom expressed in Christian worship. We, too, can express our faith and devotion in the same way as Jesus and the apostles.

THE EVERLASTING COVENANT

Has God forsaken his covenant with modern Jews? Moses knew that God would remain faithful and that his mercy was too great to allow sin to separate his chosen people from his promised blessing (Exodus 32:9-14). Psalm 105 reminds us that "He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, "the everlasting covenant." His word is the same now; "I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed" (Malachi 3:6). The words of Isaiah 44:1-2, 21 still beckon: "But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."

As Jewish as the earlier covenant, the new covenant of our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 22:20) was prophesied by Jeremiah (31:31) and originally formed "with the house of Israel and the house of Judah" (Hebrews 8:8). Jesus' intention was not to cut off the heirs to the earlier covenant but to extend salvation to everyone who believes, so that we can be justified from everything one could not be justified from by the law of Moses (Acts 13:38-39). Through the new covenant the Holy Spirit writes the law on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33), rather than on stones as at Mt. Sinai. Jesus tells us that, "the Holy Spirit, whom the father will send in my name, will teach you all things" (John 14:25). We find the same faith in King David, who said, "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart" (Psalm 40:8).

Salvation was also granted to the Gentiles, fulfilling the prophetic plan beginning in Genesis 12:3 with God's promise to Abraham, "and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Paul tells us, "If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29). Again he imparts in Ephesians 3:6, "This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus." In Romans 11, Paul admonishes us as ingrafted branches not to be arrogant toward our Jewish spiritual roots. We may rejoice that the Jewish Messiah has become "a light for the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6), and that his blood has sprinkled many nations, bringing salvation to all the ends of the earth to those who call on his name. (Isaiah 49:6; 52:10-15; Acts 2:21).

A FRACTURED COVENANT?

God has not abandoned the Jews, but the church certainly has. Having strayed from Judaic roots, the traditions of the church have for too long permitted the hideous spirit of anti-Semitism to rear its head. Many Christians do not realize the full extent of atrocities committed from ancient times to the present against the Jewish people. Sadly, many of the perpetrators of repeated acts of cruelty to Jews misused the name of the Lord by claiming Christian motives, although the New Testament itself contains no anti-Semitism.

Moreover, the blame some have cast against all Jews for Christ's crucifixion is an ugly theological error that attempts to deceive Christians into undervaluing God's great mercy in the perfect redemptive act he completed at Calvary. Those who would presume to contradict Jesus' agonal prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34), risk rejecting Jesus' gift of salvation to themselves. Jesus also counsels us, "Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned...For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (Luke 6:37-38).

This long history of persecution has threatened the very existence of the Jewish people and weighs heavily upon the collective Jewish consciousness. Shouts of hatred have made deaf the Jews to the good news of their Messiah. False prophets have bludgeoned them with a perverted image of Jesus, devoid of love, disregarding redemption and drunk with ignorant condemnation and suspicion. Too many Christians have passively stood by while this has happened.

Entrenched behind the barricade of anti-Semitism, Jews have been blinded to the accuracy of Messianic prophesy in their own Scripture regarding Jesus Christ. Enmity has hardened their hearts, for example, to the precious meaning of Isaiah 53: "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering...He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed...the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

The Jewish exiles have held fast to their identity at a high cost because God called them to be a distinct people. Their survival despite repeated efforts to annihilate them is evidence that God is not done with them but has for them a special destiny in his plan of Messianic salvation.

Speaking to the "captive Daughter of Zion," The Lord says, "My people will know my name" (Isaiah 52:2,6). "With deep compassion I will bring you back. In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you...Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed" (Isaiah 54:7-10).

POURED OUT FOR MANY

Salvation has come to the Gentiles, Paul explains, in part "to make Israel envious," and if the Jews do not persist in unbelief, "God is able to graft them in again" (Romans 11:23). The apostle is telling us that we have a spiritual responsibility to God's ancient covenant people.

The Christian community faces two burdens in relation to the children of Israel. First, the Jewish people need to know that Christ brings love, and they will not know this until they see his light in our lives. Secondly, we must renounce anti-Semitism in every form including its insidious link with the historical church. Should not we who are in Christ lift the yoke of persecution from the shoulders of the Jewish people and refresh them with the truth of the Lord of the Sabbath? "The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light" (Romans 13:12).

MERCY ON THEM ALL

What kind of heart does God want for the church toward Israel? Psalm 102:13 appeals plainly, "You will arise and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to show favor to her, the appointed time has come." Isaiah (40:1-2,9) speaks to us: "Comfort, comfort my people, says your god. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for...You who bring good tidings to Zion, go up on a high mountain. You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with a shout, lift it up, do not be afraid; say to the towns of Judah, "Here is your God!"

Be peacemakers. Be humble and sincere. Open a dialogue with the Jewish people and learn about their history. Read the Old Testament. pray for them, and proclaim what their Messiah has done. "Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts" (Colossians 3:12-15).

RECONCILIATION APPROACHES

The Holy Spirit calls out to us. In this day Christians are reading the Word of God and are becoming interested in Biblical Judaism as never before. Increasing numbers of Jews are coming to faith and recognizing Jesus as the Messiah without need of abandoning their Jewishness. These events, although seemingly disconnected, are born of the same Spirit and are interrelated. I ask you to consider prayerfully that these could be the firstfruits of a great spiritual reconciliation possible only by God's mighty hand. Regarding what have been two flocks, Israel and the Gentiles, Jesus affirms that "there shall be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:16). Even now he is gathering his flocks together.

Take heed and slumber not! Paul tells us that "Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved...for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable" (Romans 11:25-29). And when the full number of the Gentiles has come into the faith, what then? And when the Jewish people have embraced their Messiah, Yeshua, what then? Remember Jesus' lament in Luke 13:34-35, "O, Jerusalem, Jerusalem...I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord."

As we look forward to the second coming of our Lord, let us make his paths straight by cherishing our Judaic roots and honoring the Jewish people. In this way we draw near to the reconciliation of the church and Israel that will hasten the return of the Messiah. We approach ever more rapidly that day when "you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Mark 14:62). Alleluia!

(Bible quotations are from the New International Version)

Dr. William Polk Cheshire, Jr. is an Episcopal layman whose family has been intimately associated with the Episcopal Church in North Carolina since it was first organized in 1701. As he cherishes his own religious roots, so he honors the heritage of the Jewish people. He is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Mayo Medical School and a Consultant in Neurology at Mayo Clink Jacksonville. He, his wife, Doris, and their two children attend the Church of the Redeemer in Jacksonville, Florida