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The thing that separates Jesus and makes Him unique is His universal mission outside the boundaries of covenant Israel.

Upon Jesus’ soon to be departure He tells His followers to go into all the nations and make disciples of men. This may seem ironic based on the life of Christ and though to them perhaps they saw its immediate application to the Diaspora yet later a fuller revelation would occur to its application as Paul would become the chief apostle to the gentiles.

Nevertheless Jesus message was first to the Jew because they had been prepared as a  priestly nation interceding and declaring the glory of G-d to the nations Exodus 19:6. Their time on earth was seen as an internship of sorts preparing them for their occupational and intercessory role as being the priests of G-d.

No other messianic figure in all of Jewish history has so impacted the world as Jesus. There has not even been a worthy rival to his title and position as Messiah among the ranks of the Messianic hopefuls seen throughout the course of Israel’s past and present. Yet the inclusion of the gentiles into the kingdom of G-d would be the touchstone in defining the uniqueness of His ministry.

G-d didn’t just create a Messiah for just the Jewish people while leaving out the gentiles in reserving them to kindle the fires of hell. Nor are there two Messiahs one for the Jews and the other for the gentiles. Either Jesus is the Messiah for all or He is the Messiah for no one. Jesus would be the ultimate representative as the seed of Abraham in blessing all the nations. This blessing would incorporate the unification of both Jew and gentile into a godly and a chosen nation.

Again its seems ironic when looking at the scriptures that Jews do not take seriously their role in sharing and communicating their faith to outsiders who are considered beyond the fringes of the covenant community. There has been a degree of shunning as if to protect their coveted rights as a people with respect to the promises of G-d maintaining a sense of exclusivity in having a monopoly on G-d. There were some Jews who took this biblical mandate seriously from the L-rd which resulted in non Jews becoming apart of the religious community.  We see this from the Tanakh which speaks of the “Court of the Gentiles” as a place of worship within the temple precincts and how these gentile G-d fearers and converts to Judaism were meeting in the synagogue on the Sabbath. We also see Jesus referencing the  Pharisees in their concern for proselytizing in that they would encompass both land and sea to win a convert.

Today conversion is seen as  a necessary evil in order to combat complete assimilation and the loss of the Jewish identity which has resulted from mixed marriages or intermarriage between Jews and non Jews.

So not only have the Jews forsaken their calling as a nation of  priests but they have neglected to see the purpose of their chief Messianic representative as having a concern for the nations.

As you read through these scriptures you will see the obvious care that G-d has for preserving all nations under his rule and reign and this is happening today on a worldwide or universal scale.

In Isaiah 11:10 we see how that the Messiah will stand as a banner for the peoples and how that the nations will rally to Him. In Isaiah 42:6-7 the Messiah would be a covenant for the people( Israel) and a light to the Gentiles in opening the eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.  We also see  an illumination taking place among the nations starting from the Galilee of the Gentiles extending to the ends of the earth.

In Isaiah 49:6 it states “It is too small a thing for you too be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and brink back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

Just to think that a gentile world would accept or swear allegiance to a foreign representative or Messiah who has been removed from his physical entry on the earth for 2000 years is psychologically mind boggling. Usually people choose leaders from among their own group yet Jesus has gained for himself a  world wide gathering from people who have often shared hostility and anti-Semitic behavior towards the Jewish people. Combine this with the brevity of time and the limited geographical influence that He had while walking on this planet and it is astounding in scope.

Jesus is the most influential Jew to have ever touched humanity. Some people may argue this in a negative sense because of so called Christian persecution but these people who identified themselves as Christians were not the disciples of Christ and they were misguided in their evil acts and hate crimes.  Nevertheless I believe that G-d has worked uniquely through his Son in fulfilling biblical prophecy which is undeniably verifiable. My challenge to you is that you will not allow G-d’s inclusion of the gentiles to be a a stumbling block for your belief as a Jew . Just consider the glorious union and peace that would result from this new covenant community of believers  that would be united in their love for G-d and each other. The new testament defines this relationship of unity as  being bound together as one new man by breaking down the walls of hostility, Ephesians 2:14.

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 22nd, 2009 at 8:18 pm and is filed under English. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.