Today we read from the following verses in the One Year Bible:
1 Samuel 1:1-2:21
John 5:1-23
Psalm 105:37-45
Proverbs 14:28-29
Let's look at John. Jesus goes to the Temple for a Jewish festival. Just stop and think about that. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph were Jewish. They were orthodox Jews, and celebrated the feasts and festivals just like all the other Jewish people did in their time. Sometimes we get the impression, I think, that Jesus was a Christian and the Jews were the evil people who killed Him. That's simplistic, wrong, and antithetical to everything Jesus taught us. Jesus DID (of course) found Christianity. But as a completion and fulfillment of Judaism (which He also created!), not as a condemnation or attack on it.
Even if Jewish people were our enemies (they're not), we are told to love our enemies. Our relationship with Judaism is that of a sibling. Jewish people today (who aren't Christians) haven't accepted that Jesus is the Messiah they are waiting for. Hating them, hurting them, and talking bad about them isn't loving them. Praying for them, being kind to them, and helping them experience the love of Jesus is what He's calling us to do. Jews didn't kill Jesus - the Bible actually says NO one killed Him - He gave His life willingly.
So let's love our Jewish brothers and sisters. Let's pray that they find Jesus as the Messiah they've been waiting for. And until they do - let's be kind.
God, thanks for teaching us that Jesus was Jewish.
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