In the middle of a very busy afternoon the phone rang
and the voice on the other end identified herself as the director of a local Christian
counseling center. She proceeded to tell me that she was talking to a young Jewish
man who had wandered in, and she wondered if I had anything that might be
helpful to him.
As I listened to this counseling center director, I
immediately thought of a cassette tape I possessed, which contained a teaching entitled
“How to Introduce a Jew to the Messiah.” It was by a Messianic rabbi named
Manny Brotman who, at that time, pastored a Messianic congregation in Washington,
D.C.
I pulled the tape off the shelf and rushed to the
counselling center where Elaine, the director, introduced me to the young man.
I shook his hand, gave him the tape, and went on my way. It was one event in a
very busy day, and I soon forgot about it. Many years later I would learn the significance
of that moment.
This was 1980 and Sue and I were pastoring a new
congregation in her hometown of Saint John, New Brunswick in eastern Canada. The
years went by and 13 years later we were living in Tulsa, OK. During a ministry
trip to Ontario, Canada, I preached on a particular Sunday morning in a church pastored
by the well-known Canadian evangelist, Bill Prankard.
I preached to a packed-out congregation that morning
and after the service a young man came up to me with big smile on his face,
stuck out his hand and asked, “Do you remember me?” It was obvious he felt a
strong connection with me and I felt somewhat embarrassed that I did not
recognize him.
I shook his hand and replied, “I am sorry that I don’t
recognize you. What is your name?” He told me his name, and I was even more embarrassed
because I did not remember his name. He then asked, “Do you remember giving a
young Jewish man a cassette tape in Saint John, New Brunswick years ago?”
It all came back to me and I replied, “Oh yes, I remember.”
He said, “That was me and the message on that tape was exactly what I needed to
hear.” He went on to say, “I am now pastoring a Messianic congregation in Toronto
and I saw an ad in the newspaper where you would be speaking here today.”
At this point he gestured to several rows of people
seated near us and said, “Since we had our service yesterday [Saturday], I
brought my entire congregation here today to hear you speak.”
I was astounded that day and I am still amazed when I
consider how that small seed, which I planted that day, produced such a
harvest. It is also a reminder that every Christian should be equipped to "introduce a Jew to the Messiah.”
Manny Brotman’s approach in introducing a Jew to the
Messiah was to show the many Old Testament prophecies of a coming Messiah King
and how they had all been fulfilled in Jesus. The prophecies are very detailed,
predicting the place he would be born, that He would a descendant of David, many
details concerning his death, that He would suffer and die for the sins of His
people, and that He would rise from the dead.
This was also Paul’s modus operandi for sharing
the Gospel with the Jews of his day. Luke describes this in Acts 17:2-3 where he
recounts Paul’s ministry in the Jewish synagogue in Thessalonica. He wrote,
Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for
three Sabbath days reasoned with the from the Scriptures, explaining and
demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and
saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.”
Since there was no New Testament at the time, the “Scriptures”
Paul is using to make his argument about Jesus are the Old Testament Scriptures.
Using persuasive arguments from the Old Testament is how the 1st century church presented the Gospel to the Jewish people.
Sadly, this modus operandi changed as the
church became Romanized and gained political power beginning with the Roman
emperor, Constantine. With the power of the empire behind her, the medieval
church now relied on political force rather than reasonable arguments from Scripture
to convert both pagans and Jews.
For example, the Catholic Inquisition targeted Jews
and gave them the option of converting to Christianity or being put to death
with the sword. The Crusades were military expeditions organized to free the
Holy Land from the Muslims. However, in their journeys, these “Christian”
crusaders murdered Jews wherever they found them, considering them to be “Christ-killers”
and enemies of the gospel.
Such Jew-hatred has been all too common throughout history
from those who called themselves “Christian.” Sir John Acton was right when he declared,
“Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This was certainly true
of the medieval church which became deeply corrupted with its newfound political
power, which had nothing to do with Jesus and the New Testament. Pope Leo
should publicly apologize for these atrocities.
These historical atrocities help explain why many Jews
today have a mental block towards Christianity. In their minds, Christianity is
associated with bigotry, prejudice, and violent oppression. We all have the responsibility
of changing this perception by demonstrating by word and deed what true
Christianity is all about.
I am convinced that many Jews today can be brought to
Christ if we show them the love of the real Christ and present the Gospel to
them following the pattern laid out by Manny Brotman and Paul the Apostle—showing
them how Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament Messianic prophecies.
This will have an added benefit for when we become
equipped to “introduce a Jew to the Messiah” we will also be equipped to present
a profound rational argument for the truthfulness of Scripture and the Gospel
message to anyone. This is so because fulfilled prophecy is one of the most
powerful pieces of evidence for the accuracy and trustworthiness of Scripture.
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