Anti-Semitism Perverts the Gospel

As a conservative Christian, my online social groups lean right, and like anyone paying attention, I have noticed an explosion of anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish material over the last few months. It seems young men have lost their ethical grounding, and are willing to look to any strong, authoritative movement for guidance. Unfortunately, this movement is consolidating around hatred for Jews instead of the love for Christ. I believe in free speech, and support their right to continue posting their content. However, they do not have the right to falsely invoke the Bible to justify these positions.

While Christianity distinguishes between the Old and New Covenants, God's promise to love the Jewish people is unambiguously an everlasting covenant. For God said to Abraham, "I will maintain my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout the ages as an everlasting covenant, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you" (Genesis 17:7).

This favor continues into the New Covenant with Jesus Christ, who delivered the message of salvation first to the Jewish people. Jesus was a Jew, who took exclusively Jewish disciples, to preach his gospel to Jews, as the Jewish Messiah. To think Jesus hated Jews or Judaism is an unconscionable perversion of his message. Jesus battled with various types of Jewish behavior and thought, but this was an inner disagreement among Jews, not a denouncement of Judaism.

For example, when Jesus denounces the Scribes and Pharisees, he makes it clear that it's because of their hypocritical behavior, not because their "Jewishness" makes them inherently antagonistic. In fact, Jesus instructs the crowd to "observe all things whatsoever they tell you" because "[they] have taken their seat on the chair of Moses" (Matthew 23:1–4).

Jesus made it clear that his earthly ministry was directed to Jews. When Jesus heals a Canaanite woman's daughter, he states "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 15:24). When Jesus commissions the disciples, he tells them "Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10:5–6).

The gospel of Jesus Christ was explicitly one of repentance and faith (Mark 1:15), not one of violence or ethnic disparagement. Even when Jesus is crucified, he asks God to forgive his perpetrators (Luke 23:34).

After Christ's death, the disciples went to preach the Gospel to everyone, including non-Jews. The primary Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, refers to himself as a Jew numerous times (Acts 21:39, Acts 22:3, Galatians 2:15), identifies himself with Israel (Romans 11:1, Philippians 3:5), and acknowledges companion Jews as "co-workers for the kingdom of God" (Colossians 4:10–11). It is evident that when Paul speaks negatively about Jews (1 Thessalonians 2:14–16) he is referring specifically to those "who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us" and not to all Jews. Otherwise, he would not have referred to himself as a Jew, nor admit Jews into the congregation.

Even with respect to Jews who disbelieve the Gospel, Paul confirms they are beloved by God, "In respect to the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but in respect to election, they are beloved because of the patriarchs. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:28–29). It is important to note that the distinction between ethnic and religious Judaism cannot serve as an explanatory outlet to distort Paul. For the clear distinction between ethnic and religious Judaism is a modern conception foreign to the first century. Proof of this is that Paul refers to the Israelites, a geographic population, as those whose hearts have hardened, but this passage is in clear reference to a theological position, that is to say the religious Jews. The ethnic and religious foundations of Judaism were intertwined at this period in history. Thus, to Paul, Jews remain dear God and to misrepresent Paul as anti-Jewish is to do violence to the text.

The Church must vigorously reject the modern anti-Semitic movement. It is a false gospel preached to men disillusioned by modern issues. But, no matter the time period, the Gospel of Christ remains true and unwavering, and His call for repentance and faith remains open to all; "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).