|
Today's Quote
|
|
Today's Verse
|
|
Daily Wisdom
|
In Matthew 5:17 Jesus makes it clear that he did not come to abolish but to fulfill the Old Law. One thing that it is difficult for us to understand is that Jesus was not a Christian -- he was a Jew. Jesus' preaching was to Jews, not Gentiles. On only rare occasion did he ever talk to Gentiles. He stated quite clearly that his mission was to Jews (Matthew 15:24), and he first sent his twelve out to Jews alone (Matthew 10:5, 6).
After the church was started, the early followers of Jesus were all Jews and worshipped in the temple and synagogues. In Acts 9:2, when Paul went to Damascus to bind followers of Jesus and send them to Jerusalem, he was going to the synagogues to find them. Jesus did not come to establish a new religion. He came to fulfill the promise made to Abraham (Genesis 12:3).
Jews did not have to stop being Jews to become followers of Jesus, they just had to adjust to a new approach to God. For about 13 years there were no Gentiles in the church. It was finally in the first Gentile congregation in Antioch that followers called themselves Christians (Acts 11:26).
Acts is a story of the struggle between Jew and Gentile Christians. Jews wanted Gentiles to become Jews when they became Christians (Acts 15:1) and Gentile Christians wanted Jews to become Gentiles when they became Christians, this is suggested in Acts 21:21. Christianity, however, does not demand cultural change. Paul never forgot his Jewish roots. In Acts 23:6, he wrote, "I am a Pharisee." He did not say that he used to be, but that he was. Timothy, whose mother was a Jew, had not been circumcised. Paul had him circumcised. He made him more Jewish after he became a Christian than he had been before. On the other hand he would not allow a Gentile, Titus, to be circumcised.
People do not have to give up their cultures to become followers of Jesus. God can sanctify any culture. The important thing is to follow.
