Thursday 4 December 2014

Beloved for the Fathers' Sakes

Recently I said to the Lord that I desired opportunities to share JESUS with Jewish people. 

A couple of days later a friend's car wouldn't start. So we called for roadside assistance. 

The breakdown mechanic came. He said the car needed a new battery. I haggled with him a bit for a good price, then my friend agreed to buy the new battery off him.

He installed it, and when he finished my friend asked him:

"Is there anything we can pray for you about?"

I was surprised by her boldness.

He seemed to like it, but he answered, "I'm Jewish". 

I felt delighted and told him how much we love Jews!

He seemed pleasantly surprised to hear it.

(Upon hearing that he was Jewish, I privately delighted in the irony that I'd just haggled with him for a good price!)

"Jesus was Jewish, did you know," he told us.

Yes, we said smiling, hardly able to contain how happy we were to have met a Jew. 

An Orthodox Jew.

"We believe the Messiah is still to come," he said.

Wanting to establish common ground with him, I said:

"Yes. God promised Abraham that in his seed all nations of the earth would be blessed. 

'Seed' singular, the promise said - not seeds plural. 

That was the promise of the Messiah."

He nodded, his eyes expressing thoughtfulness and agreement - and enjoyment of what was happening.

So he asked if we would give him a moment to log-off the job, so he could continue the conversation with us without any time-restraints.

He quickly did so, then got back out of his vehicle and joined us again on the footpath.

"The prophet Malachi wrote that the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to His Temple," I continued. 

"That Temple ceased to exist in AD70," I said, "So the prophecy [about Messiah coming] had to be fulfilled before then - or else the prophecy forever lost its opportunity to be fulfilled." 

He listened.

"And the prophet Daniel wrote that seventy sevens would transpire from the moment the decree was issued to build the Temple until the Messiah would come, and certain other things. 

The 'sevens' likely meant years," I said, "490 years".

He nodded.

"That would take us up to the time of Jesus. So the promised-Messiah had to arrive on the scene in Israel within the generation in which Jesus lived, or else the Scripture failed," I said.

Silence. 

"Daniel went on to foretell that after Messiah's arrival, the Temple would shortly afterwards be destroyed and the Jews would be scattered all over the world.

Since that all happened around AD70 - the Messiah had to come before then," I said. 

"Very interesting," he said, "Alright - you can pray for me."

So my friend and I laid our hands on him, he bowed his head - the three of us standing there on the footpath - and we prayed for him to the Father in the Name of the LORD Jesus Christ.

I told him again that we absolutely love Jews.

"So much that's good in this world can be traced back to Jews," I said (thinking especially of the Lord Jesus, and the Apostles who first went out into all the world and preached the Gospel). 

He glanced at my friend. He could see love and life and joy in her.

We each felt it. The love of JESUS.

I was so glad my friend had spoken-up that night.

The Scriptures I shared couldn't have been used to make the impact they made, had I seen their fulfilment as future rather than fulfilled.

And ever since then I've kept meeting more Jews.

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