Orthodox Rabbis Bring Jesus Home for Christmas

Thursday, December 24, 2015 |  David Lazarus

아래의 내용은 위의 제목에서 알 수 있듯이, 유대교 내부에서 어떤 일들이 지금 일어나고 있는지 보여줍니다. 첨부에 보다 자세한 전문을 참조할 수 있습니다.

갈 3:28-29

"너희는 유대인이나 헬라인이나 종이나 자유인이나 남자나 여자나 다 그리스도 예수 안에서 하나이니라. 너희가 그리스도의 것이면 곧 아브라함의 자손이요 약속대로 유업을 이을 자니라"

롬 11:25-36:

"11:25 형제들아 너희가 스스로 지혜 있다 하면서 이 신비를 너희가 모르기를 내가 원하지 아니하노니 이 신비는 이방인의 충만한 수가 들어오기까지 이스라엘의 더러는 우둔하게 된 것이라 .  그리하여 온 이스라엘이 구원을 받으리라. 기록된 바 구원자가 시온에서 오사 야곱에게서 경건하지 않은 것을 돌이키시겠고 내가 그들의 죄를 없이 할 때에 그들에게 이루어질 내 언약이 이것이라 함과 같으니라. 복음으로 하면 그들이 너희로 말미암아 원수 된 자요 택하심으로 하면 조상들로 말미암아 사랑을 입은 자라. 하나님의 은사와 부르심에는 후회하심이 없느니라. 너희가 전에는 하나님께 순종하지 아니하더니 이스라엘이 순종하지 아니함으로 이제 긍휼을 입었는지라. 이와 같이 이 사람들이 순종하지 아니하니 이는 너희에게 베푸시는 긍휼로 이제 그들도 긍휼을 얻게 하려 하심이라. 하나님이 모든 사람을 순종하지 아니하는 가운데 가두어 두심은 모든 사람에게 긍휼을 베풀려 하심이로다.  깊도다 하나님의 지혜와 지식의 풍성함이여, 그의 판단은 헤아리지 못할 것이며 그의 길은 찾지 못할 것이로다. 누가 주의 마음을 알았느냐 누가 그의 모사가 되었느냐. 누가 주께 먼저 드려서 갚으심을 받겠느냐. 이는 만물이 주에게서 나오고 주로 말미암고 주에게로 돌아감이라 그에게 영광이 세세에 있을지어다. 아멘" 
 

More than 25 prominent rabbis from Israel and abroad recently issued a statement calling for a renewed look at Jesus, Christians and the New Testament faith. Quoting from their own sages, these outstanding  Orthodox rabbis are not ashamed to exalt the name of Jesus, welcoming the carpenter from Nazareth back into the Jewish fold.

“Jesus brought a double goodness to the world,” declare the group of well-known rabbis.  “On the one hand he strengthened the Torah of Moses majestically…  and not one of our Sages spoke out more emphatically concerning the immutability of the Torah,” and on the other hand “he removed idols from the nations.” 

Saying that Jesus, even more that any other Jewish Sage, honored, strengthened and protected the “immutability of the Torah,” is an extraordinary acknowledgement. These leading rabbis are turning the tides of history by removing one of the main stumbling blocks in the path of a major Jewish reclamation of Jesus!

You will recall, that religious Jews rejected Jesus from the beginning, with the accusation that he did not obey the Torah, therefore he could not be the awaited Messiah. In the New Testament, we find the Pharisees arguing with Jesus over Sabbath rules, dietary laws, ritual cleanliness, marriage regulations and more. They insisted that Jesus cannot be the Messiah because “he is teaching everywhere not to obey Moses.” (Acts 6:14) 

What we are now witnessing is the undoing of 2,000 years of Jewish rejection and animosity towards Jesus, a miracle by any estimation. For the out-and-out refusal by Jews to accept Jesus is slowly, but surely, coming to an end, as growing numbers of prestigious Orthodox rabbis welcome Jesus back.

And there is more. “After nearly two millennia of mutual hostility and alienation, we Orthodox Rabbis who lead communities, institutions and seminaries in Israel, the United States and Europe… seek to do the will of our Father in Heaven by accepting the hand offered to us by our Christian brothers and sisters,” the statement reads.

Two thousand years of Christian Anti-Semitism, Crusades, Inquisitions and a Holocaust can not keep the Star of Bethlehem from rising again in Israel. This call by these distinguished rabbis to embrace Christians as “brothers and sisters” is no less a miracle. For Jews to accept Christians with such endearment, after so much misunderstanding and anti-Semitic ugliness, can only be understood as a divine work of heavenly grace, the likes of which I find unfathomable.

For as this group of Orthodox rabbis points out, it is their “Father in Heaven” who is calling the Jewish people to lay down the past, put aside the enmity, and willingly embrace Christians and their faith in Jesus. That, my friends, is the deeper work of the Holy Spirit as spoken about throughout Scripture. 

As Rabbi Dr. Eugene Korn, Academic Director of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding& Cooperation points out, “This proclamation’s breakthrough is that influential Orthodox rabbis across all centers of Jewish life have finally acknowledged that…  Christianity and Judaism have much in common spiritually and practically. Given our toxic history, this is unprecedented in Orthodoxy.”

In their statement, the rabbis want to find a way to acknowledge the differences between Christian and Jewish beliefs, without taking, or giving, offense. “As did Maimonides and Yehudah Halevi, we acknowledge that Christianity is neither an accident nor an error, but the willed divine outcome and gift to the nations. In separating Judaism and Christianity, G-d willed a separation between partners with significant theological differences, not a separation between enemies,” the statement concludes.

These so-called “significant theological differences” between Christianity and Judaism are really about Jesus. He is the stumbling block. Jesus may be Messiah, Son of the Living God for the Gentiles, but my Jewish people are still not quite sure just who he is for them. So while these rabbis are making major and unprecedented strides in bringing my people closer to Jesus, they are still far from the truth. For if Jesus is the Messiah for the Gentiles, how much more must he be for the Jews?

Perhaps Jesus will not quite be at home this Christmas in Israel, or Jewish homes around the world, but he is certainly knocking on the door.