Congregation Shema Yisrael
Articles
Download this article as a PDF
Neither Jew nor Greek
by James Pyles
The title of this article could also be "Neither Jew nor Gentile" and it is translated that way in some Bibles, but the point is the same. In Galatians 3:26-29, Paul appears to be referencing both Jewish and non-Jewish people when he says:
For in union with the Messiah, you are all children of G-d through this trusting faithfulness; because as many of you as were immersed into the Messiah have clothed yourselves with the Messiah, in whom there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free man, neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah Yeshua, you are all one. Also, if you belong to the Messiah, you are seed of Abraham and heirs according to the promise.
I'm writing this article in response to what I see as a disturbing trend in some "Messianic" or "One Law" congregations. The trend is to elevate the status of the Jewish congregational member over the Gentile congregational member. That is, the Jew is considered "better" than the Gentile. You may not have this experience in your congregation (I don't in mine) but it does exist.
I'm not going to name names or point fingers. Who they are is much less important than the message they are communicating to the world around us. While the entity called "Messianic Judaism" may be fragmented like a shattered windshield, people outside our movement and particularly in the traditional Christian Church will believe that the way one Messianic congregation operates is how we all do.
While this isn't actually the case, any behavior by one Messianic congregation that is less than Biblically oriented will be attributed to us all. I'm writing this article to dispell that impression and also to take a stand.
You may be wondering at this juncture just what I'm talking about. Let me tell you what I've seen and heard. Most Messianic congregations contain a mix of Jewish and Gentile members. The vast, vast majority of the Jewish members typically have not been raised either religously or ethnically Jewish. The vast, vast majority of the Jewish members have arrived at the Messianic congregation by way of the traditional Christian church. It is rare to have a member of a Messianic congregation who was raised by two Jewish parents, lived an ethnically Jewish lifestyle, and particularly who worshiped in a traditional rabbinical synagogue. So when a "real Jew" shows up at the door of a Messianic group, it can attract attention.
I say "real Jew" not because I draw a distinction between people who were raised traditionally "Jewish" vs. those who weren't, but because there are congregations who do make that distinction. I've seen leaders of some Messianic congregations give great attention and deference to an individual member who was raised a "real Jew" above all other members. I am aware of congregations and in fact whole Messianic "umbrella" organizations who prefer Jewish over Gentile members. In these congregations, the entire leadership is made up of Jewish members. Gentiles are "allowed" to join the congregation with the understanding that they will not have the same status as Jewish members and will never be placed in a position of responsibility in any way (no, I am not making this up).
I am also aware of Messianic congregations and organizations who specifically direct their Gentile members to undergo a formal conversion process to Judaism through a traditional, rabbinical synagogue. The intent ultimately, once 100% of the Messianic congregation has formally converted, is to attempt to legitimize "Messianic Judaism" as a "true" Judaism, along side Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform movements. This would have the benefit (if it works) of allowing members of those congregations to make Aliyah to Israel and to avoid the label "Jews for Jesus" which currently, traditional synagogues consider us (Messianic Judaism) to be.
At this point, I haven't presented any evidence that this trend is either right or wrong. Let's see how it lines up with the Bible. Consider Romans 1:16-17:
For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is G-d's powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile. For in it is revealed how G-d makes people righteous in His sight; from the beginning through the end, it is through trust...as the Tanakh puts it, "But the person who is righteous will live his life by trust (Habakkuk 2:4)".
Since Paul (or Shaul if you prefer) was specficially sent to the Gentiles as an Emissary of the Messiah, why go to "the Jews first"? The answer might be found in Matthew 10:5-6 when Yeshua said:
These twelve Yeshua sent out with the following instructions: "Don't go into the territory of the Gentiles, and don't enter any town in Shomron (Samaria), but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel".
This may make it seem that Yeshua cared only about the Jews and had little or no interest in the population of the rest of the Earth (which we know is completely untrue). Take a look at John 10:11-16:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, since he isn't a shephard and the sheep aren't his own, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf drags them off and scatters them. The hired worker behaves like this because that's all he is, a hired worker; so it doesn't matter to him what happens to the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me...just as the Father knows me and I know the Father...and I lay down my life on behalf of the sheep. Also, I have other sheep which are not from this pen; I need to bring them, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
The "other sheep" mentioned in verse 16 is commonly believed to be the non-Jewish nations. Notice the phrase "I need to bring them, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd". We seem to be getting a picture that Yeshua's primary mission was to bring the "lost sheep of Israel" back to true faith in the Father but also that the Gentiles were to be included. After all, in Matthew 28:19-20, Yeshua's final words were:
Therefore, go and make people from all nations into talmidim (disciples), immersing them into the reality of the Father, the Son, and the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember! I will be with you always, yes, even until the end of the age.
Yeshua seems to be assigning the same priority to "evangelizing" as Paul..."to the Jew first, then to the Gentile". Does this mean that Jews had (and still have) a higher status or are more important than the Gentile believer? Are there two different "classes" or castes in the believing community with the Jews of a higher order than the Gentiles? I don't believe so. Refer to Galatians 3 again when Paul says in verse 28, "there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free man, neither male nor female; for in union with the Messiah Yeshua, you are all one".
So what does this mean and how do we reconcile this apparent contradiction? Is Paul saying (reversing himself from his position in his letter to the Romans) that Jews and Gentiles don't exist as separate things but have given up their distinctiveness relative to the Messiah? Not unless you believe the concepts (not to mention the biology) of male and female ceased to exist and all believers are androgenous beings (which I'm sure you realize we are not). So does that mean there is a status difference between men and women mirroring the (supposed) status difference between Jews and Gentiles? I don't believe so. Let's take a look at gender differences in the context of marriage.
There are some believing men out there that misapply Ephesians 5:21-24 for the purpose of getting whatever they personally want out of their wives, rather than to serve G-d:
Submit to one another in fear of the Messiah. Wives should submit to their husbands as they do to the L-rd; because the husband is the head of the wife, just as the Messiah, as head of the Messianic Community (church), is himself the one who keeps the body safe. Just as the Messianic Community submits to the Messiah, so also wives submit to their husbands in everything.
That sounds pretty spooky on the surface but most guys who think this is a license to order their wives around aren't really paying attention. Verse 21 states, "Submit to one another in fear of the Messiah". At this point, Paul is addressing the Messianic Community (and specifically the Ephesians) without reference to gender. Also, most fellows don't go on to read verses 25-30:
As for husbands, love your wives, Just as the Messiah loved the Messianic Community, indeed, gave himself up (was tortured and died) on its behalf, in order to set it apart for G-d, making it clean through immersion in the mikvah (ritual cleansing in flowing water), so to speak, in order to present the Messianic Community to himself as a bride to be proud of, without a spot, wrinkle, or any such thing (consider the requirements for the Passover lamb), but holy and without defect. This is how husbands ought to love their wives...like their own bodies; for the man who loves his wife is loving himself. Why, no one ever hated his own flesh! On the contrary, he feeds it well and takes care of it, just as the Messiah does the Messianic Community, because we are parts of his body.
In other words, the door swings both ways. Wives are required to submit to their husbands as the Messianic community submits to each other and to the Messiah, and husbands are to care for their wives, even to the point of dying for them in order to love and protect them. Often those men who misapply these sections in Ephesians 5 are not loving their wives "even unto death" and so I imagine there's not much for a wife to "submit to" in that case.
Has anything in the passages from Ephesians 5 implied a difference in status between men and women? No. I think the best we can say is that there is a difference in roles between husbands and wives and that those roles are interrelated. In order for husbands and wives to fulfill their Biblical roles in relationship to one another, both parties must hold up their ends. If one party (either the husband or the wife) fails to meet their obligation, the relationship is at least crippled if not destroyed.
We could imply a difference in status between "slave and free man" or "slave and master" but that status difference does not seem to apply to the relationship between the believer and Yeshua any more than the marital relationships or Jewish and Gentile relationships. In fact revisiting Ephesians 5:21, we (believers regardless of who we are) should submit to each other, apparently regardless to being male, female, Jewish, Gentile, slave, free man. As far as the issue of ancient slavery goes, the slave would be subservient to the master in day-to-day life with authority flowing only in one direction, but within the context of the Messianic Community and in the eyes of the Messiah, both slave and master were considered on equal footing, being subservient to each other and to Yeshua.
So now, back to "the Jew first and then the Gentile". If within our faith the "playing field" is level between Jewish and Gentile believers, why the distinction that Paul makes in Romans? Consider the following passages:
Exodus 19:5-6: Now if you obey Me fully and keep My covenant, then out of all nations you will be My treasured possession. Although the whole earth is Mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
Deuteronomy 14:2: For you are a people holy to the L-rd your G-d. Out of all the peoples on the face of the Earth the L-rd has chosen you to be His treasured possession.
Psalm 100:3: Know that the L-rd is G-d. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
In the passage from Exodus, the Father is addressing Moses on "the Mountain of G-d" and telling Moses what he is to tell to the Children of Israel (which includes the non-Jewish "mixed multitude"). The verse from Deuteronomy 14 is part of Moses' farewell message to the Children of Israel (which includeds the children of the non-Jewish "mixed multitude") at the banks of the Jordan river, not long before Joshua would lead them into Canaan to take possession of the "Promised Land". Psalm 100 was written to accompany the thanksgiving (todah) offering before the Almighty and in context, refers to any Jew or Gentile agreeing to obey the Almighty's Torah (consider how Ruth "converted" to Judaism).
Some translations of Deuteronomy 14:2 say "...a treasured, splendorous people". The nation of Israel was and is to be a "light to the nations". It's as if the Almighty had said to them, "To you, the Children of Israel, I am giving a very special gift for safekeeping...my holy Torah and particularly the keeping of the Shabbat. You may freely use this gift but guard it carefully...for one day, this gift will be freely available not only to the Jew, but to the Gentile nations and in fact, to everyone who accepts it".
Please remember that those words above are mine and I do not claim that they are expressed exactly as they are anywhere in the Bible. That said, I do believe that those words correctly paraphrase various parts of the Bible and the intent of the Almighty towards the Jewish nation and towards the world. When Yeshua sent his disciples to the "lost sheep of Israel", it's because Israel as a people had lost their vision and purpose. Corruption in the religious hierarchy of Yeshua's day had blurred the meaning of the Torah and added incredible burdens on the common Jew that the Almighty had never intended when he gave the Torah to Moses. Yeshua sent his disciples to the "lost sheep of Israel" to give the true meaning of the Torah to G-d's "kingdom of priests and holy nation". For Israel to be that "light to the world", the lamp had to be rekindled before it could shine upon the nations. That, in my opinion, is why Paul went "first to the Jew and then to the Gentile". He went first to the light the shammash (to borrow from Chanukah) and then to ignite the other lamps of the Menorah.
Now you are probably saying to yourself that many, many Jews did not accept Yeshua as Messiah and therefore were not the lamps, kingdom of priests, or holy nation. True, on an individual basis, many Jews did not accept the Messiah...but many did (Acts 2:41 for example). Paul's job and in fact the job of every one of the Messiah's disciples was to give all Jews the opportunity of accepting their position and role relative to G-d, the Torah and Yeshua (our "Living Torah"). Whoever would accept it would accept and whoever wouldn't accept, wouldn't. This also goes for Gentile pagans. Certainly not all Gentiles accepted the Good News, either back then or now, so you can't specifically "nail" the Jews alone on this point.
The Jewish people do have a special status and role assigned to them by the Almighty but they were never intended to be superior or better than the non-Jews. Paul in his letter to the Romans 11:16-24 uses the famous "olive branch" illustration to show us that regardless of being a Jewish or Gentile believer, it is faith that attaches all of us to the root. Loss of faith results in the believer being removed from the root and establishing faith results in the branch being attached (or reattached). Jews and Gentiles are equal but our distinctiveness remains, just as men and women remain "distinct" (biologically, physiologically...) in the body of faith. Elevating the Jews to a "higher status" in the body is not Biblically supported and in fact is disobediance to G-d's word. Putting only Jews in congregational leadership roles or converting to rabbinical Judaism adds nothing to the life of the believer or the body of the Messiah. G-d made us who we are, Jew and Gentile alike. I, as a Gentile believer in the Messiah am quite alright with that. After all, like my Jewish brethern, I was made in the Father's image (Genesis 1:26).
As it says on the home page of Congregation Shema Yisrael's website: "We are a group of Jews and Gentiles who gather together in peace to worship the Almighty and His Son, our Messiah, Yeshua". What's important to us isn't our differences. Yes, of course we have them and we are all appreciated for what we bring to the body, but that's not the main point. It's more important that we are all part of that one same body and that we all bring our individual distinctiveness to the service of our L-rd and Master as disciples of Yeshua the Messiah.
Shalom.
