What Christians Should Know About Jewish People

Recently, I spoke at a church that was hosting Jews for Jesus for the first time. The night before, I met with five of the pastoral staff for dinner, where I was asked, “David, what do Christians need to know about Jewish people?” What an excellent question! I appreciated it so much, and I wanted to share my answer with you.

Jewish people need Jesus.

First, Christians should know that Jewish people need Jesus.

It seems that the average person in the pew today is not at all certain about this. Some reason that since Jewish people were chosen by God before Jesus came to earth, they are saved by a pre-existing arrangement that does not include Him.

Jewish philosopher Franz Rosenzweig, in his seminal philosophical work, “Star of Redemption,” takes this position, arguing that while Gentiles needed Jesus, “The situation is quite different for one who does not have to reach the Father because he is already with him. And this is true of the people of Israel.”* This argument makes sense to people whose hearts have yet to be melted by Scripture, and whose worldviews have yet to be radically transformed by Jesus.

Some Christian leaders say that Jewish people have another way to be reconciled with God.

So how is it that some popular Bible-preaching Christian leaders have adopted similar points of view? Some actually say that Jewish people have another way to be reconciled with God, while others imply it by insisting that Christians should simply love the Jewish people and not be concerned about evangelizing them. I will not attempt to explain how or why they take this position. I will say what I think any Christian ought to do if they hear a respected pastor make such claims on television, YouTube, or some other platform: examine the claims of Jesus.

When Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6), He was speaking as a Jew to Jewish people. (The same can be said for John 3:16, John 5:22, and many other passages in the Gospels.) If Jesus’ claims did not apply to the Jewish people to whom He was speaking, they don’t apply to anyone. If Jesus is not the Jewish Messiah, then He can’t be the Savior of the world. I long for all Christians to have clarity about the fact that Jewish people need Jesus.

Many Jewish people do not have a biblical belief in God.

Christians also need to know that many Jewish people do not have a biblical belief in God. Many I meet assume that Jewish people know and believe the Hebrew Scriptures, and pretty much believe like Christians except, somehow, they don’t believe in Jesus yet. In fact, many Jews are atheists or agnostics. Others believe that while God may exist, He is not involved personally in our lives. The certainty of eternal life is even further outside the norm of Jewish expectation. I remember when I was a student at Moody Bible Institute going door-to-door in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood. A rabbi’s wife came to the door of one home I visited, and I asked a very standard evangelistic question, “Do you know where you will go when you die?” This dear woman answered me very directly, “Down the street to the cemetery.” She had no thought, much less hope, of an afterlife—and she was more familiar with the Jewish religion than most. The Jewish religion is rightly concerned with life here and now, but oftentimes wrongly dismisses the hope of the hereafter. Christians need to know that learning what others do or don’t believe is an important first step in sharing the gospel with anyone, including Jewish people.

Jewish people are still a people of divine destiny.

Finally, I want Christians to know that the Jewish people are still a people of divine destiny. God promised a future for the Jewish people that includes both physical and spiritual redemption, just as the prophets predicted and looked forward to so eagerly. If you want to know what God is doing in the world today, keep your eye on the Bible and on what God is doing in Israel. Twenty years ago, there were more Jewish people living in North America than in Israel. Now there are more living in Israel than any other country in the world. That trend is rising even higher with a potential mass exodus of Ukrainian Jews to Israel because of the war. I believe God is bringing the Jewish people back to the land He promised us so long ago. Sometimes it is a joyful return, but sometimes it comes with tremendous sorrow and grief. Christians should continually “pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” and for the ultimate Jewish destiny that can only be fulfilled through faith in Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

I was glad to be able to share these things with the church leadership over dinner, and my message was well received by the congregation the following day. After the morning services, I went to the airport to take the long flight home and stopped for a bite to eat at the food court. Behind the counter was an older woman who was very friendly. I noticed that she was wearing both a Jewish star and a cross. When I asked about it, she explained, “I’m a Christian and I love the Jewish people.” And she continued, “I really believe. People who don’t believe are in trouble don’t you think?” I said, “Yes, I do. I’m a Jew for Jesus.”

She reiterated her love for the Jewish people, adding that she supports a well-known pastor who famously professes love for Jewish people. She asked if I knew the pastor, and I said I don’t know him personally, but have been concerned about his belief that Jewish people don’t need Christians to tell them about Jesus. And I added, “Jewish people who don’t believe in Jesus are also in trouble, don’t you think?” She replied, “I’m not sure I think that’s true. I think that God loves the Jewish people, just as they are.”

The Bible never says that God’s love for Jewish people was based on our great history of lovability.

So you see, it’s not only a matter of what Christians should know about Jewish people—it’s a matter of what Christians should know about God. The Bible never says anywhere that His love for Jewish people was based on, or justified by, our great history of lovability. No, it was the failure of all people, including Jewish people, that compelled Jesus to come and sacrifice Himself for our redemption. God used the Jewish people to set His salvation plan in motion, and I believe He will continue to do so until Jesus returns. Thank you for helping us do our part to tell of that love and redemption!

*Nahum N. Glatzer, Franz Rosenzweig: His Life and Thought (New York: Schocken Books, 1967), 341.