The Saving Grace of Jewish “Legalism”: A Fresh Perspective on the Roles of Jews and Christians

The significant uptick in recognizing Yeshua's Jewishness throughout Christendom in the twentieth century led many Christians to question the status quo of Christian-Jewish relationship. 

Their ponderings took the form of questions like: If I have given my heart to a Jewish messiah, should that have any bearing on my culture? If Yeshua will operate His coming kingdom-government out of Jerusalem and by the Torah, should that affect the way I live every day? What actually is the role of the Jewish people? Is my role as a Gentile different? Are Orthodox Jews fulfilling their God-given role in Israel today? How should we relate to them?

In previous centuries, the answers were a resounding anti-Semitic, replacement-theology-centric, often conspiratorial-based concoction that hardly incorporated any biblical precedent. Dissatisfaction naturally ensued, swiftly followed by the chaos inherent in revolutionary movements.

Though we have yet to land on the solid ground of any semblance of unity or consensus, much has been discovered since then, and fresh answers are being mined from Scripture, affirmed by lived experiences; not dissimilar to those who wrote the sacred texts, “this (what we have just experienced) is what the prophets said.” 

While one short article cannot properly address this question of roles, I want to share a lens that I believe is extremely fruitful in our approach to such questions.

It has become abundantly clear that the Jewish people have been miraculously preserved–not as the eternal picture of God-abandonment–but as lovingly and covenantally God-preserved for the time of restoration. Through the absolute worst that history could throw at them, the Jewish people held on to their God-prescribed, relationally oriented preservatives–Shabbat, the Feasts of the LORD, and the oracles of God (the Torah).

It is mind-boggling to consider what might have happened if all Jews had converted to Christianity at any point throughout history. Consider this excerpt from an official Christian conversion liturgy Jews were made to declare in the 7th century:“I do here and now renounce every rite and observance of the Jewish religion, detesting all its most solemn ceremonies and tenets that in former days I kept and held. In future I will practice no rite or celebration connected with it, nor any custom of my past error, promising neither to seek it out nor to perform it. Further do I renounce all things forbidden or detested by Christian teaching . . .”

It is clear that if Jews had converted, we would have no identifiable Jews left today. Christians wanted to extract every “identity preservative” from the Jewish people, but God miraculously enabled them to hold strong. 

Why would this preservation be so important? 

So that God’s word could come to pass! If there were no identifiable Jews, who would have returned to Israel in 1948? Who would have held to God’s promise that He would bring them back to their promised land?

A major role of the Jewish people is to keep the oracles of God (Romans 3:2). They have done this faithfully for thousands of years. For this reason alone, we Christians should be eternally grateful, thanking God for the Jewish people every day and looking for ways to bless them materially for their irrepayable spiritual gifts to us (Romans 15:27).

I believe that this role of the Jewish people is particularly effective in preparing the way for Messiah to rule from the throne of David in Jerusalem. God has uniquely called them to preserve critical elements of the coming kingdom. When we consider the physicality of this kingdom, the strategic plan of God is further illuminated. 

Now, us Gentiles, on the other hand, do not carry this preservation responsibility quite so profoundly. The Acts 15 council makes it clear that our role doesn't require us to highlight the preservation of identity. Both Acts chapter one and Romans eleven indicate that God’s strategic initiative for us lies in a different branch of kingdom operations. 

In Acts chapter one, we see the charge: go to the uttermost parts of the earth. While in Acts chapter two, we see this play out in real time as the Holy Spirit falls and launches the Gospel to the nations. Romans 11 gives us further clarity when it states that Israel’s full restoration will not happen until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. Though this movement started as a faction of the Jewish world, it quickly expanded and was overwhelmed by Gentile members. Operation “Gentile Fullness” was well underway and has shocked the world with its miraculous success. 

So, you see, in God’s master plan of redemption for the world–as revealed in Scripture and also throughout history–God largely entrusted the holy role of “scribe” to the Jewish people, and He, quite significantly, laid the holy responsibility of “ambassador” upon Christendom. 

A scribe must dot his “i’s” and cross his “t’s.” Every minute detail must be done with acute precision. Actual Jewish scribes (the copiers of the holy manuscripts) had a strict protocol to follow. They had to have a certain number of hours of sleep, take a mikveh, be fully clothed, say certain prayers, and that was just to get started. Their adherence to their tradition has benefited the world in truly incalculable ways.

An ambassador, on the other hand, must not be quite so “legalistic” in order to adequately perform his role. He has to get the message of the king to its destination, and neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night can stay these kingdom couriers! 

Yes, there is much more to this story, and there are no cookie-cutter answers. But I believe applying this lens will reveal a holy perspective that guides us in answering the tower of remaining questions on this topic. 

I hope that this short article has shed some light on the whole, inspires you to dig into God’s word, and will bless you on the ambassador route God currently has you on.

Many blessings from the home front in Samaria,

Your fellow Kingdom Ambassador,

Zac Waller

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