Articles
A Place for You
For those who lived in the first century in Jerusalem or Judea, life would be difficult for anyone if they were not a Jew, if they were a Jew who was poor, if they were a Jew who was not a Pharisee, or were just someone the religious elite deemed unworthy. One particular Jewish religious sect, the Pharisees [whose name means ‘separated ones’], thought very highly of themselves and looked down on just about everyone else. It seems that they had no interest in treating others equitably, or with mercy or compassion.
For example, when Jesus ate with certain Jews — ones described as “tax collectors and sinners” (Matt. 9:10) — the Pharisees were appalled and asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matt. 9:11); this was something they would have never done! Simon [a Pharisee] was contemptuous of Jesus and questioned the claim that He was a prophet when a known sinner came into Simon’s house and began washing the feet of Jesus with her tears and drying them with her hair (Luke 7:36-39); Simon would have never allowed her to touch him, if he could help it; it’s surprising he didn’t have her thrown out of his house!
We see the bias against certain classes of Jews again when we read of the response of the multitude when Jesus told Zachæus the tax collector, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house” (Luke 19:5); the people who heard this “complained, saying, ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner’” (Luke 19:7). Tax collectors were especially unpopular because they were Jewish citizens working for the hated Roman government.
But the religious leaders were especially disdainful of anyone who was not among their number, and none worse than the Pharisees, whom we have already noted. Once, when some solders returned without Jesus [the whole reason for the solders going to Jesus], and when asked why Jesus was not with them, the soldiers replied, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (John 7:32, 45-46). To this, the religious leaders replied, “Are you also deceived? Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed” (John 7:47-49). In the view of the religious leaders, everyone else not them was deceived and accursed. Some leaders, eh?
And the bias against certain groups was not limited to their own people. For example, when John tells the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar, when Jesus asks the woman for a drink, she replies, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” and then adds relevant commentary: “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:7-9). In fact, the Jews had so low a view of Samaritans that they would use the name as an insult or slur (cf. John 8:48). This apparently affected even the thinking of the disciples of Jesus, for on one occasion when Jesus and the disciples were passing through a particular Samaritan village and the villagers did not show any hospitality to them, some of the disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” (Luke 9:51-54). Apparently, this response was completely logical, and it was likely because they were Samaritans and not the ‘pure-blood’ Jews of Jerusalem and Judea.
But it was not just Samaritans who were viewed so poorly; Gentiles were viewed with even more disdain! For example, when the gospel began to be preached, many Jews objected and resisted, or placed demands on the Gentiles the gospel did not teach. When Peter was sent by an angel of God to preach the gospel (Acts 10:9-48) to the household of Cornelius [a Roman centurion and Gentile], when he returned to Jerusalem, he was confronted by some Jews who said to him, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!” (Acts 11:1-3); they were not happy about it — until he told them the whole story.
The prejudice against the Gentiles was made clear on one occasion when Paul was in Jerusalem, after having already gone to the Gentiles to preach the gospel message of salvation. When he stood before his fellow Jews and explained the events leading up to that day, they listened attentively until Paul revealed to them that the Lord had told him, “Depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.” At that point, the Jews there in Jerusalem “raised their voices and said, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth, for he is not fit to live!’” (Acts 22:21, 22). To those Jews, anyone who would say the Gentiles were equally worthy of God’s salvation was not fit to live!
This bias against the Gentiles continued throughout the New Testament era, and even until this day. The book of Galatians was written to chastise the Gentile brethren there because they had been hoodwinked into believing that the pure gospel message was not enough, and that they had to be circumcised in order to be saved (Gal. 1:6-9; Gal. 6:12). This came from certain Jews, who could just not accept the Gentiles could be saved in the same way as the Jews, yet uncircumcised. This bias even affected the apostle Peter when he was in Antioch with Gentile brethren and certain Jews from Jerusalem arrived (Gal. 2:11-14).
After reading all this, one might want to conclude that the lowly and the ‘outcasts’ of society have been relegated to second-class [or lower] status and are unimportant. But one cannot continue to hold that view when we examine the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. No, Jesus transcended the social standards and welcomed all, setting the standard and the pattern for all disciples to follow. It was Jesus who ate with those tax collectors and sinners; it was Jesus who went to the house of a tax collector; it was Jesus who willingly allowed that woman who was a sinner to touch him, and even forgave her of her sins; it was Jesus who touched the lepers; it was Jesus who spoke to the Samaritan woman and used Samaritans as an example of good (Luke 10:25-36; Luke 17:11-19). And let us not forget that Jesus died not just for the sins of the Jews, “but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
Though the Jews could not accept they were no longer solely God’s chosen people, the fact of the matter was [and is], the gospel message is all about how “the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel” (Eph. 3:6). As Peter learned when he was sent to Cornelius, “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34, 35).
And if you think you are simply ‘beyond saving’ because your sins are too horrible or too numerous, remember that a man who acknowledged he was once “a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man” (1 Tim. 1:12) had been shown great grace and mercy by God for the very purpose of showing “all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life” (1 Tim. 1:16). In other words, Paul recognized if he could be shown such grace and mercy, anyone afterwards — no matter the life they had previously lived --— could also be forgiven and saved. There is no one beyond saving except the one who does not want to be. God welcomes you here.
There is a place for you! — Steven Harper
