“Now
as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it” (Luke 19:41).
Jesus
was acclaimed as the Son of David and the King of Israel as He made His
triumphal entry into Jerusalem the week He was crucified. The crowds shouted hosannas
to Him and welcomed Him as their Messiah (Matt. 21:9; John 12:12-13).
Bartimaeus also acclaimed Him as such, when he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David,
have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:46-47). Jesus, likewise, identified Himself as the
Son of David, in His final words of Holy Scripture: “I am the Root and the
Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star” (Rev. 22:16).
The
Son of David is returning one day to Jerusalem, the Jewish capital, the city He
wept over when the Jewish leaders rejected Him (Luke 13:34-35; 19:41). Jesus
also wept when his friend Lazarus died (John 11:35). He was not only crying
because of empathy with Mary and Martha in their grief, but He likely was
crying about the unbelief of the crowd. He already knew that He would raise up
Lazarus, and He already knows that one day He will raise up the nation of
Israel! On that day “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:25-27). But until that
day comes, He weeps over His beloved chosen people.
How
sad that “a child was born unto them, a Son was given … a Prince of Peace”
(Isa. 9:6), and Israel rejected Him! But, wait! There is a silver lining to
that cloud. “For if their casting Yeshua aside means reconciliation for the
world, what will their accepting Him mean? It will be life from the dead!”
(Rom. 11:15, Complete Jewish Bible). In other words, if Israel’s rejection of
Yeshua as Messiah resulted in the gospel going to the Gentiles, then their
acceptance of Him will bring world-wide revival! Isn’t that what we all want?
But how have we been praying for it?
King
David wrote, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May they prosper who love you”
(Psalm 122:6). That is tantamount to praying for the salvation of the Jewish
people, that their eyes will be opened, like Bartimaeus, to see the Son of
David, their Messiah! Our own prosperity, spiritually and every other way, is
tied up with this imperative. Will we be obedient?
The
tears of our Lord poured out on His people, and now we Gentiles who know Him as
Savior and Lord are His people, too. We should have our prayers mixed with
tears of repentance for what the Church has done to the Jewish people
throughout history to harden them against their own Messiah! The Church is
suffering from a case of mistaken identity! Jesus is weeping about it as He
intercedes for the eyes of His Church to be opened!
IDENTITY
(Based on Romans 11)
So,
what is my identity now that I am saved?
I
have a Jewish Lord, so how should I behave?
I
was graciously grafted into a Jewish olive tree,
I
was a wild branch when Jesus set me free.
The
Seed of Abraham was planted in the ground –
They’d
nailed Him to a tree when I was not around.
But
He was resurrected as the Jewish Scriptures said,
And
offered all salvation by His blood He had shed.
I
later heard the story, first told by Jewish men –
The
Apostles, Paul, and all the church were Jewish, all of them.
But
when the message got to me, the Jewish roots were cut!
Yeshua
wept, because the door to heaven for Jews was shut!
The
Jews now think of Jesus as a God who’s not for them –
The
veil over their eyes has made their eyesight dim.
But
we can make them jealous if we restore His Jewish identity,
Support
the Jews and the Jewish nation; for them we must have affinity.
And
we must know our history, horrible things the Church has done,
Identify
with them in their pain, that’s how their hearts are won.
We
must repent for atrocities done in the name of our Jewish King.
Forgive
us, Lord, we did not know it was such an evil thing.
By
Nancy Petrey ~ June 18, 2016
Most
Christians are not aware of the anti-Semitic history of the Church. I recommend
three resources: (1) Our Hands are
Stained with Blood: the Tragic Story of the “Church” and the Jewish People,
by Dr. Michael Brown. (2) How the Cross
Became a Sword by Richard Booker (small booklet). (3) Why Christians Should Care About Their Jewish Roots by Nancy Petrey
(40-page book). In praying for revival and preparing for the coming of the
Lord, these are indispensable tools. I urge you to read one of them. You will
be spellbound and shell-shocked! But at least you will be equipped for these
end times.
PRAYER: Dear Father, cause us to
weep over Your chosen people like Jesus did. Give us a heart of compassion to
pray for their salvation. Cause us to be more grateful that Jesus came to us
through the Jewish people and that our beloved Scriptures were penned and
preserved by them. May we be moved to action on their behalf, speeding the day
when Yeshua the Messiah will return to Jerusalem and set up His kingdom.
