"TO THE JEW FIRST": WHAT DOES IT MEAN AND WHY DOES IT MATTER?
There are two problems that Gentiles used to wrestle with back in the first century, and even though the Bible gives us wonderful solutions to these two problems, they still plague many people today!
What are these problems, and what help
does the Bible give to us to solve them?
Problem One: “I’m
a worthless Gentile… I wish I were Jewish!”
The first problem is a deflated sense
of worth. Sadly, there are Gentiles who are unhappy with the identity God has
given them, and wish they were something else. They have believed the lie that
Jewish people are somehow “better”, and that Gentiles are second class
citizens. But this is not how God sees it at all.
God’s Answer: the
Epistle to the Ephesians
One verse sums it up nicely: “So then you are no longer strangers and
aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the
household of God” (Ephesians 2:19).
If this problem of Gentile identity is one that ever
troubles you, the surrounding context for the verse should straighten things
out, and provide even more encouragement for you:
“Therefore
remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh … you were at that time
separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers
to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But
now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the
blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has
broken down in his flesh the dividing wall … that he might create in himself
one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both
to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility … For
through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no
longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and
members of the household of God.”
You have been made “one
new man” with the Jewish people, you have been given the same access in the
same Spirit to the same Father, thanks to the same Messiah, and you are fellow
citizens – a member of the household of God along with the people of Israel.
You are no longer strangers, but part of the commonwealth
of Israel.
The dividing wall, that once stood in the temple court,
beyond which only Jewish people could enter, has gone.
Gentiles are not second class in any way – thanks to
Yeshua, we all now have equal access to the God of Israel, the Father of us
all.
Problem Two: “I’ve
replaced Israel. I’m the new Jew!”
This second problem is the opposite –
an inflated sense of worth, thinking that Israel has been cast aside and is of
no further consequence, as if the church is all that counts now.
Again, the Bible has some great wisdom to give on this
matter:
God’s answer: the
Epistle to the Romans
“Do not be
arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support
the root, but the root that supports you” (Romans 11:18)
This verse in
itself should knock the problem of Gentiles feeling superior to Jews on the
head, but there is more to explore in the
book of Romans on this subject.
In particular, it is important to understand the “To the
Jew first” concept in Romans 1:16, where Paul says, “For I am not
ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who
believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek”.
Let’s look at Romans 1:16 in the context of Romans as a
whole.
What does it mean
– to the Jew “first”?
The word “first” in the original Greek is the word “proton” (πρῶτον), which we need
to understand in order to appreciate all that Paul is saying here.
There are a couple of ways of understanding how the the
gospel is to the Jew “first”:
1. The Sequential
View:
This word ‘proton’ might mean first sequentially – that
the gospel went to the Jewish people first (historically), and then went out to
the nations after that.
The trouble is that people then mistakenly think that the
Jewish people have had their chance back in the first century, but that they
blew it. The rest of the book of Romans is giving an altogether different
message.
The letter is encouraging Gentiles to remember that God
has NOT given up on the people of Israel.
2. The
Particularity View:
‘Proton’ can also mean first as in particularly,
especially, or in prominence … We would argue that it is this sense in which
Paul writes about the Jew being first.
The gospel is particularly and especially for the Jew –
and also for the Gentile. Why must it be read this way and not in the sense of
sequential order? Because when we read the rest of the book of Romans, we can
see that is precisely what Paul means.
In the very next chapter, he uses exactly the same phrase
– judgment will also come to Jew first, and also to the Gentile: “There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does
evil, the Jew first and also the Gentile, but glory and honor and peace for
everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Gentile.” (Romans 2:9-10).
So the gospel is first for the Jew, and also for the
Gentile. (Romans 1:16)
And judgment will come to the Jew first, and also to the
Gentile. (Romans 2:9)
When we put these two phrases next to each other, we
understand that Paul is saying that the Jewish people are especially
accountable before God, because they have been given so much revelation, and so
will be judged “first”.
In the same way, the story was entrusted to the Jewish
people – as Paul explains throughout his book, it was the Jewish people who
received the “Oracles of God” – the
Scriptures. It was their very history as a people, and it was through the
Jewish people that the Messiah came to redeem the whole world.
The book of Romans in effect reminds the Gentiles, “You
have not taken over, so do not be arrogant towards your Jewish brothers and
sisters!”
The Messiah is Jewish, according to the flesh (Romans 1:3), the “oracles of God” were given to the people of Israel (Romans 3:2) along with promises, temple, glory,
the patriarchs, the adoption, and all our redemptive blessings are Jewish (Romans 3:1-2; Romans 9:1-5, Romans 11:28-29).
Romans 11:24 tells us that the very root is Jewish, which
is why the gospel is especially (proton) for Jews, who are the natural branches
that need to be grafted back in (Romans 11:24).
Gentiles are unnatural branches which can now be grafted
even though that are not naturally from that Jewish tree.
Romans 1 teaches that mankind has seen the general
revelation of God through nature and our consciences, and so all are without
excuse (Romans 1:18-20).
But the rest of the book explains how special revelation
was given to the people of Israel in particular, making them all the more
accountable.
So the Jewish people will be particularly judged
(proton).
In the same way, we understand that Paul is saying that
the gospel is particularly and especially (proton) for the Jewish people,
because the groundwork has already been done – the tracks are already laid …
but the gospel is now ALSO and EQUALLY for the Gentiles. The way has been
opened up for all.
So what does this
mean for us today?
These Biblical principles should have
an effect on the way that we go about fulfilling the Great Commission.
The church must strive to remember that historically, contextually
and covenantally, the gospel is, was and will always be particularly and
especially for Jewish people because it’s such a Jewish thing!
“Replacement theology” that considers the church to have
taken the place of Israel is sinful, not only because of its arrogance toward
the Jewish people which the Bible warns us against, but also in terms of its
failure to appropriate Romans 1:16 in its understanding of the Great
Commission.
The gospel is
for the Jewish people today as much as it ever was. Our challenge is to boldly
and joyfully embrace the truth that the
gospel is the power of God unto salvation to particularly to
the Jew and equally to the Gentile.
Romans 11 teaches that Gentiles can be included and
grafted in equally, alongside Israel.
Ephesians shows how the Gentile believer is welcomed into
a new home, one they have never been to before, but they are now warmly invited
in as family.
The red carpet is laid out for the nations to join the
commonwealth of Israel, and they can be adopted into a home that was not their
own.
Equally, when we share the gospel with Jewish people, we
are not asking them to leave faith of their Fathers – we are inviting them to
come back home.
These Biblical principles should have an effect on the
way that we go about fulfilling the Great Commission.
The church must strive to remember that historically, contextually
and covenantally, the gospel is, was and will always be particularly and
especially for Jewish people because it’s such a Jewish thing!
“Replacement theology” that considers the church to have
taken the place of Israel is sinful, not only because of its arrogance toward
the Jewish people which the Bible warns us against, but also in terms of its
failure to appropriate Romans 1:16 in its understanding of the Great
Commission.
The gospel is for the Jewish people today as much as it
ever was. Our challenge is to boldly and joyfully embrace the truth that the
gospel is the power of God unto salvation to particularly to the Jew and
equally to the Gentile.
Romans 11 teaches that Gentiles can be included and
grafted in equally, alongside Israel.
Ephesians shows how the Gentile believer is welcomed into
a new home, one they have never been to before, but they are now warmly invited
in as family.
The red carpet is laid out for the nations to join the
commonwealth of Israel, and they can be adopted into a home that was not their
own.
Equally, when we share the gospel with Jewish people, we
are not asking them to leave faith of their Fathers – we are inviting them to
come back home.
[1] According to the
authoritative BDAG / ‘Bauer-Danker’ Lexicon, “Proton” can either mean first
sequentially or in prominence.
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https://www.oneforisrael.org/bible-based-teaching-from-israel/to-the-jew-first-what-does-it-mean-and-why-does-it-matter/
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