Jesus and a Checkpoint — 1

A Preface before an intense week

The adage goes, “There are two sides to every story.” This is so incredibly true when it comes to the competing narratives of Israelis and Palestinians about what is known as the “holy land.”

This week I will attend the conference, Christ at the Checkpoint, sponsored by Bethlehem Bible College in that ancient city of Jesus’ birth. The conference is controversial in some circles, and I have gotten an earful on both sides of the narrative.

The Pro-Israel Argument

My friends on the pro-Israeli side are concerned (and some are deeply distressed) that I am attending a conference organized and led by Palestinians, many of whom are critical of Israeli policies. The focus of this argument is that the land of Israel (which was not called “Palestine” until 184A.D. by the Romans) was given to an ethnic people (the Israelites) as an “everlasting possession.” (see Genesis 17 and elsewhere)

These friends are alarmed that the Palestinians and Arabs in general not only want the land, but some also want to annihilate the Jewish people. This harkens back to The Holocaust and causes we Jews to have a form of Post-Traunatic Stress. Surely there are people who want to see the nation of Israel destroyed. I was asked this question pointedly last weekend on Long Island where I was speaking at a church. However, I do not find it helpful or accurate that anywhere close to a majority desires this.

The Palestinian Argument

My friends on the pro-Palestinian side are rejoicing that I have “finally seen the light” and am going to this conference, although I will be one of the very few Jews in attendance. Most of my kin folk stay away from such gatherings.

Palestinians argue largely from a human rights perspective, and focus on grievances they have against the Israeli “occupation” (their word). Some Palestinian Christians believe that God’s covenant promises to Israel were conditional on Israel following Yahweh, which Jews have not done. Thus, some on this side of the narrative believe that Israel has a right to exist as any other political nation-state, but this should not be confused with modern Israel as “God’s chosen people” in a biblical sense of the phrase.

JESUS at the Checkpoint

I find myself in neither of these narratives exactly, although every person that I interact with wants me to “choose sides.” If I am pressed to do so I will opt for Jesus’ side.

Of course Christians on both sides of the issue claim that Jesus is on their side. The Messianic Jewish and Christian Zionist side believes this, and the Palestinian Christian side believes this.

As I read the gospels and see how Jesus interacted with a wide variety of people, I bring three postures to this week in Bethlehem:

1. Jesus did not give up on the Jewish people, and I do not believe we should. In fact, based on both Jesus’ words (Matthew 10 and that he came for the “lost sheep of Israel”) and Paul’s words in Romans 1-3 and 9-11, God is not finished with the Jewish people fulfilling their divine destiny of being a light to other nations.
2. Jesus is as focused on the nations related to the Jews as he is on the Jews themselves. And he is especially concerned for those caught in the midst of the “sibling fighting” between Israelis and Palestinians.
3. Those of us who are true followers of Jesus are called to live by a radically different standard than non-believers who live by a political, social, or cultural code. Jesus followers are to live by his words in the Sermon the Mount and by Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:11-18. This ethic of Jesus is radically and wildly different than the ethic we often find on either side of this conflict.

People ask me if I have a “position” on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I do. My position disappoints both sides, because I do not fall in line with either theology or political position.

I am a Jew who follows Jesus. Nothing is more important to me than following Jesus. He does not provide every answer to the myriad of questions and confusions in this conflict. He IS the answer — full stop.

I am a Jew who follows Jesus, and I believe that my people have a God-given calling that we have not yet fulfilled — to be an agent of leading nations to God.

I am a Jew who follows Jesus, and I believe he calls multitudes to follow him — from all peoples, nations, and tongues. And that includes those who suffer, and that is the Palestinians and other Arab nations.