1. Pattern (The Hook)
If you met a Mormon on the street who told you the Bible points to Joseph Smith, would you be inclined to believe them?
The answer for most of us is an immediate 'no!' The same is true for Rabbinic Jews. When a Christian first tells them the Bible points to Jesus the Meschiach (Messiah), they feel no inclination to believe them.
"Don't tell me what my own book means!", is the general attitude.
And so it has been since the very first days of the early church. When Stephen, the very first Christian martyr, was before the Sanhedrin, he "cut [them] to the quick" (Acts 7:54) by recounting, among other things, their long history of failing to understand what their book meant. Their long history of getting it wrong. Of persecuting the very men God had sent to them:
51 You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One
Transforming Dismissal into Consideration
While Stephen's sermon was a masterclass defense against the specific charges laid against him by the Sanhedrin (namely of speaking against the Temple and the Law), our interest lies in pulling from this message a way to transform the dismissive attitude of "Don't tell me what my own book means!" into a convicted attitude that will "cut [them] to the quick" (Acts 7:54) and ready them for Jesus.
And preferably, you won't even get stoned.
Ultimately, we want to give the Rabbinic a reason to hear us out about Jesus. In Stephen's sermon, he chose to do so through his recounting of Joseph and Moses:
- Joseph was initially rejected by his brothers, until his brothers saw him a second time (Acts 7:9,13-15).
- Moses was initially rejected by his brethren, until his brethren saw him a second time upon his return from Midian (Acts 7:35-36).
- Conclusion: Initial rejection is to be expected for true prophets (Acts 7:52).
Stephen's reasoning was so evident the Sanhedrin killed him to make it stop. And we at For Zion Ministries believe it's pretty hard to top that.
Besides, who can do better than Scripture itself — God's Word to us?
| Initial Rejection | Eventual Acceptance | |
|---|---|---|
| Joseph | His brothers answered, "Do you mean to reign over us? Do you mean to rule over us? And they hated him even more for his talk about his dreams" (Genesis 37:8 JPS, Acts 7:9) | His brothers went to him themselves, flung themselves before him, and said, "We are prepared to be your slaves." (Genesis 50:18 JPS, Acts 7:13-15) |
| Moses | He retorted, "Who made you chief and ruler over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?" Moses was frightened, and thought: Then the matter is known! (Exodus 2:14 JPS, Acts 7:27-29) | Aaron repeated all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses, and he performed the signs in the sight of those assembled, and the assembly was convinced... they bowed low in homage. (Exodus 4:30-31 JPS, Acts 7:35-36) |
In both cases, the Jewish people did not accept, en mass, the one God sent until he returned a second time. The Bible promises the same to be true for the Messiah Jesus:
| Initial Rejection — Isaiah 53:3,6 (JPS) | Eventual Acceptance — Zechariah 12:10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Jesus | As one who hid his face from us, He was despised, we held him of no account.... We all went astray like sheep, Each of us going our own way; And GOD visited upon him the guilt of all of us. | I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me Whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. |
As Christians, we see continuity between these prophets of the past and our Saviour Jesus. As Stephen himself alludes to at the end of his sermon (Acts 7:52), no prophet avoided such initial persecution and rejection from his people. The fact that Jesus conformed to this prophetic rule should give pause to any Rabbinic dismissal.
Note: The Messiah was to be of the line of David. As such, we encourage including the example of David's initial rejection by Israel in your conversations with Rabbinic Jews.Using this Pattern in Conversation
Question for the Rabbinic
"When I read the Tanach, I see a pattern of initial rejection. The prophets were often rejected by most of their people the first time, and only accepted later on. Joseph was initially rejected and sold into slavery. Moses had to flee into Midian. And it took David over 7 years of ruling from Hebron before all Israel accepted him.
My concern is that you've done the same thing with Jesus."