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Learning to Witness
When
Mike Moore recently visited and spoke to one of our workers, he asked
him how he approached the task of telling Jewish people about Jesus.
His reply was that he prefers not to “tell” but to encourage people to
discover the truth for themselves. What was said is instructive to all
of us who are concerned about helping Jewish people come to faith.
I believe you have to begin with what
is known and accepted rather than with what is unknown or rejected. As
Christians, we tend to begin our witness where we feel comfortable;
that is, with the New Testament. But that is not where Jewish people
feel comfortable. Of course many Jewish people are quite irreligious,
but whether they have a high regard for the Jewish Scriptures or not,
the Tanakh is their book and I think that that is the place to
start. That’s the place where Jesus began, “You have heard that it was
said … ”. I always begin with the Old Testament and ask my Jewish
friends questions about the Scriptures. It is better to be the student
and not to presume you know more than the person you are talking to. We
should be prepared to learn and, as we listen, something our friends
say may strike a chord. We should aim for a two-way discussion about
the Word of God.
Once, when my wife and I were on deputation, someone told us about a
Jewish lady they knew who lived nearby so we went to visit her. We didn’t know at the time that she was the
daughter of a rabbi, but when we told her of our interest in the Jewish
people she gladly welcomed us into her home. “You’re Christians and you
want to talk to me about Jesus”, she said. We told her we would be glad
to talk to her about Jesus if she wanted us to. “If
you can show me Jesus in my Bible I might get interested”, she said.
She
had a copy of the Old Testament in English so I asked if she would open
it to the book of Genesis. Out of respect for the Bible she stood to
read it and I asked if she would read verse 15 of the third chapter,
where it speaks about the “seed of the woman” bruising the head of the
serpent. I asked the rabbi’s daughter who the “seed of the woman” was.
“The seed of the woman is our offspring”, she replied.
I then asked who the serpent was. She thought it was
the devil, so I asked what the verse meant when it said the seed of the
woman would “bruise” the serpent’s head. I can still see her clearly as
she stood holding the Bible and pressing her feet up and down as she
said, “It means to get on top of”. I
responded, “You’ve explained to me exactly how I see Jesus. The seed of
the woman was promised to get on top of the devil and crush him under
his foot.” The lady looked with amazement and said, “Yes, I can see it!
It is in my Bible!” She had found Jesus for herself just by answering
our questions about the text; we didn’t “tell” her. She said, “I’m so
pleased you came here today. I’ve met so many Christian people and I’ve
asked them to show me Jesus in my Bible and they were not able to do
that. You are the first people to do so. I want to go on from here; I
want to see a whole lot more.” I explained that we were on deputation
and were only passing through the town, but that we could link her up
with someone else who could help her.
I can think of many other examples of how good contact has been made
through this approach, particularly with Orthodox Jews. We do believe
the best way of helping Jewish people to come to faith in Jesus is to
let them discover him in their own Scriptures. It is also important to
establish ongoing contact by putting Jewish people in touch with local
Christians who know their Bibles and who can help them.
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