I said to my friend, “The Christian faith is Jewish. Christians believe in the God of Israel and the Hebrew Bible; Jesus was Jewish.” My friend answered, “Of course Jesus was Jewish. However, Christianity is a religion followed by Gentiles. We have our own traditions.” She explained to me that the Jewish religion is not only about what they believe, it is also about what they do, a way of life. Hence, by keeping the commandments, they hope to be accepted by God; by observing the traditions, they identify with the rest of the Jewish community. My friend’s explanation made me realise the two-fold significance of religion in the life of Jewish people, governing their relationship with God and also their relationship with their own people.

As my friend continued telling me how she tried to keep the laws and regulations according to the teachings of Judaism, she admitted that it was hard to keep all the commandments; on many occasions she had found it necessary to ask God to forgive her failures. I appreciated my friend’s effort to please God; nonetheless, I was saddened by the fact that her efforts would never make her right with God. We are sinners: “I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5). How could it be possible for a sinner to live up to the perfect standard of a holy God!

Although Judaism contains much valuable ethical teaching, its emphasis is on the deeds of men and it does not provide a way to save us from our sins. I told my friend about my struggles: “For what I will to do, that I do not practise; but what I hate, that I do” (Romans 7:15). I said that I knew I would be condemned unless God forgave me. In Jesus I found forgiveness of sin and through him I have a personal relationship with God. Whether we are Jewish or non-Jewish, all of us have failed God; thus, all of us need God’s forgiveness. Failure to live up to the perfect standard of God is a universal problem; therefore there is a need for a universal solution. As I carried on to explain how Jesus fulfilled the promises of God in the Hebrew Bible, I prayed that my friend’s eyes would be opened to see that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away our sins.

Survival and maintaining their identity are important issues for the Jewish people, mainly because of what they have suffered through tragic events such as the Inquisition, the pogroms and the Holocaust. The Jewish religion plays a significant role in a Jewish person’s identity. In the book I am Jewish, Thomas Friedman, a three-times Pulitzer Prize-winner and a columnist with the New York Times, wrote, “My faith defines not only the pathway I choose to connect with God, but also, just as important, a big part of my cultural and communal root system. Being Jewish is a big part of my olive tree, the thing that anchors me in the world.” Because Jewish people are concerned about losing their identity if they “change their religion”, we need to help them to understand that the Christian faith is Jewish and that there have been Jewish Christians in the world since the time of Jesus! By following the true Messiah, Jewish people can connect with the God of Israel, and become part of his family, which consists of Jews and Gentiles.

Throughout the conversations with my friend, I was aware that she was not only listening to my thoughts concerning her religion but was also seeking my acceptance, hoping that I might understand her Jewishness. I realised that although I might convince her by my words, if I did not have genuine love for her, she would not be drawn to the Saviour, through whom we have a personal relationship with God and a new relationship with the rest of humanity.