“Your Jewish Neighbor…”
Though rejected in his hometown, Jesus knew all about being a good neighbor.
Imagine what it might have been like 2000 years ago growing up with Jesus Christ as your next door neighbor. You know. The son of Mary and Joseph Christ. They live at the end of the cul-de-sac. 150 Kings Son Ct. Nazareth, Israel 77777. Not a whole lot of good can come out of that neighborhood.
Living next to another person can create its own set of interesting issues. Neighbors can bring out the best and the worst in us. They can become friends or foes, close or distant. Unfortunately in our world today, many don’t even know the people who live next to them. “Closeness” is defined in Facebook “likes” or Twitter “followers.” How tragic. However, neighbors are important. Let me give you an equation with two parts...
The first command is: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31).
We treasure those well-known words of Jesus. But, just like so many things that Jesus said, his words were not new. When asked which was the greatest commandment in the whole Torah (Law), Jesus quoted Deuteronomy chapter 6, or the Shema. Without question, this is the most important scripture for Jewish people around the world: “Hear O Israel, the Lord Your God is One. And you shall Love the Lord your God…”
And he adds a second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” not found in Deuteronomy 6, but in Leviticus 19.
“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:16-18
I believe that Jesus spoke these commandments in one breath, in that order, because they are inseparable, and the order is important.
How Should We Love?
It is impossible to obey one command while ignoring the other. If we truly love God, there must be a natural outflow of love for our neighbor.“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).
What does it mean to truly love our neighbor? Let us look to the example of Jesus our Messiah - Love incarnate! He saw those who were hungry, lonely, and in pain, and he was “moved to compassion, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). He cared for people deeply. He fed, healed, and provided for their physical needs.
But in all of his tender care for people, Jesus never neglected to couple that compassion with truth. Whenever he demonstrated love towards people, he saw it as an opportunity to proclaim the Kingdom of God. He gave them fishes and loaves, but he also gave them himself. The way, the truth and the life.
We cannot love God with all of our heart without sharing the only way to him with others. Our definition of “love” is critically important, because many will put the second command before the first...or replace the first with the second. (Think “social gospel”). If we truly love God, there should be a natural outflow of love for our neighbor. Love evidenced both in the form of help and encouragement, and in sharing him - his truth in the message of the Gospel.
Who is My Neighbor?
But who is our neighbor? Our English word “neighbor” is so limited in scope. “Neighbor” is defined by the Oxford English dictionary as “a person living near or next door to the speaker or person referred to.” But the ancient Israelites didn’t speak English. Neither did Jesus.
The biblical Hebrew word for “neighbor” in this passage is rea’. The word rea’ can contain a vast range of meanings depending on its context: anything from “beloved” or “companion, friend” all the way to “another” or “any other person.”
Rea’ comes from the Hebrew root ra’ah, the same root from which we derive the word for “shepherd.” Would a shepherd consider his sheep his “neighbors?” From the perspective of Jesus, the Good Shepherd himself (John chapter 10), we should conclude... yes! Aren’t you so glad that he loves us as he loves himself?
Rea’ isn’t limited by geography, ethnicity, socioeconomic status…the only limiting factor seems to be that your neighbor...is not you. From this vantage point, anyone - no matter how close to you, no matter how much you like them or not - could be defined as your neighbor. Even your enemy.
We love the Jewish people. We want to bring them Jesus, Yeshua, salvation. In addition to sharing Jesus with them, we want to show Jesus to them. God is opening up doors for us to do just that. From this heart we are beginning a new initiative for our ministry: “Your Jewish Neighbor...”
The “Your Jewish Neighbor...” initiative flows from our ongoing work reaching Jewish people through relationships. We connect Christians with the Jewish community and with their Jewish friends through our Shalom Basket outreach during the Jewish holidays. We minister in and to Jewish residential facilities. We prayer walk Jewish neighborhoods, visit synagogues, and encourage people to share their faith with Jewish friends and family.
We are now partnering with both Christian and secular Jewish organizations to help Jewish people in need.
“Your Jewish Neighbor...” is Purposeful
We are helping Jewish people. Most don’t think of or perceive the Jewish community as a demographic “in need.” However due to Covid-19 the needy Jewish demographic is growing here in Atlanta, the southeast, Israel, and around the world. More Jewish people are struggling to make ends meet and to take care of themselves and their homes. “Your Jewish Neighbor...” can live anywhere.
Poverty and need has always been a disturbing reality in Israel. Jewish people immigrate to Israel from less developed countries and settle into a new land with few possessions. They need help. Prostitution, homelessness, and drug addiction is a growing problem in Israel.
To that end, we have worked alongside and supported ministries in Israel who are feeding the hungry at soup kitchens and ministering to homeless and drug addicted people on the street. We are going to be supporting a new Women’s Shelter being developed in Tel Aviv.
Locally, we are visiting a Jewish man and his wife this month with a Christian contractor to help fix damage to their home caused by a broken water pipe. We are on the lookout for other Jewish families that we can serve. We need your prayers and support for projects like these.
‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Matthew 25:35-45
When Jesus said “my brothers,” the immediate context was the Jewish people. As we bless the Jewish people in physical need, we bless Jesus!
“Your Jewish Neighbor...” is Motivated by the Gospel
All of our efforts are predicated on the proclamation of the gospel to the Jewish community. All of the organizations with whom we work, both Christian and Jewish, understand who we are and what we believe. Everyone we help understands that our actions are an outflow of our faith. We hope and pray that Jesus will be seen in us, and that people will be drawn to him
In my book, “Devoted to Israel,” I say, “Devotion to the land and the people of Israel without devotion to the proclamation of the gospel to the people of Israel, is not true devotion.” Humanitarian aid and benevolent giving must be driven by the desire to tell people about Jesus.
“Your Jewish Neighbor...” is Propelled by Principle
We owe the Jewish people. Without them we would not have our Bibles, churches, baptism, communion...we would not have Jesus or our salvation. We owe them so much. I commend to you Paul’s words in Romans 15:25-27:
“Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the Lord’s people there. For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem. They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings.”
We are praying for God to provide for this new initiative in 2021. You may give directly to the “Your Jewish Neighbor...” Fund by donating online. I will be in touch with more exciting news in the weeks and months to come.