Church and Israel – Part 3

Another subject for consideration is the position of Jesus in relation to Israel. First, historically speaking, the best way to understand Jesus’ ministry is in the context of Jewish restoration eschatology. Key prophetic hopes were focused on the return of the twelve tribes to Judea from the Diaspora, the reconstitution of a new Israelite kingdom, complete with a new Davidic King, the forgiveness of sins, a renewed covenant, a new temple, and the return of God to Zion, etc. Now Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom (Mark 1:14-15), his healings and exorcisims as signs of restoration (e.g., Matt 11:1-6), his call of twelve disciples (Mark 3:13-16), his ministry to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 10:5-6; 15:24), and even his death, were all acts designed to bring about the restoration and redemption of Israel (see Luke 24:21; Acts 1:6). This was because Israel would be the cipher by which salvation would reach the rest of the world: a transformed Israel would transform the world! The community that Jesus created around himself was the beginnings of the restored Israel, united around their messianic leader, comprising of Judeans and Galilean supporters, claiming for itself continuity with Israel, even when Judean leaders rejected the Messiah and the message about him. Second, theologically speaking, Jesus is the embodiment of Israel. Israel was called to be a new Adam, a humanity ordained by God to be priests and regents of God’s world, to spread the reign of God in their worship, Law, and covenant – but they failed, and just as Adam was exiled from the Garden for his disobedience, so Israel was exiled from the Canaan for their disobedience. Jesus is the new Adam and the true Israel (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:22). By his obedience and faithfulness to his messianic task, Jesus recapitulates the roles of Adam and Israel in himself, seen especially in his wilderness temptations (Matt 4:1-11).When the Matthew quotes Hos 11:1 concerning the flight to Egypt, “Out of Egypt I called my Son,” he is not citing a messianic prophecy, nor engaging in bad proof texting; rather, he sees Jesus as the archtype representative of Israel, and Israel’s story, hopes, and destiny are summed up in him. If this is the case, then the logical corollary, precisely what Paul seems to claim, is that to be “in” Christ is to simultaneously be “in” Israel.

In the early church, there is no hint that the church is some kind of redeemed humanity, sharing in Jewish salvation, albeit in a de-nationalized sense. Paul’s speech to the Jews in Pisidian Antioch contains the proclamation that: “Brothers and sisters from the children of Abraham and you God-fearing Gentiles, it is to us that this message of salvation has been sent … We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus” (Acts 13:26, 32-33). What God has “promised to our ancestors” does not include only spiritual and redemptive promises, to the exclusion of promises specific to the nation. No, the form of fulfillment announced by Paul encompasses the whole sway of God’s promises, from Abraham to Moses to the prophets; including cultic, covenantal, national, spiritual, and redemptive loci. All these promises find their singular and unified fulfillment in the cross, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus. Significant also is James’ speech at the Jerusalem council, where James cites Amos 9:11 to prove that the restored Israel is the church made up of believing Jews and Gentiles: “Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for his name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the rest of humanity may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’ – things known from long ago. It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God” (Acts 15:14-19). The hope of Israel’s national restoration and the reestablishment of the Davidic monarchy are events located against the constituting of the church and the resurrection of Jesus.