Both readings are about conflict between “the Jews” and either the proto-Christian community or Jesus himself. In Acts, Paul and Barnabas are faced with rather virulent opposition by “the Jews” while preaching about Christ. The two apostles then state that, having rejected the word of God, the Jews have also judged themselves “unworthy of eternal life.” For this reason, Paul and Barnabas turn to the Gentiles to deliver the word of God. In rage, the Jews then stir up enough opposition among the leaders of society that the apostles are finally driven out of the city entirely. John’s gospel similarly draws lines between “the Jews” and Jesus himself, implying that they have been told of Jesus’ status as the Messiah but still refuse to believe because they “do not belong to [Jesus’] sheep.”
You can see at once how these passages can fuel anti-semitism. On the surface, both appear to cast Jews as enemies of Christ and of Christians, a bypassed people who, from stuborness or willfulness, reject God’s word and are, consequently, eternally damned. From this, the narrow-minded can all too easily believe the worst that anti-semites have spewed forth since the middle ages right up through the Nazis to the present day.
But there are context to these passages that the narrow-minded consitantly refuse to acknowledge. First and foremost there is Jesus’ over-arching message of love, forgiveness and acceptance. Second, there is the historical context of what was happening in Jewish society both at the time of the events described and at the time these events were recorded in what are today the canonical books of scripture. Lastly, all scripture must be seen in the context of the people and cultures that produced them; as I have said many times before, scripture is divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit but written by imperfect men with the cultural and personal biases of their society at their moment of time.
God’s unqualified love for his creation, as expressed through Jesus, requires us to re-examine the idea that Jews are being rejected by God. What, then, is really going on? I am willing to accept that those Jews at that time rejected God’s word. I do not accept, however, that this means all Jews in all times are unloved by God and unworthy of salvation. I believe that it was necessary at that time and place for Paul to be rejected by his own kind so that he would take his message to the Gentiles. God’s plan for the spread of his word required that it expand beyond the relatively insular Jewish society into the wider Romano-Greek society, and the only way to do this was to force Paul, a devout Jew himself, to undergo a painful rejection by his own kind.
John’s gospel is the last of the canonical books to be set in writing, and was probably composed after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. At that time, Jews were undergoing a difficult process of redefining their faith in a world without the unifying symbol of the Temple. Previously, the existence of the Temple and its rituals made Judaism relatively flexible—there were many sects with often quite divergent views on fundamental ideas like resurrection, for example. All were Jews, however, because all looked to the Temple as the unifying symbol of who and what they were. With the Temple gone, Jews began to seriously consider what was, and what was not, a Jew. Followers of Christ, up until then considered a fringe Jewish sect called the Nazarines, were defined as not Jews. John’s gospel reflects the awful sense of betrayal and rejection felt by proto-Christians as they were excluded from communion with their brother Jews.
It is no surprise, then, that scripture written at such dark times reflects the passions and biases prevalent in them. What is remarkable is how so much of scripture transcends these passions and biases, turning them through the inspiration and influence of the Holy Spirit into lessons on hope, love, forgiveness, and all the other virtues of living the Christ-like life. Yes, some Jews in the early first century rejected God’s word and, perhaps, suffered as a result. But how many of us nominal Christians have done the same? We who presumably should know better have time and again re-crucified Christ on crosses of hatred, prejudice, self-righteousness and pride. The Jews in Acts and in John’s gospel are not, after all, such strangers. They are, in fact, us.
