We arrived into Jerusalem at about 9:00 at night. We were filled with excitement and a bit of curiosity. All that we knew was that we were staying with an orthodox Jew for two weeks and helping out with a soup kitchen. As we met our contact it turns out that he is actually from Chicago and has a great sense of humour and is very kind. That night we had some friendly conversation and figure out what’s going to be happening for these next two weeks. We are all pretty tired from an exciting bus ride the night before where our bus hit a donkey on the road just leaving Tel Aviv! So we went to bed.
The next day we get back from the soup kitchen and are kind of hanging out in the living room and talking. Our host comes home and pretty soon the conversation switches to Christianity and Judaism and a whole array of great questions and discussion about our faith. He really wanted to begin to challenge us and help us to grow in our understanding of God. So at one point he started asking some intense questions to Lauren. He said “I don’t want an answer you can think of in 5 minutes I want you to stop and actually think about these questions for a few days.” The first question that he asked was this
“At what point does a person need the right answers before they can get saved?”
Many years ago I might have quickly put forth a pat christian answer, but this time the question really challenged me. I know without a doubt that when we come before God on judgment day there will not be a knowledge based multiple answer doctrine exam or anything like that to determine who gets in to heaven and who goes to hell. It’s deeper than that.
“What does it mean to accept Jesus?”
Do you have to say a little prayer? Do you have to be a good person? Go to church once a week? What does it really mean to accept Jesus? Do you have to accept Christian culture and lingo and put a little fish sticker on the back of your car?
“What does it mean to reject Jesus?”
Sometimes we forget that there are 2,000 years of often very ugly church history that people have to get over before they can think positively about Jesus. To a Jew whose ancestors have been murdered and raped and had their villages burned down by the crusaders and the pograms and even a nazi regime that was unopposed by the church in germany and even supported at times, there is a lot of historical baggage to get over. (Check out “Our hands are stained with blood: by Dr. Michael L Brown for a powerful and convicting look at that)
If Jesus actually walked into the room and talked to them and loved them and showed them who He really was, how would they then feel? Are they rejecting Jesus or the presentation of Jesus that church of the last 2,000 years has offered to them? I know Jesus is the only way to the father. I know there is no other name under heaven by which men must be saved. But I have really been challenged a lot by the love for God and incredible faith of so many Jews and those three questions I don’t know an answer to yet.
To continue the story we ended up learning a ton in our two weeks in Jerusalem. Lots of great discussion and we even celebrated Shabbot and Hannukah with our host. Also amazing was the fact that when we arrived he had a big brace around his leg and his ankle was still healing from a fracture a few weeks before. But we prayed and prayed for him and within a week he went to the doctor and the doctor confirmed that he was totally healed!! Praise Jesus!!
I’m so thankful for my time in Jerusalem and the sites that we got to see and all of the amazing things that God did in my life. I really loved it. Now I am here in Arad and having the time of my life. We are staying near an incredible scholar who has his doctorate and is just a treasure trove of amazing information. I’m trying to soak in as much as I can :). Thank you so much to all of you who have supported my trip in prayer and financially. I really appreciate it. God bless!
