One of my favorite mindless sitcoms is “The King of Queens.” Well, I wish I could say that I have a clip for you to watch, but I don’t. (I am beginning to understand my need for a lesson in iMovie…) So I will just have to rely on your possible similar fondness for the show. I was watching a rerun yesterday. It was the episode where Arthur, Carrie’s live-in father, is getting married. Doug has been severely hurt because he just found out Carrie has been lying to him about a very important issue. There is a scene where Doug is riding in the car with the Jewish rabbi who is officiating the wedding, and Doug mentions divorce. The rabbi chimes in and the following conversation takes place:
Rabbi: “I certainly understand why you’re upset, but I also know that God believes in forgiveness.”
Doug: “Yeah…well…is that just your God or any God?”
Rabbi: “Do you think you and I have different Gods?”
Doug: “No, no, no, no, no…I mean…yeah…only ’cause my God is Jesus…uh, but from what I understand my God is the Son of your God, so I’m sure they’re on very good terms. They probably see each other all the time–holidays, family functions…”
Obviously Doug’s delivery of the above rhetoric is 90% of the hilarity, but what I was most struck with was the ABSOLUTELY CORRECT theology expressed right there!
If you are a Christian, you worship a different God than a Jewish person. That may seem confusing, even incorrect or offensive–but it is actually very clear in Scripture. Hear me out.
1. Judaism worships YHWH, the God of the Torah (the Old Testament). As Christians we worship, Jesus, the God of the Bible.
2. They believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We believe that JESUS is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
3. They believe their God has yet to send a Messiah. We believe our God was our Messiah incarnate–God made flesh (John 1:1).
They do not believe Jesus is God. It is very distinct. If you are a Christian, you have a totally different God than a Jew. Jesus is Who sets us apart from every other ‘religion.’ This was a great reminder for me to pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal Jesus to Jewish hearts. How tragic to know that God’s beloved nation will not spend eternity with Him unless they recognize Jesus as YHWH!
I do not share this to bash Judaism. Rather to inform my brothers and sisters in Christ of our distinction from it. I encourage you to know your God, Jesus. Know why He’s absolutely different from any other god.
I need you to know that I love Israel. I love her culture, her people, her history. I want her to love my God. That is why she was created. Pray for her with me?
UPDATE ON THIS POST!!! I read a great book, “My Jesus Year” by Benyamin Cohen last week. He is an orthodox Jew who “investigated” Christianity for a year. It is highly enlightening. I can not recommend it enough to believers.
This is really interesting. Did you know that the pastor of McLean bible church is a JEw? He came to Christ in his early adulthood. He was sharing during a sermon how Witnessing to other Jews is challenging because they believe that the idea of Jesus as the Messiah is a crazy idea. Also he shared that there was a statistician in the congregation that came up with actual statistical odds/probability that Jesus is the Messiah based on the likelihood of someone actually fulfilling 100% of the prophesies concerning the circumstances of his birth, life, etc. Good stuff