FJs and Trees

Today, after my first homemade coffee drink in about two months, I went to church with Megan, Derek, Conor and Logan. During the service, the pastor talked about the gentile woman in Matthew 15:21-8. She came to Jesus because her daughter was demon-possessed-- Jesus responded "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (vs. 24). The passage continues, but it was another example of Jesus' Jewishness. I have been studying the OT, and recently finished reading Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and have begun Joshua. While reading that, I have also been exposed to some of Paul's letters, and Matthew. A lot of what Jesus had to say was directed towards Jewish leaders, Jewish laws, and Jewish issues. Although some of Paul's letters were written to the Church, he addressed many Jewish issues (ie clean and unclean meats, circumcision, salvation via Grace rather than works/the law).
So, my question-- Why Judaism? Why establish a Jewish nation? Why create a system for holiness? Why was Jesus a Jew?
[Enter Romans chapter 11, vs. 11-36 stage left]
Metaphorically speaking, God planted a tree of righteousness through the seed of Judaism. The branches that grew from the trunk was the nation of Israel. Gentiles were excluded from the tree, but then Jesus came. He made known to all the world that every man/woman/child was welcome to come to the father through him. Paul refers to two different kind of olive trees- Wild and Cultivated. Wild = Gentiles; Cultivated = nation of Israel. I didn't work with God's cultivated, so he broke off those branches so that the wild branches could be grafted into the trunk among the remaining branches to "become a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree" (17). So, I guess my question of why was irrelevant-- How is more appropriate. Because, who am I to question God's plan-- "For who has known the min of the Lord? Or, who has become His counselor? [...] For of Him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen" (vs 34, 36).

On a much different note, I have discovered my dream car-- Toyota FJ Cruiser. It is a sweet car that would fit me perfectly: Water resistant seats, sweet styling, practical size, more security than a Wrangler, sweet off-road tuning and little gadgets, and it is a Toyota. So, when I get around to buying another car in a few years, I can probably get a pretty sweet used one. If you want to, check it out,
Also, the new Snow Patrol album, Eyes Open, is very good.

Comments

  1. Mel6/7/06

    Ok, first of all FJ was my second choice after an Element, but I decided to save something for the future. Second of all, I love Snow Patrol.

    ReplyDelete

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