This weekend was one of violence. Two parents were apparently murdered by their son. Two students were killed by a still unknown assailant. And a father and son took attacked a Jewish community celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. All three of these incidents give us pause for our culture and should move us to pray for the families of the victims as well as for justice to be served. Yet, at this time of year the shooting at Bondi Beach seems especially grievous.
The alleged shooters were Sajid Akram and his son, Naveed. Both were Muslim with the father having previously been looked at for ties to an Islamic terrorist cell. And their crime wasn't random. Both men set their sights on a Jewish community, leaving sixteen dead and more injured. Many are using this call for gun control or police reform. But they are missing the real problem—a sinful hatred of Jewish people.
Even worse, consider the relationship of these shooters. There were not two random strangers or two men committed to the same cause. These men were father and son. In a distorted from of discipleship, one man raised his son to hate Jews. And that hatred came to fruition as they planned and carried out a deadly attack against them. Much like any other form of racism, antisemitism never seems to go away.
This is, frankly, shocking given our recent cultural history. A central component of Germany's domestic policy during World War 2 was their "final solution" of the so-called "Jewish Question." The antisemitism of the Nazis left them unsatisfied with trying to push them out of the country or experiment on them in inhumane ways. They sought to exterminate them. The liberation of their concentration camps revealed this wicked plan and the world was staggered. The historic land of Israel was given back to the Jewish people as a safe haven that such a thing would never again happen.
Yet, antisemitism will not die. Beyond the constant attacks of Israel's political neighbors and terrorists attacks, we have a growing number of voices in social media that point to the Jews as a problem for Western society. Sometimes this is pitched as merely "anti-Zionist" but the nuance is pretty thin. This is a prejudice against, if not a hatred for, the Jewish people. Such an attitude is essentially the spirit of antichrist.
How so, you may wonder? Consider the reality that while this father and son conspired to murder Jews in recent week, another Father and Son joyfully planned their salvation in eternity past (Eph 1:3–10). In fact, just as a one man bravely took fire trying to stop the assault on people who were completely strangers to him, another Jew embraced death for his Jewish countrymen and other he would call out from the world to be his people—many enemies who rebelled against him (Rom 3:8–31). Are we, as Christians, to hate the Jewish flesh of our dear Savior? God forbid!
To hate the Jews is to hate Jesus himself. Some have tried to use the rebellion of Israel against God in the Old Testament or the role of the Jewish leaders in crucifying Jesus to justify a spirit of antisemitism. This says more about them than what the Bible teaches. For in the course of redemptive history, the Gentiles owe a tremendous debt to the Jewish people for salvation is from the Jews (John 4:22)! Though we Gentiles make up the majority of God's people now, we were actually grafted into the people of believing Israel like a branch onto a tree (Rom 11:11–24). Through faith in Christ, we are children of Abraham—Jews (Gal 3:29)!
The apostle Paul didn't despise "the Jews" for killing Jesus. Just the opposite! He longed to see more be saved: He even lamented that more were not believing: "I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh" (Rom 9:1–3). How can we not long for the same thing at Christmastime when we celebrate the birth of the "consolation of Israel" (Luke 2:25)?
Thinking about these issues leads to two clear, biblical responses.
First, we should reject any form of antisemitism. This is first a form of racism, which the Scriptures won't allow. All people are created in God's image (Gen 1:26) and are worthy of our love, even if they are our enemies (Matt 5:44). Worse, it's an attack on God's plans and purposes in Christ. Some celebrities, social media personalities, and political pundits all promote shades of antisemitism today. Reject them. Do not walk in their counsel or stand in their way (Ps 1:1–2). Despite overlapping interests or agreement on other things, do not associate with their sinfulness in this regard. If needed, repent and seek God's forgiveness for your own heart in this matter.
Second, pray for the salvation of the Jewish people. Paul seems to suggest that there is a future for the salvation of ethnic Israel (Rom 11:25–32). It was certainly his practice, though the apostle to the Gentiles, to begin his gospel mission with the Jews, preaching Christ at the synagogues. At the very least, they are like anyone else in need for forgiveness in Christ (Eph 2:1–3). Seeking the salvation of Jewish people doesn't mean we need to agreed with everything related the political nation-state of Israel. Nevertheless, the salvation of Jews should never be far from our minds (Rom 1:16). We should pray weep for the violence against them and pray that the Lord would use such times to lift their eyes to him and see Jesus as their long-promised Messiah.
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