WHO ARE JESUS’ BROTHERS?

I have been hearing a new insight into this verse in Matthew 25:40; “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”. The expression “these brothers of mine” in this verse is a Greek term that refers to “relatives according to the flesh.” I have always thought “brother” meant any friend, neighbor, relative, etc. But since Jesus is a Jew, it would have meant any Jewish person. John Hagee, pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, makes this quite clear in his new book, In Defense of Israel (Lake Mary, FL: Frontline Books 2007) Used by permission. I highly recommend this book as it tells how mistreated the Jews have been throughout their history. To the shame of us Christians, most of the perpetration has been done by us in the name of God.

In John Hagee’s book, he summarizes the atrocities done to the Jews since A.D. 70, but here I am summarizing them even further. The atrocities are too gory. The first mistreatment of the Jews began in A.D.70 when Titus marched from Rome, destroyed Jerusalem and killed thousands of Jews. In the fourth century, emperor Constantine “Christianized” the Roman form of religion, a religion full of idolatry and pagan influence. That really did not change anything, it was still a religion of idolatry and pagan influence. Since Rome believed in many gods and the Jews only had one god, Rome thought the Jews were being stubborn but they were in fact keeping the 1st commandment. So Constantine restricted the Jews from associating with the Gentiles and were called murderers of the Lord. This started a whole slew of hatred spewed on the Jews and other atrocities. Then came the Crusades starting in 1096 until 1099 when a crusader, who was the first to reach Jerusalem, began slaughtering the Jews so they took refuge in the synagogue and locked the door. This crusader burned 969 Jews that day in the synagogue, while singing “Christ We Adore Thee” as they marched around the synagogue.

In 1215 so called Christian leaders met and concluded that Jews should still be under the same oppressive oppression that had been going on for centuries. The Jews were also to wear distinctive clothing to distinguish them from the Gentiles. In the 1470s the Spanish Inquisition began to purge the church of heretics, particularly Jews, bringing more persecution. In the 1480s the Inquisition reached levels of torture the Jews would not experience again until Hitler’s sadistic level of madness.

Germany produced two of the most powerful anti-Semitic influences of all time. The first was Martin Luther who triggered the Reformation when he wrote the Ninety-five Theses and nailed it to the cathedral door. Luther made some of the most vicious, Jew-hating statements ever made. When the Jews spurned his Theses, he turned on them with a vulgarity and vengeance that eventually Hitler would use as his importance to launch the Jewish extermination in the Holocaust. Six Million Jews were killed in the 1940s in the name of the Catholic Church under Hitler believing that he was doing the will of God to kill the murderers of God when actuality it was the Romans who did, Luke 18:31-33.

The late Pope John Paul II has done more to reconcile the Roman Catholic Church with its anti-Semitic past, memorialize the Holocaust and recognize the State of Israel than anyone else. The present pope, Pope Benedict XVI, has pledged that he will continue the same policies. John Hagee is also committed to reconciling the Jews and Christians. He started the ministry of Christians United for Israel, not to proselytize the Jews but to help, support and encourage them. John realized that they are Jews and are not to be converted to any Gentile faith. We are the ones who should be converted to the Jewish faith.

Israel is the only nation who has survived throughout centuries of atrocities and yet still retains their nationality. I think it is time that we jump on his band wagon and help support Israel. We will be blessed! Genesis 12:2 “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you”.

A Merry Day to you from the Merry Heart

A CHANGED PERSON!

I am a changed person in more than one way. The next day after my husband asked me to marry him he went back to where he lived and was working, 750 miles away. Then he wrote and asked me how I felt about the stance that Red China was taking. Huh! What stance? Who’s Red China? That’s how much I knew about world news back then. Now I can carry on a very intelligent conversation with him and sometimes I even know more than he does about the news, Whee! I began gradually to listen to the news and know about things, I had changed.

But there is another change in my life that is even more important! I really became a Christian!
I had always doubted whether I was a Christian until one day when I and my two grade school children had gone and spent some time with my sister and her two children close in age to my children. I was in a big hurry to get home, an hour away, before dark and so became rude to my sister and my son. On the way home I was feeling very sorry that I had been mean to my sister and little boy and the Lord just spoke into my heart very clearly, “That is why I died on the cross for you”. I knew then and there that I was definitely saved. But I didn’t know how much it had changed me until I heard my daughter talking to a friend of hers one day sometime after that. She said that she had been scared of me up to a certain point and then she couldn’t explain why she wasn’t. I thought about that for a few days and then realized that I had changed and didn’t even know it.

A dear friend said recently that she used to cuss and smoke and was mean but when she accepted the Lord, she thought that people had become so much nicer! She didn’t know that it was she that had changed! When you accept the Lord as your Savior, you truly are a changed person!

A merry day to you from The Merry Heart