|
Jesus replaced the synagogue system with the church
system and a decentralized style of leadership. The born again Jews
were happy in Jesus but they struggled with the deeply ingrained
Talmudic prejudices and had difficulty integrating with Gentiles.
Paul addressed this issue when he admonished Christians not to build
cliques in the local churches, but to treat one another the same way
as Christ treated them. While it's true that Jesus was an Israelite
who came to His own people first, Paul wanted the Gentiles to know
that salvation was also available to them regardless of race or
gender and they should treat the Jews with love. Paul had been commissioned by God to preach the
Gospel and go where no churches existed. This was the reason he
traveled extensively throughout the Roman Empire and wanted to visit
Spain but he was also mindful of the needs of the Jewish Christians
in Jerusalem and collected money for the poor. Paul did not know
that events in Jerusalem would not go as planned; instead, he was
almost murdered by the Jews, arrested, and finally brought to Rome
as a prisoner two years later. Paul trusted God implicitly but his
carefully laid plans were shattered by these unexpected events.
|
 |
