Our daily reflections follow the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, designed for those who want to read the whole Bible in one year. Each reflection focuses on one of the chapters from that day's readings. Darllenwch rhain yn Gymraeg.
Lord, thank you for your word. Help me to listen. Help me to trust. Help me to act.
Is the New Testament anti-Semitic? Historically, verses like ‘His blood be on us, and on our children’ (Matthew 27.25, KJV) have been used to mark Jews as Jesus murderers and to justify violence against them. Some passages in the Gospels and the book of Acts speak collectively of ‘the Jews’ as those opposing Jesus and his followers. And looking at the context – the Parable of the Unfruitful Fig Tree (Luke 13.6–9), Jerusalem rejecting Jesus (Luke 13.31–35) – today’s Parable of the Great Feast is probably not just an invitation to people on the fringe of Jewish society to respond to God, but also a reference to Jews rejecting Jesus and Gentiles embracing him.
But, whereas the New Testament has been used in the past to justify atrocities against Jewish people, it is in itself not anti-Jewish. The Old Testament is full of polemic against Israel, not on grounds of ethnicity but her rebellion against God. Similarly the New Testament was written almost exclusively by Jews but recognises the fact that most of their contemporaries rejected the idea that Jesus could be the Messiah.
The parable speaks not only of those who rejected the invitation to dinner having no hope of getting a second chance, but above all it highlights the generosity of the host. God’s goodness extends way beyond the great and the good. His grace is not something we deserve but can accept as his free gift.
Thank you, Lord, for inviting me into your fellowship, warts and all. Amen.
This reflection was written by Michael Pfundner, Bible Society's Publishing Support Manager
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