The Scandal of Judaism

Christianity has been marked by hostility toward Jews. I won’t rehearse the history. I’ll simply propose a thesis: Christian animus toward Jews across the centuries arises in large part out of a rarely acknowledged but deeply felt spiritual distress. If those chosen by God in Abraham and commissioned as his people at Sinai reject Jesus, then isn’t their rejection evidence that claims about Jesus as the Messiah are false? If the people immersed in the Old Testament don’t recognize Jesus as its fulfillment, doesn’t that suggest that Christians are mistaken? The enduring reality of Jewish unbelief can easily seem to undermine the credibility of the cross, instilling in those who confess Jesus as Lord the terrible suspicion that God’s word has returned empty.