The Shootings in Sydney, Australia
Many of our hearts have been hurting since Sunday when a joyful first night of Chanukah celebration at Bondi Beach in Australia turned into a rerun of 1939 Germany as a father and son, committed to ISIS, gunned down 15 Jewish people in cold blood and wounded numerous others.
It is the season of celebrating and reaching out across faith-defined lines to let other people know because they are created in God’s image and He loves them, we do, too. I think that goes double for the Jews, for they carry the very earthly DNA of our Jesus.
As we pray for them after this tragedy, I have found a way to express love that does not seem to overwhelm them (as people who claimed to be Christians have done some terrible things to them over the centuries). These last few days I have been saying, “Christians stand with Jews because you are Jesus’ cousins on His mother’s side.” That seems to produce a smile and to convey truth without being threatening!
I do not totally understand endtime prophecy but if a lot of Jews are going to embrace their Messiah in the future, we can start telling them about Him now!
