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Stand With Israel
So Joseph said to his brothers, “Please... come near to me.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life". Genesis 45
"Jesus Comes Back To The Jews"
This was the headline in The Times of Israel on January 23, 2017. The article described an art exhibit held at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem from December 2016 until April 22, 2017. The exhibit was titled: “Behold The Man: Jesus in Israeli Art,” and featured 150 works of art from 40 Jewish, Zionist, and Israeli artists.
To us, the headline “Jesus comes back to the Jews” is prophetic. It’s a statement that, sub-consciously perhaps, describes and exposes a desire in the hearts of an increasing number of Jews. Somehow, Gentiles ran off with the greatest Jew of all time and they want him back.
At the bottom of this page is a list of quotes from leaders within the Jewish community around the world regarding this idea. Jewish people everywhere are searching for language to make Jesus theirs again, and that’s a good thing.
Genesis 45:1–5
When Joseph was reunited with his brothers, it had been 20 years since they’d seen one another. Of course, Joseph recognized them immediately, but there was an obstacle preventing his brothers from seeing him. The Joseph they knew and betrayed was hidden beneath his Gentile name, clothing, and appearance.
They simply couldn’t see him.
As the tension built, he tested their character until he just couldn’t bear it any longer. Then, in one of the most moving and prophetic scenes in the Bible, he revealed himself to the ones who had betrayed and rejected him. A reveal that was private and intimate, with Joseph shedding all the tears while his brothers were initially shocked and terrified. Eventually, they relaxed into their distinct roles. (Genesis 45:1-5)
We think this poignant story points to the future reunion between Yeshua and all of Israel… when they see the one they betrayed and pierced.
Our Two Mandates:
"Comfort My People"
We are Stand With Israel’s “boots on the ground” in Jerusalem and the surrounding region. Reconciliation is not just our personal story; it is the heartbeat of our ministry.
Reconciliation plays a role in forgiveness, but it’s really a separate and distinct process. Reconciliation has more to do with the kind of relationship we want to have with the people we are estranged from and the process of re-establishing a relationship with them.
We desire to see people restored and reconciled as much as possible… within themselves through inner healing, then to each other and to the Lord.
We are called to bring the same comfort with which we have been comforted to the people we encounter. We are parents, mentors, and friends at large.
And...
"Remind them of who they are"
Most of the Jewish people in Israel are secular and non-religious. Some don’t believe in God at all. We understand this as Jews have suffered like no other people.
As we walk the streets of Jerusalem, we pray and look for every opportunity to remind these precious people of who they are.
As champions of reconciliation, we come to Israel in the name of the Lord and believe that those who welcome us will have a veil lifted, and they will see their brother Yeshua.
"I, a rabbi of Israel, think we should accept Jesus..."
Rabbi Solomon B. Freehof, reform rabbi, scholar and author
"Scores of men have believed themselves to be the Messiah and have convinced many of their contemporaries, but those who believed Jesus to be the Messiah have built a great church upon the rock of their belief. He is still the living comrade of countless lives. No Moslem ever sings, 'Mohammed, lover of my soul', nor does any Jew say of Moses, the Teacher, 'I need thee every hour.'"
Max Nordau, author and Zionist leader
"Jesus is the soul of our soul as he is the flesh of our flesh. Who then could think of excluding him from the people of Israel? St. Peter will remain the only Jew who said of the Son of David: 'I know not the man.' If the Jews up to the present have not rendered homage to the sublime beauty of the figure of Jesus, it is because their tormentors have always persecuted, tortured and assassinated in his name."
Joseph Klausner, Jewish author
"Jesus was a Jew and a Jew he remained till his last breath. His one idea was to implant within his nation the idea of the coming of the Messiah and, by repentance and good works, hasten the 'end'.... In all this, Jesus is the most Jewish of Jews, more Jewish than Simeon ben Shetah, more Jewish even than Hillel."
Rabbi Louis Gross of Brooklyn's Union Temple
"... I think we should teach Jesus to children much as we teach them about Abraham, Moses and Jeremiah, and the rest of the great teachers and prophets. Jesus, as we all know, was a Jew. He was a gift of love."
David Flusser, professor of religious history at Hebrew University in Jerusalem
"I do not think that many Jews would object if the Messiah -- when he comes -- is the Jew Jesus."
Dr. Chaim Zhitlowsky, Jewish scholar and author
"Every Jew should be proud of the fact that Jesus is our brother, flesh of our flesh and blood of our blood. We desire to put him back where he belongs."
