Open Your Eyes

Why TJC II is Important

By Reverend Carl Gustav Stenbäck

Life always brings surprises, sometimes with joy but sometimes with tears . Nobody expected the iron wall to fall. It came down suddenly and people rejoiced. As life was wonderful to holiday makers in Thailand and Sri Lanka, the flood suddenly struck and changed the life of hundreds of thousands.

What seems to surprise many Christians is the increasing number of Messiah believers among the Jews. We have often seen the Jewish people as alien to the Christian gospel. Many Christian missions have tried to present Jesus as the Messiah to the Jews, but without much result. During the last decades, however, the hearts of a great number of Jews had their eyes opened to Jesus and have come to worship Yeshua as the Messiah. The reasons for this development may be many. Why is it important to recognize the rising number of Jews believing in Yeshua?

First, it is a fact that an increasing number of Jews in Israel, USA, England, Russia, Ukraine and in many other countries have come to faith in Jesus as God's promised Messiah. This fact itself raises questions of the reason for this growth and the consequences of it.

Secondly, and this may be even more interesting, the increasing number of Messianic Jews corresponds to Rom 11. St.Paul speaks about Israel as the root of the olive tree. People from other nations have been grafted into this old root. When the gospel has reached the nations, all Israel will be saved (11:25). It is not easy to understand fully what St. Pauls says in this passage. But there seems to be a truth of highest eschatological value. The day will come when Israel will turn to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah. Do we see the beginning of this in the Messianic congregations and fellowships coming up like mushrooms? If so, we need to give attention to this and give the development prayer support. We need to open our eyes and see new fields being ripe for harvest. It is important for the old churches to recognize the new shoots coming out from the olive tree.