Brought Near By the Blood of Christ

I learned something even before landing in Israel.

After my eight hour layover in Newark, I joined up with the rest of the students and we boarded the plane headed for Tel Aviv, Israel. The huge plane was full; I think we were about the only non-Jewish people on the plane other than the flight attendants. Most of the men wore the Jewish cap, a few had on a top hat and grew their hair so that they had the curly frontals by their ears, and two or three even wore the full out traditional looking robe with the headress. When I was waiting in line for the bathroom and taking a much needed break from sitting, I saw three men standing beside the emergency exit door. All were dressed in the robes. One had what we would call a phalactery on his forehead and another had a black band wrapped all the way around his forearm. I had never seen anything like that before so I looked it up just now as we just got internet. The Jews call these things Tefillin. They take Deut 6:8 very literally, binding God's word on their arm and keeping it in front of them always. The third man was facing the exit door and rocking back and forth, I presumed in prayer. I felt such a sense of sadness as I walked back to my seat. They hold on so tightly to these man made traditions and they still pray for the messiah that they think is coming. But He has already come! I was sitting by one of my roomates and we talked about how these Jewish people were God's chosen people, and yet they don't believe in Christ. And we - we're gentiles, yet we "who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Col. 2:13.

After landing, one of our professors was reminding us just how blessed we are, as gentiles, to be saved by the grace of God. He told us about Peter going to Cornelius, a gentile, and this was the beginning of the gospel reaching the gentiles.

So, the experience on the flight and then what our professor said both really made me grateful for what Jesus did, not just for Jews but also for me. For in Christ, "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free: but Christ is all and in all." Col. 3:11. Praise the Lord!