Summary In the beginning of creation, we can see how God created man as a migrant with the mission to multiply and fill the earth. But the Bible is also the story of the fellow man, how in the fall man became xenophobic and began to treat his brother and fellow man as an enemy and stranger. God calls Abraham …
To All Nations
In both the Old and New Testaments, we can consistently see that God wants his people to love the stranger within Israel and the church, i.e., integration, and to reach out with the Word of God to all the foreign peoples outside Israel and the church, i.e., mission. Here now follows the common thread from the call of Abraham to …
Pentecost
If in the Old Testament God’s people were given laws and rules that would teach them to love the stranger as a fellow human being, in the New Testament God’s people are given the Spirit of God who transforms the stranger by his power into a brother and sister in Christ. Since man fails to fulfill the “righteous requirements of …
The Xenophile Church Leader
In the New Testament, “xenos” and “paroikos” are the Greek equivalents of the Hebrew “ger”. Paroikos occurs only four times in the New Testament,[1] while xenos is more common. Both paroikos and xenos are used in the New Testament to describe “foreigners”, who can be invited guests, strangers, immigrants or refugees. What they have in common, however, is that they …
Integration in the First Church
The first church in Jerusalem had quickly grown to several thousand members.[1] Many of the newcomers were Greek-speaking Jews from the Jewish Diaspora who had come to Jerusalem primarily to celebrate Passover, but then stayed after they were saved and baptized. To make sure that all these thousands of new believers from other countries had food for the day, they …
Neither Jew nor Greek
Both Israel and the Church have been given the dual mission of “integration[1] and mission”. In the Old Testament, integration was about Israel treating foreigners as natives within its borders, according to the Law of Moses. In the New Testament, integration is about the Holy Spirit bringing native and foreigner, or “Jew and Greek” as it is called in the …
The Dividing Wall
When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, he was welcomed into the city like a king! The people spread their cloaks on the road and shouted: “9 And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! …
Love Your Enemy
In the last chapter, we saw how a Jewish teacher of the law summarizes the entire Law of Moses with the core expression, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself.“[i] This is a very good summary of the whole Bible and the will of God for us humans. God wants us to love …
Love Your Neighbor
As Jesus is teaching his disciples, a Jewish lawyer suddenly comes up to him and starts a conversation: “25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27And he answered, “You …
Love Your Brother
If in previous chapters we have seen how Jesus taught us to love strangers, foreigners and enemies, this chapter is about the importance of Christians also showing care for one another: “31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32Before him will be gathered …