Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Dialogue between Jews and Christians, in the light of Vatican II, and above all after John Paul II's visits to the Synagogue of Rome and the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, had taken some significant steps forward. Dialogue which continues under this pontificate of Benedict XVI, with meetings, official speeches, encyclicals and private publications, interventions to confirm reciprocal esteem between the Church of Christ and the Jews, Christians' 'elder brothers'.
Nevertheless many aspects are still unsolved. For example the question as to whether the Jews can be saved after the coming of Christ. In other words, if the descendants of Moses can reach salvation after the event of the incarnation of the Son of God. For Christians this happened with the nativity of Jesus of Nazareth: an historical fact which became a liturgical recollection, at the origin of that event which we call “Christmas”.
The theme in question, as it is clear, is both complex and delicate; it must be treated with science but also with prudence, truth, charity, reason and heart (Spe Salvi 44.47). As well as much reflection since many are the angles and perspectives to be examined: these will be given from time to time in this section on dialogue between Christians and Jews in the light of Sacred Scripture, the thought of the Fathers and the Magisterium of the Church.
At that time which God did the Israelites adore before the birth of Jesus? Or even more: what God did Abraham adore?
The first answer comes from the former Pharisee Paul, when he said in front of Agrippa: “saying nothing more than what the prophets and Moses himself said would happen: 23that the Christ was to suffer and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he was to proclaim a light for our people and for the gentiles.'” (Acts 26, 22b-23). The Apostle, we know, was well versed in Jewish Scripture, and as an expert in the Law he demonstrated on that occasion that the One the prophets had awaited, namely the suffering Messiah, was the person of Jesus crucified. Identity which also Stephen - who like Paul was a disciple of Rabbi Gamaliel - declares at the end of his speech to the Jews of Jerusalem: “'You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears. You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, just as your ancestors used to do. Can you name a single prophet your ancestors never persecuted? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Upright One, and now you have become his betrayers, his murderers…” (Acts 6,51-53).
So far the Scriptures. In the course of centuries however, no few clarifications emerged with regard to the two Abramitic faiths, also on this subject. In fact Vatican II clearly stated that God's covenant with the Jewish people, his chosen people, was not annulled by the coming of Christ and that his presence remains among this people: “God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues-such is the witness of the Apostle". (NA,4). Then it became clear that although the Jews still await the Messiah, Christians too are waiting for the second coming of Christ, which is theologically described as the Parousia, Christ's coming in glory at the end of human history. This eschatological tension, shared by Christians and Jews, rather than separate, unites the two faiths, which tend towards the realisation of the kingdom of God. The Jewish messianic waiting is not in vain. For us Christians is can be a stimulus to live the eschatological dimension of our faith. Like them we too live and wait.
The then Cardinal Ratzinger, in a document dated 2001, 'Rapporto fra Bibbia cristiana e tradizione ebraiche delle sacre scritture', (Relation between the Christian Bible and the Jewish tradition of the sacred scriptures ) of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, said, citing Paul (Rom 4,1-25), that the faith of Abraham is a source of the justification and basis of his fatherhood, which extends to all those who believe whether of Jewish or pagan origin. God in fact promised Abram: “You will be the father of a multitude of peoples (Gen 17,4). Paul sees the realisation of this promise when many believers of pagan origin become followers of Christ (Rom 4,11.17-18). The Apostle distinguishes between the “children of the flesh” and the “children of the promise” (Rom 9,8). Jews who join Christ are both. Believers of pagan origin, instead, are only children of the promise. This confirms and emphasises the universal nature of the blessing of Abraham and sets the patriarch's true posterity in the spiritual order. (2 - to be continued) (Agenzia Fides 21/12/2007; righe 52, parole 752)
