A Very Jewish Christmas: Making Room for Surprise Company

The Christmas story we think we know so well holds surprises we've never considered. While our nativity sets feature shepherds and wise men, there's a missing element that changes everything: Orthodox Jews standing in wonder before the infant Messiah.

This overlooked detail isn't just a footnote in Luke's Gospel—it's a profound invitation to understand Christmas in its fullest, most challenging dimension.

The Forgotten Witnesses

In Luke chapter 2, after the familiar accounts of angels and shepherds, we encounter two elderly Jewish believers: Simeon and Anna. These weren't casual observers. Simeon was a devout man, likely dressed in traditional Orthodox garb, with prayer shawl and phylacteries, spending his days searching the Scriptures for the "consolation of Israel." Anna was an 84-year-old widow who had devoted decades to prayer and fasting in the temple.

When Mary and Joseph brought their infant son for the required temple ceremonies, these two faithful seekers recognized what others missed: the arrival of the Messiah they'd been waiting for.

Simeon took the baby in his arms and declared: "My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory of your people Israel."

This moment matters more than we realize.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Anti-Semitism

Our world today is drowning in a toxic flood of anti-Semitism—hatred of the Jewish people that rivals and even exceeds the darkness of the 1930s. From university campuses to social media feeds, from violent attacks to subtle theological dismissals, this ancient poison is resurfacing with terrifying intensity.

Recent events underscore this reality: attacks on Jewish celebrations, ongoing hostage situations, and the pervasive sense among Jewish people worldwide that they stand alone, targeted simply for existing.

Yet here's the paradox that should shake us: much of the historical persecution of Jewish people has come at the hands of those claiming to follow Jesus. The Crusades, the Inquisition, pogroms throughout Europe—all carried out by people who invoked Christ's name while inflicting unspeakable suffering on His own people.

This history creates an enormous barrier. When Jewish people hear the name "Jesus," they often hear echoes of centuries of pain inflicted by "Christians."

Why This Matters for Your Faith

Without the Jewish people, Christianity doesn't exist. Every word of Scripture, every understanding of God, the very person of Jesus Himself—all emerge from Jewish soil, Jewish prophets, Jewish promises.

The Apostle Paul addresses this directly in Romans, using the metaphor of an olive tree. Israel is the root and trunk. Gentile believers are wild branches grafted in. We don't replace the natural branches; we join them. And God promises that those natural branches will be grafted back in—"all Israel will be saved."

Three dangerous theologies have crept into Christian thinking:

Replacement Theology teaches that the Church has replaced Israel in God's plan, inheriting all the blessings while Israel receives only judgment. This directly contradicts Romans 9-11, where Paul emphatically states that God has not rejected His people.

Dual Covenant Theology suggests Judaism and Christianity are incompatible, separate paths that shouldn't intersect. This ignores that Jesus' primary ministry was to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" and that the early church was thoroughly Jewish.

The Theology of Impatience demands immediate conversions and visible results, forgetting that God is patient, "not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance."

The Power of Showing Up

Something remarkable is happening in Israel today. For perhaps the first time in 2,000 years, Jewish people are encountering a type of Christian they call "evangelical Christians"—believers who show up not to condemn or convert through coercion, but simply to say: "You are not alone."

These three words—"you are not alone"—bring tears to Israeli eyes again and again. In a world where they feel universally hated, where every Israeli knows someone killed in recent violence, where simply being Jewish makes you a target, the presence of Christians who genuinely care creates an opening for God's love to flow.

In northern Israel, there are 20,000 people in 29 communities who have never met a Christian. Thousands of tour buses drive past them to see biblical sites, but no one stops to meet the people. When believers finally visit these communities, plant trees as symbols of hope, share meals, and simply listen, hearts open in extraordinary ways.

One community leader asked a poignant question: "Why do Christians come to see where Jesus stood and said 'I will build my church,' but they never come to talk to us?"

The Search of Seeking People

Both Simeon and Anna were seekers. Simeon searched the Scriptures at home, looking for the consolation his people desperately needed. Anna devoted her widowhood to prayer, maintaining a faithful presence in God's house for decades.

They represent countless Jewish people today who are searching for meaning, for comfort, for understanding of why being Jewish means being a target. They're reading the same Scriptures Christians read, praying to the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, looking for the Messiah—even if they don't yet recognize His name.

When we respect this search, when we position ourselves where seeking people are, God gives us His heart for them. The transformation doesn't begin with us manufacturing love for lost people. It begins with us showing up where they are.

Making Room This Christmas

The question isn't just whether unexpected guests will arrive at your Christmas dinner. The deeper question is: Is there room in your heart for the surprise company God wants to bring into your life?

This Christmas season offers practical ways to expand that room:

Serve your community. Volunteer at local outreach events. Hand out cookies and candy canes not as transactions but as opportunities to meet real people with real searches.

Include Jewish perspectives in your Christmas. Watch "The Hiding Place" and see what happens when a family prays for 100 years and risks everything to save Jewish lives during the Holocaust.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. This isn't about political positions; it's about interceding for a people God loves and has never abandoned.

Talk to Jewish friends. Let them know that millions of Christians around the world love and support the Jewish people.

Consider visiting Israel. Walk where Jesus walked, but more importantly, meet the people who live there today.

The Envy That Leads to Life

Romans 11:11 contains a stunning statement: "Salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious."

When Jewish people see Gentiles worshiping the God of Abraham, reading the Torah, saying "amen" and "hallelujah," living in the grace and power of Messiah—it creates a holy envy. They wonder: How do these non-Jews have such access to our God? How do they experience such joy in our Scriptures?

That envy opens hearts.

The opposite of anti-Semitism isn't neutrality. It's love for the Jewish people that overflows into love for all people. When we embrace God's first chosen people, our hearts expand to embrace the whole world God loves.

This Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of a Jewish baby in Bethlehem, let's make room for the surprise company God is bringing: a renewed understanding of our connection to Israel, fresh compassion for Jewish people, and a readiness to be bridges of God's love in a dark and divided world.

Simeon and Anna belong in the nativity scene. Their presence reminds us that Christmas is, and always has been, a very Jewish story—and our invitation to join it.