How to Heal Our Racial Divideনমুনা

Day 1: The Birth of God’s Multiethnic Family

After Jesus’ resurrection, he gave his Jewish disciples a cross-cultural, missional mandate commonly called the Great Commission. This command is for every follower of Jesus. Reflect on this: Jesus is the true and faithful Israel, and his twelve Jewish disciples, who correspond to the twelve tribes of Israel, are the leaders of the new people of God. They were commissioned for a mission that extended back to the call of Abraham. Jesus himself, through his sinless life, atoning death on the cross, and resurrection, fulfilled God’s promise of giving Abraham a multiethnic family. Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them.

Never forget—racial unity is God’s idea.

Jesus commanded his Jewish apprentices to take the Good News to the Gentiles (“all nations”). This instruction would have been especially difficult for them. Historically, Jews had suffered under the Gentiles: from four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, captivity in Babylon, and their current Roman oppression. Think about how radical and revolutionary it was for Jesus to command his Jewish disciples, “Go share the gospel with those who have enslaved, killed, and oppressed your people. Teach them to obey and follow my way of the Kingdom.” Only the love of God in Christ by the Spirit’s power can break down the barriers that divide and destroy us. The depth of this call was so urgent that Jesus told his Jewish disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

In this verse, Jesus gives a geographical outline of the book of Acts. The Jewish disciples are in Jerusalem in chapters 1–7 and Judea and Samaria in chapters 8–12. Then they take the gospel to the ends of the earth in chapters 13–28. But do not move too quickly. Sit with this for a moment: a ragamuffin group of poor Galilean Jews have their lives reimagined by Jesus’ resurrection so much that they leave all they know to join Jesus on his mission of reconciling the world to his Father and to each other, forming the family promised to Abraham. You are a participant in this redemption story. This is your story. This is my story. This is God’s story. It is a story of love.