Hope Without Arrogance: Praying for the Salvation of Israel

There is a delicate, and too often neglected, place in Christian theology where truth and love must walk hand in hand: the Church’s understanding of the Jewish people in light of the Gospel. In recent decades, any statement about the Jewish rejection of Jesus Christ has been haunted by the fear of being misunderstood — or worse, being accused of antisemitism. Yet this cannot stop the Church from speaking the truth in love.

As Anglicans — heirs of both a catholic tradition and Reformation clarity — we must boldly confess what Scripture teaches, without contempt or triumphalism: that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, not just of the Gentiles, but first and foremost of the Jewish people.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
— Romans 1:16, NKJV

The Problem of Stubbornness

The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with episodes of divine frustration over Israel’s disobedience. God calls them a “stiff-necked people” (Exodus 32:9), not to cast them aside, but to demonstrate His mercy in the face of their resistance. This same dynamic continues in the New Testament — not as an indictment of Jewish nature, but of human nature itself.

When we ask why so many Jewish people still do not believe in Jesus, it is not because they are uniquely blind or resistant. It is because all people resist the grace of God until the Holy Spirit breaks through. The Jewish rejection of Christ is deeply grievous, but it is not exceptional. It mirrors the same rejection that happens in every human heart — ours included.

The Remnant Remains

St. Paul, himself a Jew and a Pharisee, addresses this mystery in Romans 9–11 with theological depth and pastoral grief:

“I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! … Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
— Romans 11:1, 5

God has not rejected Israel. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not nullified by unbelief. They are instead fulfilled in Christ — and kept alive in the remnant of Jewish believers who, even now, confess Jesus as Messiah. These Jewish Christians are not anomalies; they are a sign of hope, a firstfruit of what God is yet to do.

Grafted In, Not Replacing

The Church has long debated how to understand her relationship to Israel. Some traditions veer toward supersessionism — the idea that the Church has replaced Israel entirely. But Paul rejects this prideful conclusion:

“Do not boast against the branches… remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.”
— Romans 11:18

We Gentiles have been grafted into the olive tree. The root is Jewish. The promises are Jewish. The Messiah is Jewish. Our salvation is Jewish.

The Church does not stand above Israel, but rather beside her, beckoning her home.

The Promise of Restoration

Romans 11 concludes with a bold eschatological hope:

“And so all Israel will be saved.”
— Romans 11:26

This statement is not a universal guarantee of individual salvation, nor does it mean that every Jew who ever lived will be redeemed without Christ. What it does promise is that God is not done with the Jewish people. A day is coming when the blindness will be lifted, when Christ will be seen for who He truly is, and when the children of Abraham will turn and say:

“Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”
— Matthew 23:39

Hope Without Arrogance

Our response must be neither contempt nor indifference, but prayerful longing. We are not to coerce, manipulate, or condemn. We are to love, serve, and witness. We proclaim Christ to all, including the Jewish people, not because we are better — but because we are debtors to grace.

“For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.”
— Romans 11:32

This is not a call to ignore our differences. Judaism without Christ is incomplete — a candle longing for the flame. But the flame is no Gentile invention. It was lit in Zion, and from there it has burned throughout the world.

A Prayer for the Peace of Israel

Let us end where the Psalms begin:

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.’”
— Psalm 122:6

As Anglicans, as Christians, as followers of the Jewish Messiah — let us pray for the salvation of the Jewish people. Let us speak clearly, love deeply, and hope steadfastly. For He who made the promises is faithful — and He will bring them to light in His perfect time.