Most people have at least heard of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses against the Catholic Church, but few today have ears to hear his other famous 1542 polemic: On the Jews and Their Lies. But the Apostle Paul warns us “Beware of dogs, beware of evil works, beware of the concision.” Philipians 3:2 The concision being those “Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God and are contrary to all men…” 1st Thess 2:15
So, I read On the Jews and Their Lies for myself and decided to share some key points.
Why? Because Christianity and Judaism are opposites and they do not belong smushed together in a misnomer such as “Judeo-Christian” values. Moreover, I can’t bear to watch decent Christians oddly idolize a group of people who reject Jesus Christ. It's awkward and not biblical.
Destruction of Jerusalem
In the first chapter, Luther suggests addressing Jews with a question: “…are you aware that Jerusalem and your sovereignty, together with your temple and priesthood, have been destroyed for over 1,460 years?” (pg. 46)
In 70AD, Roman troops annihilated the city of Jerusalem and exiled the Jewish inhabitants. Jerusalem as it was once known, ceased to exist and the land became part of the Roman Empire.
Luther references Hosea 1:9 – “…for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God…” and Luke 21:20,23 – “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.… for these be the days of vengeance … there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.”
The significance of a physical Jerusalem ceased with the coming of Jesus Christ. AD 70 was just the icing. Though I'm personally neutral on the modern state of Israel, one thing I know for certain is that it is not currently a land of Christ’s followers.
Pride and Arrogance
“There is one thing about which they boast and pride themselves beyond measure, and that is their descent from the foremost people on earth- Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, and from the twelve patriarchs, and thus from the holy people of Israel…” (pg. 47)
Many Christians fail to realize that bloodline, lineage, and race do not determine who God’s elect are. Instead, they mistakenly view today’s Jews as a special race of people that God loves more than anyone else. Imagine that? I will further investigate this phenomenon in upcoming posts.
Luther points to Matthew 3:9 where John the Baptist states, “And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”
And John 8:39,44 where Jesus says, “If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham…Ye are of your father the devil.”
Perhaps the best example is Esau and Jacob, both sons of Isaac, simultaneously in Rebekah’s womb, and both of a noble bloodline. Esau was the first born, which technically meant he had greater nobility than his younger brother.
Luther adds, “But what did his equal birth or even his first-born status--by virtue of which he was far nobler than Jacob--benefit him? He was still not numbered among God’s people although he called Abraham his grandfather and Sarah his grandmother, just as Jacob did…” (pg. 53)
The perception of today's Jews being “chosen people” has no biblical merit, but it has been effective for garnering undue support from Christians.
Circumcision
Luther references Genesis 17:12 where God gives Abraham instructions on circumcision; “And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.”
He goes on to say, “Thus the covenant or decree of circumcision encompasses the entire seed of all the descendants of Abraham, particularly Ishmael who was the first seed of Abraham to be circumcised.” (pg. 58)
Here we see that this practice was never exclusive to Jewish people and we find that Jews are no more “chosen” than the seed of Ishmael when it comes to this procedure. And yet today we have Christians putting their newborn sons under the knife as if Jesus never existed.
But why circumcision in the first place? Luther states, “God did all of this solely for his sake: for his sake Abraham was called, circumcision was instituted, and the people were thus exalted so that all the world might know from which people, from which country, at which time, yes, from which tribe, family, city, and person, he would come, lest he be reproached by devils and by men for coming from a dark corner or from unknown ancestors. No, his ancestors had to be great patriarchs, excellent kings and outstanding prophets, who bear witness to him.” (pg. 71)
However, Jews throughout the bible despised prophets and many of them simply refused to follow God’s word. And without God’s word, the symbolism of circumcision is completely meaningless. Luther correctly says it’s, “null and void.” (pg. 72)
The Promised Land
This is an interesting subject living in a post-World War Two world. Luther didn’t get to witness the creation of 1948 Israel, but he probably would have predicted it had he lived a few hundred years later. Here’s a couple of snippets from Luther:
“They remain stone-blind, obdurate, immovable, ever hoping that God will restore their homeland to them and give everything back to them.” (pg. 81)
“There they stand like a rock. If 100,000 apostles came along and said: “You are not the church because of your behavior or your many doings and divine services, even though these were your best efforts; no, you must despair of all this and adhere simply and solely to the grace and mercy of Christ, etc. If you fail to do this, you are the devil’s whore or a school of knaves and not the church,” they would wish to murder, burn at the stake, or banish such apostles.” (pg. 83-84)
We see this today with the modern state of Israel, where a group of people in the middle east, who reject Jesus Christ, believe they are entitled to a plot of land granted to them by the God of Israel. Interestingly, there is no support for this in either testament.
A Plan of Action
In the last part of his book, Martin Luther tells us how Christ-rejection affects culture and then offers several ways to address it.
I recommend reading this section for yourself, but to sum it up gently: problems must be addressed directly. Christians must stand in the gap. This would mean cultivating a less-tolerant society, one that is not sympathetic to its mortal enemies, and one that sets Jesus Christ as the standard.
Unfortunately, at this late stage of civilization, there a too few willing to call out the sins of the modern world.
I’ll leave off with one of the tamer final sentences of Luther’s essay: “May Christ, our dear Lord, convert them mercifully and preserve us steadfastly and immovably in the knowledge of him, which is eternal life. Amen.”
Final Thoughts
I recommend this book for anyone who has been through the Bible a few times and might be questioning who God’s chosen people actually are.
This book and my report on it are not grounds to write off every individual within a certain group. The purpose of bringing attention to this contraband is to help Christians understand that there is another Martin Luther in history, aside from the popular one, who warned us to be on guard against Christ-rejectors.
I'm not implying that every person from this group is this way or that way. I'm pointing out that there is a spirit of anti-Christ that can hurt us if we are unknowingly sympathetic to it.
Lastly, for those who are inclined to hurl the "anti-semitism" smear, let me clarify by saying that we should not judge people, or weirdly idolize them, based on heritage or race. There is one standard for everyone. That is: Do you follow the principles of Jesus Christ? Interestingly a "semite" himself!
“Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father…” -1 John 2:23
*References are from On the Jews and Their Lies By Martin Luther, a version edited and introduced by Thomas Dalton PhD, Published by Clemens & Blair LLC New York, London 2020.*