The flight was going well. We took off on time and the weather was beautiful as we headed off on the first of two legs back to Detroit. Shirley and I were able to get our preferred seating, me by the window and she by my side in the middle seat. A man sat down next to her and we exchanged the usual niceties and welcome. Little did we know then that the next hour would be one of the longest in our lives, and draw out emotions that we usually do not have to deal with.
What we discovered and experienced for the very first time in our lives was a person with a deep hatred and disdain for the Jewish people. Imagine this after having just visited the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. We could not believe our ears.
“The Jews are behind all the evil in the world…”
“The Jews control the finances of the world.”
“The Jews control the US Government.”
“The US President serves as a puppet of the Jews.”
“No one can be elected President unless the Jews say so.”
And two of the most shocking things he said…
“The Holocaust never happened, it was a ploy of the Jews to make people feel sorry for them.”
“September 11 was carried out by the Jews.”
We have heard about folks who believe these things, but we have never actually met someone, let alone try to have a discussion.
I should have listened to Shirley…I was praying as we were talking (Shirley was grabbing my arm :>)). “Lord, please give me wisdom to know how to answer.” I asked him why did he think the Jewish people were so much of a concern to nations throughout history?…hoping to be able to share with him truth from the Scriptures related to God’s choosing Israel to make Himself known throughout the world…whenever I would bring up anything about the Scripture, he would change the subject and ask a question about some conspiracy or why do I think this or that has happened, and then explaining how the Jews had caused this or that, or did this or that, in order to accomplish some evil in the world. Where did he get this information and kind of belief? From the internet…!!!
Throughout our conversation he continually asked me why I thought so fondly of the Jewish people. I mentioned God’’s love for them, his careful attention to them throughout history…His plan for them in the future. And after a while, he began to equate my support for them, my explanation about future things related to them and their literal kingdom on earth as an endorsement for everything evil he thought they were doing. “I have nothing against you personally,” he said, “but you seem to me as though you are a supporter of evil. You seem like a nice person but you come across as an evil person because you agree with the Jews.”
I am not usually shocked to the point of not knowing what to say…but I was speechless… Here I am, an ambassador for my dear Savior Jesus…a Jew, the deliverer of mankind…wanting so desperately for this man to hear about him and know him as personal savior…here I was being called evil for trying to share biblical truth. WOW! I could hardly believe it. The verse about evil being called good, and good being called evil raced through my mind.
Our flight was just about over at this point. It was a good thing. Shirley’s patience had run out…my ability to reason was just about gone… I realized that our worldviews were millions of miles apart. Any hope for common ground would take an absolute miracle and much more time that we had that day. So all we could do was challenge him to read the Bible for himself. That was met with scorning and an explanation that the Scriptures had been corrupted…(of course, I thought…what else could he say?) . Good-bye then.
Upon reflection and discussion afterward, Shirley and I came to the conclusion that the emotions we felt must have been a small hint of those felt by the Lord Jesus when he, the innocent one, was accused of doing all sorts of wrong. Here He was, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world…the perfect man…God in human form, having done nothing worthy of punishment, certainly not death, he was scorned and ridiculed, beaten and crucified for the world of mankind. Even this one we had spoken to…God please do a miracle in his life and bring him to a saving knowledge of Jesus our Lord. May he know the true Savior and be brought out from under the bondage of the evil one!
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