There was a tragic inevitability to the Bondi Beach massacre. The escalating antisemitism in Sydney has only grown since October 7 and the war in Gaza. As someone who grew up and ministered in the Southwest of Sydney, I can assure you that hatred against Jewish people has been simmering for a long time.
Watching the news of this horror slowly unfold on Sunday night, I felt a deep sense of responsibility as an Australian, and as a Christian, to not stand idly by and allow this sort of vile hate to fester in our communities. The deliberate attack on Jewish people during a Hannukah celebration, the murder of fifteen people, and the wounding of dozens of others did not happen in a vacuum. No doubt in the following weeks and months our nation will continue to grapple with the many complex factors that led to this day. But one thing is certain: we must do whatever we can to drive out the growing antisemitism in this country.
As Christians, we must always begin with ourselves. Sadly, for much of Western history it has been Christians who have been the culprits of antisemitic attacks. From the massacres of Jews throughout the Middle Ages to the concentration camps of Nazi Germany, Christian nations and people have committed unthinkable atrocities against Jewish people. This is what happens when a people group is demonised and dehumanised for thousands of years.
I don’t believe that the gospel is itself antisemitic, but we must acknowledge that throughout history the gospel has been used time and time again to justify violence against Jewish people. Yet the gospel, rightly understood and preached, is exactly what will drive antisemitism out of our country. It is our responsibility as Christians to so believe and proclaim the gospel that we will shine light into this dark world.
We Are All in the Same Boat
Each year at Moore College I lecture on the Gospel of John, and every year one of my lectures is devoted to antisemitism and the Gospel of John. More than anything else, I want to help my students see how John’s Gospel universalises the human condition. John consistently teaches that we are all in the same boat. Ethnic and cultural tensions are rife in the Gospel. We see Judeans and Samaritans who don’t associate with each other (Jn 4:9), Judeans looking down on Galileans and Samaritans (7:52, 8:48), and Romans looking down on Judeans (18:35). John presents us with a world that we know all too well: a world of deep ethnic divisions.
Yet Jesus is sent not as a Saviour of one people group, but as the ‘Saviour of the world’ (4:42). Entry into God’s family is not dependent on one’s ancestry or ethnicity but is a gift available to anyone who would receive Jesus and believe (1:12–13). The world was made through him (1:3), the world did not recognise him (1:9) and yet God so loved the world that he sent his Son to save it (3:16).
To a world divided, John teaches that we are all in need of salvation. This is the first step in driving out antisemitism. It is understanding that there is nothing that makes us any more special than anyone else. We are all sinners in need of a saviour, and we are all saved by grace through faith. To think that a Jewish person is somehow worse or more deserving of hate or violence is to deny the central truths of the gospel. We are all in the same boat.
The Devil Is in the Deeds
Still, the Gospel of John does speak particularly about ‘the Jews’ in Jesus’ day. What makes John so problematic for so many readers is that it appears as if John is making an entire ethnic group, ‘the Jews’, responsible for Jesus’ death. This is certainly how John’s Gospel has been read in the past, to devastating effect. The most difficult and controversial passage is when Jesus says to his Judean opponents, ‘You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires’ (8:44). This passage has often been misunderstood and misused to promote awful antisemitic hatred toward Jewish people. But a careful reading of this passage should send us in a very different direction.
In this passage, Jesus is teaching that one’s ethnicity has no bearing on one’s standing before God. Jesus has just taught that everyone who sins (that is, everyone) is a slave to sin. But his opponents object that they cannot be slaves, since ‘we are Abraham’s descendants’ (8:33). Far from demonising Abraham and his line, Jesus challenges his opponents that they are not behaving in line with their noble heritage. He says, ‘If you were Abraham’s children, then you would do what Abraham did’ (8:39). The point that Jesus is making is that people are not judged by their ethnicity or ancestry, but by their behaviour. These particular people were looking for a way to kill Jesus (8:37), and it is in response to this behaviour that Jesus says that they ‘belong to your father, the devil’ (8:44). Jesus’ point is that all of us, even those from that most noble heritage (Rom 9:1–5), will be judged not by where we come from, but by what we do (Rom 2:1–4). Jesus condemns these people not because of their ethnicity, but despite it.
In this way, Jesus ‘de-ethnises’ both sin and salvation.[1] Whilst many have used this verse as justification for antisemitism, its effect should be the exact opposite. Jesus calls us not to judge someone by their background but by their behaviour. The devil is not in the details of our ethnicity, but in the deeds of our life. How dreadfully ironic that this verse has been used to justify the murder of Jewish people, when this verse teaches that it is those who murder who are children of the devil. There is real evil in the world, and the devil is at work in people today, but this evil is exposed by action, not ancestry. If you were ever in doubt, the man holding the gun and killing innocent people is not doing God’s work.
A Light Shining in the Darkness
The Bondi Beach massacre reminds us once again of everything wrong with this world. In what was meant to be a celebration of light, the darkness of this world shone forth. But Jesus is the light of the world, and the darkness will not overcome it. The light shines in the darkness, both exposing our evil and inviting us to come into the light and walk in it.
As we Christians celebrate the light shining in the darkness this Christmas, what will it mean for us to live as children of the light? It will mean seeing that we are all in the same boat. It will mean casting out all hate from our hearts—all prejudice, racism, and bitterness— and putting on the love of Christ. And especially now, it will mean reaching out to our Jewish friends and neighbours and showing them Christ’s love.
[1] For further reading on this, see Andrew J. Byers, John and the Others: Jewish Relations, Christian Origins, and the Sectarian Hermeneutic (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2021).
