Ldg in Dvrse & Glbl Context

6.1 Devotion: Jesus. His Cross-Cultural Encounters

Getting Started

Would it surprise you to learn that Jesus had many cross-cultural encounters with people? In the Gospel of Luke, we see that Jesus interacted with a Roman centurion (Luke 7:1-10), a Roman soldier who crucified Him (Luke 23:26-50), and Simon of Cyrene, the man who carried His cross for him to the hill called Golgotha (Luke 23:26). In the Gospel of John, Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42), a group of Greeks who wanted to meet with Him (John 12:20-26), and a Roman governor named Pilate (John 18:28-19:16). Actually, we find many more examples of Jesus’ cross-cultural interactions in other books of the Bible, including the Gospels of Matthew and Mark.

Upon successful completion of this assignment, you will be able to:

Describe how Scripture addresses God's perspective on Background Information

We learn from Newell (2016) that:

During the thirty-three years when Jesus, the Son of God, dwelled among humankind, his life was punctuated with cross-cultural experiences. In the flesh, Jesus was born a Jew, raised a Jew, and died a Jew. However, the four Gospel accounts reveal that although he was always prepared for—and even seemed to delight in—cross-cultural encounters, non-Jews were not his main ministry focus. His primary mission was to offer himself legitimately as the Jewish messiah to the Jewish people.

In Jeremiah 50:6, God calls Israel, his people, ‘lost sheep.’ The messiah, spoken of throughout the Old Testament, was seen as the one who would gather these sheep (Ezekiel 34:20-24; Micah 5:4-5). When Jesus presented himself as a shepherd to Israel, he was claiming to be the fulfillment of messianic prophecy (Mark 6:34; 14:27; John 10:11-16).

But even though the Jews were his primary ministry focus, he took time to help those outside the Jewish race when the opportunity presented itself. Not only that, but after his resurrection, he made a point to declare to the disciples that, after his permanent departure from them, their ministries were to include and eventually focus on peoples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:47). They were to cross cultures to a larger extent and a far greater degree than He ever did.

He took time to interact cordially with Gentiles and to help those outside the Jewish race. Perhaps Jesus’ most well-known and beloved parable is the parable of the good Samaritan, and his most endearing encounter is with the Samaritan woman at the well. Together, these two narratives may have irked the Jews, but they give hope to Gentile believers the world over. They give hope that Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, is our messiah too. (p. 171)

Instructions

1. After reviewing the material above in the Getting Started and Background Information section, write a half-page reflection paper (Word document) about what you have learned about the extent to which Jesus invested Himself in the lives of many who represented other cultures, customs, and traditions. Here are some thought starters, some of which you will better answer after reading some of the passages referenced in the Getting Started section above:

a. Considering the animosity that existed between various ethnic groups, like the extreme dislike between the Jews and the Samaritans, why do you think Jesus went out of His way to connect with the Samaritan woman at the well?

b. What does Jesus’ compassion for people of other cultures teach us about our interactions with people from different countries or cultures?

c. How might the way you lead benefit from the example that Jesus provided for us in Scripture?

2. Reflection papers are to be written following  APA Guidelines (7th ed.) (new tab) , including format guidelines. Papers must be logical, well organized, grammatically correct, and have correct spelling and sentence structure.  Write in complete paragraphs.