The Root Problem

I hardly noticed growing up. Our neighborhood was largely Polish and I was just one of the kids.

My mom’s side of the family—who lived closest to us—were English and Dutch. 

My childhood felt normal. I never felt different from the other kids, and they didn’t seem to notice anything unusual about me either.

Sometimes my mom would take me to the Episcopal church. On the way home, we’d stop at a delicatessen—lox and bagels, pickled herring, matzoh ball soup.

I mostly just thought my dad liked some different food.

It didn’t really click until we visited relatives on my dad’s side in upstate New York.

My older, more orthodox aunts and uncles kept kosher homes. Two sets of dishes. No lights turned on during Sabbath.

Even after I became a pastor, I approached my faith like any Gentile believer might. Though I am half Jewish, I never thought of myself as a “Messianic” or “completed” Jew.

I simply discovered that Jesus is the Savior of the world—and He was Jewish… like me—well, half of me anyway.

I didn’t think much of it then. It just felt like a bonus.

But lately, something has shifted.

Even after the world said “never again,” antisemitism is rising again.

Oddly, I don’t experience it as a personal attack.

But I do see it clearly for what it is:

• an attack on the Jewish people

• an attack on humanity

• demonic

• and ultimately, an attack on Christ and His Church

Because this isn’t just cultural. It’s spiritual distortion.

A

nd tragically, some who say they are Christians—claiming to follow a Jewish Messiah—are embracing and spreading that distortion.

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The Distortion

Two dangerous and destructive ideas have corrupted parts of Christian thinking, theology, and practices for centuries:

• Replacement theology — the belief that the Church has completely replaced Israel in God’s plan

• Conspiratorial accusations — the lie that Jewish people are uniquely responsible for the evil in the world

These distortions often converge in an ancient claim: That the Jewish people are “Christ killers.”

But that accusation collapses under Scripture—and under even the most basic understanding of our faith.

What we call Christianity was not born apart from Israel—it was born through it.

So to turn against the Jewish people is not just historically wrong. It is spiritually incoherent.

Jesus’ crucifixion cannot be reduced to one group.

Yes—Jewish religious leaders opposed Him. Yes—the Roman authorities carried out the execution.

But the cross was ultimately about: 

• not religious power

• not political power

• not ethnicity

Jesus was not a victim of Israel or even Rome, per se. The cross was not something done to Him—it was something He chose.

“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” — John 10:18

The cross was not the failure of Israel or the triumph of Rome. It was the plan of God, carried out for—and through—the sin of all humanity.

Not just their sin. Our sin.

So to blame the Jewish people alone—for the death of Jesus or the ills of the world—is to ignore the truth.

Antisemitism is not just wrong—it’s theologically incoherent and spiritually irrational.

Consider the basic facts:

• Jesus was Jewish

• The apostles were Jewish

• All the first believers were Jewish

• The Scriptures came through Israel

• Christianity is a Jewish religion 

To despise the Jewish people is to despise the very root that carries the gospel.

Paul says it plainly:

“Do not consider yourself superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” — Romans 11:18

This is not just a moral issue.  It is a spiritual blindness that forgets where our salvation story began.

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The Olive Tree

To correct the confusion, Paul provides a picture.

Not two separate peoples. Not one replacing the other. But one living tree.

“If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root…” — Romans 11:17

Here’s the picture:

• The root — God’s covenant with Abraham

• Natural branches — Israel

• Wild branches — Gentile believers

• The tree — one covenant people of God

Some branches were broken off because of unbelief.

“They were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith.” — Romans 11:20

And Gentiles were grafted in. Not to replace the tree. But to join it.

The root remains and the natural branches are not gone forever.

“And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.” — Romans 11:23

This is not replacement. This is God expanding His covenant—grafting the nations into what He began with Israel.

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One Salvation, Fully Revealed

This raises the deeper question: Has salvation changed?

No.

It has been revealed.

Abraham was saved by faith:

“Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” — Genesis 15:6

But that faith always pointed forward.

Now it has a name.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” — Acts 4:12

And through Jesus, something new was released: The indwelling Spirit.

“By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.” — John 7:39

So the pattern is consistent:

• Faith has always been the way

• Christ has always been the source

• The Spirit is the fulfillment of the promise

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The Full Picture

Now step back and see the whole story:

• Abraham believed — and was counted righteous

• The root was established — a covenant people formed

• The tree grew — Israel carried the promises

• The Messiah came — through that very line

• The cross secured salvation — once for all

• The nations were invited — grafted into the same tree

• The Spirit was given — dwelling within believers

• And the natural branches? Not forgotten. Not discarded. Not replaced.

“For God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.” — Romans 11:29

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One Root, One Tree, One Savior

There are not two peoples of God. There is not a discarded Israel and a separate Church.

There is:

• one root

• one tree

• one Messiah

• one salvation

And we, as believers from the nations, have been brought near.

Not to boast. Not to replace. But to belong.

To be sustained by a root we did not plant. To be part of a story we did not start.And to worship a Savior who came through Israel…for the salvation of the world.

“You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” — Romans 11:18

That realization should produce deep humility, gratitude, and honor for God and His chosen people.

Because the same God who grafted us in…still tends the root He planted.