This is unsurprisingly a continuation of PART ONE. And much like Part One, it is tied to an article I recently wrote that can be seen by CLICKING ON THE ARTICLE.

Relating to this topic, here is a quote from that article:

Jesus of Nazareth established the church completely embedded in Judean
culture—Judean in membership, language, and style. While I have heard the argument
made that Jesus considered himself to be a Jewish prophet called to reform Judaism
and never saw himself as having any cross-cultural or international purpose, it seems
clear that Jesus was internationalizing the movement from the start. He saw himself
as inaugurating the Kingdom of God—a movement not tied to nations or national
boundaries, as a king who is not in competition with civil rulers (John 18:35-36).
The worship of God would have no geographical center (John 4:19-24). Jesus trained
his disciples to think in a new way about non-Jews—Roman soldiers, Canaanites,
Samaritans, among others—far different from the views of typical Jewish adherents.
He intentionally went into non-Jewish areas—Samaria, Phoenicia, Decapolis—and
trained his disciples to minister to non-Jews. He taught his followers to focus on the
core of the law (the Great Commandment) above the rabbinical innovations that had
become part of the local religious culture. He probably preached in Aramaic, the
language used by people well beyond the borders of Judea and Galilee. The call of
Jesus shortly before his ascension to go into all the world is hardly a surprise ending.
His message was already prepared to be adapted to and adopted by the world. -Robert Munson, “Muddy Footprints in the Ivory Tower: Missiological Reflections on Language and Localized Theology” Philippine Journal of Religious Studies, Vol. 4 (2024), 78.

We could take it further. While Jesus did not appear to directly challenge Jewish dietary rules in the Mosaic Law (thus resulting in some Christian groups that either hold to them or at least idealize them), Jesus does certainly draw into question some areas as it relates to dining. Consider the whole of Matthew Chapter 15. It starts with Jesus challenging the focus on external matters. It starts with ceremonial cleanliness before eating. I am adding the term “ceremonial” because I don’t think one can make the argument that Jesus is opposing hygiene. This is because the area of dispute was not physical health but morality. Are you a morally worse person because you do not follow the cultural hand-washing practices of the Jewish leadership prior to eating. Jesus makes it clear that morality is an issue of the heart and mind that then demonstrates itself in actions… not the other way around. He emphasizes the point with verse 11 where he states that, “What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

Again, I don’t think we can go from this and say that Jesus is throwing away Jewish laws regarding clean and unclean animals. However, this section does seem to establish the logic that food that is forbidden in a culture might be acceptable in another culture. It is not what God prioritizes.

Later in the same chapter, Jesus goes to the region of Tyre and Sidon, a predominantly Gentile region and has an interesting conversation with a Canaanite (Gentile) woman. People have been troubled by the exchange but reading the story as a whole, and then looking at it in the context of the chapter, it seems pretty evident that Jesus is creating a teaching moment for His disciples. A follower of Christ does not withhold God’s gifts from people of other cultures. A follower of Christ does not avoid ministering to people of other cultures. Ministry is international.

Finally, the chapter ends with Jesus going to the Decapolis region, another predominantly Gentile region. Here, Jesus ministers to them in terms of preaching and teaching and miracles. Jesus fed them (at least 4000 people) and presumably ate with them. The passage says that the people responded by praising the God of Israel— WHILE STILL REMAINING NON-ISRAELITES.

In terms of eating, in terms of socializing, in terms of ministering to, Jesus was breaking the cultural walls of the faith.

That being said, I don’t think one should read this as Jesus being a contextualizer of the faith. If He was here, at least we weren’t given much to support it. Rather, the chapter seems more like a series of training exercises for His disciples.

In the first section, the disciples learn what God prioritizes— what is key and unchanging.

In the second section, the disciples learn that God cares and desires to bless all people… not just “God’s Chosen People.”

In the third section is graduation— bringing together the food, socialization, miracles, preaching, and teaching, the disciples see the Reign of God bursting beyond cultural boundaries.

So, if Jesus was the main Internationalizer of the Faith, then it is our job as His church to be the Translator and Contextualizer of that faith to the entire world.