Paul Always Went “To the Jew First,” So Why Did We Stop?

By Gateway Center for Israel

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Many Christians today would be surprised to learn that Paul, the famous “Apostle to the Gentiles,” never stopped living a Jewish life. What this zealous Pharisee experienced on the road to Damascus was not conversion to Christianity, but acceptance of a new life and calling offered by the Jewish Messiah, Jesus. The mission of Paul’s life may have changed—but his identification as a son of Israel did not.

During his evangelistic journeys, Paul’s first stop in a new city was always the local synagogue. This ministry pattern is detailed an astounding nine times in the book of Acts (Acts 13:14, 14:1, 17:1-2, 17:10, 17:16-17, 18:4, 18:19, 19:8, 28:17). While his specific calling from God was to take the gospel to the Gentiles, he would only begin sharing with the Gentiles after he had first spoken to his Jewish brothers and sisters. While it might seem like a detour from his ministry calling, Paul had at least three good reasons.

To begin with, Paul fully understood God’s priorities when he penned Romans 1:16:

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation, to the Jew first [or especially] and also to the Gentile.

He knew Israel was (and still is) the covenantal and prophetic people of God, through whom came the promised Jewish Messiah (Rom 9:4-5). God always intended Paul to share the Good News with his own people from the beginning when he called him “a chosen instrument to take My message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

Secondly, Paul carried a heavy burden of responsibility to tell his Jewish brothers the truth of Messiah—even when they refused to believe. He did not go to them first because it was easy, but because it was God’s order. In Acts 18, Paul became frustrated with his audience in the Corinth synagogue and brushed the dust from his clothes declaring, “From now on I’m going to the Gentiles!” Yet, the text says he immediately went next-door and led the leader of the local synagogue to faith in Jesus!

And third, Paul deeply loved Israel, his own family, with all his heart. It was that anguished love that motivated him to write Romans 9:3-4:

For I would pray that I myself were cursed, banished from Messiah for the sake of my people—my own flesh and blood who are Israelites. 

When he was detained on false charges in the Temple, and jailed in Caesarea, his mind was on his people. He emphatically told King Agrippa that he was being held “because of the hope of Israel” (Acts 25). Upon arrival in Rome to appeal to Caesar, Paul remained true to form and first met with the local Jewish leadership to share the salvation message. Acts 28 reveals that some accepted the good news, and others did not. Once Paul realized he had done all he could, verse 28 records his final words to the Roman Jewish community:

So, listen well. This wonderful salvation given by God is now being presented to the non-Jewish nations, and they will believe and receive it! (TPT)

Amazingly, this is how the most evangelistic book in the Bible ends—with Paul passionately declaring Messiah to the Jewish people. But with this in mind, why has the church largely stopped carrying out Paul’s model of sharing the love of Jesus “to the Jew first?”

Long after his Road to Damascus encounter with Jesus, Paul continued to live a fully Jewish life. And at the center of his Jewish identity was the full faith and hope that “all Israel will be saved” (Rom 11:26). Paul’s life was given to declare the “endless riches of the Messiah” to the Gentiles (Eph 3:8), but he never stopped sharing the Good News “to the Jew especially.”

For more information on Paul’s mission and vision, read our perspective paper on “To the Jew First.”