I come from a Jewish background

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

‘I come from a Jewish background. I was a liberal Jew so we only went to synagogue for big events. They read from the five scrolls of the Torah, but there was no translation, so you had no idea what was being read. I had no knowledge of the Bible, but I knew stories like Esther and the Passover.

When my wife became a Christian in 2010, I decided I better find out what was going on. I saw a huge change in her. She was much more relaxed. We’d had our troubles: we have four kids, one with special needs. But then, I could see a peace in her. I wanted a bit of that.

Someone gave me a Bible in a Year. I didn’t realise that people still read the Bible. I related totally to the apostles, because they were young Jewish men facing Jesus and that’s what was happening to me. The Bible was a total surprise.

I would break into a sweat when I was reading it. It was all me. It has given me more of a sense of my Jewish heritage than I did as a Jew growing up. It was gobsmacking. Reading the gospels, I was meeting people like me. Jesus was preaching in the synagogue. I realised that Jesus was changing these 12 Jewish men.

For a Jew growing up “Jesus” was a swear word. The challenge was to accept him for who he said he was. That was really difficult. I knew it would have significance for my family. My parents have been very understanding, but a lot of people would have cut me off.’

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