Vancouver is home to the third-largest Jewish population in Canada and the Oakridge neighborhood specifically is the historical center of their presence. Despite the vast distance, the Isreal-Hamas war has driven locally responses with both pro-Palestinian demonstrations and increased antisemitism.
Some Christians find themselves advocating for peace and the most oppressed and others are leaning into theological interpretations justifying war. To inform our understanding it is necessary to consider Jesus’ identity and teaching.
Jesus was unmistakably Jewish, born into a covenant people, formed by Torah, shaped by the rhythms of Sabbath, feasts, and community. His life cannot be understood apart from Israel’s story: a people called not for privilege but for purpose, to bring the light and blessing to all nations. Jesus fulfilled the Messianic promise to Eve and Israel that humanity’s salvation would come “from the Jews” (John 4:22, Romans 9:4–5).
However, Jesus did something radical. He took the concept of “Israel” originally defined by family heritage, and redefined it as a covenant of faith. He moved the definition marker of belonging from genealogy to discipleship. Jesus chose 12 disciples to echo the twelve tribes of Israel, demonstrating an expansive understanding of the covenant and what it means to be part of the people of God.
On another occasion Jesus explicitly redefined family ties by saying,
“Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:50).
The Apostle Paul later presents the flip side of this writing:
“Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel” (Romans 9:6).
Jesus shifted the significance of Israel from ancestry to allegiance, from ethnicity to embodied faithfulness. The covenant is opened through trust in God and participation in His mission of love.
Recent conversations, including reflections from the Across the Divide podcast (Feb 25, 2026), have highlighted a helpful distinction: covenant as relationship versus destiny and entitlement.
Some modern Christian interpretations (often called Dispensationalism) suggest that the physical nation of Israel has a “destiny” that involves inevitable war and the rebuilding of a Third Temple. As Adventists, our “Historicist” theology offers a different path. We believe that the promises of God are found in the person of Jesus, the High Priest in the Heavenly Sanctuary.
Covenant, in the biblical sense, is always relational and ethical. It involves mutual commitment, responsibility, and faithfulness. It calls people into a way of life marked by justice, mercy, and humility. But when covenant is reframed as destiny it can lead to notions of dominance, unqualified claims to land, power, or divine favor detached from ethical responsibility which is dangerous. It risks destiny being used to justify harm rather than heal it.
Jesus consistently pulls us back to covenant as lived faithfulness. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” He says—not the powerful, not the victorious, but those who actively pursue reconciliation. This brings us to the pressing question: What does Christian peacemaking look like? Especially when violence is not only happening far away, but is sometimes justified or even supported by Christians?
Australian pastor and peace educator Jarrod McKenna has been calling the global Church to recover a distinctly Christian pursuit of peace—one rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus, not in nationalism or fear. If we are to be “Repairers of the Breach” (Isaiah 58:12), our peacemaking must be active, not passive.
Peacemaking involves:
- Refusing dehumanization. Every person—Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim, Christian—is made in the image of God. Language that reduces people to enemies or statistics is incompatible with the gospel.
- Repentance for Christian-Led Violence: We must acknowledge that Christian theology has often been weaponized to support state-led violence. Peacemaking begins with the humility to say, “We have not always followed the Prince of Peace.”
- Resisting simplistic narratives. The history of Israel-Palestine is complex and deeply painful. Faithful Christians resist the urge to flatten it into “us vs. them.”
- Rejecting violence as redemptive. While governments make decisions about war, followers of Jesus are called to embody a different kingdom—one where the cross, not the sword, is the means of transformation.
- Practicing local solidarity. In Vancouver, peacemaking may look like standing against antisemitism, building genuine friendships across faith lines, and listening deeply to Jewish and Palestinian neighbors alike.
Let us remember that we serve a Messiah who was a “Jew of the Middle East” and a “Saviour of the World.”
Our Jewish neighbors should find in us their fiercest protectors against hate. Our suffering world should find in us the most tireless advocates for peace. We are not waiting for a future war to fulfill a prophecy; we are working for a present peace that reflects the Kingdom of God.
As Seventh-day Adventists, we carry a particular theological emphasis that can speak powerfully into this moment. We believe in a God whose kingdom is not of this world. We honor the Sabbath—a weekly act of resistance against systems of production, domination and control. Sabbath forms us into a people who trust God’s provision rather than grasping for power.
We also hold a global identity. The Church is not tied to any one nation-state. Our allegiance is to Christ, and our mission is to reflect His character—especially His commitment to peace.
Peacemaking in this moment will require walking the narrow path of humility – the way of Jesus. In a divided world, perhaps the Church’s most faithful response is not to speak louder, but to live differently. To become, in the truest sense, the family of God—not by bloodline, but by the covenant of love.