Ever since I spent a semester in the Holy Land, my understanding of Judaism has changed a lot. Part of this change came about because of a couple of professors that I had over there. Part of it happened when I took a class about Jewish/Christian relations back in the states. The biggest controversy that still separates Jews and Christians has to do with the idea of the covenant. Jews, rightly, say that if God has annulled the covenant that he made with them, his people, then God is not faithful to the promises he made. But, if there is one thing that we can say about God it is that he is faithful. He demands that we be faithful in our relationship to him so he must be faithful to us.
So, God couldn't have annulled his covenant to the Jews. Jesus himself said that he didn't come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. So, the covenant remains for the Jewish people even though it has been broadened for all of humanity. One analogy I heard about this relationship was to think about two lungs breathing. Both lungs have the same result of oxygenating the blood but they are two separate lungs. And, just as a body cannot function as well without both lungs, so we, Christians, need Jews to remind us of who our messiah really was.
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