Messianic Judaism
What is Messianic Judaism?
Messianic Judaism is a biblically based movement of Jewish people who have come to accept Yeshua as the promised Jewish Messiah of Israel. Yeshua is the Hebrew name of Jesus, which means Salvation.
Today, there are tens of thousands of Messianic Jews in the United States alone. Some have estimated the number to be as high as 350,000. Messianic Synagogues are springing up in almost every major city across the country including Sarasota. Other nations such as Israel, Canada, Russia, Mexico, France, England, Australia, Argentina, and South Africa are experiencing a growing revival of Messianic Judaism as well.
IS IT JEWISH TO BELIEVE IN JESUS?
To some, the concept of a Jew believing Yeshua seems to be a contradiction. The reason is, many people have a dichotomy set up in their minds. On the one hand, you have Jews and Judaism and on the other hand, Christians and Christianity.
YOU ARE EITHER ONE OR THE OTHER…SO THE THINKING GOES. But this simple dichotomy is in reality not so simple. If we go back 2,000 years we find that Yeshua was a Jew living in a Jewish land among Jewish people. All the apostles were Jewish as well as the writers of the New Covenant and for many years this faith in Yeshua was strictly a Jewish one.
From the Book of Acts and other historical evidence, many believe that in the first century there were literally hundreds of thousands of Messianic Jews In addition, there were Messianic Synagogues scattered throughout the Roman Empire and beyond.
These first century Messianic Jews remained highly loyal to their land and their people.
Whether it was Jewish to believe in Yeshua was never an issue. Of course it was Jewish! What else could it be?
The big question back then was whether Yeshua had been sent for the Gentiles also. When G-d miraculously showed the Messianic Jews that He was the Messiah for both Jew and Gentile alike, then Gentiles from every nation began to pour into this Jewish faith.
Through the years, as the numbers of Gentile believers increased, they began to predominate in this Messianic faith. With the passing on of the Jewish apostles and the early Messianic Jews, the Jewish roots of the faith were eventually lost. This “De-Judaizing” process continued until in one of the greatest paradoxes in history, it became alien for a Jewish person to believe in Yeshua as his Messiah.
THE REAL ISSUE
Today we are seeking to put the Messiah back within His biblical and Jewish context. Messianic Judaism is a spiritual renaissance, a revival, a return to the faith as men. It is a return to a pure and simple faith based upon having a living, vibrant and personal relationship with the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through the Messiah Yeshua.
The real issue we must recognize is not whether it is Jewish to believe in Yeshua, because the Jewishness of Yeshua is unquestionable historically. The real issue at stake here is whether Yeshua is truly the Messiah or not. If He is. then it is the most Jewish thing in the world to believe in Him. If He is not the Messiah. then we should not follow Him.
There is only one way to find out and that is to go back into the Jewish Scriptures ourselves and study the Messianic prophecies. According to the Jewish Scriptures, the Messiah was to come twice; the first time to suffer and die and the second time to usher in the Messianic era of peace upon the earth.
WHY DID THE MESSIAH HAVE TO DIE?
The Jewish prophet Isaiah answered this question when he said “..All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way. And the L-ord has laid upon Him (the Messiah) the sin of us all…” (Isaiah 53:6) Without G-d there is no hope for mankind. It is obvious that man is separated from G-d when we view the ever-worsening situation in the world today. That is why He sent Yeshua, the Messiah, who came to deliver us from our sins and to bring us into a new life in Him.
For tens of thousands of us today, we know that we have found the Messiah who said, “…Do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets; I did not come to abolish) but to fulfill…” (Matthew 5:17)
We would like to encourage you to read and study the Jewish Scriptures for yourself and find out if Yeshua is truly the One of whom the prophets spoke. Before you research the Scriptures, pray and ask the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to guide you and show you His truth.
What does the Tenach say about the Messiah?
“…Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the L-rd been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrow’s, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and “we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of G-d and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed…” Isaiah 53:1-6
OTHER MESSIANIC REFERENCES FROM THE JEWISH SCRIPTURES
Isaiah 9:6-7 - Messiah to be born and to reign on King David’s throne.
Micah 5:2-His place of birth, Bethlehem.
Daniel 9:24-26 - Messiah to come and be “cut off” before the destruction of Temple.
Isaiah 49: 6-7 - Messiah to be a light to the nation of Israel and to the Gentiles as well.
Jeremiah 31:31-34- Jeremiah prophesies G-d’s new covenant with Israel.
Deuteronomy 18: 15-19 - Moses proclaims that a prophet like him will arise whom the people must obey.
Zechariah 9:9 - Israel’s King endowed with salvation, humble and mounted on a donkey.
Daniel 7: 13- 14- Messiah to be given glory and everlasting dominion over all nations.