A Basic Course - Who are Messianic Jews?

Posted by Bible Probe on August 23, 2005 at 18:17:01:

The Apostles of Jesus were all Messianic Jews! Christianity itself was first spread by Messianic Jews.

Messianic Jews do not give up any of their Jewishness by accepting Yeshua as the awaited Messiah. The term Jew is related to Judah, Jacob's fourth son from Leah. Judah (Yehuda in Hebrew) means praise to the Lord.

Among the 14 million Jewish people there is a group of perhaps twenty-five or thirty thousand people, born Jews, who believe in the Torah and the rest of the Tenach and practice Jewish customs and religion. They also believe in Jesus. Some, if not most of them, prefer to call Him by His Jewish name, Yeshua.

Messianic Jews believe that Yeshua (aka: Jesus) is the awaited Mashiach ben David. The Prophet Daniel gave the exact date that the Messiah was to first arrive in his 70-weeks prophecy. See here:

http://www.bibleprobe.com/daniel1.htm

Messianic Jews believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah because He alone gives sense to the words of the Jewish prophets. There is Isaiah 53 with its minute description of the suffering servant who was despised and rejected, afflicted with pain and stripes, by whose "stripes we are healed." He then dies, is buried, yet is revived and suffers all this "for the affliction of my (Isaiah the prophet's) people." All this can best be applied to one person only - Yeshua of Nazareth. The Talmud (Sanhedrin 98) teaches that this chapter refers to Messiah. The Targum of Jonathan begins the passage with the words Ha yatslakh avdee Mashikha, "Behold my servant the Messiah shall prosper. .. " Common sense says it must refer to Jesus.

The same goes for many other prophecies which speak of the time of His birth, like Daniel 9:26: And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself; and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, ... (The city and sanctuary were destroyed A.D. 70. Messiah had to come and be cut off before then.) The manner of His birth in a supernatural way is recorded in Isaiah 7:14: Behold the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Isaiah 9:6 (5 in Heb.) says:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. The place of his birth is foretold by Micah, the prophet in verse 5:2 (5:1 in Hebrew): But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.

The manner of His death is found both in Psalm 2 2:17, "they pierced my hands and my feet" (Masoretic text - "Like a lion they are at my hands and my feet"), and in Zechariah 12:10, "They shall look unto me whom they have pierced," which the Talmud in Sukkah 52 applies to Messiah ben Joseph.

Messianic Judaism is not gentile Christianity in disguise.

Messianic Jews observe traditional Jewish holidays such as Purim, Chanukah, etc. Christians do not.

Messianic Jews observe the biblical feasts such as the Feasts of Trumpets, Tabernacles and Passover. Christians do not.

Messianic Jews do not observe Christian holidays borrowed from paganism, such as Christmas and Lent.

Messianic Jews worship on the biblical sabbath, i.e., Friday evening till Saturday, not Sunday.

Messianic Jews cant the Sh'ma, and traditional Jewish blessings that most Christians have never even heard of, e.g., the kiddush and the Aaronic benediction.

Messianic Jews cant the Torah portion in Hebrew at worship services.

Messianic preaching is mainly from the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), although references to the B'rit Chadasha (New Testament) are not unusual.

Messianic Judaism emphasizes the special relationship between G-d and the Jewish people.

Messianic Judaism emphasizes Jewish traditions that do not conflict with the Bible, whereas Protestantism and Catholicism totally ignore those traditions.

Messianic Judaism asserts that the Torah (literally, "teaching") is still in effect (as modified by Yeshua). Christianity claims that Jesus ended the Torah. But some Christians ironically still teach the old Law as if Jesus did not fulfill it; and they tell church members they must tithe!

Messianic Jews bar-mitzvah their sons and bat-mitzvah their daughters. Christians don't.

Messianic Jews wrote B'rit Chadasha (New Testament). Christians didn't.

A Jewish person who converts to Protestantism is called a Hebrew Christian, not a Messianic Jew.

Messianic Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism teach the biblical doctrine that salvation is a free gift from G-d, by faith in Yeshua.

See what some Messianic Jews have to say themselves HERE:

http://www.bibleprobe.com/jewsforjesus.htm

Visit the Jews for Jesus website HERE:

http://www.jewsforjesus.org/

Visit Jewish Voice Ministries HERE:

http://www.jewishvoice.org/

Visit Bible for Israel HERE:

http://www.biblesforisrael.com

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