Messianic Judaism

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The olive tree has long been used as a symbol in Messianic Judaism: "Thou, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them" (Romans 11:17)

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement which:[1][2]

They differ from other Jews over their beliefs about the Messiah. Messianic Congregations are made up of people of Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds, and are distinctly Jewish in culture. All celebrate Jewish Holy Days and support the State of Israel, and most have their main service on the seventh day Sabbath. They believe that all of the Bible, both the Tanakh and the New Testament, is inspired by God, and that the New Testament was written by Jewish writers to announce to the world the arrival of the long awaited Jewish Messiah.

Virtually all other Jewish denominations reject Messianic Judaism on the principle that belief in Messiah Yeshua automatically makes them Christian, and therefore outside of the Jewish community. (See Jewish opposition below.) Many view Messianic Judaism as a dangerous and subversive form of apostasy. However, Reform rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok, Professor of Jewish Theology at the University of Wales, has pointed out that the Jewish community, and Judaism itself, no longer holds to a single authority to determine correct belief and practice, and as such Messianic Judaism is as valid a form of Judaism as any other.[3] David M. Hargis stated: "Since the first Jewish followers of Yeshua never left the faith of the God of Israel, YHWH, but rather came into a more personal covenant with Him through trust in Messiah Yeshua, their faith was and is the only complete Biblical Judaism and thus a superior Judaism."[4]

Ambiguity

The phrase "Messianic Judaism" is ambiguous in popular usage, as many sects and people, including members of Jews for Jesus and some Charismatic Christian organizations also refer to themselves as Messianic Jews, a stance rejected by the mainstream Messianic congregations and bodies. Jews for Jesus, for example, is a Baptist Christian missionary organization, whose aim is to convert Jews to Christianity. Rabbi Adam J. Bernay of the Beit Tefillah Messianic Fellowship summarizes the Messianic stance towards Jews for Jesus as: "We do not approve of their theology, their ideology, or their methods... They are not a part of the Messianic movement and [they] have never been in favor of Messianic congregations."[5]

Governing bodies

Some of the major organizations within Messianic Judaism include:

  • the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA)
  • the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC)
  • the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues (IAMCS)
  • the Fellowship of Messianic Congregations (FMC)

Two further organizations, while smaller, are still influential:

  • the Association of Torah-Observant Messianics
  • the International Federation of Messianic Jews

There are several hundred Messianic congregations worldwide, with a membership somewhere between 250,000 - 300,000. Israel alone has around 15,000 Messianic congregants. They are believed to be the most rapidly growing group in Judaism.[6]


Early history of Messianic Judaism

Many people assume that Messianic Judaism originated from Christianity, or that it is a hybrid religion formed comparatively recently by combining Jewish and Christian beliefs and practices. However, Messianic Judaism predates Christianity by several decades, and Christianity evolved from the Messianic Judaism of the first century. Messiah Yeshua and his disciples (talmidim) were all Jews, and did not convert to another religion; furthermore, as the Bible clearly states He came to earth to be the prophesied Messiah of Judaism, not to form a new religion.

Following Messiah Yeshua's death and resurrection, his messiahship was proclaimed by these Jewish followers, called Nazarenes, who continued to observe Jewish law and worship in the synagogue. Acts informs us that they were based in Jerusalem under the leadership of Simon bar Yona. As members of this group began to travel in order to spread the Gospel, it began to drawm more members from among the Samaritans and provinces.

The first people to be known as Christians were the Gentiles in Antioch (Acts 11:20,21,26) but Christianity was still widely considered to be a sect of Judaism. In 70 AD, the Roman general Titus sacked the city of Jerusalem and the Second Temple was burned down. It is estimated that as many as one million Jews died during the revolt.[7] Many Jews were taken captive and deported to Italy where they were forced to build the Colosseum in Rome. The emperor Vespasian then introduced a tax (the "Fiscus Judaicus") to be paid by all Jews to finance the reconstruction of the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Even after construction was completed, the tax was still levied, and was used as a measure to deter people from converting to Judaism.[8] Well into the second century, Gentile Christians were also required to pay the fiscus judaicus and persecuted as a sect of Judaism. To escape this persecution, Gentile Christians sought to widen the division between themselves and the Jews, and their practices became less and less Jewish.

The wild olive branch

The church in Rome was begun as a Jewish fellowship, started by those who returned from Pentecost in Jerusalem,[9] not by an apostle. As these Jewish believers evangelized, many Gentile believers joined them. Around 50 AD Claudius banished many Jews from Rome,[10] leaving the church entirely Gentile. Twelve years later Nero invited the Jews back to stimulate trade. However the Gentiles refused to allow the Messianic Jewish believers back into the church, having concluded that Claudius' rejection signified God's rejection, which is probably the first appearance of Replacement Theology.[11]

Paul's letter to the Roman church addresses this matter, and he urges them to remember that they are like a "wild olive tree, grafted in" among the Jews, and warns them against "conceit", particularly as it is the Jewish root which supported their Christian branch. (Romans 11:17,18,25)

However, by the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325, Christianity was both anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic.[12] Messianic Judaism was presumed by many to have died out after the Council of Nicea. However, in the records of the Inquisition there are accounts of Jewish believers in Yeshua who were persecuted by the inquisitors well into the 12th and 13th centuries, but as persecution from the Roman church became stronger, Messianic Judaism became almost invisible to history.[13]

Jewish opposition

Support for Messianic Judaism

The Unification Church is arguably the biggest supporter of the main ideas of Messianic Judaism. It promotes a bridge of understanding between traditional Jewish concepts and the New Testament idea that Jesus (Yeshua) was the Jewish Messiah.

Unificationism maintains that Jesus "came to his own people, but they accepted him not" (Gospels) Indeed, it is official UC theology that God prepared the Jewish people for 2,000 years primarily to be ready to accept the Messiah when he came. It was the mission of John the Baptist to "make ready for the Lord a people prepared" (OT, Gospels). When John fell into belief - possibly because of jealousy towards Jesus - this posed a stumbling block to Jewish acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah.

The church portrays itself as a "Completed Testament" religion, coming on the foundation of New Testament Christianity and Old Testament Judaism. Its theology argues that Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah were correct to do so, and that when the Messiah comes again in the last day it behooves both Jews and Christians to accept him. Needless to say, this view is almost universally rejected by modern Jews and Christians.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Robinson, B. Messianic Judaism Religious Tolerance. Accessed 21 February 2008
  2. ↑ There is no contemporary founder or leader and no single group or individual speaks for all Messianics. However, most Messianics would generally accept these points.
  3. ↑ Cohn-Sherbok, Rabbi Dan. "Messianic Judaism" (Continuum International, 2000) ISBN 0-8264-5458-5
  4. ↑ Hargis, David M. Basics of Messianic Judaism Messianic Bureau International. Accessed 21 February 2008
  5. ↑ Bernay, Rabbi Adam J. "Who we are" Beit Tefilah.com. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  6. ↑ Cohn-Sherbok "Messianic Judaism" op cit p.ix
  7. ↑ The Great Revolt Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed 18 February 2008
  8. ↑ Lendering, Jona Fiscus Judaicus "Articles on Ancient History" Livius. Accessed 18 February 2008
  9. ↑ Acts 2
  10. ↑ Barclay, John M. G.; Hooker, Morna Dorothy and McMurdo, John Philip (ed.) "Early Christian Thought in Its Jewish Context" (Cambridge University Press; 2007) ISBN 0-5210-4412-X
  11. ↑ The Olive Tree and the wild olive branch "The Wild Olive Branch" Accessed 18 February 2008
  12. ↑ As Constantine said at the Council: "Let us then have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews." Boyle, Isaac "A Historical View of The Council of Nicea" (T Mason and G Lane, New York; 1839)
  13. ↑ Chaimberlin, Richard Aharon Messianic Judaism For Dummies Petah Tikvah. Accessed 18 February 2008
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