Difference between revisions of "Messianic Judaism"

Revision as of 20:35, November 22, 2008

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]

• regards its members to be committed Jews.
• believes that Messiah Yeshua of Nazareth (Jesus Christ) is the Messiah spoken of in the Tanakh (Old Testament).
• believes that it is following the practices and beliefs of the very early church that sprang up from the Disciples teachings on Pentecost.

Messianic Jews differ from traditional Judaism over their beliefs about the Messiah. Traditional Judaism still awaits the coming of the Messiah and does not agree that He arrived in the form of Jesus.

Makeup and Worship

Messianic Congregations are made up of people of both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds, but are distinctly Jewish in culture and form of worship. All celebrate Jewish Holy Days and support the State of Israel, and most have their main service on the seventh day Sabbath (Saturday). 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 who had been predicted many hundreds of years before His birth.

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.^[3]

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.^[4] 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.^[5] 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,^[6] not by an apostle. As these Jewish believers evangelized, many Gentile believers joined them. Around 50 AD Claudius banished many Jews from Rome,^[7] leaving the church entirely Gentile. Twelve years later Nero invited the Jews back to stimulate trade. However the Gentiles were reluctant to allow the Messianic Jewish believers back into the church,^[8][9] having concluded that Claudius' rejection signified God's rejection, which is probably the first appearance of Replacement Theology.^[10]

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) Paul begins his epistle with the exhortation to the Roman church that they must accept that the gospel was for the "Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16).

However, by the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325, Christianity was both anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic.^[11] 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.^[12]

Jewish Opposition

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. Many view Messianic Judaism as a dangerous and subversive form of apostasy even though similar disdain is seldom given to those of Jewish descent who are Buddhists, practice Wicca, or follow atheism. However, Reform rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok, Professor of Jewish Theology at the University of Wales does not share the negative view of Messianic Jews prominent within the Jewish community. He 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.^[13] David M. Hargis, a Messianic Jew, sums up why he believes Messianic Jews should be viewed as fully Jewish: "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."^[14]

See also

• Philosophy
• Jewish philosophy

External links

• Yeshua: High Star - Messianic Jewish believers in Israel - Israel's Channel 2 news carried this report on the Messianic Jewish movement on 23 February 2007. It gives great insight into the movement, and some of the difficulties faced by its followers. (9 minutes; streaming video at YouTube.)
• What would you say about a country that persecutes a group of citizens only because of their religious beliefs? - Israel's Channel 10 news carried this report on the State-sanctioned persecution of Messianic Jews. (12 minutes; streaming video at Google.)
• Notable Messianic Jews

References