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Most people
assume that Yeshua (Jesus) has nothing to do with
being kosher, but that’s not true. Yeshua
is the most Jewish of Jews: He was born in Israel
to Jewish parents from King David’s royal
family. He was circumcised on the eighth day.
He was a rabbi who did unparalleled miracles that
brought great blessing to the nation of Israel.
He taught that He fulfilled, not set aside, the
Torah.
Even though He died 2000 years ago, Yeshua was
raised from the dead; He returned to life and
overcame death! He is the Messiah of Israel and
the Savior of the world. He is the coming world
ruler and mankinds only hope. He is the only one
who can make us kosher (clean, fit, proper) in
Gods sight because He is completely kosher in
the eyes of God. He alone is the one who can enable
both Jews and Gentiles to have a kosher relationship
with God, and with one another. Only Yeshua can
give genuine peace and joy in this life, and eternal
life in the world to come.
HOW
DO YOU KNOW THAT
YESHUA CAN MAKE YOU KOSHER?
Yeshua
is able to make us kosher because He fulfills
the ancient Biblical prophecies about the Messiah,
and because He came back to Life after He died.
The first
line of evidence that Yeshua is the Messiah are
the many prophesies in the Tenach (Old Testament)
that tell us about the Messiah, and Yeshua fulfills
them all:
- The Messiah had to be born in the city of
Bethlehem. Yeshua was! (See Micah 5:2, Matthew
2:1-6, Luke 2:1-20)
- The Messiah had to come before 70 AD. Yeshua
did! (See Daniel 9:24-27, Luke 1:5, 2:1-7)
- The Messiah had to be a descendant of King
David’s royal line. Yeshua was! (See Jeremiah
23:5-6, Isaiah 9:6-7, Matthew 1)
- The Messiah was to triumphantly enter Jerusalem
on a donkey. Yeshua did! (See Zechariah 9:9,
Matthew 21:1-9)
- The Messiah was to be condemned to death even
though He was perfectly innocent. Yeshua was!
(See Isaiah 53:8, Matthew 27:1-2, Luke 23:1-25)
- The Messiah would die to make atonement for
the sin of Israel and the world. Yeshua did!
(See Isaiah 53:5-6, 8, 10-12, Daniel 9:24-27,
Zechariah 12:10, Psalm 16:10, 22, John 1:29,
11:49-52, 1 Corinthians 15:53)
- The majority of the Jewish people would reject
the Messiah. Yeshua has been! (See Isaiah 53:1-3,
Psalm 118:22, John 1:11, 12:37-43, Acts 4:1-12)
- The Messiah was to be raised from the dead.
Yeshua was! (See Isaiah 53:12, Psalm 16:10,
Matthew 28:1-10, Acts 2:22-32)
The Messiah
would have an impact on all nations (see Isaiah
49:6). Yeshua has become the most influential
figure in the history of mankind. He is the most
famous Jew who ever lived: more famous than Abraham,
more famous than Moses or King David, more famous
than Freud or Einstein. Because of Yeshua, the
Jewish Bible has become the religious and spiritual
heritage of the whole world. The love He has inspired,
the comfort He has given, the good He has engendered,
the hope and joy He has kindled are unequalled
in human history. He truly has become the light
of the world!
Only Yeshua
has fulfilled these prophecies. No one else comes
close. The probability of one person fulfilling
all these prophecies by mere chance is infinitesimally
small. There is only one rational conclusion:
Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah!
WHAT
IS THE SECOND LINE OF EVIDENCE THAT YESHUA IS
THE MESSIAH?
There
is the evidence of the empty tomb. Both Jewish
and Roman authorities admitted that His tomb was
empty (see Matthew 28:11-15). All that the authorities
(who were hostile to Yeshua) would have had to
do to crush the Messianic movement in its infancy,
would have been to produce Yeshua’s body.
They never did.
There
is the evidence of transformed lives: Yeshua appeared
to a wide variety of Jewish people, under varying
conditions, in varying numbers, under varying
circumstances. He appeared to Miriam (John 20:11-18),
to some other women (Matthew 28:8- 10), to Simon
Peter (Luke 24:34), to two on the road to Emmaus
(Luke 24:1 3-35), to ten of the Apostles (Luke
24:36-43), to all eleven Apostles eight days later
(John 20:24-29), then to seven by the lake of
Galilee (John 21:1-23). Yeshua also appeared to
five hundred people at once, most of who were
alive and could verify the event when the New
Testament was written (1 Corinthians 15:6)! Yeshua
appeared to His brother Ya’akov (James)
who became the leader of the Jerusalem Congregation
(1 Corinthians 15:7), and to rabbi Saul of Tarsus,
who became better known as the Apostle Paul (Acts
9:1-16).
Only
Yeshua’s resurrection could have transformed
His disciples from a frightened, dispirited group
into a fearless band that changed the course of
world history within a generation. Only Yeshua’s
resurrection could have transformed once skeptical
family members like Ya’akov (James) into
His most ardent followers. Only Yeshua’s
resurrection could have transformed someone like
Saul of Tarsus, who went from being the most zealous
opponent into the greatest proponent of Yeshua
that the world has ever seen.
Since
the first century there nave been millions of
people who have claimed to have encountered the
resurrected Yeshua, including some of the greatest
thinkers, philosophers and scientists. What transformed
these people? Only one explanation makes sense
- Yeshua’s resurrection.
IF
YESHUA REALLY IS THE RESURRECTED MESSIAH,
WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS?
Yeshua’s
resurrection is the most important event in history.
Yeshua’s resurrection proves that He is
the Messiah, since God would never allow a Liar,
deceiver, or false Messiah to be resurrected.
Yeshua’s
resurrection sets Him apart from every other religious
figure. It sets genuine Christianity and Messianic
Judaism apart from all other religions and ideologies.
Confucius and Buddha are still in their tombs.
Mohammed is stilt in his grave. Marx and Lenin
and Freud are dead and buried. Only Yeshua has
overcome death.
Yeshua’s
resurrection is God’s seal of approval on
who Yeshua is and everything that Yeshua did.
As a result, we ought to pay attention to everything
about Him and listen to every word He ever uttered.
You can trust Him and His statements more than
any other human beings.
If we
believe in Yeshua, we too can overcome death.
Yeshua once said to a Jewish woman named Martha:
“I am the resurrection and the life; he
who believes in Me shall live even if he dies,
and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall
never die. Do you believe this?’ (John 11:25-26).
Yeshua’s resurrection is meant to give us
hope that we can overcome death.
IF
I BELIEVE IN YESHUA,
WON’T I LOSE MY JEWISHNESS?
No you
won’t! If you are Jewish, God made you a
Jew and no one can ever change that. Since Yeshua
is the Messiah, then believing in Him is the most
Jewish thing that you could do. Faith in Yeshua
is kosher, no matter what men may say because
truth is determined by God - not by a majority
vote.
CAN
YESHUA MAKE A GENTILE KOSHER TOO?
If you
are a Gentile, Yeshua can make you kosher too!
Although He came to reach His own Jewish people,
God wants people from all nations to believe in
Israel’s Messiah. Through Him you too can
have a kosher heart, and be in a right relationship
with the God of Israel. |
