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Question:
It seems so obvious to me from the Messianic prophecies
and their fulfillment in the New Testament, from
the evidence for His resurrection, from 2,000
years of history, and from my own personal experience,
that Yeshua is the Messiah. Why don't more of
His own people, especially the rabbis, believe
in Him?
Answer:
The answer is not simple. There are a number of
reasons for the rejection of the Messiah by the
majority of the Jewish people:
- This is not a problem that is unique to
the Jewish people. We, like all peoples, are
in a state of hostility toward God and repulsed
by the truth. The majority of humanity continues
to suppress the truth (see Romans 1:18). In
spite of 2,000 years of efforts to proclaim
the truth about the Messiah, the truth has
been rejected by the majority of the nations
of the world and their peoples - including
the Jewish people.
- This is a supernatural problem. Our adversary,
Satan, the god of this world, is at work,
blinding our eyes to the truth about the Messiah.
There is a veil covering our eyes, so that
we can't see the Savior (see 2 Corinthians
4:3-4). To counter this, we need both to pray
for the Jewish people, and boldly and lovingly
declare the truth to them. When a person turns
to Messiah Yeshua, the veil is taken away.
Our blindness to Yeshua is also a mysterious
part of God's plan. The Jewish people are
in a state of disobedience so that the mercy
shown to the Gentiles, which results in their
salvation will, in turn, ultimately result
in the salvation of the Jewish people. The
Jewish people being shut up in a state of
disobedience is part of God's plan, so that
we will understand that we are not worthy
of salvation, but that it only comes from
His mercy and grace (see Romans 11:30-32).
Since we don't know God's exact timing, and
since every soul is precious, we need to actively
declare the Good News to all Jewish people.
- Even though the Word of God is able to
give us the wisdom that leads us to salvation,
most Jewish people aren't familiar with the
Holy Scriptures, and the words of the prophet
still apply: My people perish for lack of
knowledge. Many Christians mistakenly think
that the Jewish people know the Tenach (the
Old Testament) well, but sadly, very few Jewish
people study the Bible or read it on their
own. We trust the leaders to tell us what
is important. But when the blind follow a
blind guide, both fall into a pit. An additional
problem is that those who are more serious
about scholarship study the Talmud, which
is a mixture of truth and error, and neglect
the study of the Bible. To counter this, you
should challenge your Jewish friend to search
the Scriptures for himself, and read the Messianic
prophecies like Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 53, Micah
5:2, Zechariah 9:9 and 12:10 and Daniel 9:24-27.
Challenge your Jewish friend to read the Bible,
especially the New Testament, with an unprejudiced
mind. Encourage him to pray, using his own
words, asking God to show him the truth! God's
Word is so powerful and self-authenticating
that if someone simply starts reading it with
an open mind, and prays to God to reveal the
truth, he is 90 percent of the way there!
- Sadly, most Jewish people today have been
influenced by secular humanism and don't believe
that the Tenach is the divinely inspired Word
of God. To deny the divine inspiration and
the trustworthiness of the Law, the Prophets
and the Writings is to undermine the New Testament.
Messiah said that if we don't believe Moses,
we won't believe in Him (John 5:46-47). To
counter this ruinous view of the Special Writings,
recommend a good book on apologetics that
shows the reliability of the Bible, like "More
Than A Carpenter" or "Evidence That
Demands A Verdict" by Josh McDowell,
or "The Case For Christ" by Lee
Strobel.
- The fact that the majority of the Jewish
people don't believe in Yeshua is to be expected.
The fact that the majority of the Jewish people
don't accept Yeshua is actually proof that
Yeshua is the Messiah, since it was predicted
by the prophets that the Messiah would initially
be rejected by the majority of the Jewish
people (see Isaiah 53:1-4 and Zechariah 12:10)!
Throughout our history, in almost every generation
only a remnant followed the Lord. The majority
almost always went astray (see Romans 11:2-5).
Moses and most of the prophets were also rejected
by our people. Why should it be different
with the Messiah? Let your Jewish friend know
there was a substantial faithful minority
of Messianic Jews in the first several centuries
after Yeshua came. Acts 21 reports that there
were tens of thousands of Messianic Jews who
were zealous for the Torah. Yeshua's first
disciples were Jewish people who continued
to live very Jewish lives. Messianic communities
continued to exist in that part of the Middle
East for another 600 or 700 years. Tell him
that there is a growing Messianic Jewish movement
today. Remind your Jewish friend that it's
far better to be part of the faithful minority
than the faithless majority! It is better
to be loved and accepted and welcomed by the
God of Israel than it is to be a member in
good standing of a people whose majority have
gone astray!
- One of the main objections used to argue
that Jewish people shouldn't believe in Yeshua
goes like this: "We were expecting a
different kind of Messiah, a powerful leader
who would defeat our enemies; bring peace
to Israel and the nations; end war, poverty
and injustice; regather the Jewish people
to the Land of Israel; and rebuild the Temple.
Since Yeshua has not done these things, He
can't be the Messiah”. To counter this,
let your friend know that Yeshua came the
first time as a lamb, not as a lion. He rode
into Jerusalem on a donkey, not with pomp
and glory at the head of armies. He didn't
promise political salvation, but spiritual
salvation, by dying and rising again to atone
for our sins. There are two sets of descriptions
of the Messiah in the Hebrew Scriptures. One
set of prophecies describes a suffering Messiah
who will suffer and die to atone for our sins
(see Isaiah 53, Zechariah 9:9 and 12:10, Daniel
9:24-27, Psalm 22). The other set of prophecies
describes the victorious Messiah. The right
way to deal with both descriptions of the
Messiah is to understand that Yeshua is the
Messiah who came the first time to suffer
and die for the sins of the world. He will
come a second time to set up His Kingdom over
the entire world. If Yeshua fulfilled the
prophecies about the sufferings of the Messiah,
rest assured that He will return to fulfill
the prophecies about the victorious Messiah!
- We've become captive to 2,000 years of tradition
and history. Two thousand years of rejection
of Yeshua has worked its way into Jewish culture
and theology, and that is not easy to overcome.
We grow up immersed in a culture that tells
us that Yeshua isn't the Messiah, and that
we should not believe in Him, that we will
be traitors to our people if we do. Our leaders
are particularly resistant to considering
Yeshua's Messiahship with an open mind. To
counter this, remind your Jewish friend that
the fear of man brings a snare; don't simply
go along with the majority, since it's too
easy for all of us to be like a flock of sheep
that goes astray! Be courageous! Count the
cost for becoming a disciple, but know that
the cost is well worth paying! It will take
radical circumstances to overcome 2,000 years
of error, but it will happen! All Israel will
be saved (see Romans 11:25-26) - by trials
of suffering and also by God's mercy and unmerited
goodness.
- If the Church loved us and made Jewish
evangelism a priority and gave Israel its
support, many Jewish people would be challenged
to rethink our rejection of Yeshua. True Christians
should have compassion on us, love us and
make us jealous of their relationship with
the Three-In-One God of Israel (see Romans
10:1, 11:11). Their peace and joy, love and
mercy, their knowledge of our God and our
Messiah and our Bible should challenge us
to reevaluate our rejection of Yeshua and
the New Testament. But the bizarre yet very
real and centuries-long phenomenon of "Christian
Anti-Semitism” has made it harder for
us to accept Yeshua. Instead of loving us,
befriending us, and challenging us in a good
way by their zeal for the God of Israel, their
knowledge of Israel’s Bible, and their
love for us, many Christians have insulted,
harmed and alienated us. To counter this,
make a special effort to love and befriend
the Jewish people, support Israel, and support
Messianic Jewish ministries and Messianic
congregations. Tell them Yeshua taught that
people don't really love Him unless they do
the things He told them to do, that He never
advocated violence or coercion, and that we
could tell His true disciples by their love
- even for their enemies. Let them know that
not all anti-Semitism was caused by real Christians,
and there is a difference between Gentiles
who are nominally Christian and true Christians.
Moishe Rosen observed: "Being born in
a Christian home doesn't make you a Christian
any more than being born in a bakery automatically
makes you a bagel"! Point out that there
have been many true Christians who have given
their lives for the Jewish people.
- False teaching in the Church undermines
Jewish evangelism and prevents the majority
of Christians from being faithful to bring
the Good News to the Jewish people first (Romans
1:16), and this makes it harder for us to
hear about and then accept Yeshua. Replacement
Theology - the false teaching embraced by
most of the Church that God is finished with
the Jewish people - has undermined the desire
to engage in Jewish evangelism. Christians
are encouraged to stand by Israel and support
Israel as much as possible, but only a few
do (see Genesis 12:3: I will bless those who
bless you). Christians are encouraged to pray
for the peace of Jerusalem, but few churches
do. Other erroneous teachings that have undermined
Jewish evangelism include the notion that
"Jewish people don't need to believe
in Jesus to be saved"; the "Two-Covenant
Theology" (the false teaching that God
has one covenant and way of salvation for
the Jewish people and a different covenant
and way of salvation for everyone else); and
the "love Israel, but don't bring them
the Good News" crowd (think John Hagee).
Giving to ministries like the International
Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which does
not give the Good News to Jewish people, and
instead gives millions to anti-Messianic Jewish
organizations, diverts precious resources
away from legitimate ministries that are actively
involved in Jewish evangelism. Because of
these false teachings and foolish practices,
Gentile Christians, who are the vast majority
of the Church, are not doing their duty to
bring us the Good News. They are not fulfilling
their calling to make the Jewish people jealous
(see Romans 11:11).
-
The separation of the
Church from its Jewish roots has made it harder
for Jewish people to enter the New Covenant.
Because much of the Church became separated
from its Jewish roots, even hostile to its
Jewish roots (in spite of the warning given
by the Apostle to the Gentiles in Romans 11:17-21),
Yeshua and the Church were seen by the Jewish
community as being non-Jewish. If Jewish people
did become believers, the Church did not encourage
them to maintain their Jewish identity and
pass it on to their children. We were encouraged
to assimilate. But maintaining our Jewish
identity is very important to the Jewish community.
One of the biggest barriers preventing a Jewish
person from believing in Yeshua is the mistaken
assumption that if he believes in Yeshua,
he will no longer be Jewish. To counter this,
let your Jewish friend know that Messianic
Jews are more Jewish than ever! Emphasize
again and again that Yeshua is Jewish, the
Apostles are Jewish, the New Testament is
Jewish, and that believing in the Messiah,
the King of the Jews, is the most Jewish thing
a person could ever do! Yeshua is the most
Jewish of Jews! He is a descendant of King
David. He was circumcised on the eighth day,
spoke our language, lived in our Land, attended
synagogue regularly, observed our customs,
celebrated our holidays and kept all the laws
of our Torah. He is Israel's Messiah, our
Chief Rabbi, our ultimate Prophet, High Priest
and King! Let your friend know about the possibility
of joining one of the many Messianic Congregations
that can be found in most major Jewish population
centers, where he can join others in living
and raising their families as Jews. Let him
know that he not only doesn't have to give
up his God-given Jewish identity by following
Yeshua, but he will enhance it! He will become
the kind of Jewish person that the God of
Israel wants him to be.
Shalom!
Rabbi Loren
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