So the other day, I was on my facebook, and one of the people on my timeline posted a meme that really had mw thinking. Everyone knows that I am relativeley new to Messianic Judaism. I have just over a year in it, but most of that first year, was just me studying on my on. It was maybe the last 5 months when I officially committed to a Messianic Jewish church. This being the case, I consider that first year as my evolution, because I was evolving rapidly, as my views began to change in accordance with my new understanding. For me, if you had asked back then f I were a Christian, my answer would be “no”. Why? Because I see the word “Christian” as a broad term, almost like a “catch all” phrase, because in it, over 4000 variations of faiths are grouped into this term, the most prominent being Roman Catholocism. When people of other faiths bring up Christendom and the history thereof, they are quick to point out the deeds of the Catholic Church, and all the wars connected to them. Because of this, the term Christian is stained. It’s not only the Catholic church, there are a few other issues as well, but this is by far the biggest. From my studies on the evolution of the church, from the Apostles on up to Constantine, a lot had changed. It was these changes that caused me to not want to fall under the title of “Christian”. Not only that, but there is also the fact that the very term “Christian” was a “Greek”term. No one during the time of Yeshua called Him the Christ. When Peter responded to His question about who did people say He was, I can assure you that Peter, being a Jew, surrounded by other Jews did not call Him ‘The Christ”. If anything, Peter would have called Him “Mashiach” (Messiah), a Hebrew term. We tend to forget, these were all Jews, and the original writings were in Hebrew, not Greek, at least as far as the Gospels are concerned. Luke is questionable in that he was not a Jew, nor was he with Yeshua. Luke got his information second hand and was inspired to write a letter to Theophilus. He actually penned to letters to Theophilus counting the Book of Acts. It is actually historically proven and even attested to by several church fathers that Matthew had “written his gospel in Hebrew, and everyone tried there best to interpret”, but that’s a whole other story. Anyway, as I thought on, I came across various biblical and historically accurate titles for the believers that seemed more fitting, but instead, I just chose the title “believer”, because although generic, I felt it summed my faith up well. It really wasn’t until I committed myself unto the ministry of my Messianic Jewish Church, that we were having a get together at a nearby food spot, and a few of the brothers and I were at a table with my Rabbi, and we began to discuss this very same topic. Ultimately, after hearing his view on the topic, I decided to embrace the term Messianic Jewish.
There are still quite a few people that debate the issue, and all have good points from what I have heard. I’ve shared this story before, but I can recall a conversation with my old pastor, the day I told him I was leaving the church. His question was “do we still believe in Jesus”. Although it seemed funny to me, it was a legit question. I assured him that we did, but it was clear to me that he really didn’t know much about it. Hearing the word Jewish, prompted him to think about Orthodox Jewish, as it does with everyone else for that matter. I have to admit, a year ago before my journey, I would have thought the same thing. I explained it to him this way, “Orthodox Judaism” is the Torah without Yeshua, whereas the Christian Church is Yeshua without Torah, but Messianic Judaism is Yeshua with Torah”. That was the most simplistic way I could break it down. It really fit to, I mean that definition makes the point crystal clear, and in less than 1 minute I might add. So as time marched on, in the midst of hearing people still debate on how to best define our faith, I found myself wondering, was this the most accurate view? This brings me to this weekend. A friend posted a meme on Facebook that said “Messianic Judaism is not Judaism + Jesus, or Jesus + Judaism. Messianic Judaism = the Judaism of Jesus”. Man that blew me away! I quickly reposted that, not so much to share it, but rather so that it would be on my page, so I could find it again later so that I could really meditate on it. From this meme, it hit me, we have this thing all wrong. The bride of Yeshua is being pulled in so many directions that it’s no wonder we have over 4,000 variations of “professing Christian” denominations. Wow, 4,000. That’s insane. One of the biggest things impressed on my heart over the past few weeks is how the bride of Yeshua should NOT be divided. Sha’ul (Paul), stated that it’s “One Lord, one faith, and one baptism”. Once again, we are back to my mot recent favorite Hebrew word, “Echad”, which basically means oneness, or better yet, a total oneness. This is the oneness that the Apostles had during the first century church. We need to come back to that once again. Yeshua taught one doctrine, not 4000, yet there are scores of variations out there. Those of us whom Yeshua has given this revelation are obligated to go back to those church friends we once broke bread with while worshipping in our past churches. This is how they will learn. But if we cut them off like many of them cut us off, how will they learn? I understand what Sha’ul meant when he said that “we are debtors”, we owe it to everyone to hear this truth. So what does this have to do with the Judaism of Yeshua? Well, we first need to come to the understanding that Yeshua taught only one doctrine, and it is outlined in the Bible, between the pages of Genesis and Revelation. There is a huge huge huge misconception in the “body of Yeshua”, that He created a “new” religion. That could not possibly be more further from the truth. False “Roman” theology has the “Westernized”Christian church believing a huge lie, and if we would dare to open up the annals of history, we would be amazed at where many of our current theologies came from. We have only to open up our Bibles and we really read Scripture, not from a viewpoint of what we have been taught, or what our Pastor says, but simply from what the “Word” says, and we will begin to understand that, beginning with Moses on Mt Sinai, that YHVH outlined His standard for mankind within the two tablets given to Moses. Their are actually 613 “instructions” or “teachings”, (Commandments is a really bad translation of the Hebrew Torah, that was actually used), but they can be subcategorized into the 10 Teachings. So, after receiving them, it wasn’t long before Israel messed up and began breaking them. After hundreds, and even thousands of years of this, the Rabbis, who were the religious leaders of the day, began to do what YHVH instructed them not to do. They began to add to His teachings. Eventually, there were more man made laws than YHVH’s teachings. These teachings, in Hebrew it’s “takanote”, began to hold more weight than YHVH’s Torah. These are what we read about in the Gospel’s when you hear the term “traditions of the elders”. These were the same thing that Yeshua was constantly battling with the Pharisees over. Yeshua made it His business to violate the takanote of the Pharisees, and it had them hot. He challenged them in was no one had ever done before. Yeshua was radical. His whole ministry was about making a point. He shut them down, while showing the people through daily application what it was to live Torah, and how you would look from it. With this in mind, it slowly become clear that Yeshua did not create a new doctrine, but rather clarified the original doctrine. When accused about abolishing Torah, He made it clear that He didn't not come to abolish Torah, but to fulfill it. He further stated that heaven and earth would pass away before one Yod or tittle passed from Torah. Judging by the fact that earth has not yet passed away, one yod or tittle still hasn’t passed away from Torah.
So what does all this mean. Well, quite frankly, we all have it wrong. One statement that resonates in my spirit is that Judaism is the mother of Christianity? Why do I say this? Because if there were no Judaism, there could be no Christianity. Even though it’s still a bad term, we should all be one. Yes, I know, there are quite a few Jews that don’t acknowledge Yeshua as Lord. It’s bad, but it’s not. Why do I say this? Because it was prophesied that because of their rejection of Messiah, the Gospel was given to us that it may provoke them to jealousy. We are in the time of the gentiles now, but the time is soon, that the Jews will come back to Him. This is prophecy. Has YHVH forgotten His covenant people? YHVH forbid! He has not forgotten them, quite the contrary. For this matter I rejoice in their rejection of Yeshua because had this not happen, we could have never partaken of this grace. So, if Yeshua practiced “Judasim”, how could He be a “Christian”? What about Peter, John, James, and even Paul? They followed Yeshua’s example. So if Yeshua was not a Christian, could the Apostle’s have been? Did they take it upon themselves to start a new faith? The Judaism of Yeshua fits so perfect. This thing we call “Judaism”, was given to the Jews, but they could not live it, not that it was impossible because the Bible mentions several people who were blameless in Torah. However, Torah obedience cannot save because at the end of the day, we are still born in sin and shaped in iniquity. That being said, Yeshua came to show us how to live Torah, and that while we were living it, He gave Himself as a righteous sacrifice for us, so that the curse of Torah, which was death due to not meeting YHVH ‘s standard, could not touch us because the price had been paid. With this price paid, we are now able to live Torah, which is YHVH ‘s standard, knowing that if we fall short, we can repent and keep moving because the price was already paid. This is the Judaism of Yeshua. If we follow after Sha’ul as he follows Yeshua, you will find that we too are walking in Judaism as well, but not in the orthodox sense, because many of them still walk and live in the takanote of the elders, but rather in the way we were intended to in the first place.that being said, some things have to change. If indeed what I am saying is sound doctrine, then many of our observances have to change. If Yeshua observed Sabbaths, ate kosher and observed Feast Days of YHVH, as did the same Apostles, whom we were taught to believe did contrary, what does that say for us? It’s a hard truth, but if indeed we claim to be followers of the Word, then let us be just that.
We have got to come back together in the unity of the body. This is, and always has been the will of YHVH.My Rabbi once said that when Yeshua comes back for His bride and walks into a Synagogue off all Jews, He’s gonna ask, “were are the none Jews”? And when He goes into the “Christian” church, He will ask, “where are the Jews”? He is not looking for segregated church, but a unified church. A Church unified in Him. As for titles, I am not trying to tell anyone how to classify their personal faith. I was just sharing my personal thoughts concerning my house. If one still chooses to identify as Christian, or Methodist, or Baptist, thats purely up to you. Personally I cannot see Yeshua coming back under any of those titles. This was an issue the early church dealt with, when the believers began to try and classify themselves based on who they were baptized by. To this, Sha’ul asked them, “is Yeshua divided”? Seeing the strands of denomination and division trying to arise, he quickly dealt with it before it got out of hand, but in the centuries after, and no more Peter or Sha’ul’s around, the church was now in the hands of Rome, who all but re-wrote everything that Yeshua established, all because they wanted to distance themselves from the Jews. This later sparked the reformation that would sew seeds to later become denominations. Look no further than here to find where denominations spawned from, and under the hands of good hearted men that lacked the Hebrew perspective of Scripture, as taught to by Rome, and the rest is history.
