What it Really Means to Love the Jewish People
A Messianic Jew Explains
Deep within the heart of
many Christian leaders today is a God given love for Israel
and the Jewish People. Along with this love a genuine sense
of indebtedness is emerging. These leaders are truly
appreciating the fact that God used the Jewish People to
bring the Word of God into the earth to be shared by all
nations. There is a growing cognizance that since Messiah
came from the nation of Israel, their salvation “is of the
Jews.” (John 4:22) Many are courageously standing up in
support of Israel during the Palestinian Intifada and
opposing the promulgation of horrendous Arab anti-Semitism.
I strongly support and vigorously promote this love for
Israel and the Jewish people.
Joint projects, trips to Israel and meaningful communication
between leaders of the Jewish and Christian communities are
developing out of this love. Again, I strongly support this
vital communication and working together. However, in their
zeal to show love, I have observed a subtle but definite
temptation on the part of some Christian leaders to
compromise the Gospel of Messiah Yeshua. Let me explain.
It is not uncommon for Christian leaders who are in
relationship with Jewish leaders to be asked by these same
Jewish leaders not to evangelize Jewish People. They are
also asked to take a stand with them against what they call
the deceptive practices of Messianic Jews. A Messianic Jew
is a Jewish person who has embraced Yeshua (Jesus) as their
Messiah and seeks to retain a Jewish identity. Messianic
Jews do the latter for four important reasons: 1) To honor
the Abrahamic covenant, an eternal and unconditional
covenant God made with the Jewish People. 2) Because faith
in Messiah is inherently a Jewish faith that God graciously
provided for the entire world. 3) As a testimony to family,
friends and the greater Jewish community that one can be
Jewish and believe in Yeshua. 4) To insure there will be a
Jewish heritage in our children and subsequent generations.
Recently a prominent Christian leader and a prominent Jewish
leader together published a letter to the editor of the
Toronto Star and appeared together in a televised press
release denouncing the alleged deceptive practices of
Messianic Jews. But is it deceptive for a Jew who believes
in Yeshua to call himself a Jew, retain a Jewish identity
and to call his faith a Jewish one? Two thousand years ago
the situation was reversed. There were some who insisted
that the Gentiles who received the Messiah were to be
circumcised and keep the Law of Moses. In essence what they
said was that Gentiles must serve the Messiah in a Jewish
way. The council recorded in Acts 15 settled the issue
forever. Gentiles are not obligated to serve the Messiah in
a Jewish way.
What about today? Are believing Jews required to serve their
Messiah in the Gentile way? Actually, the Scriptures teach
that the Gentiles as wild olives were grafted contrary to
nature into a cultivated olive tree. (Romans 11:24)
Furthermore, the Scriptures hold out hope that if Jewish
People as natural olives do not continue in their unbelief,
they will be grafted in again. (Romans 11:23) Into what will
they be grafted? “How much more shall these who are the
natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree.”
(Romans 11:24)
To illustrate the importance of Jewish identity I would like
to pose a question. Which is more important, the fact that
Yeshua is the Son of God or the fact that He is the Son of
Man? The only correct answer according to the Scriptures is
that both are of vital importance. His natural identity as a
man is as important as His spiritual identity as God. Yeshua
Himself affirmed in His resurrected state, “I am the root
and offspring of David, the bright morning star.”
(Revelation 22:16)
However, the fact of Yeshua’s Jewish identity and that faith
in Him is essentially a Jewish faith is important not just
because of its veracity, but also because of its importance
to the Jewish People. For centuries Yeshua has been totally
irrelevant to Jewish People. He has been seen as the founder
of a foreign religion that has persecuted Jewish People. He
has been robbed of His natural Jewish identity and made to
look like a foreigner to Jewish People. On the other hand,
the Jewish People are looking for a Jewish Messiah. It is
only when Yeshua’s Jewish identity is restored that He
becomes relevant to Jewish People. That is why there is much
opposition to this truth. This opposition is designed to
keep Yeshua irrelevant to Jewish People and to neutralize
the pressure of the Gospel message presented in its original
Jewish context. Jewish People will only consider a Jewish
Messiah. But in truth and in fact, Yeshua is the Jewish
Messiah, “son of David, son of Abraham.” (Matthew
1:1)
If you are concerned for the salvation of Jewish people,
then you must care about restoring the Jewish identity of
Yeshua. As their spiritual brothers and sisters, you must
also affirm the right of Messianic Jews who have embraced
Yeshua to call themselves Jews and live a Jewish lifestyle.
Their faith is a Jewish faith. After all, it is “their own
olive tree.” I am not advocating legalism or salvation by
the Law of Moses, but a Jewish new covenant faith for Jews
who receive their own Messiah.
To love the Jewish People means to pray for them, to support
the State of Israel, to speak out against anti-Semitism and
to develop meaningful relationships with them. It also means
to have a burden for their salvation affirming without
compromise that the Gospel “is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and
also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)
by Messianic Rabbi Jeffrey Forman City of David Messianic Synagogue Thornhill, Ontario, Canada