Jewish and a Christian? That's Not Possible. Or is it?
The hope of Jews everywhere is the coming of the Messiah. However, it's great to know that the Messiah is there for ALL people. He is for the Jew first but also for the Gentiles.
It would seem that a practicing Jewish person should recognize Jesus most readily. After all, Moses spoke of Him, and Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Micah, Zechariah and the Psalms all spoke of Him.
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary and descendant of David, King of Israel is believed by hundreds of thousands (if you believe the polls, possibly millions), to be that promised Messiah. This belief is based on history and hundreds of prophesies that point to Him as Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah. There are many prophesies yet future. Do not make the mistake that stumble many of thinking that every prophesy that speaks of Messiah has had to have already been fulfilled. That is not the case.
So, how can there be a substantial number of God respecting Jews who at this time do not believe Jesus is the Promised one? How can this be?
The group of Jewish believers who became the first founders of Christianity was convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was their promised Messiah. The name "Christ" is the Greek equivalent of "Messiah," so that the name Jesus Christ really means "Jesus the Messiah," or "Jesus the anointed." Yeshua the Messiah.
Most folk (including Orthodox Jews) define a Jew as someone born to a Jewish mother. Under the Israeli Law of Return it is not your degree of faith in Judaism that defines your Jewishness but your Jewish parenthood. On the opposite side of the picture under the Nuremberg laws it was not how often you went to synagogue or whether you even believed in God that made you a Jew in the eyes of the Nazis. It was having Jewish parents or even grandparents. Being Jewish therefore is an accident of birth not necessarily a religious commitment.
If being committed to the synagogue and to Judaism is your definition of Judaism then a large proportion of the Hebrew speaking population of Israel is not Jewish. Not to mention the millions outside of Israel who could care less about God or the cultural traditions of their family or ancestors.
In a conversation with a Jewish religious leader, Nicodemus, Jesus said, 'Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven' (John 3.3).
This spiritual rebirth comes as a result of repentance from sin and faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah as a sacrifice for sin (in fulfillment of such biblical passages as Isaiah 53, which prophesies the future sufferings of the Messiah as a sacrifice for sin).
If you care to study the Tenach you will find that Jeremiah 31.31-34 describes the New Covenant and Ezekiel 36.26-28 speaks of the new heart and spirit which God promises to Israel. The New Covenant and the new spirit are available in the Messiah Jesus and are our experience when we put our trust in Him. Jew and Gentile alike.
Now if we accept the racial definition of being Jewish there is no problem with this. A born again Jew also remains Jewish, just as a born again Irishman remains Irish or a born again Latino, Asian, African, Indian or whatever.
If you insist on the definition of Jewishness meaning practicing Judaism then there is a problem. Like previously stated than there are millions who racially are Jews but by religious definition and practice they are not. Just as many who claim to be Christian yet, they have never truly repented or established Jesus as the Lord of their everyday life. They run the show and they want God to bless it, but is doesn't work that way.
A rational discussion of this question (which is the one we are really interested in) is the kind of emotional (and we would have to say often irrational) arguments 'I was born a Jew and will die a Jew' (and therefore cannot even consider the claim that Jesus is the Messiah, 'You have betrayed our people by accepting Jesus as Messiah'.
Hogwash!
http://www.zionshope.org/index.aspxAll of these arguments are good for clouding the issues and stirring up hostility to Jewish believers in Jesus as Messiah. They are totally counter productive to any kind of sensible discussion of a question which no Jewish person can really avoid - 'Is Jesus of the Nazareth the one prophesied in the Tenach as the Messiah?'
There are many who believe that He is and they remain Jewish in the truest sense of the word. The point of the Rant is not to "dump" on Jewish non-believers or to judge them, but to clear up the mis-conception that a person cannot be a Jew and receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and remain a Jew. That, quite simply, is a Satanic lie.
Please take the time to view at least the first YouTube video. Thank you.
HN