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Questions that Non-Jewish People Frequently Ask |
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Should I try to persuade my Jewish neighbor to believe in Yeshua (Jesus)? Yeshua commanded us to go out into all the world and make talmidim [disciples] (see Matthew 28:19-20), beginning in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria (Acts 1:8). Even the Rabbi Sha'ul (Paul), who was called “the apostle to the Gentiles,” said that the Good News of Messiah should go to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16). Sha'ul was so convicted by the need for Jews to receive salvation that he was willing to give up his own salvation if this would have brought salvation to the Jewish people (Romans 9:2-4). The salvation of the Jewish people was a priority in the lives of both Sha'ul and Yeshua, and it should be a priority in the life of every Believer. It is every Believer's duty to share the Good News of Yeshua with their Jewish neighbor. Rabbi Sha'ul said that “it is by means of their [the Jews] stumbling that the deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them [the Jews] to jealousy” (Romans 11:11, CJB). Every Believer is called upon to make the Jewish people jealous, so that they will want to hear the Good News. For more detailed information, see You Bring the Bagels, I'll Bring the Gospel: Sharing the Messiah with Your Jewish Neighbor, Jewish New Testament, and Complete Jewish Bible. These books and more are available from our on-line book store.
Why do Jews, especially non-religious ones, reject Yeshua? It is a common misconception that Jewish people are experts on the Hebrew Bible, or so-called “Old Testament,” and that after much study they have decided that Yeshua is not the Messiah. The truth is that most Jewish people know less about the Bible than the average Christian. In fact, most don't even study the Bible at all except for the Torah portions (from the first five books of the Bible, or the Pentateuch) that are read every Shabbat. In most cases, if they study at all, what they study is the oral tradition, or Talmud. They reject Yeshua because of the way in which he has been portrayed by the Church down through the centuries. There has been so much persecution of Jews by so-called “Christians” (e.g., the Crusades, Inquisition, Holocaust, “Christian anti-Semitism,” “replacement theology,” and modern-day white supremacist groups) that the Jewish community has rejected Yeshua without even knowing what he taught. For more detailed information, see Our Hands are Stained with Blood, and Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus. These books and more are available from our on-line book store.
Should I invite my Jewish neighbor to my church? Yes, but it would be even better to locate a nearby messianic congregation and invite your Jewish neighbor to attend services with you. However, before you invite him to church, you will need to build some bridges and develop sensitivities toward the Jewish people. You Bring the Bagels, I'll Bring the Gospel: Sharing the Messiah with Your Jewish Neighbor is an excellent book that contains detailed information on this subject. For information about why your friend might not want to attend worship services with you, see Our Hands are Stained with Blood, and Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus. These books and more are available from our on-line book store.
What is a Messianic Congregation? “Messianic congregations are a recent phenomenon on the pages of ecclesiastical history, but they have a heritage that extends back to the earliest period of the New Covenant faith. … Messianic congregations are part of the ecclesia [a Greek word meaning ‘called out ones,’ referring to the gathering together of believers in the Messiah]. However, they refer to themselves as congregations or synagogues to reflect and communicate the Jewishness of the Messianic faith to a people [the Jews] who have mistakenly come to associate belief in Jesus the Messiah with anti-Semitism.” (Excerpted from Return of the Remnant: The Rebirth of Messianic Judaism.) [See also David Chernoff’s excellent article “What is Messianic Judaism?”] These books and more are available from our on-line book store.
Why do Messianic Jews still keep parts of the Law of Moses; after all, wasn't the Law done away with? Part of the problem with understanding the answer to this
question is a misunderstanding of the word “Law” itself. The Hebrew word that
is commonly translated as “Law” is “Torah,” which is better translated as
“loving instruction.” It was the legalism of the first-century Jewish leaders
that was done away with, certainly not
What theology do Messianic Jews follow—Covenant Theology or Dispensational Theology? Although some Messianic Jews follow one of these two theologies, many do not. Although Messianic Judaism has not yet clearly developed its own formalized theology, most Messianic Believers extract truths from both of these theologies. Detailed information can be found in Messianic Jewish Manifesto, and in condensed form in Restoring the Jewishness of the Gospel. These books and more are available from our on-line book store.
Do Jewish people use the Old Testament, or is their Bible different from ours? Most Jewish people actually object to the term “Old
Testament” because of what the term implies. “Testament” means “covenant” and “old” means
something that has been replaced and is no longer of any value. The covenants
that
What is the Talmud? The Talmud consists of the Mishnah and the Gemara. The
Mishnah is a compilation of the Jewish Oral Law that was codified in 220 CE.
Orthodox Judaism believes that the Oral Law (corresponding to what the
Apostolic Scriptures [the so-called “New Testament”] call “the tradition of
the elders”) was given by
Is there any relationship between the Jewish customs and the Christian ones? Definitely. The practice of “communion,” or the
“Lord’s Supper” comes directly from the
Passover meal (called the seder) and the ordinance of baptism
comes from immersion (t'vilah) in a special pool of water (mikveh).
The Jewish marriage ceremony is also very similar to the marriage feast of
the Lamb. For more detailed information, see
Should Christians celebrate Passover or any of the other Jewish holidays? The term “Jewish holidays” is actually a misnomer. Nowhere
does Scripture refer to “Jewish Holidays,” but rather to the “Feasts of
Yahweh.” Thus the feasts and festivals that are described in the Scriptures
are not Israel’s feasts, but rather they are
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