Chapter 3.
Modern
“Messianic Judaism”
Messianic Judaism is a movement of Jewish people from all walks of
life, who believe that Yeshua (Jesus in Hebrew) is the promised Jewish
Messiah and Savior for Israel and the world. Messianic Jews have not
stopped being Jewish. On the contrary, we have continued to remain strongly
Jewish in our identity, lifestyle and belief that Yeshua is the Jewish
Messiah and the fulfillment of true Biblical Judaism.[22]
Although Martin Chernoff, a pioneer in the modern movement,
believed that he had received the designation “Messianic Judaism” from the
Lord,[23] David Rausch[24] points out that the term “Messianic Judaism” was
in fact used in the Evangelical magazine Our Hope, edited by Arno C.
Gaebelein, as early as 1895.[25] Additionally,
While the desire to preserve a Jewish identity was clearly
present in the formation of the HCAA [Hebrew Christian Alliance of
America], there were one or two pioneers with a vision for a corporate
Jewish expression of faith in Yeshua in worship and life-style that would
be the reviviscence of the pattern of the Jewish Church of the first
century. Mark Levy proposed such a vision to the HCAA in 1917, but it was
decisively rejected. The terminology of ‘Messianic Judaism’ and ‘Messianic
Jews’ was in fact used at this time, both by Levy and by John Zackerand it
was ‘Messianic Judaism’ that was explicitly disowned. [Please refer to this
entire excellent article on the Internet.] [26]
Dating back to the 19th century, Jews who believed that
Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah worshipped under the accepted designation of
“Hebrew Christian.” The Hebrew Christian Alliance of America, formed in
1915, was renamed as the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America in 1975.
According to the publication, Reform Judaism, about 10,000
Jews belonged to Hebrew Christian groups, including Messianic Judaism, in
1978, but by the mid-1990s, the number swelled to nearly 200,000 members.
The term “Hebrew Christian” was disturbing to many because it
suggested, to both “traditional” Jews and to Gentile Christians, that the
so-called “Hebrew Christians” were ethnic Jews who had converted to the
Christian religion. For the most part, however, those Jews who had received
Yeshua as the Messiah viewed themselves as just that—Jews who had not
“converted” to anything, but rather as Jews who have received Yeshua
HaMashiach as their Savior and who wish to retain their Jewish identity.
Part of the identity is in the terminology.
Messianic Jews use original Hebrew terms in their faith. G-d the Father is
Abba. Jesus Christ is Yeshua HaMashiach and the Holy
Spirit is Ruach HaKodesh. There are hundreds of other different
terms, including B’rit Hadasha for New Testament and Mikvah for
baptism, that help form a body of belief unlike both Christianity and
conventional Judaism. …
The struggle with identity is
more than immaturity, though, as Kinzer wrote in the Winter 2000 issue of
Kesher, A Journal of Messianic Judaism. “It reflects the complex,
challenging, and disturbing questions raised by our very existence for two
communities who, through almost two millennia, have defined themselves in
opposition to one another. The precise nature of our relationship to these
two communities and their histories and traditions defies simple formulas.”
Beth Messiah’s Rosenfarb
[Rabbi Joseph Rosenfarb of Beth Messiah in Norfolk, VA] explains that his
faith is a Judaism, not a “Hebraicized Christianity.” “It’s a Jewish
movement, with Yeshua (Jesus) as the jewel,” he added.
Overcoming opposition from
both sides is an uphill battle. “The Christian Church has the attitude that
‘you’re our poor lost brother,’” Rosenfarb said. But
traditional Judaism sees Messianic Jews as a threat, “a Christian
community, dragging Jews away from the Jewish community with a long-term
goal of making Christians out of them.”[27]
We must understand that in its most inclusive and literal usage,
the term “Messianic Jew” does not necessarily always indicate a
Jewish person who believes that Yeshua is Israel’s Messiah (Hebrew mashiach
or moshiach). In the purest sense of the word, nearly all Jewish
people, at least all who accept Rambam’s[28] 13 Principles of Faith,[29] which is considered the minimum faith
requirements for Judaism, could be considered “Messianic” at least in that
they have an anticipation of Israel’s Messiah.
“I believe with
perfect faith in the coming of the Moshiach, and though he may
tarry, still I await him every day” (Principle 12 of Rambam’s 13 Principles
of Faith). …
“Belief in the
eventual coming of the moshiach is a basic and fundamental part of
traditional Judaism. It is part of Rambam’s 13 Principles of Faith, the
minimum requirements of Jewish belief. In the Shemoneh Esrei prayer,
recited three times daily, we pray for all of the elements of the coming of
the moshiach: ingathering of the exiles; restoration of the
religious courts of justice; an end of wickedness, sin and heresy; reward
to the righteous; rebuilding of Jerusalem; restoration of the line of King
David; and restoration of Temple service. …
“[T]raditional
Judaism maintains that the messianic idea has always been a part of
Judaism. The moshiach is not mentioned explicitly in the Torah,
because the Torah was written in terms that all people could understand,
and the abstract concept of a distant, spiritual, future reward was beyond
the comprehension of some people. However, the Torah contains several
references to ‘the End of Days’ (acharit ha-yamim), which is the
time of the moshiach; thus, the concept of moshiach was known
in the most ancient times.”[30]
That having been said, let us now move on to a little bit about
what Judaism looked like toward the end of the Late Second
Temple Period (200 BCE - 70 CE).
