Messianic Judaism?

Question

Why is it wrong? and I want to know what you believe the reasoning is.....I don't want any references to articles somebody else has wrote for you.....

I am Messianic Jewish and would like to know real reasons why you think it's wrong (or right if any of you do)......

Answer 1

1) The dead were not resurrected
2) The Jews did not beome priests to the other nations
3) There is no world peace
4) The temple is not standing
5) There is no temple service
6) There is no parah adumah or its ashes to render us tahor
7) The messiah is from the House of David. your house/tribe is inherited from your father. Your father is your BIOLOGICAL father- there is no adoption in Judaisim to another father- if God is the father of Jesus- then Jesus cannot be from the House of David as God is not frm the House of David.
8) Human sacrifice is completely forbidden in Judaism- remeber God stopping the sacrifice of Isaac? The idea of a human being sacrificed is the opposite of anything from Judaism!
9) You have to atone for yourself! An essential part of the atonement process is being repentant. Someone cannot be repentant for you- you have to do it for yourself. ONly communal sins can be forgiven communally- not individual, private sins!

And no- the messiah does NOT proclaim himself- he will be recognised by his deeds- not by his claims- in other words, through doing the above he will be recognised as the messiah. On top of that- mashiach is a HUMAN being, with HUMAN parents- the idea of an anthropomorphised God going around and impregnating young woman is completely alien to Judaism- though it fits very nicely into the pagan religions of the time which had their heroes being fathered by gods (ala Hercules and his daddy Zeus)

As for messianic Jews, these are deemed as nothing more than Christian sects using deceitful means to convert Jews. EVERY Jewish denomination denounces these sects as Christians and nothing more. However, by Jewish law, once a Jew, always Jew- whether born or converted (though at least over 50% of the majority of messianic communities were never Jewish to start with!). Thus once a person is Jewish they are always judged by Jewish standards, and if they revert/convert to a different religion they are still considered Jewish by Jewish law. BUT, someone practising a religion other than Judaism is considered outside of the community, may not be a member of the community, receive any community honours, be a representative for the community, be buried in a Jewish cemetary, marry a Jew or be treated as a Jew for the purposes of the laws of mourning. However, since they never stop being a Jew- they merely have to repent, return to Judaism and go to mikveh in order to once again be a full member of the community.

And if you want a short book, available online which addresses specific proof texts, try reading "The Real Mesisah" by Aryeh Kaplan and available on the "Jews for Judaism website" http://www.jewsforjudaism.org

Answer 2

Good for you, Katie. :) You have been listening to the Holy One of Israel and seeing Messiah Yeshua in the Scriptures.

Don't worry about what people think of you. Some people need glasses and don't realize it.

(But G-d loves them anyway and wants all people to be saved.)

G-d is revealing Himself to the Jewish people.

He called you to Himself.

If you have questions, you might enjoy Dr. Michael Brown's books on why so many people see Yeshua as the Jewish Messiah (and some answers for people who genuinely want to understand better what we believe).

http://store.jewsforjesus.org/ppp/index.php?catid=1&subcatid=1

I am a very thankful Messianic Gentile-- and I am thankful for my synagogue where I worship together with Messianic Jewish believers.

http://www.cbmhouston.org

It is really no use arguing over words with people. G-d draws people to Him through the Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit). He is the One who opens eyes and hearts.

He is the way G-d has provided for atonement-- for at-one-ment with Himself.


Peter said to Yeshua, "Where would we go? You have the words of eternal life."

That is still the truth.

G-d bless you.

(Mark S. and RW, you might be interested to know the following. Some Jewish rabbis (who are not Messianic) DO see Messianic Judaism as Jewish).

"Jewish contribution

Most [traditional] Jews believe that Messianic Judaism is not a form of Judaism, and that the name of the movement itself is deceptive.However, two non-Messianic Jewish scholars have made some contribution to the literature or scholarly perspectives on Messianic Judaism.

Reform rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok has stated in his book Voices of Messianic Judaism that Messianic Judaism (along with some other alternative movements) is a legitimate form of Judaism.

Reconstructionist rabbi Carol Harris-Shapiro has stated her belief that Messianic Judaism is a form of Judaism, while simultaneously a form of Christianity. Most of the books she has written are about the movement, and the most prominent is Messianic Judaism: A Rabbi's Journey through Religious Change in America." (from Wikipedia "Messianic Judaism"

Answer 3

As far as Christians go, I can't say. As far as Jews go (I'm Jewish), RW has given a very cogent answer. You cannot--repeat, cannot--believe in Jesus as the messiah and be Jewish. It is completely against the Jewish religion, period. No Jewish organization, of any denomination, recognizes "Messianic Jews" as Jewish. They are the only ones who do, and they do not have the right to do so.

Answer 4

Messianic Judaism isnt wrong!! It is the acceptance of Christ as Messiah by a Jewish person. To the Jewish community it is wrong because they are still looking for Messiah to come. The Jews who believe in Christ as Messiah have the double blessing of seeing their heritage realized and to know that their Saviour is coming again. They have seen fulfilment of prophacy and understand the unfulfilled prophacies that remain. Its both a wonderful and perilous position to be in. Many Messianic Jews are disowned by their families and are cast out of their synogogs for what is percieved as turning away from their faith. They are shunned because they are thought to have disowned their heritage when in reality they have embraced it fully. They have the joys of their faith, in knowing Messiah has come and will come again, but that the same time they have the loss of family. Its hard on them and yet they have some of the strongest faiths and most powerful testimonies of any Christian.

Answer 5

It is not wrong. One of the other posters noted that it is probably the most accurate form of christianity the planet has seen in 1900 yrs. Or at least we are working on it. From all the messianics I've spoken with, virtually every one of them has an ernest desire to get back to the written scriptures, rather than traditional interpretations of them. This includes things like 7th day sabbath observance, Holy Days, biblical kosher, etc. Many jewish people point fingers at messianics and say "your not doin it right", but when one examines rabbinic Judaism, it is just as far off the mark as Catholicism (sorry, catholics). Many will say that we cannot just "go to the scriptures themselves", and that we must learn from an approved certified rabbi. This is pretty much like going to a Toyota dealership and asking for the best, most dependable car on the market.... why, he's going to tell you to buy a Toyota! You will get the same answer from just about any religious authority figure.... THEIR religion-club is the best, most dependable one on the market, and every one else's religions are nothing but "lemons".

Many also point out groups like "Jews for Jesus" and the like, which are little more than hyper-evangelicals with a tallit and kippah used to "fool the poor Jew" into christianity. Let me say that I know NO messianics that respect this method, nor support it in any way. We do very little evangelism, and it mostly consists of simply answering questions about our belief when asked. Jews for Jesus is NOT representative of the messianic movement... period.

I have known Jews who don't speak a lick of Hebrew, and who observe no mitzvot at all.... yet will stand back and criticize the messianic for trying to observe the commandments to one's best ability and understanding. Does the evangelical let the agnostic or the atheist tell him how to follow the One True God? I don't think so.

A friend and I are in the early stages of putting together a film project on the origins and pitfalls of both traditional christianity and rabbinic judaism... both who seem to have very Orwell-ian tendancies toward authority, and toward those who challenge it.

I consider myself an ex-gentile, who has been/is being grafted into the house of Israel through faith, one to be accepted as one native born, and am exercising obedience as I slowly learn about the writings of Moses and the Prophets. I am glad to respect and accept the teachings of rabbis as long as they don't contradict or go beyond the written Torah.

Answer 6

it is definitionally impossible to be jewish and belive in jesus.

by jewish standards, belief in Jesus as more than merely a man, is idolotry.

and by Jewish standards, the trinity is polytheism.

for a jewish person to come to belive in jesus as the messiah, they have betrayed their god and disowned their heritage, and are no longer jewish.

"Messianic Judaism" was invented by evangelical christians as a way of preying on jewish people by presenting the polytheistic idolotorous christian beliefs in a way that didn't appear as threatening. but it does not change the fact that the things they preach are untrue, deceptive, and un-jewish.

Jesus was NOT the messiah of Judaism. even if you don't dispute his actions, what his actions were, was not that of the jewish messiah.

the fact that this is an issue, proves that the messiah of judaism has not come.

one is either jewish or not. and the CHRISTIAN beliefs in messianic judaism/jews for jesus, is absolutely, disqualifyingly contrary to the definitional nature of what judaism is and believes.

Answer 7

There would of course be at least two schools of thought on the matter, that of the Jew and that of the Christian.

Being a Christian, I have accepted that Jesus was the Messiah God promised the Jews. When he came along, Jews didn't see him fitting the profile of a savior because he was from humble beginnings and was not a military leader and maybe because Jewish suffering has not ended, in fact, for the Jews of that time and the early Christians things just got harder, in part due to the conflict about this very thing. However, Christians believe that Jesus was a worthy Messiah and did not replace the Judaic Law but fulfilled it. Also that human suffering has more to do with being out of step with God (sin) than in step (persecution). The Old Testament is filled with stories of how the Jews got themselves into trouble and how God got them out.

Christians throughout history have been no different...we bring our messes to God and he cleans them up. Jesus is the key to Christians becoming right with God, by offering to him our inadequacies and allowing Jesus to make up the difference as a gift of grace, a sacrifice offered by God himself to reconcile us to the Father.

This in no way is to say that Jews deserve anything they have endured throughout history due to their sin, that is absolutely not for me to judge and it has never been the place of one human being to punish or harm another in the form of religious persecution. But as a Christian I will say that with Jesus, I believe that whatever I have been through, Jesus has also been through and more importantly, he went through it for the purpose of understanding me in an intimate way, and as such, can comfort me fully in my sorrows.

This is something that while I can respect Jews in my spiritual family, I would wish peace upon the Jewish people...a sense of finding what they have been looking for. As a Christian, I can say, if Jesus wasn't it, I don't know who could have fit the bill as a savior. So I'm glad that Jews are finding Jesus.

Answer 8

You are a Messianic Jew", What Jew isn't.

To non Jews, the Messiah is Joshua Ben Joseph , Jesus.

The are a number of things that the Messiah must do, and any Jews should be tell you.

Christians will point out the number of thing that Jesus did fulfill and that He will return at the end times.

Answer 9

There are a significant number of MJs who do thoroughly believe that Yeshua is Moshiakh AND who also do NOT believe the Trinity is supported by scripture, and yet still believe Yeshua is HaShem. My husband is one.

As with many mysteries HaShem has left us, this one can leave one scratching their head. But yet be true.

Just because someone says this or that can't be so doesn't make it truth. Many are the things that the mind of man once said could not be so that are.

b'Shalom
Henaynei

Answer 10

Judaism and Christianity do not mix. Jesus say that all animals are clean but Messianic Jews still eat kosher. They pick what ever they want from the teaching of Jesus.