Messianic Jews?....It’s a term that is being heard more and more these days. Succinctly defined, we are Jews who believe that Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus) of Nazareth is the promised Messiah of the Jewish Scriptures.

Because we believe Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah, we also believe in maintaining a Jewish lifestyle of faith. Hence, we celebrate all of the biblical holidays (i.e. Passover, Succot, etc.) as well as many of the customs which are consistent with the Scriptures.

For much of history it has been assumed that Jewishness and Yeshua are mutually exclusive. Of course, it’s fine for any non-Jew to believe in Him---but a Jew? However, when one stops to study the actual history of this movement, it becomes clear that this assumption was not always the case.

After all, this Messianic movement did not originate in Rome or Athens, but started in the land of Israel in the midst of the Jewish people. Most scholars agree that its leader lived a lifestyle consistent with first century Judaism. He worshipped on the "Shabbat" (Luke 4:16 ff.), celebrated all the Jewish holidays such as "Passover" and "Chanukah" (Matthew 26:17 ff.; John 10:22 ff.) and even wore the traditional; "tzitzit" (Matthew 9:20). Likewise, His Name "Yeshua" testifies to His Jewish identity, since it is Hebrew for "Salvation."

Some people today can accept that Yeshua was a typical Jewish teacher of that period, but they feel that His early followers somehow changed this into a non-Jewish religion. However, the "Brit Chadashah" (New Covenant) itself paints a different picture. It describes this movement as containing tens of thousands of Jews who believed and yet remained "zealous for the Torah;" that is, not converts to a Gentile religion but Jews who believed in Yeshua as the Messiah (Acts 21:20). We do not know the exact number of believers in that first century, but we know that these men and women were a large and influential portion of the Jewish pluralistic society of that day. James, the leader of the early Messianic community is even written about in Jewish literature as having been one of the most holy and good men of his day, well respected by the entire Jewish commuity.

There is a Jewish tradition from that period that says that the destruction of the Temple was due to the murder of this godly man, James. For them the times of the Messianic age had started, and the Messiah had come to bring the promise of the Father, the promise of a new covenant--the Brit Chadasha. As it is written: Jer. 31:31-33 "Behold, days are coming, says the L-RD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Yisra’el, and with the house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant of mine they broke, although I was their master, says the L-rd; but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Yisra’el after those days, says the L-rd; I will put my Torah in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their G-d, and they shall be my people, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the L-rd: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the L-rd for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

The early Jewish followers of Yeshua saw the perfect fulfillment of what Jeremiah and the Prophets had foretold. The New Covenant had been promised, the Messiah would be the mediator of this Covenant...and Yeshua of Nazareth fit the description. It never occurred to them that they were not Jews anymore; indeed, they had come into the fullness of the Promised Covenant. They were "Messianic Jews" in the true sense of the word! This community of Messianic Jews continued to fit into the framework of Judaism at that time, with many priests, Pharisees, Essenes, etc. becoming believers in Yeshua.

This was a Jewish revival movement that would survive beyond the destruction of the Temple and influence significantly the reconstruction of Judaism by the Pharisaic movement in the years to come. History records the vitality of this movement in various parts of the world until well into the fourth and fifth centuries.

A rather strange thing happened in the proceeding centuries however. the Scripture speaks of this Messianic faith being taken to the non-Jewish nations as well. It was wonderful that all peoples were invited by G-d to follow this Messiah. And many responded. Unfortunately, many either forgot the Jewishness of the faith or consciously turned from it and removed any remembrance of it. Hence, today it sounds so shocking to many people that Jews can believe in Yeshua. But many of these misunderstandings have been changing in recent years... Starting in the late 1960’s and continuing until today, there has been a dramatic move of G-d’s Spirit. As G-d was moving to restore His people physically back to the land of Israel, so too He was moving spiritually in the hearts of many Jewish people. Thousands have been coming to believe in Yeshua and even forming their own congregations where they can worship the Messiah in the fulfillment of their Jewish identity. These "Messianic Congregations" are characterized by a number of distinctive elements: worship on the Shabbat and other Jewish biblical holidays, joyful Messianic worship with dance, and other customs that are consistent with the Scripture.

What a wonderful way this has been for Jewish believers in Yeshua to express their faith and heritage! We should also note that many non-Jews have found special fulfillment in Messianic congregations as well, since they are grafted into "the rich root of the olive tree" of this Jewish, biblical, faith. (Romans 11:17 ff.) Together, Jews and Gentiles are returning to their roots of faith through Yeshua the Messiah.

Some Predictions Concerning Messiah in the Tenach: Messiah to be born in Bethlehem Micah 5:1 (Hebrew) Micah 5:2 (English) --- cf. Matthew 2:5-6 Messiah to perform testifying miracles Isaiah 53:7-9 --- cf. Matthew 27 Messiah to die before the destruction of the second Temple in 70 C.E. Daniel 9:24-27 ---cf. Matthew 27 Messiah to set up His earthly Kingdom in the latter days Isaiah 11 --- cf. Acts 1:6-8