Rabbinic Authority and the Messiah

Most Jewish people state that they do not believe in Yeshua (Jesus), because that is the position most rabbis (but not all) have emphatically taught. 

The real questions and issues are these: "What do the Hebrew Scriptures say about a promised Messiah for Israel?" "What did pre-Rabbinic Judaism teach about the Messiah?" "Do I dare read the Scriptures with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and think for myself?"

The key to answering the questions above is to study the prophecies and writings found in the Tanakh.  The prophet Jeremiah wrote, "When you seek Me, you will find Me, provided you seek for Me wholeheartedly." (Jeremiah 29:13; Deuteronomy 4:29).

During the twelfth century, Rabbi Maimonides (Rambam) attempted to counter Christian interpretations of Hebrew Scripture, so he provided an alternative Jewish response for the Jewish people.  He wrote, "All the books of the prophets (Nevi'im) and all the Sacred Writings (Ketuvim) will ultimately be annulled in the era of the Mashiach, except for the book of Esther." ²  (Esther is the story instructing us to remember and celebrate Purim throughout every generation).  Consequently, few today seriously read and study the Nevi'im (prophets) and Ketuvim (writings).

Nonetheless, these Scriptures are still considered part and parcel of the Hebrew Bible, and have significant information for us today about the Messiah and his appearance.  Ignoring the study of these important Tanakh scriptures results in missing key messianic prophecies concerning Israel, the nations, and the Messiah himself.   

Since the 1967 recapture of Jerusalem by Israel, thousands of Jewish people have begun to read and study the Tanakh and have discovered G~d's promises concerning the restoration of Israel.  In doing so, they have also discovered prophecies regarding the messiah.  For instance:  how to recognize him, what he would do, why he would come, where he would appear, and when he would arrive.

During the last 2,000 years there have been Jewish people who have believed that Yeshua is Israel's promised Messiah.  But within the last thirty years, since 1967, many thousands have embraced Yeshua the Messiah with eagerness.  The phenomena of the Messianic Jewish movement is that it is not man's doing, but G~d's.

Today, there are tens of thousands of Messianic believers worldwide with congregations and fellowships emerging in every part of the world, including many in the Land of Israel.  Messianic Judaism is a biblically based movement of Jewish and non-Jewish people who have come to accept Yeshua (Jesus) as the promised messiah.  Yeshua in Hebrew means Salvation.  Messianic Judaism is a renewal of the covenant G~d made with Isra'el and Y'hudah, spoken of by Jeremiah the prophet in Jeremiah 31:31-34. 

Are the claims of Yeshua and his disciples to be believed?  Yeshua said this about himself,  "for if you really believed Moshe, you would believe me; because it was about me that he wrote" (John 5:46).  By this, Yeshua was simply saying, if the writings of Moses and Torah of G~d are not taken seriously, then how can someone claiming to be the Jewish Messiah be taken seriously.

Did Moses Write Down Everything?

In recent years, religious legislation was introduced in the Keneset in Israel that, if enacted, would send Messianic Jews to prison and fine them if they use the Hebrew Scriptures to discuss Yeshua the Messiah.

Over the centuries rabbis have exercised their authority to interpret the manner in which the traditions of our people are to be observed, traditions which are said to be based upon the Oral Law that was spoken by G~d to Moses, and passed down from generation to generation.

However, Exodus 24:3-7 states:  "Moshe came and told the people everything Adonai had said, including all the rulings.  The people answered with one voice:  'We will obey every word Adonai has spoken.'   Moshe wrote down all the words of Adonai...  Then he took the book of the covenant and read it aloud, so that the people could hear; and they responded, 'Everything that Adonai has spoken, we will do and obey.'"

This passage from the Torah states that Moses wrote down ALL the words of Adonai - ALL the instruction of G~d.  If the written Torah and Tanakh are correct, could there be  rabbinical interpretations that teach something different, apart from the Tanakh?  Rabbis, being only human, can be wrong.  For example we find in the Tanakh:

Micah 5:2 says the Messiah will be born in Bethlehem.

Isaiah 7:14 speaks of an extraordinary birth for the Messiah that will be a sign to the people.

Daniel 9:24-25 indicates the Messiah will be killed before the destruction of the Second Temple and Jerusalem in 70 CE.

Isaiah 49:6 declares that the Messiah will come for both Jews and non-Jews.

Some Jews believe that a rabbi who died a few years ago is the messiah.  Other rabbis have had their own followers and were given great respect, even to the point of being referred to as the messiah.  All were still considered Jews.  Still, there are Jews who totally ignore G~d  or do not believe he exists, yet they are still considered Jews. 

So what is wrong if a Jewish person expresses a belief in Yeshua ben David of Nazareth as the messiah?  Whether one agrees or disagrees with our conclusions about Yeshua, should not every Jew have the right to decide this, and other matters of religion, for himself?  If Yeshua is the promised messiah - is it Jewish to ignore him?

One of the underlying fears is, that a Jew who accepts Yeshua will stop being Jewish and become something else, namely "Christian."  Sadly to say, there are Jews who have accepted Yeshua and dropped their Jewish identity and heritage.  They have assimilated away from their Jewish communities and have assumed other cultural identities.

It Wasn't Always So

2,000 years ago, Jews who believed in and followed the teachings of Yeshua were considered a Jewish sect within Judaism - namely "Nazarenes."  This is what one historical source says about this Nazarene Jewish sect:  "They make use not only of the New Testament, but they also use in a way the Old Testament of the Jews; for they do not forbid the books of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings...   so that they are approved of by the Jews, from whom the Nazarenes do not differ in anything; and they profess all the dogmas pertaining to the prescriptions of the Law and to the customs of the Jews, except they believe in Christ (the anointed one)." 

Epiphanius, Panarion 30:18; 39:7, 375-400 C.E.

Yeshua never lived apart from his Jewish community nor did he forsake Torah.  In Matthew 5:17-20 he spoke, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Torah or the Prophets.   I have not come to abolish but to complete.  Yes indeed!  I tell you that until heaven and earth pass away, not so much as a yud (smallest Hebrew letter) or stroke will pass from the Torah - not until everything that must happen has happened.  So whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.  But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven." 

The rabbis taught that to observe the Torah was to complete and fulfill it.  To disregard the Torah was to nullify or abolish it.  Yeshua was clearly stating his attitude towards the Torah.  He never taught that his Jewish followers should ignore Torah.  Rather, Yeshua states that those who disregard the commandments of G~d and teach others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Not surprisingly, there are many today who fall into this first category described by Yeshua. Likewise, a careful study of Rav Sha'ul's (Paul)  writtings (most of which were written to non-Jews) reveals that he did not teach that Jewish believers in Yeshua should forsake Torah. 

An Orthodox scholar and rabbi, Pinchas Lapide, described Yeshua as a traditional, observant Jew.  He wrote, "Jesus never and nowhere broke the law of Moses, nor did he in any way provoke its infringement - it is entirely false to say that he did...  In this respect you must believe me, for I know my Talmud...  this Jesus was as faithful to the law as I would hope to be.  But I suspect that Jesus was more faithful to the law than I am - and I am an Orthodox Jew."³

Messianic Jews and non-Jews are simply saying this, "Jewish people who believe and accept Yeshua as their Messiah do not need to lose their identity as Jews."  Yeshua lived a Jewish lifestyle while honoring G~d and the Torah.  It is very Jewish indeed to accept Yeshua the Messiah and live as a Jew.