Shalom Aleichem,
These past couple of months have been a blur. We had a lot to get done in less than a month of traveling in America for our son’s wedding. We enjoyed the precious, yet too short, of time with our family and wished we had more. Besides visiting our children and granddaughter our main goal was to visit with congregations who contacted us through our mission board and wanted to hear about our ministry and what the Lord was doing here in Israel.
As we had the opportunity to visit with many congregations around the country it gave me a chance to speak about the gospel especially as it is presented to the Jewish people. One of our supporters gave me a wonderful book written by a Jewish believer in Messiah. He made an excellent observation in which he said “
Today, most Jewish People no longer believe in a personal Messiah, but rather, in a Messianic kingdom in which all good people work together to create a kingdom of peace.
” When I thought about that statement, I realized how true this concept is not only for Jewish people but also for the world. Most people, but especially Jewish people, believe they are inherently good. “Good people” don’t need a Savior but want a “kingdom of peace” without a Savior. They believe they can usher in the kingdom through good works rather than following Messiah’s way through faith.
As I spend more time presenting the gospel to Jewish people I see how they try and do everything to create a Messianic Kingdom without coming to the Messiah to fulfill two very important God given tasks to the Jewish people. The nation of Israel was to be a kingdom of priests --
And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation
.
Ex. 19:6
and a light to the world as
Isa. 42:6
says --
I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles
;
In trying to fulfill these two very important tasks Jewish people will go to great lengths of self-sacrifice, education, and industry to build this Messianic Kingdom without a Messiah, especially the Biblical Messiah.
The question of who a person believes the Messiah to be is the most critical question everyone needs to honestly answer. As well, each of us, as ambassadors of Christ, must ask this question which will determine each person’s eternal state.
There are two facets to the question. First, is the Messiah divine, God in the flesh? Many Jewish people will accept the idea of the Messiah as being human or even superhuman but never divine. This is a real test question of comparing what scripture says about the identity of the Messiah and what Jewish tradition has declared him to be. If a Jew asserts Yeshua to be divine the Jewish community will declare that person out of the family and no longer Jewish – a high cost to pay to trust in the Biblical Messiah!
Secondly, the question as to whether the Messiah had to first suffer and die, the way Jesus proclaimed, is the other litmus test question that must be answered. Most Jewish people will proclaim: “since Jesus didn’t bring in the Messianic Kingdom He cannot be the Messiah”. The religious Jew will tell you there are two Messiah’s: The suffering Messiah in Joseph and the Messiah son of David who will usher in the Messianic Kingdom. Unless, we understand the Scriptures and the prophecies relating to these false teachings we will not be able to accurately give an answer for the hope within us. The Scripture is full of many references as to who the Messiah would be and Jesus is the only one who can fulfill the offices of the prophet, priest and king Messiah!
The heart of our ministry is to make these Messianic claims of Jesus known to the Jew and Gentile alike as well as fellow believers to be better equipped in presenting the gospel. All believers must have a vested interest in sharing these two key facts of the Messiah to the Jewish community. When we have this wonderful opportunity, we can expect to get some aggressive reactions from the religious Jew. Despite the reactions, we need to be faithful to present this message with boldness, simplicity and clarity and let the Spirit of God open the hearts and minds to enable them to see the Biblical claims of Yeshua Ha’Mashiach ben David (Jesus the Messiah son of David)! It is our hope to see many Jewish people say, like Peter, “
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God
”.
