When I think of messianic roots I am immediately drawn to the
founders of the faith, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As a family and at separate
times in their lives they all learned that to follow God, the one true God, they
must be willing to give up everything (See Genesis 12-37). I am also reminded
of the watch word of the faith, which is listed in Deuteronomy 6:4, which
states; Here o Israel , the Lord our God, the Lord is one. It is
the belief in the divine oneness of God that is the essential root of messianic
Judaism.
Throughout the Old Testament the foretelling and prophecies
indicated the coming of a promised messiah. From a messianic standpoint we have
found him. Because when Jesus came he fulfilled prediction after prediction
made by Israel’s ancient prophets. He told those waiting for the Messiah that
he came to carry out God’s purpose for our world and make good on God's promises
to his people. That is, his mission was to fulfill what had been set in the Old
Testament (Matthew 5:17). In essence, he came to complete the Scriptures and to
bring to us the depths and riches of our heritage. He came to show us the
significance and meaning of our beliefs and practices.
Everywhere he went he touched people and transformed their
lives as he does today. Many writers over the centuries have talked about the
love that he has inspired, the hope and joy that he has brought to the
downtrodden and weary, and the good engendered in the lives of those who
followed. Of course history has come to know him as Jesus of Nazareth. Those
who knew him and ate with him called him Yeshua (Yeshua means salvation, See
Isaiah 62:11). At the time of his earthly life he brought and even now he
brings a message of love, life, hope, and joy, but in an unexpected way. He
injected peace and purpose, meaning and significance and has brought about a
true spiritual transformation in those who have followed his ways.
It surprises me even to this day when people refer to Jesus
as Christian for he was born into a Judaic tradition. He and his followers
celebrated holidays, followed Jewish traditions (Acts 2:44; 3: 1; 20: 5-6;
16:21; 24-26; 27:9). Those who traveled with him experienced the fullness of
their traditions and in many cases a completion of them. Even the apostle Paul
with his outspoken ministry to the Gentiles remained a consistent and observant
Jew (Acts 25:8; 28:17). In fact, Paul claims that he continued to live as a
Pharisee (Acts 23:6) who were among the most orthodox in the first century. So
what does this tell us? That our roots are embedded in Judaic history, culture,
and tradition. That Jesus and the apostles continued to follow in this
tradition despite the number of Gentiles being drawn into the faith. As a Jew,
Jesus fully accepted the Law. The community he founded saw itself as a movement
of reform within Judaism not as a secession from it.
As a messianic Jew I have accepted Yeshua as the Messiah and
have accepted God’s provision of atonement through him. He has fulfilled the
prophecies and predictions of our prophets and has risen from the dead. Is
Yeshua to be exclusively for the Jewish race? Of course not. All who respond to
the Messiah, Jew and Gentile alike, are heirs to a rich Jewish spiritual
heritage and have deep Jewish roots (Roman 11:17). In fact it is important for
Gentile followers to recapture that first century sense of common faith, the
background of the Bible, and the culture of the times, as they embrace their
modern day Christian faith. The walls between Jewish people and Gentiles have
been broken down as they have become united in worship and in life. After all,
this also was prophesized and envisioned by the prophets (Isaiah 2:3; Zachariah
2:11; 8:23; 14:17). The reality of Yeshua’ s message is a two edge sword in
that it encourages Gentiles to discover and enjoy their Jewish roots but it also
challenges Jews to pursue their full Jewish identity. The preservation of the
Jewish tradition is important in our knowledge of who we are as Christians. The
traditions are those that God has given to us in that they demonstrate to the
world God’s faithfulness to his promises. It is to remember that God has worked
in bringing people to himself and that his wordsmay serve as pictures of the
Messiah and life in him (Exodus 19:5-6; Deuteronomy 4:5-8; Isaiah 9:3-13).
It is therefore imperative that we preserve our messianic
roots as a service to all who follow Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth. It is important
that as believers we connect with the one true God as we attempt to live out the
principles of love and service that should follow from true faith. We must
continue to build one another up and to spread the good news of the Messiah’s
covenant to all. We all await his second return to both judge and to
bring in the age of peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment