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Is Messianic Judaism Jewish?

To some, the concept of a Jew believing in Yeshua seems to be a contradiction.

The reason is because many people have a dichotomy set up in their minds. On the one hand, there are Jews and Judaism while, on the other hand, there are Christians and Christianity. You are either one or the other -- so the thinking goes. But this simple dichotomy is based on error.

Historically Jewish

If we go back about 2000 years we find that Yeshua was a Jew living in a Jewish land among Jewish people. All the apostles were Jewish as well as the writers of the New Covenant and for many years this faith in Yeshua was strictly a Jewish one.

(Some scholars believe Luke was a Gentile, but there is no real evidence for this. Ask those same scholars when Luke's gospel was written, and what Acts says about Gentile believers at that time.)

From the Book of Acts and other historical evidence we learn that in the first century there were literally hundreds of thousands of Messianic Jews, and at one time they were the largest Jewish sect. In Acts 21:19-21 we read about an encounter between Paul and the leaders of the Jerusalem congregation, in which they warn Paul of a dangerous false rumor that he had been telling Jewish believers to not follow Torah. Note that Josephus tells us that at time in history there were only about six thousand Pharisees, who were the second-largest sect.

After greeting them, Paul described in detail each of the things God had done among the Gentiles through his efforts. On hearing it they praised God, but they also said to him, "You see, brother, how many tens of thousands of believers there are among the Judeans, and they are all zealous for Torah. Now what they have been told about you is that you are teaching all the Jews living among the Goyim to apostatize from Moshe, telling them not to have a circumcision for their sons and not to follow the traditions.

Whether it was Jewish to believe in Yeshua was never an issue at that time: of course it was Jewish! It was a Jewish sect, what else would it be? The big question back then was whether Yeshua had been sent for the Gentiles also. When God miraculously showed those early believes that he was the Messiah for both Jew and Gentile alike, then Gentiles from every nation began to pour into this Jewish sect.

Unfortunately, as the numbers of Gentile believers increased, they began to depart from God's ways. Control over the sect was moved from Jerusalem to Rome, and the new leaders purposefully distanced their faith from its Jewish roots.

Today something miraculous is happening: Gentile Christians are repenting for abandoning God's ways and seeking to once again embrace the Jewish roots of their faith. Complimenting this, Jewish followers of Yeshua are once again forming synagogues and finding freedom to worship God as the early believers did.

Scripturally Jewish

Messianic Judaism is clearly scripturally Jewish. Scripture consistently teaches that accepting the Jewish messiah is what is expected of the "faithful remnant" of the Jewish people.

Since only Yeshua can and does fulfil the messianic prophecies in the Tenach, then it is a scripturally Jewish act for Jewish people to follow him as messiah!

Culturally Jewish

Messianic Judaism is clearly culturally Jewish.

Messianic Judaism does not accept Rabbinical traditions as authoritative. But neither do the Jews of Ethiopia and India whose communities' roots precede the Talmud. No one claims those other non-Rabbinic Jews are not Jewish. Only Messianic Judaism is judged with the standard that people have to accept Rabbinical authority to be Jewish. (This is especially odd because it embraces far more of Rabbinic tradition than those other Jewish peoples.)

Jewish in Lineage

Finally, Messianic Judaism is Jewish because it is composed of people whose ancestors stood at Mount Sinai to accept a covenant from God.