Traditional Judaism as we know it today was formulated by the heirs of those who rejected Yeshua. It is a religion which stands against faith in Him; a system which ignores his life, disregards his death, and denies his resurrection. It downplays the supernatural intervention of God. That’s why traditional Jews throughout the ages have stumbled over the person of Yeshua. But in the beginning it was not so.

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Most Jewish teachers before Yeshua emphasized the miraculous and believed in the power of God’s testimony from heaven. But when the followers of Yeshua had so many healings and prophetic words, they said, “We don’t depend on a miracle!”

 

Many of the Jews of Yeshua’s day were looking for a deliverer who would come in the clouds of heaven. Yet when Yeshua said, “I have come down from heaven, and I will come again in the clouds of heaven, “ they said, “Not so! Our Messiah will be a teacher of the Law, a rabbi like ourselves!”

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They had the prayers, they had the laws, they had the covenant tradition – how did our forefathers miss it? The answer again is simple. They truly had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (Romans 10:2). They did not attain what they sought after, for they stumbled over the grace of God.

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Messiah had come to make them well, yet they said in reply, “We’re not sick!”

​But not all of our forefathers missed it. The writer of almost half of the New Covenant was himself a Pharisee, born of the tribe of Benjamin. And the Book of Acts records “how many myriads of Jews” there were who believed and were zealous for the Torah (Acts 21:20). In fact, ”a great many of the [Jewish] priests were obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7), and even today in our country and throughout the world, there are tens of thousands of Jews who believe and confess, “Yeshua is the Messiah! Yeshua is Lord!”

 

This, then, is the real Judaism, the Judaism that is truly Messianic. And this is the faith that will bring the world back to God, the faith that will cause the nations to believe. And Yeshua is the One who will establish justice in the earth, “and the coastlands shall [and do!] wait for his law” (Isaiah 41:4).

 

The Talmud teaches that for the last forty years before the Temple was destroyed, God did not accept the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 39). Year after year, for the life of one whole generation, the Lord was saying, “No.”

 

You see, God had provided one Sacrifice for all, a final Atonement for the sins of mankind. God had provided the Lamb. And it was forty years before the Temple was destroyed that Yeshua offered his life. From that day to this, God has been saying “No” to His people. “No more of your sacrifices, no more of your prayers, no more of your works. I have provided the way.”

 

Yet to all who have ears to hear, God has been saying: “Yes, you may come! Yes, you can know Me! Yes, I will cleanse you from all your sin! Believe in the One I have sent. Messiah Yeshua has come.”

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The spiritual leaders of our people who tell us that we cannot know God are wrong. They are only saying, “I don’t know Him, so how can you? I’ve studied for years and I’m still learning. How can you be so sure?”

 

Once again, our answer is simple and clear. Messiah Yeshua has made God known. He has revealed the Father to us. And through his blood we have been brought back to God.

Tradition will not save us.
Opinions will not set us free.
Messiah has ransomed our souls from the pit.
Let all His Jewish people come!

 

*Although most Jews today are unaware of the teaching of the two Messiahs, one who will suffer and die in the last great war, and one who will rule and reign, this teaching is found in the Talmud and most of the early Jewish writings. For a clear statement see the Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 52a.

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