November, 20 2014 -- By Jonathan Bernis
Can a Jewish Person Believe in Jesus?
I’ve heard Jewish People say, “You can’t be a Jew and believe in Jesus any more than you can be a vegetarian who eats meat.” It’s not that they’re belligerent. It’s just that their worldview doesn’t allow them to see how a Jew can believe in Jesus, given 2,000 years of persecution at the hands of the Church.
This is why it takes a special sensitivity when talking to a Jewish person about Yeshua (Jesus).
I’ve mentioned before about all the persecution the Jewish People have undergone in the name of Jesus. During the Spanish Inquisition, many Jews were deported, tortured or killed. Lands and property were confiscated, and there is some speculation that this stolen wealth was used to finance the voyage of Christopher Columbus.
In Russia, thousands of Jewish People were massacred in pogroms by so-called Christians. Christian peasants would put crosses on their doors so the murderers would know to leave them alone.
As a result of such atrocities, many Jews ask, “How can I accept a religion that has shed so much Jewish blood? I would be a traitor to my fathers who died if I renounced their religion and accepted Jesus.”
We must get our Jewish friends and neighbors to see that the people who carried out these horrible acts were not following Yeshua. They were going against everything He taught, and they denied Him when they lifted their hands against the Jews.
Jews must come to see that they should believe in Yeshua because He is the Messiah, not because Christians are such nice people. We must show them that Yeshua is the God of the whole earth, of Jews and Gentiles alike. We can show them Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. We can explain that Yeshua was Jewish, as were the apostles and most of the early believers.
Here are some Messianic Prophecies from the Old Testament:
Excerpted from How to Share Yeshua, by Rabbi Jonathan Bernis
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