Since Yeshua’s (Jesus’) first disciples, there have always been Jewish Believers in Him. Even so, what today is called the Messianic Movement is relatively new. Its beginning is intertwined with the Jesus Movement of the 1960s. Messianic Judaism comprises Believers in Jesus, worship observances and lifestyles that are identifiably Jewish. It has much to offer the Body of Messiah and is having a valuable impact within the Church in several ways. 

Messianic Judaism fits Jewish Believers

Mark grew up in a kosher home. He came across a back issue of Jewish Voice Today magazine and read personal stories of Jewish people who came to faith in Yeshua. The testimonies intrigued him, and he wanted to know more. 

When he learned of a Messianic Jewish congregation located three hours away from him, he made the trek one Sabbath. Afterward, he talked with the rabbi and placed his faith in Yeshua as the Messiah. 

Back at home, Mark visited churches, but nothing fit for him. He missed the observances of his Jewish identity and longed for a place to worship with other Jewish Believers. When he discovered a Messianic fellowship in his own city, Mark found his congregational home and has been attending ever since. 

The same kind of story occurs regularly all over the world. When the Lemba Jewish community in Zimbabwe first met representatives of Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI), they were thrilled to discover a Jewish expression of faith in Yeshua. 

The Lemba have clear ties to the ancient people of Israel, particularly the Levites. They have maintained their Jewish identity through the centuries, even after many came to faith in Yeshua. But they weren’t comfortable in either traditional Christian or non-Yeshua-professing Jewish synagogues. When Lemba Believers learned of Messianic Judaism, they said, “Ah, this is the community where we can fully belong!” As Jewish Believers in Yeshua, no other form of worship met all of their needs. 

Messianic Judaism highlights the Jewish roots of Christianity

“I had no idea how much Jesus is evident in the Jewish feast of Passover,” one woman said. “Before I attended a Passover Seder at my church, I never thought Jewish observances were relevant to my faith as a Christian.” This Gentile had been a Believer for more than 30 years but didn’t realize how little she knew about her faith’s connection with Judaism.

Messianic Judaism’s presence in the Body of Messiah brings to light the Jewishness of faith in Yeshua. It draws attention to the Jewish context of the Bible. This is an essential element to fully understanding the teachings of the New Covenant and recognizing God’s redemptive thread running consistently through the Old Covenant and pointing clearly to Jesus. 

Gentiles have much to gain from Messianic Judaism as it enriches their relationships with God through an understanding of the Jewish roots of their faith. 

Messianic Judaism Reminds Believers that Jewish People Need Yeshua

In the years before Jewish Voice president and CEO Jonathan Bernis placed his faith in Yeshua, several people shared the Gospel with him. What stands out to him now about those instances is that each time he explained to the well-meaning Believers that he is Jewish, they apologized – as if the Gospel is not for Jewish people. 

An unfortunate number of Gentile Christians are under the impression that Jewish people have another way of receiving God’s redemption. However, in John 14:6, Yeshua said that no one comes to the Father except through Him. Acts 4:12 further states that there is salvation in no one else and by no other name than Yeshua. When Jonathan came to believe in Yeshua, he was surprised to learn that not only was Yeshua for Jewish people, but the Gospel was for them first (Romans 1:16).  

Messianic Judaism brings focus to the fact that Jewish people need Yeshua and inspires Gentile Believers to pray for and reach out to them.

Messianic Judaism Demonstrates that God Remains Faithful to Israel

A woman approached JVMI staff member Rabbi Jack Zimmerman shortly before his speaking session at a conference in New York. She was convinced that he was “a Jewish-Christian rabbi trying to bring her back under the Law.” As Rabbi Jack spoke with her, it became clear that she also wasn’t sure that God continues to have a distinct plan and purpose for Israel and the Jewish people.

After Jack’s teaching, her entire perspective had changed. She came to understand that God is not finished with Israel and that Christians have a responsibility to support Israel and pray for the Jewish people. 

A dangerous misconception exists in parts of the Church today, in which some believe that God has rejected Israel and replaced her with the Church. The book of Romans emphatically teaches otherwise. Not only is the Gospel for the Jewish people first, but the apostle Paul also notes that: 

• He would wish himself cursed if it could be exchanged for his Jewish brethren to believe in Yeshua (Romans 9:3)
• Jewish rejection of Yeshua in no way implies God has rejected the Jewish people (Romans 11:1, 11‒15)
• Gentiles have not replaced Israel, but rather, have been grafted in among God’s chosen people, like a wild olive branch into a natural olive tree (Romans 11:16‒21)
• One day, all Israel will be saved (Romans 11:26)

Messianic Judaism underscores for Gentile Believers the everlasting nature of God’s covenant with Israel (Genesis 17:17). It inspires within the Church a love for Jewish people and Israel. 

Messianic Judaism is good for the Body of Messiah. Not only does it provide a fitting worship experience for Jewish Believers, but its presence enhances the walk of Gentile Believers by providing vital and rich biblical context for faith in Jesus. It also helps maintain the integrity of Scripture regarding the Jewish need of Yeshua, God’s faithfulness to Israel and the Church’s responsibility in these regards. As Messianic Judaism grows, so will its positive influence in the Body of Messiah.

He was 16 years old, and you couldn’t help being drawn to him. He was articulate and extremely personable ‒ intelligent beyond his years and markedly confident, but without arrogance. But he had questions.

He came to speak with someone at the Jewish Voice Ministries International (JVMI) prayer room, held in conjunction with the Alamata, Ethiopia, Medical Outreach. He sat down with Paula and an interpreter.

Paula is the Prayer Coordinator at JVMI headquarters. For more than eight years, she has worked in the trenches of prayer for Jewish Voice. She leads the staff and a team of Prayer Partners in bringing before God the needs of the ministry, Israel, the Jewish people and JVMI Outreaches. But the Alamata/Jijiga trip was the first time she had participated in the field.

In Ethiopia, the prayer rooms for JVMI Outreaches must now be off-site from the Medical Clinics. It’s a relatively recent local requirement that can result in fewer visits than we’ve seen in years past. Knowing this, Paula made a special request of the Lord before the Alamata/Jijiga Outreach began.

“Lord,” she prayed, “we in the prayer room may not see many who come to know You, but may those who do be ones who will bring many others to You.”

In Alamata, the bright young man who sat before her spoke excellent English, and he immediately asserted that he believed in science and philosophy rather than God. Yet there he was, in a Messianic Jewish prayer and counseling center.

“Do you believe God has a destiny for each of us?” asked the fellow who’d said he didn’t believe in God. His father, on his deathbed, had told him that he believed his son had a strong destiny. “But,” he asked Paula and the interpreter, “if none of our experience is real – as some philosophers teach – then where is the purpose in life?”

“That’s a good question,” Paula answered. “If you take the Creator out of the equation of creation, there is no purpose or destiny.”

One after another, the animated teen asked questions, hungry for answers to the deep and unsettled matters filling his mind.

Then, all of a sudden, he declared, “OK, I am ready.”

“Help me to understand,” Paula replied. “What are you ready for?”

“I am ready to receive Yeshua (Jesus).”

There, in a little circle of plastic chairs, Paula and the interpreter led the young man in prayer to place his faith in Yeshua.

The next day, Paula was working with Outreach Partners at the Clinic site rather than in the prayer room. When she returned that afternoon, a prayer room co-worker told her, “He came back! And he brought a friend with him, someone he had just led to the Lord. He wanted his friend to understand more.”

In the 24 hours since coming to faith himself, this dynamic 16-year-old had already led someone else to the Lord and knew where to come to learn how to begin his discipleship! It was an answer to Paula’s prayer.

“It was a divine appointment,” Paula said of the circumstances surrounding her conversation with the teenager. “He was ready. He had studied and learned. He’d searched and had meaningful questions. And we were there at the right time.”

And God knew. He prepared both Paula and this young man for the day they met. He primed the hungry mind and heart of an exceptional teenager and led him to the JVMI prayer room. God orchestrated the day so that Paula would be there, and the timing so that she and her interpreter were available when he arrived. And long before, He had placed a prayer on Paula’s heart for Him to raise up new Believers in Alamata who would lead many others to Yeshua.

“I am ready,” the young man said. He’d meant he was ready to receive Yeshua. But God has readied him to be an answered prayer as well, to shine His light and bring others in Alamata to Yeshua.