Messianic Judaism refers to a tradition of people who are ethnically and culturally Jewish, but believe that Jesus is the Messiah. It is not exactly correct to call members of the Messianic movement, Jewish Christians. Instead, they are Jews who believe in the heritage of Jesus as a Jew and choose to worship Him in that way.
Here are six things that led to the Messianic movement:
1. There have always been Jews who follow Jesus: Jesus was historically a member of the Jewish faith. His first believers were Jews. His name, which in Hebrew translates to "Yeshua," means "Salvation."
According to the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, it is important to remember that Jesus studied the Torah and worshiped in the synagogue.
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2. Messianic Synagogues have been around for a long time: While Jesus preached a gospel that extended the grace of God to all peoples, the reality of that was one of the earliest debates in the church. The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America says hundreds of thousands of Jews followed the teachings of Jesus in Messianic synagogues following his death and resurrection.
3. The faith became Christian: While the earliest believers in Jesus identified as Jewish and practiced their faith as Jews, the death of the apostles and the spreading of the faith to the gentiles saw the waning of the first century "Jewishness" of the faith in Jesus as the Messiah. When Christianity became a state religion during the Roman Empire, centuries of anti-Semitism began.
4. Modern Messianic Judaism is born out of leeriness and loyalty: Jewish Christians in the late 1800s were people who, mostly of European and American origin, decided to investigate the New Testament Scriptures for themselves. These Jews had been evangelized by Protestant believers, but were resistant to take on a Christian identity because of the centuries of anti-Semitism they had faced from Christians.
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5. Hebrew Christianity is different than other Christianity: Messianic movement Jewish Christians were first said to be following "Hebrew Christianity." These followers were believe to be fully Jewish, but able to have a personal relationship with "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through Messiah Yeshua." They believed the Hebrew Law was fulfilled through Jesus and that since Jesus practiced His faith as a Jew, they should continue to do so too.
6. They have their own Outreach mission: The Messianic Movement refers to all believers in Jesus as the "Body of Messiah." They have a mission to not only explain the importance of the Jewish heritage of Jesus to Christians, but also minister and outreach to other, non-Messianic Jews.
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