Jewish and Hebrew Views of Yeshua
To begin with, it is inaccurate to say Jewish people do not believe Jesus (Yeshua) is Christ because all thirteen of Jesus’s original apostles were Hebrew and descendants of Abraham. Further, Jesus said He came for the lost house of Israel, which are Jews, and outside of His original disciples, the other followers were Jewish as well.
In general, Israel, as a nation, does not believe that Yeshua is Messiah for many reasons, which are outlined in hundreds of other articles. So saturated is the Internet with these posts that anyone writing a new article will not receive indexing by Google because the topic has been done to death!
The Jewish people believe that the Messiah is still to come and that Yeshua was an impostor. Furthermore, in their view, the New Testament, being based on the ministry of Jesus, is heretical nonsense, and as one well-known Jewish Rabbi put it, “there was no need for any more revelation beyond the Hebrew prophets as presented in the Torah and original (Old Testament) prophets.”
My Jewish Friend Follows Yeshua (Jesus)
Those of European descent who dominate western culture make sweeping statements about whole people groups which are different from themselves. Again, and in fairness, this is not all of them, but after five decades of life and all the experience with these sorts garnered in that time as an African American, this is true about 90% with no hyperbole.
However, I have a brother in Jesus who is both Hebrew and a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would go further to add he is a teacher of mine as well. As was true in the Bible days with Jesus and His Hebrew followers, it is true now—there are Jewish followers of Jesus!
This is important because to say, as the title of this article suggests, Jewish people do not follow Yeshua is simply wrong, and there is no empirical evidence to the contrary.
Estimates of what are known as Messianic Jews worldwide range from 350,000 to 1,000,000. I presented this term to my friend, and he said, “Bro, I am just a Christian!”
The trope that all Jewish people are against Jesus is just another way to show hatred toward them and should be rejected wherever it is found. For those claiming followership of Christ and using such ill-informed language, be reminded of God’s promise to the Jewish patriarch Abraham: “I will bless those that bless you and curse those who curse you, and through you, the whole world will be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-5).
Why Aren’t Other Non-Believing Groups Ill-Spoken Of?
As my friend pointed out when I referred to him as a Messianic Jew, there really is no such thing because we are all one in Christ who believe in Him (Gal. 3:28, Col. 3:11). The reality is that with more than 8 billion people on the planet, only a fraction of them believe that Jesus is Messiah.
Furthermore, there are religious groups that actively kill people who insult their chosen deity. Why aren’t these groups, who both reject Jesus as Savior and openly blaspheme through their religious beliefs and practices, denigrated in the same way as Jewish people? I mean, if an Arab, in a Muslim country, dared insult their beliefs, they would be killed!
Some say it is because Hebrews should have known better than to kill Jesus because He is Messiah, but they can never answer a few questions which make their posits nonsense. First, since Jesus is Hebrew and a practicing orthodox Jew, who else had the kind of access to Him in offering Him as the sacrifice for the sins of the world? Of course, they did not know this was God’s plan, but all the same.
Second, if the Jewish authorities (not all Jews) would not have had Jesus killed, what is the path to being reconciled to God and living in eternity with Him forever? All I am suggesting is that there are billions of others who hate Jesus, including the majority (though not all) of Jewish people, and had they not killed Him, we were all destined for Hell and the Lake of Fire.
Judge the Church Before Judging Others
It is interesting that the same Christians and westerners, in general, who rail against perceived Jewish slights on the Name of Jesus remain silent when the church, supposedly followers of Him, does the same and much worse.
For example, in America, there is a MAGA Republican movement both created by and followed by President Donald Trump. Before going forward, I am speaking as neither a Republican, Democrat, nor independent voter.
None of these parties hold Jesus Christ as their central belief system, so I avoid them all because the Bible says that judgment will first begin at the house of God. Am I saying we should be perfect before engaging others about this nonsensical blame system? No, of course not, but it is important that we can explain the error to the Saints and allow them to spread the message abroad.
Conclusion
As we can see through this short yet informative article, whether the Jewish people believe in Jesus as Savior or not is between them and the Lord. However, they are in no more eternal danger than any other person, people group, or religious system which is not based on the Holy Bible!
As followers of Christ, we should turn our attention to what Jesus said: “Preach the gospel to all nations” instead of putting a hypocritical hyper-focus on one people group, which is no more (or less) flawed than any other.
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