The Messianic Problem

The Messianic Problem

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement that differs from mainstream Christianity and from Judaism by combining elements of each into a single faith.

Like other Christian groups, its adherents believe that Jesus of Nazareth (to whom many Messianic Jews prefer to refer by the Aramaic form of his name, Yeshua) is the resurrected Messiah and often the Divine Savior. Messianic Judaism adds to this some observance of Jewish Law, which is not generally practiced (and often discouraged) in Christian churches. These observances include observing the Sabbath from Friday sundown until Saturday sundown, abstaining from pork, shellfish, and other foods forbidden by Jewish law, and the observance of some Jewish holidays. As of 2003, there were at least 150 Messianic congregations in the U.S. and over 400 worldwide. By 2008, the number of Messianic in the United States was around a quarter million. The number of Messianic Jews in Israel is reported to be anywhere between 6,000 and 15,000 members, including the mainly Messianic Jewish village of Yad HaShmona, near Jerusalem. There are 200 Messianic groups in Israel. Some Messianic Jews are ethnically Jewish, and argue that Messianic Judaism is a sect of Judaism. Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Re-constructionist Judaism are, however, unanimous in their rejection of Messianism as a form of Judaism. Both Christians and Jews consider Messianic Judaism to be a form of Christianity, seeing Messianic belief in the divinity of Jesus as the defining distinction between Christianity and Judaism. The Supreme Court of Israel has ruled that the Law of Return should treat ethnically Jewish individuals who convert to Messianic Judaism in the same way as it treats Jews who convert to Christianity.

Adherents to Messianic Judaism are described as Messianic Jews, Messianic Believers, or Messianic for short.

Although terms used to identify adherents of Messianic Judaism are frequently disputed, the terms used generally describe someone who holds to the belief that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, and who lives in obedience to the Scriptures, including the Torah, and Halakha, and who believes such a lifestyle of obedience is the proper expression of faith. Messianic Judaism is a relatively new term, coined as recently as 1895 to help separate the practices of its followers from those of common Christianity as a whole, and in order to more closely align its faith with that of biblical and historical Judaism.

The Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations defines Messianic Judaism as "a movement of Jewish congregations and groups committed to Yeshua the Messiah that embrace the covenantal responsibility of Jewish life and identity rooted in Torah, expressed in tradition, and renewed and applied in the context of the New Covenant."

"Jewish life is life in a concrete, historical community. Thus, Messianic Jewish groups must be fully part of the Jewish people, sharing its history and its covenantal responsibility as a people chosen by God. At the same time, faith in Yeshua also has a crucial communal dimension. This faith unites the Messianic Jewish community and the Christian ...