Why Jewish People Need Jesus

The following is based on insights from Avi Snyder’s book Jews Don’t Need Jesus & Other Misconceptions.
Available at our store ›

Christianity has spread throughout the world because faithful followers of Jesus down through the centuries and across countless cultures have obeyed Jesus’ great commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations. And yet, there’s one people group that sometimes gets overlooked or even intentionally avoided—even though it’s the group that is central to the biblical story—the Jewish people.

As Jewish believers in Jesus, we’ve observed that many non-Jewish Christians today seem reluctant to share the gospel with our Jewish people. And in many ways, that’s understandable.

If you are a non-Jewish Christian, you may be unsure about what Jewish people actually believe, or you may have heard different ideas about God’s plan for the Jewish people. It’s a loaded question: What do Jewish people really need? There are many misconceptions out there, and we know that if you are reading this, then you want to be part of the solution. We are here to help!

Here are some frequently asked questions we receive about God’s plan for the salvation of the Jewish people and our responses. It is our prayer that this resource will encourage and inspire you to share Messiah with the Jewish people!

1. What makes someone Jewish?

What is the determining factor of a person’s Jewishness? Is Judaism a matter of religion, culture, or ethnicity? This is a running debate among Jewish people today.

The clearest definition of Jewish is what we see in the Bible. We’re Jewish because we’re descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob with whom God made His covenants.

Being Jewish isn’t a matter of “religion.” In other words, we’re not Jewish because of what we believe or how we live. There are many Jewish people today who embrace every type of practice and belief system, even straying far from religious Judaism to become atheists or Zen Buddhists. Our beliefs don’t make us any “less Jewish.”

Culture isn’t the defining issue, either. There are varying degrees of expressing one’s Jewish culture, from those who follow the detailed prescriptions of Orthodox Judaism to those who’s Jewishness is expressed more casually through food, music, or ways of speaking.

However, most Jewish people do identify as a people distinct from others—there is “us” and there is “them.” Often, a Jewish person who comes to faith in Jesus is seen as having moved from “us” to “them,” or as some have phrased it, “switched teams.” That is one reason Jewish people find it difficult or a non-starter to think about believing in Jesus (more on this in point 4 below).

2. Are Jews “already saved” because they’re God’s chosen people?

Are Jewish people chosen? Yes! Does that mean we have an automatic pass to salvation? No, of course not.

If we were already saved, then why did Peter tell the high court of Israel, “There is no other name under heaven [other than Yeshua] that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)? Why did all the apostles and Jesus Himself proclaim the gospel so persistently to their own people? We should remember that when Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6), He was speaking to Jewish people.

So what does it mean, then, that the Jewish people are chosen (Deuteronomy 4:37; 7:7; 10:15; Isaiah 41:8)? God is not saying that we are saved by right of birth. He’s referring to a particular call that He gave us as a people: to be a light to the nations of the world. God chose the Jewish people to be the vehicle through whom He would give the world His two greatest gifts: the Scriptures and the Messiah.

• The gift of God’s words: The message of salvation came “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). Jewish people have been trusted with the writing and keeping of the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments—a great gift indeed!
• The gift of the Messiah: From Genesis to Malachi, our prophets have foretold that the Messiah must come from Israel. God sent Jesus through the Jewish people to the rest of the world.

Jewish people also have a calling to proclaim the gospel, and the Jewish apostle Paul assures us that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). We’re still chosen to bring His good news to the world. But there’s a dilemma: Jewish people can’t fulfill our calling to be a light to the nations until we believe the gospel, and we can’t believe the gospel until we hear the gospel!

3. If Jewish people have the covenants of Abraham and Moses, do they also need the new covenant of Messiah?

God’s covenants with Abraham and Moses are very important to both Gentile Christians and Jewish people (though in different ways). But is the new covenant prophesied by Jeremiah (31:31–34), which is so central to Gentile Christians, likewise important for Jewish people?

Certainly it is! Why? Because it is the fulfillment of those earlier covenants. The Abrahamic covenant, in promising blessing to the nations, is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus. The Mosaic covenant gave God’s people a way of life, which is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus’ obedience—and it also points to our need for a redeemer. Both the example of Abraham (Genesis 15; John 8:56; Galatians 3:6) and the Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 30:6; Galatians 3:24) pointed people forward to an eternal salvation by faith that had not yet been fully revealed.

The new covenant in Jesus is the key piece that makes God’s promises of blessing, guidance, and forgiveness ultimately come to fruition. So, the idea that Jewish people don’t need the new covenant because they have the old one does not make sense. Jewish people need Jesus precisely because of those earlier covenants.

4. Why don’t Jewish people recognize Jesus as the Messiah?

There are a number of obstacles that hinder many Jewish people from recognizing Jesus as our Messiah. Without a doubt, three of the thickest barriers are history, social cost, and lack of knowledge.

• Most Jewish people don’t know the gospel message, but we certainly know what happened to us “in the name of Christ”: Papal writings and condemnations during the early Middle Ages; the Crusades and the Inquisition; the Holocaust, which took the lives of six million of our people while most of the church stood silently by. Our people need to be told that those crimes contradict everything that Jesus Himself taught, especially about His own beloved people.
• Another roadblock is “the cost” of choosing to believe. So many of us were raised with the understanding that just considering the claims of Yeshua automatically brands us as cultural traitors to many of our people. The fear of rejection can stop many of us from looking at Jesus with an open mind.
• For many Jewish people today, especially younger generations, the barrier towards the gospel is simply lack of knowledge. They can’t believe what they haven’t been told. But when they hear the gospel from loving Christians’ lips, and when they see that love demonstrated in our lives, then the barriers seem to crumble.

We are seeing many Jewish young people confess faith in the Lord Jesus once they learn who He really is!

5. Why do we need to witness to Jewish people since all Israel will be saved eventually?

Will all Israel be saved someday?

Yes! God promised through Paul’s words, “All Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). But in Romans 10:14–17, he tells us how that salvation will come about: through hearing and receiving the good news—“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Israel’s future national day of salvation doesn’t mean that we should put off sharing the gospel with Jewish individuals today. In Psalm 95, David encourages us to obey now by using the phrase “Today, if you would hear His voice” (v. 7). Besides, what about the Jewish people who won’t be alive when that future day of salvation takes place? There’s no second chance after we leave this life. The author of Hebrews, writing to his fellow Jewish people, makes it clear that “it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (9:27).

6. Gentiles can’t witness to Jewish people.

If you were to ask 100 Jewish believers in Jesus whether a non-Jewish Christian played any significant role in bringing them to faith, the vast majority would say, “Yes!” In fact, God often uses Jewish and non-Jewish Christians in a wonderful partnership.

• Our part: God will use us (Messianic Jews) to catch a non-Messianic Jewish person’s attention. The very idea that there are Jewish people who believe in Jesus while still maintaining their Jewish heritage is quite shocking to a people steeped in tradition! These seekers want to know essentially two things from us: what do we believe, and why do we believe it?
• Your part: When it comes time for a Jewish person to discover for themselves whether or not the message of the gospel is true, talking to a Gentile Christian feels much less daunting than talking with Jews for Jesus. They can grapple with the truth of the message without worries over social or cultural capital. In time, through the words and lives of their Gentile-Christian friends, Jewish seekers often discover that the message is And because they’re aware of us Jews for Jesus, they have confidence to act on the truth. They know that they won’t be alone!

There’s another beautiful advantage to this evangelistic partnership between Jewish and non-Jewish followers of Jesus. When Jewish seekers see the genuine cross-cultural harmony that can exist between Jewish and Gentile followers of the Messiah, then they see the realization of something that so many Jewish people were raised to cherish and desire, but which we know has never really come about: peace and unity for mankind—“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1).

A final word: Follow Paul’s example.

Christians often wonder how they can love, bless, and pray for the Jewish people whom God has brought into their lives. Our advice? Follow the apostle Paul’s example. He loved us with a heartbroken love because of our unbelief and separation from our God (Romans 9:3). He blessed us by bringing the gospel to the Jewish people first wherever he ministered (Romans 1:16). And as for his prayer for his brethren, he wrote, “My heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation” (Romans 10:1).

God Is Faithful!

We hope that these questions and their responses have helped you see that the people of Israel have been set apart for a very special purpose! God has not forgotten or canceled this purpose, though many Jewish people have yet to know Him personally. As 2 Timothy says, “Though we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself” (2:13). God will be faithful towards Jewish people who have yet to accept His Son, just as He’s been faithful to you and me!

We also hope that this article helped shed light on one important truth: Jewish people are people. We need to hear the message of God’s salvation and forgiveness in Yeshua, just like non-Jewish people do. Think about the moment when someone shared their faith with you, and ask God to give you the courage to do the same for a Jewish person very soon!