What is a Messianic Jew?

The term Messianic Jew is one of several titles by which Jews who have come to believe in Jesus as the Messiah describe themselves. Over the centuries Jews who embraced Jesus have called themselves Nazarenes, Hebrew-Christians, Jewish-Christians, Jewish believers, and Messianic Jews. Messianic Jews ‘ faith in Yeshua (Jesus) as the Jewish Messiah has changed their lives and has a solid historical foundation.

Messianic Jew Definition

The Modern Messianic Jewish Movement (MMJM), describes the larger community of Jewish people in recent days who have embraced Jesus and continue to self-identify as Jews as Messianic Jews. Some have tried to articulate more detailed definitions of this community. One organization, the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, describes the MMJM as:

The 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.¹

Another organization, the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, defines the MMJM as the:

Biblically-based movement of people who, as committed Jews, believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as the Jewish Messiah of Israel of whom the Jewish Law and Prophets spoke.²

Some define the MMJM more broadly to simply encompass all Jews who believe in Jesus and identify as Jewish.

Ethnic Jews, embracing Jesus, still Jewish

Regardless of which definition someone chooses, each describes a (1) community of ethnically Jewish people who (2) have embraced Jesus and (3) continue to self-identify as Jews, constructing like communities, and integrating Jewish practice with faith in Jesus.

Messianic Jews vs. Christian

Christian means follower of Christ (Messiah), so technically the Messianic Jewish faith is a part of Christianity. However, for the purpose of Jewish traditions and identity, as well as for reasons of Jewish persecution by so-called Christians through the centuries, many Jewish followers of Jesus today prefer not to be referred to as Christians. Also, some mistakenly use “Christian” as another way to say “non-Jew” or “Gentile,” but Christianity is a faith rather than a nationality.

The History of the Messianic Term

Starting in the 1970s, the idea of America as a “melting pot” (popularized by Jewish playwright Israel Zangwill in 1908) gave way to the emphasis on the diversity of ethnicities in North America.

Hebrew Christians and Messianic Congregations

As other ethnic groups did for themselves, Jews became more visibly and self-consciously Jewish. This also affected the shape of the community of Jewish believers in Jesus. The term “Hebrew-Christians” gave way to “Messianic Jews,” who often worshiped in “Messianic congregations” or “Messianic synagogues.” In those settings, much of the liturgy was adapted from synagogue worship and placed into the context of faith in Jesus. At the same time, many Jewish followers of Jesus worshiped in traditional churches, but with their Jewish identities fleshed out outside the walls of their church.

These Messianic synagogues also attracted non-Jews to their worship (coming full circle with the first-century, in which non-Jews known as God-fearers often attended synagogue worship).

What is a Jew for Jesus?

Note that some have labeled the entire movement, along with individual Jews who have embraced Jesus, as Jews for Jesus. The organization Jews for Jesus; however, is only one organization that has emerged as part of the wider MMJM. Not every Messianic Jew is a Jews for Jesus staff person, but quite a few are or have been!

The modern Messianic Jewish movement encompasses many non-congregational ministries and religious organizations. Mission agencies such as Jews for Jesus, Chosen People Ministry, and Jewish Voice Ministry, while they sometimes plant new congregations and host weekly meetings, focus on communicating the gospel individually with inquirers, teaching new Jewish believers, and coordinating public outreaches through literature distribution and media advertising. Jewish Voice Ministry operates medical and food relief work in emerging countries such as Ethiopia and Zimbabwe among newly discovered Jewish ethnic groups such as the Beta Israel. Messianic Music artists such as Marty Goetz, Paul Wilbur, and Jonathan Settel, compose Jewish music whose style unites gospel lyrics with Jewish melodies and rhythms. Their music is distributed through Messianic publishers such as Messianic Jewish Publishers & Resources, Jews for Jesus, and Chosen People Ministry.

What is Jews for Jesus?

In the San Francisco Bay Area, a group of Jewish young people who embraced Jesus, came together in 1972 to form Jews for Jesus. They were led by a Jewish believer from an Orthodox background named Moishe (Martin) Rosen. These young people applied their creative energies and created a Messianic Jewish culture, understanding that a person does not stop being Jewish by embracing Jesus. They wrote what they called Jewish Gospel music, formed a music group called the Liberated Wailing Wall, and published literature intended to engage a wider Jewish audience about Jesus. Their staff traveled across the country and spoke in churches, bringing presentations such as “Christ in the Passover,” whereby churches began to discover the Jewish roots of their Christian faith. The number of Jewish believers grew, as Jewish people began to hear and consider the claim that Jesus is the promised Messiah.32

What do Messianic Jews Believe?

Messianic Jews believe that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Jewish Messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures, and they maintain their ethnic and cultural Jewish identity while embracing faith in him. Our belief is both authentically Jewish and biblically grounded, rather than a departure from Jewish identity.

In their theology, Messianic Jews see Yeshua not only as the Messiah in the line of David but also as fulfilment of the Scriptures: He suffered and died for sin and will return to complete the messianic tasks (e.g., restoration, peace).

We are honored and unashamed to be living out that heritage hand-in-hand with our faith that:

• Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah for all people
• Yeshua was a descendant of David, fulfilling messianic prophecy
• He lived a perfect life
• Yeshua reconciles humanity with God through his teachings and in his death and resurrection
• Yeshua will return as King Messiah
• He will restore all things

Do Messianic Jews believe in Jesus?

Yes! Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the son of God and that he came in the flesh and that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Do Messianic Jews believe in the Trinity?

Messianic Jews believe that Jesus (Yeshua) is God the Son, the third part of the trinity. God the Father and the Holy Spirit are the two other parts of the trinity. They believe the trinity works together as one.

Messianic Jewish Faith Has an Ancient, Jewish History

Evidence of Jewish people following Yeshua as the Messiah can be traced back to about AD 30.  All of Yeshua’s first followers were Jewish, and the writers of the New Testament were Jewish.

The first Messianic Jewish community was led by four Jewish men: Yeshua’s brother Yakov,¹ Shimon from Capernaum,² Shaul who was a student of Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3),³ and Yochanan from Bethsaida.⁴ These men were dedicated to the Jewish faith. Along with the other Jewish followers of Yeshua, they prayed three times a day and sacrificed in the Temple,⁵ shared ritual meals together,⁶ gathered in synagogues on Shabbat,⁷ observed Jewish rituals and feasts,⁸ and met in the Temple and on Saturday nights to hear teaching and encourage each other.⁹ In addition to the original followers Yeshua started out with, a good number of kohanim (“priests”) and Pharisees also came to recognize him as Messiah.¹⁰

“HaNotzrim”

These Jewish followers of Yeshua have been documented for several centuries as an established religious entity called the notzrim (“Nazarenes”). Ancient church historian Eusebius records that Jude’s grandsons (Yeshua’s grandnephews), James and Zoker, were once questioned by the Roman Emperor Domitian in regard to being Davidic heirs.¹¹ In the second century, Jacob of Kefar Sakhnin,¹² is recorded in the Talmud as a min (“heretic”) who exchanged words “of minuth” with Rabbi Eliezer. When the rabbi was later arrested on charges of heresy, he believed it was due to his conversation with Jacob, whom he refers to as talmidei Yeshu ha’Notzri (“a student of Jesus the Nazarene”).¹³ Epiphanius, an early Christian historian, mentions encountering communities of Nazarenes all the way through the fourth century.¹⁴ Jerome, a Christian priest from the Roman province of Dalmatia, mentions Nazarene literature being housed in the library at Caesarea,¹⁵ and also writes to Augustine about them in the year AD 404. The contents of that letter reveal that the Nazarenes were present “throughout all the synagogues of the East,” and while they held sound doctrine, his perspective of them was that “while they desire to be both Jews and Christians, they are neither the one nor the other.”¹⁶

Messianic Jewish Terminology in Identity

Jewish believers in Jesus today call themselves by a variety of terms. Some prefer “Messianic Jews,” while some say they’re “a part of Messianic Judaism,” and others opt to be called “Jewish Christians.”

All of these people, regardless of chosen labels and practicing their faith in different ways, are in fact, Jewish followers of Jesus, just like those of the first century. Some are involved in ministries like Jews for Jesus, a nonprofit organization that advocates for Yeshua as Messiah within the Jewish community. Others attend either Messianic congregations or Christian churches (sometimes both). Some of the Messianic congregations they attend are a part of larger congregational organizations such as the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC) or Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA).

How many Messianic Jews are there?

Today, there are as many as 250,000 Messianic Jews in the U.S.; 20,000 in Israel; and as many as 350,000 worldwide.³³ Second- and even third-generation Messianic Jews, who were raised in Messianic Jewish homes and have always identified as Jewish-believers in Jesus, are emerging as leaders of the movement.

Messianic Congregational Life

Most Messianic Jewish synagogues and congregations hold weekly services on Shabbat, observe Jewish holidays, and conduct Torah services. In addition to reading from the Tanakh, they also believe the New Testament writings to be equal in authority. At some congregations, traditional liturgy may be mixed with contemporary worship music. Others stick to one or the other. As with the larger Jewish community, degrees of observance vary greatly among Messianic Jews, but it can be said that each respective community promotes faith in Yeshua as Messiah and the Son of God as being compatible with Jewish life.

Messianic Jews into the Future

So, what are Messianic Jews? We are people who have a strong Jewish history and identity. We are committed to seeing faith in Yeshua continue to spread and grow as a Jewish movement into the future. In the words of noted Messianic Jewish pioneer, Abram Poljak, “If Yeshua is the Messiah and King of the Jews—then the Messianic Jewish movement is the most important event in our time, the symbol of the changing aeon.”²¹

Today, many Jews who follow Jesus proudly affirm their Jewish identity and lifestyle (though Jewish lifestyles vary widely among Messianic Jews), their support for the State of Israel, and their desire to see their fellow Jews embrace faith in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

While it may not be the “the norm” among the Jewish community, our continued faith amplifies our purpose as members of the Jewish nation—being set apart to bring hope to humanity.

Endnotes

1. James (Jacob) son of Joseph, brother of Jesus.

2. Simon Peter (known to Jewish history as Shimon Kefa son of Jonah), disciple of Jesus.

3. Paul of Tarsus’ original Hebrew name was Shaul.

4. John, son of Zebedee.

5. Acts 3:1; 10:9; 16:13, 16; 24:11, 17–18.

6. Acts 2:42, 46.

7. Luke 4:16; Acts 13:14; 17:1, 10.

8. Acts 2:1, 46; 16:1–3; 18:18; 20:6, 15–16; 21:17–26; 26:5; 27:9; 1 Corinthians 5:8; 6:8.

9. Acts 5:12; Acts 20:7.

10. Acts 6:7; Acts 15:5.

11. Arthur Cushman McGiffert, “Church History–Book III,” Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History (Pantianos Classics, 2018), 53–54.

12. Jacob the Heretic, Wikipedia.

13. “Avodah Zarah,” Talmud, 16b–17a.

14. David J. Rudolph and Joel Willitts, eds., chap. 1, note 1 in Introduction to Messianic Judaism: Its Ecclesial Context and Biblical Foundations (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013), Kindle loc. 708.

15. Against the Pelagians (Book III).

16. From Jerome to Augustine.

17. Louis Goldberg, God, Torah, Messiah: The Messianic Jewish Theology of Dr. Louis Goldberg, ed. Richard A. Robinson (San Francisco: Purple Pomegranate, 2009), 128.

18. History of Messianic Judaism.

19. The Old Rebbe: Yechiel Tzvi Lichtenstein

20. History of Messianic Judaism.

21. The Authentic Zionists.

32. Ruth Tucker, Not Ashamed: The Story of Jews for Jesus (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Books, 2000).