Sharing The Messiah With Your Jewish Friends

Hear oh Israel, The Lord is our God, the Lord is One" -- Deut. 6:4

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge -- Hosea 4:6

The Old Testament (Tenach) and the feasts of Israel are so essential to our faith and plainly teach about Yeshua (Jesus). Unfortunately, many Jewish people have missed the fulfillment of the Jewish customs and traditions by their Messiah Yeshua.

 

Basic facts about Jewish beliefs
+ The Tenach is the Jewish Bible and contains the same books, though ordered differently, as the Old Testament.

+ The average Jewish person probably does not understand what the Tenach says about the Messiah, examples are Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22.

+ Since the time Yeshua came, there has always been a remnant of Jewish people who have believed Yeshua is the Messiah.

+ Jewish people believe there is one God. The typical Jewish person mistakenly believes that Christians teach there are three Gods - God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

 + The typical Jewish person believes that all Jewish people are saved because God chose them. However, if severe crimes are committed without repentance a person will lose their salvation.

+ The typical Jewish person believes that one does not need a savior to deliver them from sin. They believe people are made in the image of God and are therefore inherently good. If people sin, they are capable of obtaining forgiveness. The Jewish people have been bound to a legalist system of performance which contains the flexibility to allow for human failure.

 + Becoming a Christian would mean being a Meshummed (a traitor), and being cut off from family, friends and Nation of Israel.

+ The typical Jewish person does not know that God said He would create a new covenant - Jeremiah 31:31-34

+ The Tenach (Old Testament) speaks strongly of the Messiah. Jewish people at the time of Yeshua were looking for a Messiah, but not the suffering Messiah described in Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. They were looking for a conquering king to free them, and to this day the Jewish people are still looking for a conquering Messiah.

 

Some Prophecies Fulfilled by Yeshua
Prophetic Scripture Subject Fulfilled
Genesis 3:15 Seed of a woman Galatians 4:4
Isaiah 9:7 Heir to the throne of David Luke 1:32-33
Micah 5:2 Born in Bethlehem Luke 2:4-7
Isaiah 7:14 Born of a Virgin Luke 1:26-31
Isaiah 53:3 Despised and rejected by the Jews John 1:11, Luke 23:18
Zechariah 9:9 Entry into Jerusalem Mark 11:7-11
Daniel 9:26 Came when temple rebuilt Mark 11:7-11
Psalm 41:0 Betrayed by close friend Luke 22:47-48
Zechariah 11;12 Betrayed for 30 pieces of silver Matthew 26:14-15
Psalm 22:15-18 Died by crucifixion Matthew 27
Psalm 34:20 No bones broken John 19:32-36
Psalm 22:17-18 Lots cast for clothing John 19:24
Isaiah 53:12 Crucified with malefactors Mark 15:27-28
Isaiah 53:9 Buried with the rich Matthew 27:57-60
Psalm 16:10, 110:1 Arose from the dead Mark 6,7

 

 

Major Witnessing Points
+ Above everything, LOVE the Jewish people. Be sensitive to their perspectives, traditions, and history.

+ Primarily use the Tenach (Old Testament) when quoting scripture because the New Covenant (New Testament) is not recognized as credible by most Jewish people.

+ Point out that mankind is born with a sinful (against the will of God) nature and is separated from God. Contrary to God's word, the Jewish perspective of sin holds that man is basically good and can work to overcome their sinful tendencies.

"Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me." -- Psalm 51:5

"...For in Thy sight no man living is righteous." -- Psalm 143:2

"But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God..." -- Isaiah 59:2

"...The soul who sins will die" -- Ezekiel 18:4

"...for there is no man who does not sin... -- 1Kings 8:46

+ Man can't remove sin by his own efforts.

"...And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment..." -- Isaiah 64:6

 + God provided atonement for sin through animal sacrifices in Leviticus. Sacrifices have not been performed for nearly 2000 years because in 70 A.D. the Temple was destroyed. Also destroyed were the genealogies which identified the descendants of Aaron, the priests who sprinkle the blood of atonement for the nation of Israel. With no Temple, no sacrifices, no High Priest, no annual atonement for the Nation of Israel, what is the fate of the Jewish person? Their hope is in their Messiah -- and their Messiah is Yeshua!

"...for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement." -- Leviticus 17:11

"...and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall offer up the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the doorway of the tent of meeting." -- Leviticus 1:5

+ Daniel 9:25 prophesied that the Messiah would come and be cut off (put to death) seven weeks and sixty-two weeks from the time the decree went out to rebuild the Temple. The "weeks" are weeks of years -- or seven year periods, totaling 483 years. Artaxerxes gave the decree to rebuild the Temple in 444 B.C. After calculating the number of years and adjusting for calendar differences, the Messiah came and was cut off in the year A.D. 33 -- the year of Yeshua's arrival in Jerusalem and crucifixion.

+ God has provided atonement today through a perfect sacrifice, the Messiah.

"But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." -- Isaiah 53:5

 + Demonstrate that the Messiah is Yeshua by showing that only Yeshua has fulfilled the prophecies of the Messiah. Study the prophecies fulfilled by Yeshua in the previous chart. The articles The Spring Feasts of Israel and The Fall Feasts of Israel in the "Hebraic Roots" section   provides additional detail of the fulfillment of God's plan for salvation through Yeshua.

+ Explain that when a Jewish person recognizes Yeshua as Messiah and asks Him into their heart, they complete their Judaism by gaining the blood of atonement, the Messiah and a more personal relationship with God. They do not give up being Jewish!

+ Ask a Jewish person to explain Zechariah 12:10 -- "And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and the will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born." Of whom does Zechariah speak? How did He become pierced? It speaks of the Messiah, Yeshua, Who was pierced nearly 2000 years ago!

 

Terminology

Say Don't Say Reason
Messiah Yeshua, Messiah Jesus Jesus Christ The anglicized version of Yeshua's name has no meaning to the Jewish people.
Messianic Jew, Completed Jew Convert Convert implies to take away Judaism rather than build upon it.
A Bible believer Christian The meaning of "Christian" is associated with Jewish persecution.
Synagogue Church "Church" has a non-Jewish Connotation
The Tenach or Hebrew Bible Old Testament "Tenach" is a familiar term to a Jewish person.
New Covenant New Testament "New Testament" has a non-Jewish Connotation
Tree, Execution Stake Cross The cross symbol has been associated with Jewish persecution.

For more information on witnessing to Jewish people see: "The Jewish Bible Approach", and "How to Share the Messiah" from the Messianic Jewish Movement International, P.O. Box 30313 Bethesda, Maryland 20824 (301) 656-7575; "How to Respond to... Judaism", by Erwin J. Kolb, published by Concordia Publishing House; "Jews and Jesus" by Zola Levitt, Zola Levitt Ministries, P.O. Box 12268, Dallas, TX 75225. Scripture quotations from New American Standard Bible. For calculations regarding Daniel's 69 week prophecy, see "A Ready Defense" by Josh McDowell, published by Here's Life Publishers.

 

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