How many times do you think I need to bring up the topic about Jews and Jesus? If it were up to me, I would prefer to use the alliteration Yids for Yeshua, but “Yids” is seen as a derogatory term for a Jewish person, so even though Yeshua is Jesus’s real name, I don’t think my idea will catch on.
When I say Yeshua is His real name, it’s because that is the name He was called by. The Hebrew means “Salvation of God”, and it became “Jesus” when being translated. There is no Greek name or word to represent what the Hebrew means, so they used a transliteration of Yeshua, which was Jesu. When the Greek versions of the Bible were Latinized, Jesu became Jesus. Christ is the Latin form of Christos, which has no real religious meaning. It represented pouring oil on the leather shields the Greek army used, which kept the leather supple. Mashiach (spelled differently sometimes) means “Anointed One” and underwent a similar transition as Yeshua did. The Greek culture and religion had no way to understand this Jewish ideal of a Saviour, or being anointed with oil, so Mashiach was described as Christos, which gave them an idea. Latin turned it into Christ. Much of the Greek that was used by Shaul was from the Septuagint, which was a sort of Hebrew-Greek. Jews that read it had an understanding because they knew the cultural background of the words, whereas a Greek-speaking Gentile would not catch the underlying meaning at all and think that many of these words being used weren’t “real” Greek.
If Jews were taught about Yeshua Ha Mashiach and not the westernized version of the Messiah they call Jesus Christ, all golden-haired and anti-Semitic, there would be more Jewish people accepting their own Messiah than we have now.
Fortunately, the truth is getting out. The Messianic Movement is growing, despite some of the right-wing Christians who are accusing the Messianic Movement, as well as the Hebraic Roots Movement, of being “Judaizers” by misusing the writings of Shaul (Paul) to justify their anti-Semitic programs and teachings. Their accusations of heresy are, in fact, the real heresy because they claim the Old Covenant laws and regulations are done away with and anyone who teaches what I do, which is that the laws God gave to Moses are the laws that everyone who worships the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (the same guy Yeshua worshipped) are to be followed just as much today as they were when the tablets were freshly cut, is a heretic.
They are like the person who farts in the elevator and immediately points to someone else and says, “Ugh! How could you?”
Salvation doesn’t come from obedience: not because obedience is wrong or done away with, but because obedience is impossible for us. At least, for more than a few minutes at a time. The truth is that obedience to the Torah will save you, but only if you follow every regulation, commandment, mitzvah, and law exactly and completely, 24/7/365, from birth to death.
Good luck with that.
If it were possible to be totally and completely obedient to Torah, if only one person could live as Yeshua did, we would not need Yeshua’s sacrificial death. That is what makes it possible for us to overcome our inability to live the Torah correctly and completely. And, as I have said before, if there was even one person who could live Torah perfectly, as Yeshua did, then we would all be done for. Eternity would have only three people in heaven: God, Yeshua, and that one creep who ruined it for the rest of us.
I have always felt a little uncomfortable with “Jesus”, mainly because I am Jewish and was raised to hate that name and all it represented. On the other hand, Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name?”, and he was right. Jesus, Yeshua, whatever…in the Acharit HaYamim (End Days) Yeshua will have a new name, won’t He? So, for all we know, both Jesus and Yeshua may be outdated when it all comes to pass, so I should just get over it! But it isn’t that easy; not for me, and especially not for the millions of my Jewish brothers and sisters who don’t have my learning and understanding of the etymology of the name “Jesus”. We need to get passed the reputation that name has because Jesus is a name that, to Jews, represents thousands of years of persecution. That’s tough to get over, believe-you-me. I am so amazed that God was able to get me to understand and accept Messiah. It was not until after I came to believe in Jesus that I learned about Messianic Judaism and who Yeshua is. That was like finding water in the desert for me, and I am so grateful to God for leading me to my Messiah, and then putting icing on the cake by introducing me, anew, to Yeshua.
If you are Jewish and not Messianic, well, you probably aren’t reading this at all. But, just in case God has led you, one way or another, to this blog please read more from the Jews and Jesus section. Also, read my book because it isn’t about proselytizing Jews to become “Christian”, nor is it about proselytizing Christians to become Jewish: it is about all people who worship Adonai to understand that His laws are for everyone who worships Him, no matter what label we humans have put on the form of worship. God has no religion and we need to worship Him as He says we should.
Yeshua is the Messiah that God promises to us in the Tanakh. The proof is overwhelming for those that wish to accept it, and for those that refuse to accept there is no proof we can submit to them. The proof that Yeshua is the Messiah, the same way it is with proof of God’s existence, is going to come after the acceptance. That is what faith is all about- believing without proof.
The next couple of weeks are going to be tough for everyone. The Jewish people will be celebrating Hanukkah right before Christmas, and Kwanzaa comes the day after. The Big Three, if you will, all in a row. If I were an Afro-American, Messianic Jewish person I would be broke by the time New Year’s Eve got here!
It’s not about the gifts or the candles or the even about the family reunions; it’s about God, and if we can somehow keep that in perspective during the next few weeks of advertising blitzes and religious fervor, we should be OK.
