how many times have you heard someone
say Jews don't believe in Jesus well if
you're Jewish or have Jewish friends you
have probably heard this statement many
times it isn't easy for a Jewish person
to accept Jesus as the Messiah in fact
it is something that goes against the
very nature and identity of a Jew
consider for a moment that Jesus Yeshua
in Hebrew was an Israeli born Jew who
grew up in a Jewish community practiced
Jewish laws and customs worshipped the
God of Israel at the Jewish Temple in
Jerusalem his original followers were
all Jewish all of his teachings were
based upon and rooted in the Jewish
Scripture the Tanakh
in fact in the beginning I was only Jews
who believed in him and today hundreds
and thousands of Jews still believe in
Yeshua as the Messiah even though they
are still in minority compared to non
Jewish followers of Jesus if you read
acts 15 for example you will see that
back then a different question was asked
can you be a Gentile and believe in
Jesus as the Messiah so how come we
often hear today that Jews can't accept
Jesus and that faith in Jesus while
being Jewish is incompatible first of
all most Jews today don't know what real
faith in Yeshua is many believe that
Jesus was the founder of a new religion
called Christianity a pagan religion for
Gentiles unfortunately the only Jesus
many Jews know today is just the baby
Jesus of Christmas the ones still
hanging on the cross and churches a
false prophet a founder of a new
religion for the sake of which many Jews
were persecuted and killed or the Jesus
of the Crusaders and the Inquisition you
may be surprised to know that even the
Holocaust is perceived by many Jews as
something that was done in the name of
Christianity the sad fact is that many
so-called Christians have committed
atrocities against Jews in the name of
Jesus
so is it such a surprise that many
Jewish people do not want to have
anything to do with Jesus and his
followers the way they know it from
history the truth is that many Jews have
a very distorted and warped
of what faith and Jesus actually is
because they have never seriously
studied the issue and they have never
read the New Testament did you know you
still can't find a copy of the New
Testament in Israeli book shops in the
religious communities if anything is
taught about Jesus it is based upon the
Talmud and Jewish folklore and is mostly
very biased and negative because of what
I mentioned earlier one of the most
serious objections to Jesus is the issue
of the Godhead how can Jesus be God how
can God have a son how can God become
flesh and be visible to us how can God
be three persons for many Jewish people
the gospel sounds like a completely
foreign religion that contradicts the
main tenets of Judaism God is one but
actually the gospel is completely Jewish
and the Jewish Scriptures prophesy that
God will come and live among us we can
also find all three members of the
Godhead in the Old Testament the problem
is the mainstream Judaism today is not
based so much on the Bible but more on
rabbinical teachings where the rabbi's
have made many changes to adjust to a
new reality one with no temple no
sacrifices and living outside of Israel
they have chosen the Talmud and
rabbinical writings as the main guide
for the Jewish faith and practice and
many Jewish people do not have a good
understanding of what the Hebrew
Scriptures teach about sin faith God
Commandments and the person of the
Messiah
another big stumbling block is a common
false belief that if a Jewish person
comes to faith in Yeshua he is no longer
Jewish that is a person is either Jewish
or Christian there is often great
pressure from families and communities
put upon those who accept Jesus as the
Messiah the cost of following Jesus
oftentimes involves separation from
friends and family intimidation
humiliation loneliness and being called
a traitor to your own people in fact
there is evidence that religious Jews
were taught to curse Jewish people who
became followers of Jesus in some
circles this is still practiced today
over the centuries the church has failed
to present Christianity as what it truly
is a living relationship between go
his people both Jews and Gentiles
through Yeshua the Messiah and that its
roots are thoroughly Jewish through
physical birth a person is either Jewish
or Gentile but through spiritual birth
both a Jew and a Gentile become
followers of Yeshua the Messiah the
Bible itself explains further why it is
hard for a Jewish person to accept Jesus
Romans 11 says that Israel has
experienced a hardening in part until
the full number of Gentiles has come in
but the good news is that at the end the
Jewish people will turn back to him as a
nation and all Israel will be saved
Jesus is the Jewish Messiah believing in
him is the most Jewish thing a Jew can
do we need to explain to our Jewish
friends that when a Jewish person
accepts Jesus as the Messiah he becomes
more Jewish than ever before and his
Jewish identity will be deepened and his
love for the God of Abraham Isaac and
Jacob and a passion for the Jewish
scripture will be restored and renewed