“And He is the Head of the Body…in everything He might have the supremacy.” Colossians 1:18
Jesus Christ is the most famous Jew of all time, but is today remembered as a Christian. Surprisingly, the Jewish community has accepted this distortion of history, and tends to regard Jesus as an apostate. How odd that the Jews would accept a Christian version of one of their brethren rather than seeking to discover the man entombed beneath the myth. (Rabbi Shmuely Boteach)
“He had to become like His brothers in every respect, so that He could become a Cohen Hagadol” in the service of God, making a kapparah for the sins of the people” (Hebrews 2:17, Complete Jewish Study Bible). Rabbi Boteach spoke the truth! The “distortion of history” has disguised the Savior we love to be a “Christian,” rather than a “Rabbi.” The church created its own “Christian” version of Him. May we open our hearts to counter the misrepresentation to avoid anyone following “another Jesus.” May all who believe move to a deeper maturity with our Lord and not be afraid to accept that there really is a Rabbi at the head of the Body—in spite of the fact that He never established a separate religion. Let us determine what happened.
The Missing Link
The commonly named gentile forefathers of the faith influenced millions of people but could never back up their teachings biblically; however, they managed to create a belief system without God’s Chosen People: Israel as they proposed “God is finished with the Jews!” The Jewish people gave us all we possess. How can we ignore Israel? Israel is the missing link and key to redemption of the world. A deadly poison called Replacement Theology all but destroyed the roots of our faith. Many Replacement Theology teachers (Constantine, Origen, Ignatius, Marcion, and Polycarp were antisemitic and created a “mixture” by twisting scripture to indoctrinate followers of Christ. They instructed their followers to accept a set of beliefs with no criticism allowed. They schooled through their viewpoints and a methodology called eisegesis (reading into the Word to make it fit the teacher’s theology) instead of exegesis (pulling out the meanings behind the words) which is the Hebrew way of reasoning. Their one-sided distortions created an uncritical ideology. No one could question what they taught with anti-Jewish statements and abandon us to an opinionated view of the very people we are to bless (Genesis 12:3). We need to return to our authentic forefathers: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
In the Newer Testament (Mark 12:29), Yeshua taught us the Jewish confession of faith from the Torah in Deuteronomy 6:4. “The first of all the commandments is ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one.” He also taught us again in Mark 12:30-31 from (Deuteronomy 6:5) to “… love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment…there is none other commandment greater.” He never turned to a Christian commentary to teach; there was none. Yeshua taught that all the Jewish Scriptures depend on the above two commandments (Matthew 22:40).
Could there be a Christian Messiah? In his book Behold the Man! Dwight Pryor says, “There is no Christian Messiah! He is either Jewish or He is not the Messiah.” Derek White (CFI UK) wrote a book entitled “The Jewishness of Jesus.” He stated, “Too many have created in their own minds a gentile Jesus, and in so doing have distorted His teachings and at the same time made Him foreign to His own Jewish people today.” Dr. David Bivin produced a booklet entitled “Jesus, the Rabbi: Was He Orthodox?” He explained that He was not a Christian cleric. Two billion people claim to follow Him and do not know a Jew died for them. We all share an obligation to discover the man entombed beneath the myth—and uncover the historical delusion of a “Christian” Jesus. Our wholeness and maturity will depend upon our integrity to admit that our Christian education did not provide us with knowledge about the Lord’s heritage; thus, some could end up unintentionally serving “another Jesus” (2 Corinthians 11:14). If believers think for one moment that Jesus converted and became a Christian, they are already misled.
We must be set free from historical concepts. I once saw a brochure entitled “Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?” It portrayed a Catholic Jesus, a Protestant, and a Jewish one. With all due respect, Yeshua points out in the Newer Testament that He holds onto His identity as a Jew. Historical Christianity removed almost all His Jewishness. His character as an established teacher of the Torah and His authenticity as a Rabbi is somehow viewed today by the Christian world as a Jesus from any other nation than Israel.
Rev. Dan Delzell of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska, USA, said in a recent article in the Christian Post: “The Jewish Messiah did not start a new religion! His name is actually ‘Yeshua,’ and He was born in Bethlehem as prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures (Micah 5:2).” He confirmed that “the authors of the New Testament were Jewish, the Bible is a Jewish book, and the gospel message is a Jewish message, not a gentile one.”
Follow Me!
It bears repeating that Christianity became a non-Jewish movement, which Yeshua did not establish. He said, “Follow Me!” What then transpired? On March 25, 2014, Dr. Richard Halversen addressed the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America and eloquently and correctly said what happened. “In the beginning, the (Yeshua followers) were a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Lord. Then the church emerged and moved to Greece, where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome, where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe where it became a culture, and, finally, to America where it became an enterprise.”
Brothers Pryor, White, Bivin, Delzell, and Halverson, as well as others, attempted to bring to light the church’s separation from its Hebraic beginnings when faith was simply “fellowship in the Lord.” It is as though closed books explaining our faith were buried in the backyard cemeteries of our churches for centuries and only recently discovered.
Yeshua, walking ahead of His disciples near the Sea of Galilee, called out, “Follow Me!” In Matthew 4:19, it is recorded that He said, “Come, Follow Me,” and again in Matthew 9, He told Matthew the tax collector, “Follow Me” In Hebrew, “follow me” is “Lech Ahari.” He imparted to them how to follow Torah His Way. Torah (improperly termed “Old” Testament) has been presented to Christians as something terrible as coming under “law” or “strict rules.” It is, in fact, God’s instructions on how to live lives of holiness and righteousness. Yeshua merely explained the difference between tradition and how God wants the Jewish scriptures to be taught. Why is this paramount to us? Because it safeguards us from being deceived by any other gospel than a Jewish one that was delivered to us for the future. As the end-times become intense, we will understand.
Listen for His Voice
“Nimrod wanted a New World Order that did not have a God in it” (Israel 365 News). This is what we face. When a One World Government plotting a world without God arises, we better know to which kingdom we belong. Jerusalem is the city chosen by God to see the Messiah first. Our hope must be in Him alone. The approaching years will reveal a man-of-lies who will arise and claim that He is God. He will demand worship by all nations. Out of fear, many will yield to the wrong voice—ending up following a false messiah who will attempt to steal the Eternal Throne from God. We cannot follow a stranger. We need to hear the voice of Rabbi Yeshua saying, “Follow Me!”–and not be beguiled by the voices of imposters.
As a Rabbi, He was bound to the Torah. In fact, the Bible tells us He was the Torah living in a human being form (Psalm 119:1-2). Do not be ashamed that He was a Rabbi—it was planned by God. This is why Yeshua said again and again to the rabbis, “Haven’t you read” (Matthew 9:4). “You don’t know the Scriptures…” (Matthew 22:29). “You don’t understand these things” (John 3:10). He taught the same words that will “go forth from Zion” (Micah 4:2; Isaiah 2:3) to the entire world in the Coming Kingdom to Israel. The Torah will be delivered from Mt. Zion. At that precious time, all divisions will end, all disputes will be settled, and all questions about who Yeshua is will be resolved! It will be an exceptional day to be present when the delivery of the greatest message of all time, from the lips of the Greatest Rabbi, will be given—it will be breathtaking. It will happen in no other city on earth but Jerusalem—as it is the “City of God” (2 Chronicles 6:6; Psalm 46 and 48).
I believe everyone who follows Yeshua needs to keep prodding the soil until they discover His Jewishness, and then some of His teachings and harder sayings will be better understood. Christians know little about His manhood. This knowledge has been hidden for centuries. I grew up on a farm in the Midwest of America, in Illinois, the prairie state. The ground needed cultivating before the grain was harvested. When my dad cultivated, he had to remove the weeds from the topsoil to expect a good crop. In like manner, the church needs to remove the weeds from its soil, which grew out of centuries of Replacement Theology. To revive our communities of faith, we have to understand what happened through the ages and get rid of Christian antisemitism. “If Christians were Christians, there would be no antisemitism. Jesus was a Jew. There is nothing that the ordinary Christian dislikes to remember as this awkward historical fact” (John Holmes). This antisemitic history is why Christian Friends of Israel has many stumbling blocks to clear away on the road to Zion.
Perhaps someone reading this teaching still believes the Lord couldn’t have been a rabbi. Clearly, He could not have been a preacher, and there was no church! He wasn’t an Imam because He taught the Torah! He also wasn’t a Gentile because He said,“We Jews;” “You Samaritans…worship what you do not know; we (ourselves personally) worship what we do know, for salvation is of the Jews”(John 4:22). Dearly beloved, we cannot have salvation without the Jews! So why do we pretend we do not need them? I believe those serious with the Lord will seek their Lord and know what family they are joining. I’ve always maintained, “What bride gets married to a groom and doesn’t get to know His family?”
His Name Means Salvation
Yeshua is called Jesus in many different languages around the world. We must remember that a birth certificate can never be changed. It is the only name that means salvation. Nothing will ever change His real name, and we should not be ashamed to use it. We know Yeshua’s appearance was in the tradition of the elders. Isaiah 50:6 tells us that they plucked out the beard of the Messiah. He had a reputation as a rabbi, as mentioned in Mark 14:45; John 1:38, Mark 9:5, and John 20:16. Nicodemus in John 3:2, called Him ‘“Teacher.” He was the only rabbi who ever provided the perfect sacrifice as the sinless Son of God (2 Corinthians 5:21; John 8:58; Colossians 1:19-20). Even though He was much more than a rabbi—He was a rabbi!
He was born to a Jewish mother. His lineage was traced to the ancient forefathers by descent, and He lived a truly Jewish life. He was born in Judah, taught in Jerusalem, and ministered throughout Israel. He kept the Torah perfectly. He “filled it full,” as Dwight Pryor taught. When He disagreed with the religious, He did not castigate anyone for following Torah, but He explained and clarified it. He was indeed, for all time, on the cross pronounced “King of the Jews.” While there is a ton of antisemitic cargo to pack up and remove from our Christian halls of learning, we need to be correct in instructing students of this generation. They are following a Jew and a Jew died for them (Hebrew 10:5). If someone follows “another Jesus,” the chances of following another leader who will arise in challenging economic times ahead is much higher than the believer who is listening to the voice of Jesus—as the apostate church of the future will separate totally from Israel (Isaiah 56:3). He is unquestionably the only sovereign ruler of our lives. “He who is the blessed and only Potentate” (1 Timothy 6:15). If we know nothing but that “He is Jesus,” some might end up following another messiah other than One who was crucified and raised for their salvation! “If someone comes and …proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed … you put up with it readily enough” (2 Corinthians 11:14, ESV). This verse explains how easy it is to be deceived. In other words, mankind too quickly grabs hold of error.
Yeshua reminds all in Revelation 22 that He is a Jew! He confirmed that He was a child of Israel, a Hebrew. “I am the root and offspring of David…I belong to the line and family of David, I am both David’s root and his descendant, of David’s race…” (Tay, Knox, 20th Century NT, American Standard). His royal lineage in Matthew 1:6 is revealed as the blind men cried out, “Son of David, have mercy on us” (Matthew 9:27). Timothy reminds us that Jesus is of the seed of David (2 Timothy 2:8). In Revelation 5:5, one of the elders said, “…do not weep, behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David has prevailed…” (Revelation 5:5). Why then do churches often shrug off this subject as not important? The child born in Isaiah 9:6 was born in Bethlehem and to the Jewish people. He will reign upon the throne of David (Isaiah 9:7). When He said to be “born again,” it is an exclusively Jewish concept.
Jesus’ garments would have included the Jewish prayer shawl of His time, which the woman with the issue of blood touched for healing. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all refer to her. His appearance had to be Jewish, as when He stood before the Samaritan woman, she recognized Him as a Jew. She said, “You Jews…” (John 4:9). His perspective on the coming Kingdom is Hebraic. His followers had the Temple on their minds and asked Him in Acts 1:6,“Will you at this time restore the kingdom?” He responded it was only a matter of time, and the Kingdom would return to a redeemed Israel. Our “fullness” will be realized when the “missing link” (Israel) is retrieved into our faith.
He Taught as a Rabbi
However, it is already very late. The church did divert—it took a wrong turn on the road to Zion and got lost in the swamp and marsh of anti-Israel and antisemitic positions toward our Jewish brothers. Jesus told us to build on the rock (Matthew 7:24-26). Much of today’s sermons border on sinking sand. In time, sand washes away. We need to anchor our lives on His teachings, which came from the Torah and are never to be moved. Jesus never taught in a church. He never taught from a Bible. He never went to theological school. He taught as a rabbi in the Temple (Luke 19:47, 24:44). His disciples went to the Temple to hear Him (Luke 19:48; 19:38). He never became a Christian. Jesus carried out His mission to die as the “lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).
In conclusion, let us remember that a day will come when a man arises declaring, “Follow Me!” The one coming is the anti-Christ, and he will be a counterfeit. We need to anchor our souls in the Lord God of Israel and His Messiah-Son. His words stand forever. “The grass withers and the flowers fade away, but the Word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8). There is a growing problem in the apostate church. Broadly, some are sinking in the sea, all the while shouting, “I’ve found the truth! Follow me!” Luther was an example; he thought he was following the truth when, with his antisemitic writings, he provided a religious defense for Nazism. Julius Streicher, Nazi Party leader, cited Luther’s book The Jews and their Lies as part of his defense at the Nuremberg Trials, declaring, “Martin Luther would very probably sit in my place in the defendants’ dock today if this book had been taken into consideration by the prosecution.”
Arrogantly, in some churches today pastors say, “What can the Jews teach us?” I can vouch from living years among religious Bible-believing Jewish people—they are not dead! God said, “My Spirit will remain with you” (Haggai 2:5). Let’s be good Samaritans and help the family of the Rabbi whenever they need us. I smiled when I read in Israel Today the following, “The Good Samaritan parable could well apply to organizations today such as Christian Friends of Israel who are busy dressing the wounds of the injured victim on the roadside while many religious people walk by on the other side” (Charles Gardner). We engage daily in repairing the damage done by the church to the name of Yeshua. We endeavor to represent Him to His People the way He should have always been represented.
Therefore, let’s remind ourselves that Yeshua said, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16). We must continue to dig deeper and discover more about our Lord’s manhood, whom Rabbi Shmuel Boteach said, who “is entombed beneath the myth” of being a Christian.
–Sharon Sanders–