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invited by neighbors from Central
who were going door-to-door to let people know about the new study. When
they responded, “we are Jewish,” the leaders simply welcomed them all
the more to come and be a part of the fellowship! So by the time we met
them, they already were curious about the Scriptures, and had genuine
questions. Since we never know what kind of questions come up, we prayed
and trusted the Lord for the answers.
I thought the questions that arose reflect normal Jewish concerns, so it
may be helpful for our readers to hear some of them. Mel first asked,
“so if Yeshua was Jewish, where did Christianity come from?”
Indeed, many times Christianity can seem like this alien, non-Jewish
thing that just “popped in” and started causing problems for Jews. I
(Sam) explained that although indeed, Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah, that
really God loves everyone. So Gentiles were invited to repent and trust
in Messiah, without having to become Jewish (because God loves them even
as Gentiles). We also talked a little about how church tradition came to
be what it is, and how Jews remain Jewish in Yeshua. After all, Yeshua
is God’s faithfulness to Israel.
Mel responded, “but if God loves everyone, like you say, then why was
there a holocaust?” So we talked about the problem of evil, and how free
will makes us responsible for our decisions. God “risks” giving us free
will since we need to have real faith and not merely be programmed to
love Him.
“But there’s so much evil,” Mel replied. “Why does God allow so much
sin?
”This brought to mind the reality
of eternal judgment. “Hitler didn’t get away with anything by committing
suicide,” I told him. “Judgment is certain. As soon as Hitler died, he
was before the King of the Jews, facing an eternal sentence.”
“Okay,” he responded, “but Hitler is Hitler! What about people who
commit minor infractions and not gross evil?” I explained that there is
fairness in judgment since the degree of punishment is based upon works,
authority, and knowledge.
He is Our Messiah
It seemed like this satisfied Mel’s curiosity about the issue of evil,
at least for the moment. So our conversation circled back to where it
began, with Messiah Yeshua. “If Yeshua’s the Jewish Messiah, as you
say,” he asked, “why didn’t Jewish people accept Him?”
“Many of our people did respond to the message and embraced Jesus as our
Messiah.” In fact, the late Dr. Louis Goldberg, professor of Jewish
Studies and Messianic Jewish believer, estimated that at least one third
of our people came to faith in the Messiah Yeshua by the end of the
first century.
I continued, “look, in the Talmud, Yeshua is called a sorcerer who led
Israel astray. Why did they call Him a sorcerer? Because they had to
explain away all of these people who were reporting miraculous healing.
Why would they say that He led Israel astray? Because they had to
explain away the numbers of Jews that did believe in Him.”
Mel said, “So then .... what happened?”
“Messiah was rejected by the rabbinical authorities, who became the
dominant power in Judaism, since He did not meet their religious
expectations for a Messiah.”
As our visit came to a close we read together Isaiah 52:13 through
chapter 53. The whole time, Shari was listening intently and following
along in her Bible.
The very next Shabbat, Shari attended Hope of Israel services. During
the prayer after a message from Hebrews on Yeshua as the perfectly
fitting sacrifice, she put her faith in Messiah. We got a chance to
visit their neighborhood Bible study the next week, where Shari was
confessing the Lord! But we were still praying for Mel. Then the next
week, after studying and meeting again with Jeff, a Bible study buddy,
Mel also put his faith in Yeshua (indeed, with their permission this
article had to be updated a day before printing, to reflect current
events). Praise God!
As the second firstfruits of Shavuot approaches, we celebrate the birth
of the body of Messiah through the Spirit of God, described in Acts 2.
We are thankful for congregations like Central that love the Jewish
people and teach their members to share Messiah. We are thankful that
the Lord brought us together in this season to see Him work. This is a
season to praise the Lord Who welcomes all who seek Him.
Shari and Mel now regularly attend HOI services, and Miriam is meeting
weekly with Shari for personal discipleship. Mel is excited to meet with
Sam as well.
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