In the first of this series,
Messianic Judaism - The Best Recipe, we established that Messianic Judaism
is the restoration of congregational worship
as described in the book of Acts – that Messianic Judaism is a return to the
ideals of those communities.
Just because you walk into a congregation today that calls
itself “Messianic” does not necessarily mean that it is, in fact, a Messianic
congregation. You may be sitting in a Two House or an Ephramite congregation
and the Messianic congregations of the first century labeled this teaching as heresy.
And, while the teaching of Hebrew roots is an aspect of this
movement, you cannot assume that a congregation that teaches on Hebrew roots is
Messianic either – as the first century Messianic communities were not Hebrew
roots congregations.
The Hebrew roots movement is a very narrow slice of what is
Messianic Judaism. As an example, many Hebrew roots congregations are not concerned
with telling the Jewish people about Messiah and they are often linked with organizations
that forbid it. Messianic Judaism of the first century busied itself with
telling everyone of the Good News, it boldly proclaimed Yeshua – the resurrected
Messiah – to all men and women.
And, it is this proclamation that was the most
distinguishing characteristic of a Messianic congregation. They were Messiah-focused.
Messiah, and Messiah alone was their foundation. They preached Messiah’s resurrection.
They did not preach Hebrew roots, nor did they preach strict, traditional Torah
observance. They preached Messiah resurrected – Messiah alive – and Messiah personally
interacting with the hearts of men.
They went out in two’s to fulfill what both the Torah and
Yeshua
said, that “in the mouths of 2 or 3 witnesses let all things be
established.” (Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16) They preached Messiah’s resurrection
where ever they went. Where ever they went there were two witnesses who
testified that God the Father declared Yeshua to be the Messiah and the Son of
God through the power of the resurrection. And, everywhere they went, there
were zero witnesses to the contrary.
The result of this message, the result of this eyewitness
testimony is found in Acts chapter 21 where it says that myriads of Jews came
to faith in the Messiah.
But, the believers of the first century did not just focus
on Jewish evangelism, they worked to tell the world about the resurrected
Messiah. Because Messianic Judaism took up the Father’s burden that all men
might be saved, congregations were established in the nations as well. And, no
matter where these congregations arose, Messiah was the foundation – these
communities had no other foundation but Messiah Yeshua.
There is, however, something else that you will find to be
foundational in Messianic Judaism – Scripture. The Messianic congregations of
the first century were rooted in the knowledge of God’s Word:
So the twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “it
would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order
to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to
be full of the spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them
and will give our attention to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:2-4
The men who led and began the first century congregations
founded them on the knowledge of Scripture. Scripture, to the congregations of
the first century, was the Tanakh –the Torah, the
Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Writings (K’tuvim) – the Hebrew
Scriptures. What we call the “Old Testament” today, was the foundation of the
very first Messianic congregations.
The reason we know this is because the New Testament had not yet been written.
So, when Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that:
“All Scripture is
God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
he was talking about the Tanakh – the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings – the “Old” Testament –
as it was the only Scripture he had. And, what did Paul think of the only
Scripture he had? That it was God-breathed, that it was the work of the Holy
Spirit. Paul saw, as John did, that Yeshua was the Tanakh, the Word, made flesh
who dwelt among us – that Scripture was indistinguishable from Yeshua, that it
was, and is, the very essence of His character.
The phrase “Scripture says” occurs seven times in our New
Testament. Every time it is used it represents a quote from the Tanakh. In
fact, the word “Scripture” occurs 31 times in the New Testament and every time
it is used it refers to the Tanakh.
Paul tells us that the Tanakh is useful for teaching and
training in righteousness – that when we live by God’s Torah, we live righteous
lives. Messianic congregations were Torah observant. They did not preach cheap
grace, but a grace extended to man by God that we might live righteous lives:
“What then? Shall
we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you
know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are
slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to
death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?”
Romans 6:15-16
To be a slave to sin means that one is a habitual Torah
violator –
that one is out of control and violates the Torah routinely and
unrepentantly. Listen to what John writes:
“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But
you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no
sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has
either seen him or known him.”
1 John 3:4-6
Sin is lawlessness, it is “Torahlessness”. If one is truly in
Messiah, then one will be Torah observant. One who continues to violate God’s
Torah never really knew Him. Sin is the violation of God’s Torah and no one who
lives in Him will go on violating His Torah. Therefore, it should not surprise
us that the first century believers were zealous for the Torah. For:
When they heard
this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many
thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.”
Acts 21:20
And, their zealous study of the Torah translated into action:
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do
what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is
like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself,
goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks
intently into the perfect Law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not
forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”
James 1:22-25
If one looks into the Torah and does not do what it says, he
or she is not a follower of the Messiah. The believers of the first century
Messianic congregations were called Christians. The word Christian means “followers
of Messiah” – not simply Church goers – but followers of Messiah. These first
century Christians, these first century followers of Messiah were students of
God’s Word – not for righteousness’ sake but for the sake of being a representative
of Messiah Yeshua. To follow the risen Messiah, one must follow the Torah, for
the Messiah is the Tanakh – the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings – made
flesh.
When we begin to study and observe Torah to
become like Messiah, there are pitfalls we must avoid. One such pitfall is the study of Mishnah and Talmud (Rabbinic traditional Law). There are many people and congregations that
place a great emphasis on rabbinic legal works, such as the Mishnah and the
Talmud in search of their Hebrew roots.
People are looking to the rabbis
for answers on how to keep God’s commands, but if one looks into the Mishnah
and does what it says, he or she is not a follower of the Messiah. Or, if one
looks into the Talmud and does what it says, he or she is not a follower of the
Messiah – he or she is a follower of the rabbis because Rabbi Yeshua, the
Messiah, is not quoted there.
The first century congregations were not followers of the rabbis,
they were followers of Messiah. Listen to how Paul regards his rabbinical
expertise after coming to know Yeshua:
“Circumcised on
the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of
Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church;
as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. but whatever was to my profit I now
consider loss for the sake of Messiah.”
Philippians 3:5-7
The Torah was the means to an end. The Torah was a
foundational work – a part of the foundation in Messiah. The Torah is foundational
only in that it teaches of Messiah. As David Stern brings forth in his
translation of the New Testament:
“For the goal at
which the Torah aims is the Messiah, who offers righteousness to everyone who
trusts.” Romans 10:4
There is a danger in studying rabbinic writings. While they
may help us to understand what the rabbis of the first century thought about Scripture,
they are also what Yeshua termed as yeast:
“But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.” Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against
the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and
Sadducees. Luke 12:1-2
Rabbinic Judaism is not Messianic Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism
is not founded in Messiah. Rabbinic Judaism, for the most part, is founded in
the yeast – the teachings of the Pharisees.
Yeshua’s teachings and the discipleship that He brought His
students through was not Rabbinic Judaism. There is a real danger in Rabbinics.
There is a real danger in Mishnah and Talmud. No one involved in Rabbinics has
ever come out on the other side more righteous than when he or she entered. He
or she may look “holier than thou” – but they do not have the life changing
experience clearly represented in the lives of the believers of the Messianic
communities of the first century.
Let’s read the response of the first century congregations
to the preaching and to the teaching of the Apostles:
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the
fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Acts 2:42
Notice, that it says they
devoted themselves the Apostles’ teachings. That is an amazing statement in light
of what we have just discussed because we will not find even one of the
Apostles opinions in the Mishnah or Talmud – they are not quoted there. We will find
Hillel – Gamaliel – Akivah and other rabbis of the time, but none of the
Apostles. And yet, Acts 2 says that the first century redeemed devoted themselves not to Gamaliel,
nor to Akivah, but to Peter, James and John.
There was something about the message of these men that was
far superior to that of the Pharisees. There was something about the Torah that
they taught that changed lives. These people, after receiving redemption
through the grace of God, were transformed into something, the likes of which,
the world has never seen before nor has it seen since. The preaching of the
Apostles transformed lives into the likes of which Rabbinic Judaism and
Christianity has not seen since.
Acts Chapter 2 says this about first century Messianic Judaism:
“Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous
signs were done by the Apostles. All the believers were together and had
everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone
as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the Temple courts. They
broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising
God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
And the Lord added to their
number daily those who were being saved.”
Acts 2:43-47
This is a Messianic community within Messianic Judaism. This
is what the congregations of Yeshua should look like. The fact is that the
transformation of these people was so great that when Christians read about it
their response is: “oh, that was for then, God doesn’t work like that anymore.”
And church leaders say: “It isn’t possible for us to live like that. That was
for then. God doesn’t work like that anymore.” How sad.
It seems impossible because
it is so foreign to this world. Messianic congregations were congregations
where the Word of God and the power of God had so transformed the lives of the
people, that the rest of the world cannot comprehend the result.
What do you suppose these
first century Messianic congregations were teaching? What do you suppose they
were preaching? Hebrew roots? No. Yes, we need to have the Hebrew roots of our
faith taught to us, but not for the sake of Hebrew roots. We need to be taught these
things because they have been lost to us. But, Hebrew roots were not lost to
the first century believers.
Did they preach the
historical facts of the bible? The geography of the bible? No. They taught the
life changing principles of Scripture. You see, the danger to beware of is that
the Mishnah, or the Talmud, or the Midrashim may become our
primary focus and not the resurrection power of God. The danger is that these
other things may replace the Spirit of God in leading us into all truth.
It is obvious from reading
this passage in Acts chapter 2, that loving your neighbor as Messiah loved you,
had to be at the top of their sermon list. To these people their neighbor became
more important to them than their wealth. The teaching and the prayer so
radically changed people that we read this and we think that there is something
wrong with the text. Or, we read it and think that this was just a special
dispensation of time.
But that is not so. They
were preaching the Word. What was coming out of them was life changing Kingdom
principles at each and every service. They were listening to the Apostles as
they spoke of the selfless sacrifice of Yeshua. They heard about a love of God
so great that He gave His Son, declared to be so by the Resurrection, and they
became selfless givers – in hopes of themselves attaining the Resurrection.
We see this as we continue on in Philippians chapter 3:
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of
Messiah. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing
greatness of knowing Messiah Yeshua my lord, for whose sake I have lost all
things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Messiah and be found in Him,
not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is
through faith in Messiah—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
I want to know Messiah and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of
sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to
the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:7-11
How do we become like Him
in His death? There is only one way. We must live a life of selfless giving –
loving our fellow man the same way we love ourselves. The believers of the
first century preached a message of selfless giving – selfless giving of time,
of money, and of energy to God and to their fellowman. And, the people of God
responded.
As a result, for a brief moment
in history, Yeshua had a congregation whose lives represented life in the
Kingdom…and the world was introduced to Messianic Judaism.
We will not get a congregation like this out of the Talmud.
We will not get a congregation like this out of the Mishnah. We will not get a congregation
like this preaching prosperity. We will only get a congregation like this out
of the heart of God.
Only, if we allow Yeshua’s heart to get a hold of our hearts,
will we have a congregation like this. Only, if we allow the Spirit of Yeshua
to interpret Torah for us, will we have a community like this. Only, if we truly
have faith in Yeshua and in His Torah – only, if we follow the royal Law spoken
of in James chapter 2, verse 8 which tells us that “if
you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘love your neighbor as
yourself,’ you are doing right” will we have a congregation that once
again represents life in the Kingdom.
One cannot follow the royal Law
without the King being in his or her heart. And, without the royal Law one
cannot have the King in ones heart. Messianic Judaism is the King alive in our
hearts – Messianic congregations are the reflections of that.
Kehilat Sar Shalom
