Messianic Jews Explained in 2 Minutes

What is Messianic Judaism? This video gives a quick overview of the subject.

[Jayce_Alexander]

I come from a mixed family: cradle Jewish mother, cradle Catholic father. I spent most of my life agnostic, while identifying as a Jew culturally, before converting to Eastern Orthodoxy in 2019. By that point my mother had already come to terms with Jesus being our Messiah for many years (she ended up converting to Eastern Orthodoxy not long after I did). What puzzled me is the hostility not only towards Christianity as a label, but against the New Testament itself. Jewish friends actively discouraged me from reading it, portrayed it as deeply antisemitic, and kind of a manual on how to persecute the Jews. But when I read it I discovered that these were the accounts of Jewish people, that the New Testament IS a Jewish book, that Christianity is the fulfillment of Judaism itself. I probably don't qualify as a Messianic Jew in the traditional sense, because I wear the Christian identity proudly, keep Sabbath on Sundays, celebrate Christian holidays, agree with Paul on the Judaizers, but I do still consider myself a Jew as well, because Christianity IS Judaism in its final and most complete form.

[daf]

I had an Officer I served with in the Navy that was a Messianic Jew. He referred to himself as a Jew for Jesus.

[bloopboop]

I find it ironic that 60% of jews think believing in Jesus makes you "not jewish" but "not believing in God" is still acceptable. Interestingly, 68%. Basically, being an atheist is fine with most jews, but believing Jesus was the messiah is where you cross the line haha.

[bheemabachus]

Worth noting that a lot of these people are not ethnic Jews but supposed converts.

Regardless, there are far more Christian Jews than we realize. Especially in places like Latin America. And sadly, some orthodox religious leaders in Judaism will ostracize them not just from the religion, but from the people group in general. There are some rabbis who think it's okay for a Jew to be atheist, but if you become Christian you are no longer Jewish.

[AmitKumarVerma_indian]

Yeshua himself said in Matthew 5:17 "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

[Stylah]

I have to say, I enjoy your breakdown of the christian churches that exist, its real refreshing to see this in a unbiased way. With that said, I was wondering if you could please do one of the African Methodist Episcopal and African Methodist Zion Episcopal churches and others affiliated with them. You've done great job on the Methodist and even the Church of God in Christ, but I have yet seen anything of those two mentioned above. It'd be great to see these and if they're were done help refer them to me. Thanks again and keep giving more awesome informative content. 👍

[Joshua-uwwm]

I used to attend a Messianic synagogue and it was the best way to worship in a group. IMO. It's accurate to scripture and a good place overall.

[dosha_anand]

A look into Hebrew Catholics might make a good additional video on 'Jewish Christians'.

[AI-hxfx]

Once I had an officemate whose father was initially an Evangelical pastor, but after studying Hebrew and the Torah took their family and congregation along with the larger umbrella group towards something like this. By the time I met her, she would "try" to keep kashrut, and out of curiosity I would tell her on Fridays what time Shabbat started. She even shared some of the Jewish holidays but they still did baptisms and thus were more on the Christian side of things. This confused my Evangelical boss, who said it was like paddling in two rivers.

EDIT: The larger organisation their congregation belongs to shifted to Judaic practise independently of their other connections. What makes them unusual beyond the fact they're not common here is that they were explicitly garden-variety Evangelical Christians who incorporated Judaism, not the other way round where a Jewish group professes Jesus in some form.

And no, she did not cover her hair or wear "frum" clothes, but she did sneak a cheeseburger or two. Her father wears a kippah, speaks and reads Hebrew, and has been to Israel. She was very happy when I came home and gave her a simple brass candelabra to use that Hanukkah. It's good form (but not obligatory) to bring family and friends a little gift from one's travels.

Everyone else got rosaries, icons, Jordanian dates, and Dead Sea beauty products.

[danaleanne]

Im not jewish, but I keep the sabbath. Revelation 14:12
Here is the patients of the saints, here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith in Yashua.

[mythguard]

I’ve always found these folks to be fascinating! Most of them that I’ve spoken to make great conversation!

[WillHerrmann]

There are also Hebrew Catholics who are Catholic in belief (accepting all dogmas, having full communion with the Pope, etc) but still practice traditional Jewish customs and have Jewish holidays on their liturgical calendar. They are distinct from Messianic Jews which, as you said in the video, are more evangelical in their Christianity. 

In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI established the Anglican Use (Anglican converts to Catholicism being given permission to have mass and other aspects in an Anglican way), and there was speculation that this might lead to something similar for Hebrew Catholics. My understanding is that the biggest barrier for this is that the greatest number of Hebrew Catholics are in Israel and are ethnically Israeli (while most other Catholics are ethnically Palestinian), so they are slow to make changes to the status quo.

[Descoob]

A good intro.
Imagine a video that explains everything about Messianic Judaism.
The old adage is two Jews, three opinions.
There are many forms of Messianic Judaism.

[colmortimer]

What I find weird about Messianic Judaism is Israel has a Law of Return, where Jews throughout the world can go live in Israel with no hassle, if they are Jewish or Atheist they are allowed back, but Messianic Jews are not allowed back, they are seen as traitors to the faith. It just seems weird that having faith in God does not matter, but it does if you have the "wrong" faith.

[Jsmith]

Thanks. I always enjoy these 2-minute pieces

[iqgustavo]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:00 🕊️ Messianic Jews believe in Jesus but also maintain Jewish practices and traditions.
00:28 🤝 They combine elements of Christianity and Judaism, emphasizing a place for Jewish customs and practices in their faith.
00:43 ✝️ Messianic Jews do not always follow the mainstream Christian perspective of the New Testament rendering Old Testament law obsolete.
01:10 👰 They incorporate Jewish customs into weddings, funerals, and various life events.
01:38 🌍 Messianic Jews can be found worldwide, particularly in the United States and Israel. They often have closer ties to Evangelical denominations in Christianity.

[malcolmabram]

I am a 'Christian Jew, ' and very much trust and know the Lordship of our Lord Jesus Christ, and have a good knowledge of the scriptures, both OT and NT. I also have been baptised in the Spirit of God. HOWEVER Jesus was not a Christian. Christianity is a religion, Jesus Christ is the Way (John 14: 6, Genesis 18: 19), and we can only truly know Him in Spirit (1-Corinthians 12: 3). Many are they who profess being a Christian, but they do not know Him as Lord (Matthew 7: 21).

[ileneyadegari]

I think it’s wonderful ! I think because we are so removed from the culture that we can misinterpret many things. A Jewish person would know more about the meaning . There are a lot of different Christians in Israel and I love to hear how they began to believe in Jesus. I wish I could have that advantage knowing how the Hebrew texts are meant to be interpreted.

[alexandremuise]

I wonder if they skipped the Acts of the Apostles where Peter and Paul argue over circumcision being mandatory for the believer. Also, in Judaism; they view the Messiah as a political figure, not a figure that dies for our sins.

[andreichira]

It's odd to me that the Messianic Jews would gravitate toward fellowship with evangelical churches, rather than the Orthodox Church. Especially considering how much of the liturgical service in Orthodoxy mirrors Jewish liturgical worship, I'm surprised.