Y Not I

Last year Dr. Raleigh Washington of The Road to Jerusalem came and spoke to our congregation and then over the weekend was at our men’s retreat speaking there as well. It was fascinating to hear Dr. Washington speak to the men about our relationship with G-d. He is a very powerful teacher. He also spoke a great deal about reconciliation between the church and Messianic Judaism. Dr. Washington before The Road to Jerusalem was with Promise Keepers, which was also about reconciliation.

One of the points that Dr. Washington made exceptionally well is how the church has lost touch with it’s roots. He made the analogy of taking a tree cutting it away from the roots and planting it again. The tree is not going to grow the same way and it will be handicapped by not having the access to it’s roots. Dr. Washington makes the point that the same thing has happened to the church and I think it is a very good point.

I do not think most Messianic Jews are trying to bash the church, but I do think we see many places where the church has made knee-jerk reactions to anything that might be labeled as Jewish. What is missing is the fact that many of these things are not Jewish per-say, but are things of G-d. G-d gave them to Moses, not the other way around. The Holy Days are called G-d’s Appointed Times, not the Jewish holidays. I think once the church kind of comes to terms with that, from there they can proceed and determine then what it means to them.

For myself, I am very glad to have all the wisdom that the church has provided over the years. Messianic Judaism has been fortunate to have the wonderful and dedicated people that formed the basis of the faith which we share. Considering the unfortunate events that led to the church trying to make a clear distinction between itself and Rabbinic Judaism, the church has done a remarkable job. I think criticism and self evaluation are important things, and certainly in line with Jewish thought in which the saying goes, if you have two Jews you will have at least three opinions.

I think many of Yeshua’s dealing with the Pharisees were like this, an exchange of ideas and concepts in the manner that the Pharisees did amongst themselves. You say this, but I tell you that, and so on. So, as part of the body I encourage us all to, in love offer ways that we would could grow. I think many Christians would get extra blessing by embracing the roots, by returning to the Scriptures with a heart open to whatever G-d might say, not with preconceived notions. I think once you bring the tree back to the roots, it can grow richer than ever before.

Is there anything about Messianic Judaism I think is wrong? Certainly I do. I think we can sometimes get too caught up with the Jewish traditions. I think there are many tough things to consider when it comes to tradition vs. Scripture. For example wearing the tzitzit, do I wear it with a thread of blue or not? Jewish tradition says not to because the animal from which the dye comes from is not known, yet Scripture indicates it should be blue and any blue is closer than white. Then that leads to do you wear a yarmulke, for if you have the fringes showing but no head covering then you look foolish to Jews, and since as well as being faithful to Scripture you want to be credible to the Jewish people. I wish there were a consistent teaching on this, but at the same time think that might be detrimental since it is imposing man made rules and regulations on top of the Scripture. It is basically a tough call and I am not sure the best path. I guess for now it is good that we do as we are lead in these types of things. I think staying true to Scripture is most important.

Another problem I have with Messianic Judaism, and I have heard this many times, from many different sources. It might be something that is used in Christianity as well, although I am unsure. It is the use of the need for blood atonement in Leviticus because it is used in a way that is not entirely truthful. Here is how I hear it used. G-d requires a blood atonement for remission of sins. No problem there. We no longer have a Temple to bring our sacrifice to and no one brings a sacrifice now, so how do we get atonement is the question forwarded. This leads to an assumption that if the Temple was rebuilt then the need for Messiah would go away, since we could again bring a sacrifice. It also ignores the fact that between the first and second Temple there was a period of, I believe, seventy five years of which no atonement was able to be made. So while what is being said is true, what is being alluded to appears not to be true. Since I tend to believe that salvation has always been about the blood atonement of Messiah, whether believing in advance of the Messiah, as in Tanakh times, or as believing in the Messiah that has come, as we do now, I think that explains the period between the Temples as well as indicates that a Third Temple would not bring salvation, but the blood of the sacrifices would provide the things requires for Temple worship. So, I dislike when reason like this is used, since I think it is misleading.

So whether the church or the Messianic synagogue, I think it is not bashing to discuss the theologies, the teaching, etc. I think it how we all grow. We need to keep to the unity of our salvation and as brothers and sisters in Messiah (Christ) work out our salvation daily together, with fear and trembling.

As always pray on these things.