Messiah (Part 4-4)

This is part 4 of 4 on the series “Messiah” written by Rebecca J. Brimmer, International President and CEO of Bridges for Peace. May you be blessed by reading this teaching letter.

Understanding Yeshua’s Hebraic World

As we have seen in this short study Yeshua definitely viewed Himself as the Messiah. While He did not directly say, "I am the Messiah" or "I am the Son of God," in a first-century rabbinic way, He makes it very clear that He was the Messiah. It is important for all Christians to begin to understand the Hebraic world that He knew so well, if we are to understand His words. As Robert Lindsey pointed out: "One must always keep in mind when reading the Gospels that they preserve words and ideas that originally were spoken in Hebrew against a backdrop of rabbinic thought. Today, this is utterly foreign to most Christians. Hidden in the text of the Scriptures are words and concepts that are Hebraic. When they were spoken in the Hebrew of the first century, they were not hidden, but clearly express things that now seem obscure to us. If we want to know more about who Yeshua was and what He said, we need to learn more about the language He spoke and the milieu in which He lived.”

Future Hope

As Christians, we eagerly anticipate the coming of Yeshua. Certainly, we see many signs of the end times, which were prophesied by the Hebrew prophets.

We are not alone in this expectation! Many of our Jewish friends are also looking at the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and anticipating haolam haba (the world to come). David Rubin, a modern Orthodox resident of Shiloh believes that the day is coming when we Bible believers (both Jews and Christians) will be united. He sites Zechariah 14:9: “God will be King over all the land; on that day the Lord will be One and His Name will be One.” He explains, “In other words, on that day, there will be no confusion or disagreement between Jews and Christians about the ‘Messiah question’ or any other questions of theology. All of the theological disagreements that have tragically been the catalyst, even the excuse, for so much Jewish pain and bloodshed in the past will remain, in the past. There will be unprecedented unity among the peoples of the world in the desire to praise God in the proper way, which will be clear to all of us on that day.”

In recent years, I have been in many conversations with Jewish people, including Orthodox rabbis, in which the concept of a shared future when together we will follow the Messiah was discussed. One oft repeated suggestion is that when Messiah comes, we should get a committee together of Christians and Jews and ask the Messiah this question: “Sir, have you ever been here before?”

In one such conversation, I was asked by a Jewish friend if I didn’t believe there were two ways to heaven, one for the Jews and one for the Christians. While it would have been more comfortable for my Jewish friend if I had agreed, I was unable to do so. I told him, I believe in the Shema: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5). I went on to say, “We may not agree on the identity of the Messiah, but there is only one Messiah, just as there is only one God. When He comes, I know we will both follow Him.” I pray that He will come soon and usher in the Messianic Age we all so eagerly anticipate.

By Rebecca J. Brimmer

International President and CEO

All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Bibliography

Benner, Jeff A. http://www.ancient-hebrew.org

Blue, Lionel and Jonathan Magonet. The Jewish Guide to the Here and Hereafter. New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1989.

Donin, Hayim Halevy. To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life. Basic Books (a division of Perseus Books Group), 1972.

Eckstein, Yechiel. How Firm a Foundation. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 1997.

Flusser, David. Jesus. Jerusalem, Israel: The Magnes Press, 1998.

Gorenberg, Gershom. The End of Days. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Kempinski, Moshe Avraham. The Heart of the People. Jerusalem, Israel: Shorashim of the Old City Publications, 2006.

Lindsey, Robert L. Jesus, Rabbi and Lord: The Hebrew Story of Jesus Behind Our Gospels. Cornerstone Publishing, 1989.

Rich, Tracey R. http://www.jewfaq.org

Rubin, David. God, Israel and Shiloh: Returning to the Land. Jerusalem, Israel: Mazo Publishers, 2007.

Smith, James. The Promised Messiah. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1993.

Wikipedia. “Messiah.” www.wikipedia.com

Wilson, Marvin R. Our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1989.

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