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ASSIMILATING JEWISH CHRISTIANS
By Daniel C. Juster, Director
The Beginnings of the Messianic Jewish Movement
In the early 1970s, a significant number of Jews committed their lives to
Yeshua and came to the conviction that they should call themselves Messianic
Jews rather than Christians. There were several reasons for this. One was
the history of institutional Christianity and its impact on the Jewish
people. From a Jewish perspective, Christianity was a movement of
semi-paganism, oppression and anti-Semitism. We wanted to project ourselves
in such a way that the Jewish people would take another look at Yeshua
without the barriers of their pre-formed perceptions of Christianity. In
addition, we really wanted to promote the truth that Jews who come to faith
in Yeshua are still called to identify and live as part of the Jewish people.
Romans 11:29 states that the Jewish people are the subjects of an irrevocable
election and calling from God. Romans 11:5 identifies Jewish believers in
Yeshua as the saved remnant of Israel.
We wanted our people to see that embracing Yeshua does not mean betraying and abandoning our Jewish heritage. If we do not live as part of our people, we are not showing ourselves as the saved remnant that sanctifies the whole (Romans 11:16). Planting Messianic Jewish congregations was considered a central part of the vision. We also saw Jewish believers in Yeshua living and identifying as Jews as a key to ushering in the last days and the catalyst towards all Israel being saved. Some of us also understood how important it was at the same time to live out the truth that we are one with the Body of believers as a whole. This was somewhat controversial since we were the only movement that professed oneness with the Body of the Messiah that did not use the word Christian as our self-designation.
The history of the last 35 years has been one of great gains in the Messianic Jewish movement; hundreds of congregations have been planted in the United States, hundreds more in Europe, Russia, and Ukraine and about a hundred in Israel along with scattered congregations in South America, Africa, and Australia. All these grew from a mere handful of congregations before 1975.
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicted, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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