Rabbi Maran Yeshua HaMashiach: A Nice Jewish Man Lost in a Gentile World!

In speaking concerning Mashiach I have been told, STOP calling Him “Yeshua”, you make Him sound Jewish!  In fact many people have concluded that the Jewishness of our holy Rabbi Yeshua is an incidental detail or even untrue. This latter point is not far off from the perception held about our Rabbi Yeshua by many so called Christians (who hated Jewish people) through the ages. Most of the ancient church fathers (who cut themselves from their Jewish brothers in the faith of my Rabbi Yeshua) repudiated every vestige of Jewish culture. The result has been a distance between what has been called the historic “Rabbi Yeshua of history” and the pseudo-person “Christ of the Church.”  In a sense modern day Christianity have sought the message without the Jewishness of the Man or Jewish context. Even today, our readings of Scripture often fail to connect the Jewish Rabbi Yeshua to the specific environment of His day. Since few Bible believers are taught about the customs, values and worldview of the culture of Israel, they frequently miss out on a more thorough understanding of the biblical texts.

While it is true that Mashiach was send / came to redeem the people of all nations, we need to remember that the real Rabbi Yeshua came into history as a Semitic man from the nation of Israel and the tribe of Yehuda (Judah). Rabbi Yeshua of the Bible spoke Hebrew and Aramaic, walked the way of Torah, kept the dietary laws (Kashrut), was referred to by many as Rabbi—everything about Rabbi Yeshua is Jewish in nature. To live with our Rabbi Yeshua and to observe him would leave you with the undeniable conclusion that he was precisely a Perush (a Pharisee).  And when we successfully put all things into perspective—the inspiration of God’s Word, the background history, the impact of prophecy, and the culture of Israel—the purposes of God begin to make greater sense. It is in this context that we are able to comprehend HaShem’s grand plan of redemption. So why is it important for us to know about the world of Rabbi Yeshua and the man himself?

The Bible calls all believers to proclaim of the Mashiach of Israel as he is, and to tell the whole world (first to the Jew then to the Non-Jew) that Rabbi Yeshua, the hope of Israel has come.  Rabbi Yeshua did not preach a new religion (he followed Torah, and commanded us to do what it says). Mashiach’s message was a continuation of the faith of the fathers of Israel: personal integrity, righteousness, obedience to the God of Israel, and trust in HaShem for one’s needs. Read your Scriptures concerning King Messiah and you just may be surprised! Yeshayahu 62:11 Behold, HaShem has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say you to the daughter of Zion, Behold, your yeshuah (salvation) comes; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him.