Parashah Vayeshev Comments 2022
Our readings this week – from Genesis, Obadiah, and Matthew – are all written by Jewish authors: Moshe, Amos, and Mattityahu. The last leader of the Orthodox Jewish community here in Sioux City stated that the entire New Testament (the Brit Chadashah) is a commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures. From my point of view, and that of many more scholarly than myself, the entire Bible is Jewish, originally written in Hebrew (or in a Jewish milieu), primarily directed toward a Jewish audience, and written by Jewish authors.
Yeshua himself says His purpose in coming was not to start a new religion. In Matthew, the Messiah tells us why He came:
However, after He died and rose, belief in Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel coalesced into a separate and distinct religion, and the followers of Yeshua became disconnected from Judaism.
Many Christians believe their religion started on Pentecost, when 3,000 people were celebrating the Festival of Shavuot 50 days after Passover and received the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh). Many others see this singular event as the beginning of Messianic Judaism. You can find this in the Book of Acts, chapter two. It is understood by many Christians to be the beginning of Christianity—the 3,000 were “converted” from Judaism to a new religion. Messianic believers understand it as the revelation of God that completed their Judaism, initiating a Judaism that became known as “Messianic.”
Later in Acts, we see the seeds of divergence between Messianic Judaism and Christianity. There are many historical reasons for this parting of the ways, but here I want to focus on the biblical.
In Acts 10, we are introduced to Cornelius, a non-Jew devoted to the God of Israel. God speaks to him and orchestrates a meeting with Peter. In a vision, Peter is commanded to overcome his inherited prejudice against everything pagan and enter Cornelius’s house. Peter then shares the Good News of Yeshua with Cornelius and his household, and just as at Pentecost, the Ruach HaKodesh falls on those who hear. Cornelius and his household were certainly not the only non-Jews to come to HaShem through Yeshua at this time.
The Jerusalem Council and Early Tensions
The Jerusalem Council was held around 50 CE. A few years later we already see factions forming within assemblies of believers:
After nearly 300 more years, the transformation was largely complete. The Council of Nicaea (325 CE), convened by Emperor Constantine, was dominated by a Gentile Christian culture. In later correspondence, Constantine urged a separation from Jewish practice in the dating of the resurrection feast, reflecting the anti-Jewish sentiment that would haunt much of Christendom.
Anti-Semitism and Its Tragic Legacy
Anti-Semitism threatened the Jewish identity of Yeshua and, by Nicaea, had infected Christian culture—later yielding expulsions, inquisitions, forced conversions, and pogroms. Martin Luther, initially hopeful toward the Jews, turned bitter in later writings, and those writings were later exploited by the Nazis. Anti-Jewishness is still present in the world today, including within segments of modern Christianity.
In spite of this, many well-known Jews willingly converted to Christianity (for varied reasons): Felix Mendelssohn (composer), Benjamin Disraeli (British Prime Minister), Bo Belinsky (MLB pitcher), and David Berkowitz (“Son of Sam”). Their stories illustrate complexity more than clarity.
A Modern Reawakening
Despite the anti-Jewish narrative and continued efforts to evangelize Jews into a Christian identity, a notable watershed occurred in 1885 in Kishinev (Bessarabia, then in the Russian Empire), where a Messianic congregation led by Jewish lawyer Joseph Rabinowitz held its first worship service. Although Kishinev later became infamous for pogroms (1903, 1905), Rabinowitz pastored that congregation until his death in 1899. He famously said in 1888: “I have two subjects of which I am absorbed—the one, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the other one, Israel.”
Where We Stand Today
Today, the Messianic movement has grown significantly. Relative to Judaism (~3,300+ years since Sinai) and Christianity (~2,000 years), we are newcomers—yet in another sense, we are ancient, returning to the earliest Jewish followers of Yeshua. As Paul testified before King Agrippa:
Yet the movement is still maturing, and many dismiss it or misunderstand it. From my perspective, the variety within the “Messianic adjacency” looks something like the parable of the blind men and the elephant—each grasps part of a much larger whole.
Mapping the Landscape
Hebrew Roots Christians. A Christian movement seeking deeper alignment with Torah and the rest of the Tanakh than is typical in ecclesial practice. It honors the biblical Feasts and often expresses itself through Jewish culture—while identifying as Christian.
Christian Zionists. Christians who believe blessing the Jewish people invites God’s blessing in return; they combat anti-Semitism and advocate for Israel’s right to its biblical homeland.
Jewish Christians. Ethnic Jews who have embraced a Christian identity and culture, often minimizing their Jewish inheritance (analogous in spirit to some Hellenistic Jews of the Maccabean era).
Messianic Christians. Christians who recognize the Jewish foundations of their faith and walk as “fellow sojourners,” honoring Messianic practices and understandings while remaining within Christian identity.
The Sacred Name Movement. Emphasizes specific pronunciation of the Divine Name and of Yeshua; many adherents observe the Feasts, kashrut, and additional halachic-style practices; they generally identify as Christian.
Messianic Judaism. Different. It is firmly rooted in Torah, the Prophets, the Writings, and the Apostolic Writings—receiving them as Jewish in origin. It observes Shabbat and the Feasts, embraces the mitzvot, and sees faith in Messiah Yeshua as the climax of Jewish Messianic hope.
Messianic Jews believe Yeshua is “the way” to a relationship with the Almighty and that He models obedience to the Father—observing God’s laws, surrendering self, and fulfilling the second great commandment by loving others. Yeshua is uniquely sinless and has a divine aspect as God’s Shaliach (agent), yet He is not the Father.
Christian theology often leans on Church Fathers whose authority is bolstered by proximity to the apostles and assumptions of inspiration. Messianic Judaism does not treat patristic conclusions as infallible; instead, we hear the apostolic exhortation:
Clarifying Lenses
Yeshua did not come to establish a new religion; He came to fulfill and illuminate the existing one. Isaiah’s exalted titles (9:6) describe the message mediated through the Messiah rather than displacing the Father. Calling Paul a “convert” to Christianity misreads the story; those who received the Ruach at Shavuot were not converted away from Judaism but received a profoundly Jewish revelation about the Messiah.
Semantics matter. “Christian” and “Messianic” both literally mean “of the Messiah,” yet modern usage differs. What finally separates sheep from goats is whether we follow the Messiah Himself—or simply a theology, culture, or tradition about Him.
Following the Master
Messianic Jews affirm the Jerusalem Council’s removal of circumcision as an entrance requirement but do not treat it as a license to avoid discipleship. The expectation was—and is—that new disciples continue to learn the Messiah’s way toward deeper obedience and surrender. Moses commanded Israel and the gerim (sojourners) alike to heed Torah; Yeshua obeyed the Father’s commands. Apart from physical circumcision, should not all disciples emulate the Master’s life?
Reasoning Together
Regardless of labels—Catholic, Protestant, Messianic Jew—if we are sincerely seeking to do the Father’s will, we can sit at Yeshua’s feet as talmidim and learn from the Master and from one another.
Kishinev’s Witness and a Valley of Hope
On Good Friday of 1891 in Kishinev, Joseph Rabinowitz preached a remarkable sermon calling both Jews and Christians to magnify the God of Israel and view the passion of Yeshua through the “books of the Old and New Covenants.” A decade later, Kishinev would suffer horrific pogroms. Yet even this dark history cannot eclipse the hope that God continues to awaken.
God is doing a mighty work through the Messianic movement. The bones lay silent until God stirred them; may our congregation be a worthy part of this ongoing resurrection—the coming of King Messiah, the redemption of the world, and the return of the Father to close fellowship with us in this life and in the world to come. Amen.
