• “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” —Mark 10:45
• “. . . I lay down My life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.” —John 10:17-18
Te accusation that the Jews killed Jesus is a lie and a gross distortion of Scripture—it wasn’t the Jews; it wasn’t the Romans—it was your sin and mine. Jesus came for the purpose of dying as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He allowed Himself to be led as a lamb to the slaughter and laid down His life for our sins. Praise Him, glory to Him!
Jesus Christ Is the God of Christianity Te lie that Jesus Christ is the God of Christianity is the concept I was raised with. For me, there were two groups of people in the world—Jews and Gentiles, or Christians (we generally perceived them to be the same). We had our God, the God of Israel, and Christians had their God, Jesus Christ, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Christ. And somehow this Jesus-God was a child who had become God.
I was also taught that Christians believe in three Gods: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Tis, too, is a deception and a stumbling block for Jews, who, even if not religious, know one thing: God is One.
Te truth is, Jesus Christ is not the God of Christianity. He is Yeshua Ha’Mashiach—“Jesus the Messiah.” Christ is not His last name, but comes from the Greek word Christos, Χριστός (khrē-sto's), meaning “anointed,” from the Hebrew Mashiach, which is His title.
Hundreds of years before Yeshua was born, the prophet Jeremiah, in verses 31:1-14, tells of a new covenant (the meaning of New Testament) that would be made with the House of Israel and
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Judah. Tis covenant would be different fom the Mosaic covenant. God would forgive our sins and remember them no more. How can that happen? Only by the shedding of blood—but not the yearly sacrifice—a once-for-all sacrifice! Tis is not the God of Christianity. Tis is a new covenant that is promised with a Covenant People, the People of Israel, and then spreads through the nations of the world. Tis is Yeshua the Messiah of Israel, foretold by the Jewish prophets. When Jewish People embrace Yeshua, they don’t convert to Christianity; they find their promised Messiah!
Jesus Began a New Religion Called Christianity Another lie I want to dispel is the popular claim that Jesus came to earth and began a new religion. Tis is patently absurd. Yeshua’s entire earthly ministry was to His own People, the House of Israel. We can see this in an example found in Mathew 15. Yeshua had departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon, and a Canaanite woman came to Him saying, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.” Jesus said nothing (Mathew 15:22-23). His disciples asked Him to send her away as she continued
to cry out aſter them. Yeshua answered,“I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel” (Mathew 15:24).
Not only was Yeshua’s earthly ministry dedicated solely to the House of Israel, but according
to Mathew 10:5-6, when He sent His disciples out, He sent them only to the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel.
Was He bringing a new message? In Mathew 22, we find the account of Yeshua being put to the test by the Pharisees and Sadducees to see if His teaching was sound according to the Law, the Torah.
When the Pharisees found He had
Yeshua quoted the Shema: Shema, Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad—“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4)—the cornerstone of Jewish faith! Yeshua quoted from the Torah. So Yeshua affirmed the commandments. In fact, there was no religion known as Christianity until much later in Antioch.
Jesus Never Claimed to Be the Messiah Many Jewish People believe that Jesus was a rabbi, a teacher, or even a prophet but never claimed to be the Messiah. Tey believe that it was His followers who deified Him and claimed He was the Messiah. Tis is totally false!
Let’s look at the testimony of Scripture to see Yeshua’s own claims. In John 8:58, Yeshua actually declares not only His pre-existence, but He takes upon Himself the Name of God as revealed to Moses in the burning bush: “Very truly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I am.”
And further, in Mathew 26:63-64, the High Priest directly confronts Yeshua, saying to Him, “I charge You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” And Yeshua responds: “You have said so,” affirming under oath that He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. In Mathew 16:15-17, Yeshua also blessed Simon Peter for recognizing that He is the Messiah and acknowledged that it was God alone that gave that revelation.
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“silenced the Sadducees,” one of them who was a lawyer sought to test Him, asking Yeshua, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Tis is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Mathew 22:36-40).
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