Fellow Christians have you ever been to your elder brothers Messianic Jews worship places?

Messianic Jew is an oxymoron.

Just a clarification, and sorry if I sound ignorant, but if a Jew accepts Jesus as the Messiah, wouldn’t that automatically qualify him as a Christian? Or is it some other sort of belief? Because it sounds sort of weird that there should be Jews who believe in Jesus.

Well first of the followers of Jesus weren’t called Christians at first they were Jews and some Gentiles but mostly Jews. First they were called “Christians” was way later in city of Antioch.

I don’t have an elder (sic) brother.

What’s a Messianic Jew?

@thanatos See my answer, above.

@pdworkin I was hoping the OP would clarify whether this is an accepted term that I am not familiar with or whether this is a term he made up.

It is a term that is accepted in a certain fanatical, non-Jewish minority, but it is a crock of shit as far as Judaism is concerned.

What I’m wondering is why any minority would want to call itself that. Yes, obviously the first Christians were Jews. In fact one could argue that ALL Christians are Jews, in the sense that they accept the Old Testament as Word of God. In theory anyway. But a Jew that accepts Jesus as the Messiah? Well, that’s just another Christian, right?

Be nice, guys. Haven’t you ever heard of Jews for Jesus? Those are Messianic Jews.

What is the source for that quote please, @seVen? And don’t you think you should distinguish between your writing and that of others, and also make it clear where your assertions are being made? After all, a statement is not necessarily a fact.

I am not a “fellow Christian,” but I will add my two cents (or someone else’s two cents) to this discussion anyway. At the core of Judaism is the idea that “G-d is One” (indivisible). Here is a link from the USCJ (United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism) website’s statement on the status of Messianic Judaism, from their perspective: http://www.uscj.org/Messianic_Jews_Not_J5480.html (Note: In the USA, Conservative Judaism is sort of middle-of-the road, in my option—somewhere between Reform (liberal) and Orthodox [more like “small-c” conservative]—Other denominations exist, but these are the Big 3.)

We have a lot of Black Jews here in Philly. Go down to Broad Street. They scream while they read the Bible and threaten you if you walk past. Hopefully the Ecumenical Jews are more friendly.

“Elder brothers”? Give me a break, seVen.

[mod says] Unattributed copy and paste answers are not permitted, and have been removed.

wow

I am not a Christian, but was raised as a Jew, and, during my childhood, I attended the bat mitzvah of a friend who was a Jew for Jesus. From a Jewish perspective, the service was very weird, it was odd to hear familiar songs and melodies, but then to hear passages read from the new testament.
also, my elder brother was never a Jew for Jesus, in fact, I think he is rather critical of them, as he is of all religions

Jesus does not meet the requirements of the Jewish Messiah set forth in the Torah (Old Testament). There’s really nothing more to it than that.

@drdoombot such as what?

I have some friends who are Messianic Jews, but most of them started out as Christians, not as Jews. When I was in college I knew some “Jews for Jesus” who started out as Jews and then decided Jesus was the Messiah. Their services are quite different from each other, and also different from typical Jewish services.

As to why Jesus is not the Messiah, per this site:

1) JESUS DID NOT FULFILL THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

What is the Messiah supposed to accomplish? The Bible says that he will:
A. Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26–28).
B. Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5–6).
C. Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore.” (Isaiah 2:4)
D. Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: “God will be King over all the world—on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One” (Zechariah 14:9).
———-

2) JESUS DID NOT EMBODY THE PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF MESSIAH

A. MESSIAH AS PROPHET

Jesus was not a prophet. Prophecy can only exist in Israel when the land is inhabited by a majority of world Jewry. During the time of Ezra (circa 300 BCE), when the majority of Jews refused to move from Babylon to Israel, prophecy ended upon the death of the last prophets—Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
Jesus appeared on the scene approximately 350 years after prophecy had ended.

B. DESCENDENT OF DAVID

The Messiah must be descended on his father’s side from King David (see Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:1). According to the Christian claim that Jesus was the product of a virgin birth, he had no father—and thus could not have possibly fulfilled the messianic requirement of being descended on his father’s side from King David!

C. TORAH OBSERVANCE

The Messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. The Torah states that all mitzvot remain binding forever, and anyone coming to change the Torah is immediately identified as a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1–4)
Throughout the New Testament, Jesus contradicts the Torah and states that its commandments are no longer applicable. (see John 1:45 and 9:16, Acts 3:22 and 7:37)
———

3) MISTRANSLATED VERSES “REFERRING” TO JESUS

Biblical verses can only be understood by studying the original Hebrew text—which reveals many discrepancies in the Christian translation.

A. VIRGIN BIRTH

The Christian idea of a virgin birth is derived from the verse in Isaiah 7:14 describing an “alma” as giving birth. The word “alma” has always meant a young woman, but Christian theologians came centuries later and translated it as “virgin.” This accords Jesus’ birth with the first century pagan idea of mortals being impregnated by gods.

B. CRUCIFIXION

The verse in Psalms 22:17 reads: “Like a lion, they are at my hands and feet.” The Hebrew word ki-ari (like a lion) is grammatically similar to the word “gouged.” Thus Christianity reads the verse as a reference to crucifixion: “They pierced my hands and feet.”

C. SUFFERING SERVANT

Christianity claims that Isaiah chapter 53 refers to Jesus, as the “suffering servant.”
In actuality, Isaiah 53 directly follows the theme of chapter 52, describing the exile and redemption of the Jewish people. The prophecies are written in the singular form because the Jews (“Israel”) are regarded as one unit. The Torah is filled with examples of the Jewish nation referred to with a singular pronoun.
Ironically, Isaiah’s prophecies of persecution refer in part to the 11th century when Jews were tortured and killed by Crusaders who acted in the name of Jesus.
From where did these mistranslations stem? St. Gregory, 4th century Bishop of Nanianzus, wrote: “A little jargon is all that is necessary to impose on the people. The less they comprehend, the more they admire.”
————

And finally: Of the 15,000 religions in human history, only Judaism bases its belief on national revelation—i.e. God speaking to the entire nation. If God is going to start a religion, it makes sense He’ll tell everyone, not just one person.

@Darwin 2-B: In Judaism, family line is passed down on the mother’s side.

@eponymoushipster: Darwin is right. Judaism is only matrilinear in some respects, not all. Another example of heirship from the father instead of mother is Coheinim: fathers pass the preisthood onto their sons. It doesn’t matter if your mother’s father was a Cohein, if your father’s not one, you’re not one.

@eponymoushipster I recall reading that the matrilinear custom is rather recent in history, but I have nothing to back that up atm, and it could be incorrect. Just thought i’d toss that in as food for thought. I’ll try to look into it when I am less hung-over.

Traditionally, being Jewish is passed down on the mother’s side, but some, such as the Reform movement, have made the recent recent to accept patrilineal decent, as well.

Religion is passed down from the mother’s side, tribal designation is passed down from the father. In modern times, there are only three tribal designations: Kohen, Levi and Yisroel.

Yes, I have been to some Messianic Jewish services and was very favorably impressed. One cannot fully understand the New Testament without and understanding of the Old Testament, and they excell at that. : )

Fascinating view related to this topic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTx5tjNQEvw&feature=youtu.be

http://youtu.be/k0DTT3u2JZ8