Understanding Your Jewish Neighbor

Defining Terms

Before we understand the Jewish faith, it is important for Christians to understand how to approach their Jewish neighbors. Christians have certain ideas about what they mean when they refer to Judaism or Jewish people. However, those ideas may not necessarily be accurate to the way Jewish people view themselves. Christian perspectives often need correction in order to have profitable conversations with our Jewish neighbors. To this end, we will explore the different meanings of “Jewish” and “Judaism.”

Jewish

While this term can refer to a race or ethnicity, a racial definition is insufficient by itself because even non-Jews can also become “Jewish” through a formal conversion process. The best way to understand Jewish identity is through the illustration of an extended family. This image comes from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) since they frequently refer to Israelites as “the children of Israel.” To be Jewish is to be a member of this family. This family tie manifests itself through one’s race, cultural practices, religious beliefs, or national identity.

For instance, a person of Jewish descent may be an atheist or agnostic. His Jewish family and friends would still view him as Jewish. However, from an Orthodox perspective, one can only be Jewish by ethnicity if Jewish blood comes from his mother’s side; the father’s blood by itself is insufficient. This can be difficult to comprehend for Christians since we only call people Christians who believe a basic set of doctrinal truths, namely the gospel. We must recognize how Jewish people perceive their own identity regardless of misconceptions that exist.

Judaism

While Jewish identity has many facets, Judaism is more straightforward. It refers to the religious beliefs and practices of the Jewish people. Even within the Jewish faith, differences of opinion exist. The 5 million Jews that currently reside in the United States typically divide among three distinct movements of Judaism: Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative.

• Orthodox: They believe that God gave Moses the whole Torah, both written and oral, on Mount Sinai. All 613 laws in the Torah are binding on Jews, but not on others. Orthodox Jews further break up into three groups with some differences of belief and practice – Modern Orthodox, Chasidic, and Yeshivish.
• Reform: Considered more liberal, Reform Jews does not believe in the divine authorship of the Torah. They accept the critical view that the Hebrew Scriptures are the product of different human sources, and then eventually put together. While they do not believe the 613 laws are binding, they embrace many of the ethical and cultural aspects of Judaism.
• Conservative: This group seeks to be a middle ground between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. They believe the Torah came from God, but it contains human elements because people transmitted it. Jewish laws are binding, but they can adapt to the culture when appropriate.

Witnessing to Jewish People

The New Testament is full of passages about reaching Jewish people with the good news about their Messiah. The Apostle Paul especially preached the gospel to the Jews in his ministry (Acts 17:1-3; Rom. 1:16; 9:1-5; 10:1). Christians should remain devoted to the cause of preaching Christ to all people, but especially to the Jewish people. Jesus is the promised Messiah for the nation of Israel, even if the people of this nation have rejected him.

The Jewish people are at the core of God’s plan of redemption for the world. It was through Abraham’s family line that all nations of the earth would be blessed. It was through the line of King David that the Messiah would come. It was in the land of Israel that the Messiah eventually came in the person of Jesus Christ. Christians can understand many of their New Testament beliefs through the lens of Jewish context and background.

In spite of these connections between Christian and Jewish belief, Jewish people do not recognize them. When speaking with them, it is important to understand this and to speak accordingly. We should be careful with the words we use, so as not to be offensive. We can do this without conceding essential truths of the gospel. As Christians, we should be able to converse in a way that is gracious and appropriate with people of all faiths, including Jewish people (Col. 4:6).

In your conversation with Jewish neighbors, there are certain terms you want to avoid. These terms, if used, may shut down conversations instead of opening them. However, there is language you can substitute so you still communicate the gospel effectively.

Jesus Christ

When you refer to Jesus in your conversation, replace his name with the Hebrew version, Yeshua. In addition, instead of using the Greek word “Christ,” use the Hebrew word “Messiah.” These may seem like small and unnecessary adjustments, but they will be helpful in removing barriers to your conversation. The word “Christ” is not widely recognized in Jewish communities and homes. Jewish people hardly speak of a Messiah among themselves, but at least they will acknowledge Messiah as a figure whom they believe in and hope for his coming. “Christ” also brings up disturbing memories in the Jewish mind of Christians labeling their ancestors in history as “Christ-killers”. To avoid this connotation from surfacing, you can refer to Jesus Christ as Yeshua, the Messiah of the Jewish people.

Christian

As you share your own religious beliefs, you can replace the label “Christian” with the phrase “follower of Yeshua.” This is no intention to hide your true beliefs. Rather, it more clearly expresses to a Jewish person what you believe about Jesus. Furthermore, the term “Christian” brings up similar memories as the name “Christ.” By calling yourself a “Christian,” you associate yourself with so-called Christians in history who unfortunately treated Jewish people with disdain and hatred. To avoid this association, you can explain to your Jewish neighbor that you are a follower of Yeshua because you believe he is the Messiah for all people.

Old Testament

Jewish people do not know the first 39 books of the Bible as the “Old Testament.” This terminology is distinctly Christian. In place of this term, you can refer to these books as the Jewish Scriptures or the Hebrew Bible. In the Hebrew language, the name for these books collectively is the Tanakh. The word Torah is also acceptable, but this term refers more specifically to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.

As you have opportunities to speak with Jewish people about Jesus, you must understand how they view him. In Judaism, it is anathema to equate Jesus with Messiah. Nothing is more foreign to the Jewish mind than to acknowledge Jesus as the prophesied Messiah of the Hebrew Bible. Jewish people will accept atheists and agnostics, polytheists and secularists into their ranks before they accept one of their own turning to the Jesus of Christianity. When you enter a conversation with a devotee of Judaism, recognize the Jewish perspective of Jesus.

Furthermore, Christians in general are not highly esteemed by Jewish people. Sadly, many so-called Christians have been the cause of much harm and persecution to the Jewish people. To some who have never read the New Testament, the Christian Bible is full of anti-Semitic rhetoric and compels Christians to persecute Jewish people. This is not the case for all Jewish people, and certainly not for those who have read the NT. Nevertheless, be aware that you may face opposition and antagonism for these reasons.

How should Christians respond?

It is certainly not your fault that Jews view Jesus in particular and Christians in general in these negative ways. The best thing you can do is demonstrate genuine love and patience towards those in the Jewish faith. You do not need to immediately list off dozens of prophecies that clearly link Jesus to the Messiah of the Hebrew Bible. Your first response to a Jewish person should be to hear them out. Discover what they believe about God and the Bible. You can start on common ground if you both believe in God and that he has revealed himself through inspired Scriptures. If the Jewish person is an atheist or believes that the Hebrew Bible is the work of man, this requires a different response we do not have space to cover here.

In your conversations with Jewish people, you want to learn how much they know about their own Scriptures. To those in the Orthodox camp, the Hebrew Bible is precious and may be read and studied frequently. In more liberal movements of Judaism (such as Conservative and Reform), the Scriptures may not be regarded as highly. Ask your Jewish neighbor if he reads from the Hebrew Bible on a regular basis. This question causes him to reflect on how much he interacts with his own Scriptures.

In addition, ask him if he has read prophecies about the Messiah in the Bible. Many Jewish people have not read them. They generally trust the teachings of their rabbis, which often claim that Christians have skewed the prophecies about Messiah to fit the story of Jesus. If your Jewish neighbor has not read them, encourage him to do his own personal Bible study. Provide him with some references to look up if he does not know where to begin his study. After he studies the prophecies himself, set up another meeting to talk through any questions or thoughts he has from his research.

One of the most powerful passages in the Hebrew Bible that relates to Jesus is Isaiah 53. Sadly, most Jewish people are either ignorant of this chapter altogether, or they are discouraged from drawing any connections to Jesus. In your conversations with Jewish neighbors, here is something you can try: provide them with a copy of Isaiah 53 on a single sheet of paper without the reference. Tell them the passage comes from the Bible, but don’t initially say that it comes from one of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible. Ask them to read it, think about what it means, and be ready to talk about it the next time you meet.

In your next meeting, they will probably claim the passage refers to Jesus, so it must come from the New Testament. At this point, let them know the reference for this passage is Isaiah 53. This provides the opportunity to talk about Jesus and how the Hebrew Bible predicted the manner of his death with great precision. This conversation may springboard into the vast multitude of other prophecies in the Hebrew Bible that speak of Jesus in his birth, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection.

Your Jewish neighbors will probably claim that Jesus did not fulfill all the Messianic prophecies. Jewish people believe the Messiah is primarily a political figure who will bring political and spiritual redemption to Israel. This will happen sometime in the future when Messiah comes to reign over the earth and inaugurates an age of peace. Since Jesus did not accomplish this in his first coming, Jewish people claim he cannot be Messiah.

In response, acknowledge their claim, but emphasize that the New Testament teaches Jesus will fulfill these prophecies in the future. In his first coming, however, he fulfilled dozens of Messianic prophecies; some scholars claim that Jesus fulfilled as many as 456 prophecies. This was not because of coincidence or human intervention. Let’s consider just 8 of these prophecies, out of the hundreds that we know. The chances of one person fulfilling just 8 prophecies is 1 in 10^17; that is the number 1 with 17 zeroes next to it. Imagine what the chances would be of one person fulfilling all 456! Jesus accomplished this, and we know it was not blind chance. He really is Messiah because his life, death, and resurrection demonstrate perfect correlation with the ancient prophecies.

Eventually, you want to challenge your Jewish neighbors to consider the claims of Jesus Christ. He claimed to be God in his earthly ministry; he proved this by his death and resurrection. He claimed to be the Messiah of the Jewish people; he proved this by fulfilling all the Messianic prophecies related to his first coming. Explain to them that in order to be saved, they must come into a personal relationship with Jesus. In other words, they need to receive Jesus as their personal Messiah, their deliverer from sin and death. Remind them that believing in Jesus does not mean they lose their “Jewishness.” On the contrary, faith in the Messiah brings true salvation to all people, both Jew and Gentile.

• Additional Resources:
  • Stan Telchin, Betrayed!, 1981.
  • Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ (Chapter 10 – The Fingerprint Evidence), 1998.

Appendix: Messianic Prophecies*

*Adapted from Stan Telchin’s Betrayed!

Prophecy / Fulfillment

Son of God
Psalm 2:7 / Matthew 3:17

Seed of Abraham
Genesis 22:18 / Matthew 1:1

Son of Isaac
Genesis 21:12 / Luke 3:23-24

Son of Jacob
Numbers 24:17 / Luke 3:23-24

Tribe of Judah
Genesis 49:10 / Luke 3:23, 33

Family line of Jesse
Isaiah 11:1 / Luke 3:23, 32

House of David
Jeremiah 23:5 / Luke 3:23, 31

His pre-existence
Micah 5:2 / Colossians 1:17

He will be called Lord
Psalm 110:1 / Luke 2:11

He will be a Prophet
Deuteronomy 18:18 / Matthew 21:11

He will be a Priest
Psalm 110:4 / Hebrews 3:1

He will be a Judge
Isaiah 33:22 / John 5:30

He will be a King
Psalm 2:6 / Matthew 27:37

He will be anointed of the Holy Spirit
Isaiah 11:2 / Matthew 3:16-17

He will perform miracles
Isaiah 35:5-6 / Matthew 9:35

They divided his garments and cast lots for them
Psalm 22:18 / John 19:23-24

He would suffer thirst
Psalm 69:21 / John 19:28

They offered him gall and vinegar to drink
Psalm 69:21 / Matthew 27:34

He cried aloud
Psalm 22:1 / Matthew 27:46

He committed his spirit
Psalm 31:5 / Luke 23:46

His bones were not broken
Psalm 34:20 / John 19:33

His heart was broken
Psalm 22:14 / John 19:34

His side was pierced
Zechariah 12:10 / John 19:34

Darkness came over the land
Amos 8:9 / Matthew 27:45

He was buried in a rich man’s tomb
Isaiah 53:9 / Matthew 27:57-60

Christian Acosta serves as pastoral assistant for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and contributes to Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.