THE JEWISH
ROOTS OF CHRISTIANITY
Yeshua (Jesus) asked His
disciples:
Matt 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I
the Son of man am?
Matt 16:14 And they said, Some [say that
thou art] John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the
prophets.
Then Yeshua asks:
Matt 16:15 He saith unto them, But whom say
ye that I am?
Matt 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
If we looked
Strong's Reference for 5547 // Xristov //
Christos // khris-tos' // we would see:
Christ = "anointed". This word corresponds to Hebrew word - Ìàshiah
(Messiah).
Thus Peter meant Yeshua is Messiah of Jewish
people whom prophets said about. The prophecies of Tanakh came true in
Yeshua.
Yeshua came to ''the
lost sheep of the house of Israel''.
Matt 15:24 But he answered and said, I am
not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Matt
10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the
way of the Gentiles, and into [any] city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Matt 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep
of the house of Israel.
... The first man of
Gentiles who believed in Yeshua was Cornelius (in detail - read please
Acts 10).
Now let us read Romans 11. Rabbi Shaul said Gentiles were grafted to the olive tree. He said them ''boast not against the branches'':
Rom
11:16 For if the firstfruit [be] holy, the lump [is] also [holy]: and if the
root [be] holy, so [are] the branches.
Rom 11:17 And if some of the branches be
broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and
with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Rom 11:18 Boast not against the branches.
But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
Apostles, the first disciples of Yeshua were Jews. How many the Jewish
believers were? (See below)
At present there are many Jews too who believe in Yeshua Messiah. The aim of all Christians is to share the Good News:
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 11:11 I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but [rather] through their fall salvation [is come] unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Yeshua is the name of Jesus
"In fact, Yeshua was the fifth most common Jewish name, 4 out of the 28 Jewish High-Priests in Jesus' time were called Yeshua."
- - -
"The paradox is that about 90% or more of Jesus' sayings are parallelled in contemporary Jewish teaching. This leaves just 10% for the real Jesus. This is exactly the Jesus that the Professor Funk's Jesus Seminar have embraced, ". . . way less than 25% of the words attributed to Jesus were his"." (More: http://www.leaderu.com/theology/jesusjew.html#N_37_)
Jewish believers in Yeshua in Israel in 1st century
Jerusalem
- About 120
disciples (Acts 1:15)
- "... there were added [unto them] about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41)
- about five
thousand men (Acts 4:4)
- many tens of thousands of Jews
Acts 21:20 And when they heard [it], they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many tens of thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of Torah (the law):
- many priests
Acts 6:7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Judea, Galilee, and Samaria
Acts 9:31 Then had the churches rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
Messiah is the aim of Torah
Rom 10:4 For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
It is better to translate the Greek word telos (end) as aim. Messiah isn't the end of Totah. Messiah is the aim of Torah!
Matt 5:17 Think not
that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfil.
Matt 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot
or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
This Greek word telos
(end) is in these lines too:
Jam 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the
patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very
pitiful, and of tender mercy.
Rom 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
1Tim 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and [of] a good conscience, and [of] faith unfeigned:
THE BRIT HAS CHANGED, TORAH HAS NOT
"The Brit (the Testament - V.N.) has changed, the Torah has not. Torah has abiding relevance and authority (Malachi 4:4). In Matthew 5:17-18 Yeshua says, "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished." In these statements Law means teaching and is synonymous with all the Word of God."
"Torah has not changed. "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. (Ps. 119:89)" (More: http://www.gnfi.org/freedom_from_sinai_covenant.php)