In the '70s,
the "messianic movement" was understood as a moving of Jewish people to
faith in Y'shua in the context of Jewish culture. "Messianic," while not
formally defined, had a clear connotation of "Jewish and a believer in
Jesus."
For a variety of reasons, the landscape has changed
significantly. The term "messianic" has been adopted—and sometimes
co-opted—by numerous groups and theologies. "Messianic" often refers to
messianic congregations, which themselves have a variety of
interpretations of what is "truly messianic." But the term is also used to
describe seminars on the "Hebrew roots" of the gospel or the belief that
the Church is Ephraim. Another common usage of the term "messianic" is an
adjective that refers to the Jewishness of something generally thought to
be Christian (as in a messianic version of the New Testament). Ironically,
it is also used to describe the "Jesusness" of something generally thought
to be Jewish (as in a messianic mikvah, or baptism).
Some ministries and groups exhort all followers of Y'shua
- Jewish
or not - to observe Jewish holidays. Many teach the importance of recovering
the first-century faith of believers in Jesus and rejecting the pagan
notions they feel have corrupted faith in the Messiah. Of course, people's
opinions of "pagan notions" range from topics as peripheral as Christmas
trees and other holiday trappings to core issues of Incarnation and
Trinity.
The challenge of the messianic movement is, therefore, to
sort out its various strands and connotations, to understand the various
meanings of "messianic" and to test all things
and hold fast to what is
good (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Part of this sorting out process is to understand
at least a bit of the historic context.
"Messianic" is not a particularly new term, and expressing
faith in Y'shua in a Jewish mode is certainly not new. According to Louis
Goldberg, the term "messianic Jew" was borrowed from Jewish believers in
Israel, who have used it since the 1930s. But the reality of messianic
Jews, if not the term itself, obviously dates back much further.
Jewish believers in the early church retained their
distinctive Jewish lifestyle for several centuries. More recently, in the
late 19th century, coinciding with the rise of Jewish nationalism, Joseph
Rabinowitz established a congregation in Kishineff, Ukraine. There,
worshipers expressed faith in Jesus through the contours of Jewish
culture in what many see as the first modern expression of a messianic
congregation.
In Australia, Lawrence Duff-Forbes is sometimes credited
with popularizing the term "messianic Judaism" in the mid-20th century.
Yet the term itself is found much earlier. For instance, David Baron used
it in a 1911 article. Baron also used the term "messianic movement" to
describe the belief that:
It is incumbent on Hebrew Christians, in order to keep
up their "national continuity," not only to identify themselves with
their unbelieving Jewish brethren, in their national aspirations - as
expressed, for instance, in Zionism and other movements which aim at
creating and fostering "the national idea" and regaining possession of
Palestine - but to observe the "national" rites and customs of the Jews,
such as the keeping of the Sabbath, circumcision, and other observances,
some of which have not even their origin in the law of Moses, but are
part of that unbearable yoke which was laid on the neck of our people by
the Rabbis.
If you can read that amazingly long sentence you may
surmise that Baron saw the "messianic movement" as a faction of Jewish
believers with whom he took issue. He also refers to the term as a "rather
grand-sounding designation [which] does not describe any movement of Jews
in the direction of recognizing our Lord Jesus Christ as the Messiah, but
an agitation on the part of some Hebrew Christian brethren, who have
evidently yet much to learn as to the true character of their high calling
of God in Christ Jesus, supported by a few no doubt well-meaning excellent
Gentile Christian friends, who. . . do not understand the real tendency of this
'movement'."1
So the "messianic movement" as Baron observed it was a
particular stream of Jewish believers in Jesus who wanted to emphasize
more of the Jewish observances rather than a movement of Jews coming to
find salvation in Y'shua.
Given these few glimpses of the term "messianic" across
space and time, it should be clear that there is no founder or
spokesperson for the terms "messianic," "messianic movement," "messianic
Jew" or "messianic Judaism." In fact, it seems to us that such terms are
often used in two opposite ways.
One way is inclusive: "messianic" as a broad term that
encompasses not only Jews who believe in Jesus and keep Jewish customs and
practices, but also any Christian who is exploring the Jewishness of the
gospel, as well as anyone else who purports to live according to the
teachings and practices of the first followers of Jesus - whether or not
they accept His deity. In the contemporary world of diversity and post
modern fragmentation, some people view most anything that puts "Jesus" and
"Jewish" in the same breath as part of the messianic movement—whether
biblical in theology or not, whether Jews or Gentiles are involved. This
"messianic umbrella" covers those who are merely studying the Jewish
backgrounds of the New Testament, as well as those who seek to embrace an
Orthodox, rabbinic Jewish lifestyle.
The other and opposite way is the way of exclusivity:
using the term to delineate boundaries and borders - in other words,
messianic as a fence. A recent document from the Union of Messianic Jewish
Congregations (UMJC) defines messianic Judaism as "a movement of Jewish
congregations and congregationlike groupings committed to Yeshua the
Messiah that embrace the covenantal responsibility of Jewish life and
identity rooted in Torah, expressed in tradition, renewed and applied in
the context of the New Covenant."2 A related statement remarks
that faith in Y'shua "unites Messianic Judaism and the Gentile Christian
Church, which is the assembly of the faithful from the nations who are
joined to Israel through the Messiah."3
According to these statements, messianic Judaism is the
Jewish wing of the Body of Christ. (The concept of a "Gentile Christian
Church" is a misnomer indicative of a problem to be addressed in Part Two
of this article.) At any rate, the above quotes define messianic Judaism
as a congregational movement in which Torah and tradition are kept. It
seems to exclude Jewish believers in Jesus who are part of the First
Lutheran or First Baptist Church, who value their Jewish identity and
heritage but do not feel compelled to 1. consider themselves apart from
their Gentile brothers and sisters, or 2. keep the Torah, aside from the
basic moral commandments or 3. regard extra-biblical traditions and
rabbinical interpretations of Scripture as a necessary part of their
lives. It also seems to exclude Jewish believers in Jesus who belong to
messianic congregations that do not regard extra-biblical traditions and
rabbinical interpretations of Scripture as a necessary part of their
lives.
So then, the term "messianic" encompasses a broad spectrum
from inclusive to exclusive. In effect it can either mean nothing, or
whatever a particular person or group decides that it means.
We believe the term "messianic movement" was more helpful
when it described an actual moving of Jewish people to faith in Y'shua.
The term "messianic" was likewise more useful when it referred to a Jewish
person who was a follower of Jesus as Messiah, Savior and Son of God with
no conditions or descriptions attached.
The problem is that we cannot define ourselves. If we
belong to Y'shua, then He has defined us. We have been bought with a
price; we are not our own. We have become His followers, we live for Him
and find all meaning and value primarily in Him. Jesus-believer,
Jesus-follower, Jesus-belonger is the genus—the varieties of expression
are the species. According to Scripture, our core identity is in Messiah
Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:14). "All the rest," as Hillel once observed, "is
commentary." That is not to marginalize the Jewish aspect of Jewish
believers in Jesus. The fact that we are defined by and through Jesus does
not detract from but in fact enhances the meaning and purpose of our
heritage. But it also indicates a certain perspective - perhaps even
hierarchy - which some knowingly reject and others seem simply to overlook
or forget. This is apparent in some individuals and groups in the
messianic movement - be they inclusive or exclusive.
In Part Two of this article we hope to lay out a sort of
field guide to the "messianic spectrum" with the hope of challenging
followers of Jesus, whether Jewish or Gentile, to follow Paul's
exhortation: whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is
excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things
(Philippians 4:8).