review
“Jewish Followers of Jesus – An Overview in 40 Questions and Answers,” rolled off the press in 2010. It was written by Rev. Kees Jan Rodenburg from, who was an Israel consultant for the Center for Israel Studies (CIS) for many years. Until August 2010 he had been sent to Jerusalem with his family. The Center wants to promote the Judeo-Christian encounter, both in the Netherlands and in Israel. From his work he met many Jews, including Messianic Jews. He wrote a book about it.
Jewish followers of Jesus – Kees Jan Rodenburg
- Title: Jewish followers of Jesus – An overview in 40 questions and answers
- Author: Kees jan Rodenburg
- Publisher: Groen, Heerenveen
- Year: 2010
- ISBN 978-90-5829-965-9
- Pages: 222
Growing Interest in Messianic Jews
There has been a growing interest in Messianic or messianic Jews in recent years; Jews who accept Jesus as their Messiah. Most Messianic Jews prefer Jesus’ Hebrew name Yeshua (or Yeshua). The way this group is viewed is very variable: one has deep sympathy for the movement of Jews who follow Yeshua, the other strong resistance. Many Christians do not understand this group and are considered apostates by Orthodox Jews.
Everyone forms an opinion about this group and in the discussion the facts are often snowed under, while factual knowledge about them is of cardinal importance. Kees Jan Rodenburg paints a clear picture of Messianic Jews. He does this objectively and with a certain distance and at the same time involved. On the basis of forty questions that are divided into five themes, he offers a brief overview of this fascinating group of Jews. The book can also serve as a reference work thanks to an extensive directory of names.
The bridge that crosses the gorge
Over the centuries, an immense gap has developed between synagogue and church, between Christians and Jews. Because Messianic Jews unite both worlds, they break through the usual boundaries and concepts. This provokes (sometimes fierce) resistance in both camps. Messianic Jews undermine the separation between church and synagogue and that is perceived as threatening. Rodenburg shows that this special group of Jews, through their identity and background, brings the Christian congregation into contact with all kinds of aspects of the Biblical message that had been overlooked for a long time. This concerns matters such as the continuing significance of Israel (God eternal covenant people – the church has not replaced Israel) and the full Jewish bed in which Christianity originated.
Messianic Jews make an urgent appeal to the church to reflect on its Jewish roots and its relationship to the Jewish community:
The history of the church and its theology has been strongly influenced by an anti-Jewish attitude … The church must rediscover that Jesus was a Jew [en nog steeds is], and that His Gospel is for Jews and Gentiles; Jews who confess Jesus as Messiah are the firstfruits of the harvest among Israel (p. 12).
In forty fascinating and sometimes provocative questions, the writer addresses the Jewish followers of Jesus and thereby deepens our knowledge about this group. The questions are clustered around five themes:
- the name and identity of Jewish followers of Jesus (chapter 1);
- the history of the Messianic movement (chapter 2);
- the situation of Messianic Jews in Israel (chapter 3);
- important theological views of Messianic Jews (chapter 4); and
- the position of Messianic Jews in relation to synagogue and church (chapter 5).
The book ends with a conclusion: ‘Jewish followers of Jesus and the church’.
Restoration of the foundation of faith
Christians are challenged to give Messianic Jews a place of their own that does justice to the Biblical message. In the image of the noble olive tree in Romans 11, the church must come to realize that it is not that she carries the root, but the root carries it! Messianic Jews lead the Gentile believers back to the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, creating the understanding among more and more people that the Church must radically restore the Jewishness of the Gospel if it is not to adhere to a faulty Gospel.
For years ‘converted Jews’ had to declare at their baptism that they renounce all kinds of Jewish customs. One sentence from the confessional text that Chrysostom had written for converted Jews reads:
I radically distance myself from everything Jewish, every law, ritual and custom.
It is infuriating! It brings tears to my eyes when I read such an anti-Jewish and anti-Biblical text by this church father. Let it get to you for a moment: this church father – a believer from the Gentiles – imposed on converted Jews that they had to give up their Jewishness, while he is grafted on the faith in Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus the Messiah). noble olive tree among the remaining natural branches – the Jewish believers. This John Chrysostom is cut off from his pagan roots according to the New Testament. Instead of forcing Jews to give up their Jewish identity, he should have gotten rid of all the pagan influences that had crept into the church by then. The world upside down!
The church must turn away completely from paganism and back to the sources from which Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus Messiah) drew. Gentile believers can learn a lot from the Jewish followers of Jesus.