From: ljmorly@polaris.utu.fi (Laura Johanna Manninen)
Subject: The Messiah
Organization: University of Turku
Distribution: alt
Date: 23 Jan 93 13:31:34

Since we seem to have a lot of new readers, it's time to repost this one...

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From: btiffany@pbs.org
Newsgroups: alt.messianic
Subject: YESHUA -- WHO IS HE?
Date: 20 Feb 92 14:14:51 GMT
Organization: PBS:Public Broadcasting Service, Alexandria, VA

What follows is the text of a booklet written by Mike Brown entitled "Yeshua --
Who Is He?"  Copies are available from Messianic Vision (P.O. Box 34444,
Bethesda, Maryland 20827) for 50 cents each.  This has been reproduced with
permission.

BTW, Messiah Yeshiva is now called Messiah Biblical Institute and Graduate
School of Theology (MBI), although folks still refer to it as "the yeshiva".

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                 Y E S H U A    - -    W H O    I S    H E ?

                             By Dr. Michael L. Brown




                                 JESUS -- YESHUA.

    Rabbi?        Prophet?        Healer?       Deliverer?           Savior?

                                    Messiah?

                                   Son of God?

                                 JESUS -- YESHUA.

   Deceiver?      Apostate?       Magician?        Rebel?         Traitor?

                                      Liar?

                                 Accursed of God?

                            Jesus -- Yeshua.  Who is He?



     Two thousand years have come and gone, but the  question  remains  the
     same:   Is  Jesus  of  Nazareth  the Jewish Messiah, the Savior of the
     world?  If He is, then let's follow Him, for we have no other way.  If
     He's not, let's expose Him, for only the truth will set us free.

     Although the world is full of religions, the  controversy  surrounding
     the  Messiahship  of  Jesus  is  unique, because both those who accept
     Jesus and those who reject Him base their beliefs on one and the  same
     Book.   Jews  who  follow  Jesus  say:   "He  must be the Messiah.  He
     fulfilled *all* the prophecies of the Bible.  Jews  who  don't  follow
     Jesus  say:   "He  can't  be  the Messiah.  He fulfilled *none* of the
     prophecies of the Bible."

                                  Who's right?

     From one book, the Hebrew Scriptures, have come two faiths.  One faith
     says:   We'd  rather  die than *confess* the name of Jesus.  The other
     faith says:  We'd rather die than *deny* the name of Jesus.  One faith
     says:   There  are  two  Messiahs  who will come only once.* The other
     faith says:  There is one Messiah but He will come twice.

     [* Although most traditional Jews are unaware of the teaching  of  the
     two  Messiahs,  one who will suffer and die in the last great war, and
     one who will rule and reign, this is the teaching of  the  Talmud  and
     most  of  the  early  Jewish writings.  For a clear statement, see the
     Babylonian Talmud, Sukkah 52a.]

                            So how can *I* know the truth?

     Simple.  Only one of these two faiths has really followed  the  Bible.
     The  other has gone its own way.  Only one has really continued in the
     power of God.  The other has followed the traditions of  men.   If  we
     listen  carefully  to the voice of God, then His Word will be "a light
     to our path and a lamp to our feet." His Word is sure.  He cannot lie.

     Recently I was speaking to a well educated, ultra-orthodox rabbi about
     the  Messiahship  of Jesus.  He didn't want to hear my opinions (and I
     can't blame him for that!).  He didn't care about  what  anybody  else
     had  to  say.   He  just  wanted  to  go back to the original sources.
     "Let's go back to the Talmud," he said.  "That's where we can find the
     truth."

     I think my answer surprised  him.   "Why  should  I  go  back  to  the
     Talmud,"  I  said,  "when  I  can  go  all  the  way  back  to the New
     Testament?" To *my* surprise, he didn't argue.

     You see, many Jewish people today are told that Judaism alone  is  the
     real  religion  of the Bible, and that "Christianity" is a much later,
     predominantly gentile religion.  And yet  statements  such  as  these,
     intimidating as they may sound, are simply not true.

     Here are the facts:  traditional  Judaism  as  we  know  it  today  is
     absolutely  *not*  the  religion of Moses and the prophets.  It is the
     religion of the rabbis who lived and taught  over  1500  years  later.
     Instead of being the religion of Temple and sacrifice as prescribed by
     the Torah, it is the religion of *no* Temple and  *no*  sacrifice,  in
     spite  of  the  Torah.   It  may  shock  you to know this, but some of
     Judaism's most sacred books did  not  even  *exist*  before  the  late
     Middle  Ages.   Christopher  Columbus  had  already discovered America
     before the Code of Jewish Law used by Orthodox  Jews  today  had  ever
     been compiled!

     As for Messianic Judaism, the Judaism  that  believes  in  Yeshua  the
     Messiah,  the  facts are as follows:  the sole authority for faith and
     practice is the Bible,  consisting  of  the  Old  and  New  Covenants.
     Rather  than  the  New  Covenant  being  a  late gentile book, all its
     authors, except one, were Jews, Jews who lived in  the  days  *before*
     the  second Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E.  Many other traditions and
     customs added in the  following  centuries  by  the  church  have  had
     absolutely  nothing to do with the Bible and therefore have absolutely
     no connection with Messianic Judaism.  Although some people  may  call
     them  "Biblical" or "Christian," they are totally devoid of scriptural
     authority.

     The writers of the New Covenant were Jews who recognized that  Messiah
     had  come  to  atone  for  the  sins  of His people.  They based their
     beliefs on the Hebrew Scriptures, and on the Hebrew Scriptures  alone.
     Thus they knew that Yeshua was the Jewish Messiah because He fulfilled
     the Old Covenant prophecies.  IF HE HAD NOT FULFILLED  THE  PROPHECIES
     THEN THEY WOULD NOT HAVE FOLLOWED HIM.  They recognized Him because He
     fit the description perfectly.

     Then why didn't the other Jewish leaders of the day  acknowledge  that
     Yeshua  was  in  fact  the Messiah?  The answer again is simple:  They
     weren't looking for Him.  They were looking for another.  The  Messiah
     of  the  rabbis  was  not the Messiah of the Bible.  And yet the thing
     they longed for most was the very thing they missed, FOR  MESSIAH  HAD
     COME TO SAVE THEM FROM THEIR SINS.

     So in 30 C.E., as Yeshua "approached Jerusalem and saw  the  city,  He
     wept  over  it and said, 'If you, even you, had only known on this day
     what would bring you peace -- but now it is  hidden  from  your  eyes.
     For  you  did  not  recognize the time of God's coming to you.'" Forty
     years later Jerusalem was destroyed, and  tens  of  thousands  of  her
     inhabitants were dead.

     "But wait one second," you say.  "Weren't these rabbis the  very  ones
     who studied the Law day and night?  And weren't these the men who were
     responsible for some of the most beautiful prayers and teachings  that
     were  ever  written?   How  did it happen, then, that some of the most
     scrupulous and zealous Jews who ever lived missed the Messiah?" It  is
     to this question that we now must turn.


                                 Substitution

     There is no more important word in the Hebrew Bible than  this  if  we
     are to understand God's holy love for us -- Substitution.

     It is the key that unlocks the door to our redemption.  And it is  the
     rock  that makes men stumble.  IT ALONE CAN FULLY EXPLAIN WHY YESHUA'S
     OWN PEOPLE MISSED HIM,  AND  IT  ALONE  CAN  OPEN  THEIR  EYES  AGAIN.
     Substitution.  Without this word Yeshua's death is a farce.

     The rabbis of the Talmud debated about how to be made right with  God.
     While some recognized that "there was no atonement without the blood,"
     they didn't all agree on the rest.  Some said, "For certain sins,  the
     Day of Atonement alone is sufficient." Others argued, "No!  There must
     be repentance as  well."  Some  claimed  that  only  the  Day,  *plus*
     repentance,  *plus*  suffering  would  do  the trick, while there were
     those who said, "The only hope  for  forgiveness  is  in  the  Day  of
     Atonement and death!"

     And yet they missed the point of the Day, and they missed the point of
     the  blood.   They  failed  to  grasp the lesson that was before their
     eyes.

     Day after day, the Sadducees offered their sacrifices at  the  Temple.
     Thousands  upon  thousands of animals were slain, and gallons of blood
     were poured out on the altar.  Lambs and goats  and  rams  and  calves
     were offered up to a holy God.  Yet the people could not see.

     The Pharisees studied  the  Torah  day  and  night.   They  added  new
     regulations  to  old laws, and they developed the most detailed system
     of ritual purity that the world has ever known.  They thought that the
     *study*  of  the  Law  was  more  loved by God than even the offerings
     themselves.  Yet they failed to see the heart  of  the  matter.   They
     failed to grasp the fundamental meaning of it all.

     For it was not the blood of bulls that God wanted for Himself; it  was
     not  the  fat of rams that He desired.  It was not a people of outward
     holiness that He sought; He did not require a new code that would keep
     men  clean.   No.   He wanted a substitute, a righteous lamb who would
     bear His people's sins.  He wanted  a  spotless  sacrifice  who  would
     purify the people within.

     Over and over again, a thousand times ten thousand, the offerings were
     brought  before  the  altar.   And over and over again, in numbers too
     great to count, their innocent blood was spilled.  And over  and  over
     again, the message of God was crying out:  "A substitute must come!  A
     substitute must come!"


     The Jewish people of Yeshua's day were all looking for a Savior.  Some
     hoped  for  a  mighty  military  leader,  while  others  looked  for a
     deliverer from the sky.  Some looked for a holy priest,  while  others
     looked  for  a teacher of righteousness.  Yet no one was looking for a
     crucified Messiah.  And no one was looking for the Lamb of God.   They
     had  forgotten that the righteous Servant of the LORD was *Himself* an
     'asham -- an offering for sin (Isaiah 53:10).  And they had  forgotten
     father Abraham's words that *God* would provide the lamb for the burnt
     offering (Genesis 22:8).

     Yes, there *were* some rabbis who claimed that *every*  sacrifice  was
     accepted  on  the  basis  of  Abraham's  offering  up Isaac.  And they
     claimed that in the Passover rite, when God "saw  the  blood"  (Exodus
     12),  He  was looking at the sacrifice of Isaac and *not* the blood of
     the lamb.

     Yet Isaac was *not* offered, and his blood was never shed.  And it was
     *God  Himself*  who  provided  the  sacrifice  that  saved the life of
     Abraham's son.

     It was *Messiah* who suffered and died, and it is by *His* wounds that
     we  are  healed (Isaiah 53:5).  It was he who was led as a lamb to the
     slaughter, and it was He who bore  our  sins  (Isaiah  53:7,  12,  and
     Leviticus 16:22).

     Oh yes, there were Jewish teachers who believed that the suffering  of
     the  righteous could bring atonement to the world.  Yet when the truly
     Righteous One suffered and died, they said that it was for nought.

     Our rabbis tell us that when Messiah comes, He will establish peace on
     earth.  When the real Savior comes, He will remove us from sin.  BUT A
     SAVIOR WHO TAKES US OUT OF SIN WITHOUT TAKING THE SIN  OUT  OF  US  IS
     REALLY NO SAVIOR AT ALL.  AND A MESSIAH WHO ESTABLISHES PEACE ON EARTH
     WITHOUT FIRST ESTABLISHING PEACE IN OUR HEARTS IS REALLY NO MESSIAH AT
     ALL.

     Messiah *had* to die.  Messiah *had* to take our place.  THERE WAS  NO
     OTHER  WAY.  No other substitute was found.  No one else could pay the
     price.  Nothing else could heal our wounds, for sin required death.

     YESHUA paid the price.  It was HIS death that  brought  us  life.   HE
     alone  was  the substitute for the sinful human race, and HE alone can
     offer us redemption.


     The traditional Judaism of our day has its roots in  the  religion  of
     the  Pharisees,  a  small  group  of Jews who banded together over two
     thousand years ago.  These  were  the  men  who  would  not  eat  with
     ceremonially  unwashed hands, the men so famous for their attention to
     detail.  These were the men who even tithed on insignificant crops and
     who studied every jot and tittle of God's Law.

     Yet many of these men missed Yeshua when He came.  They  did  not  see
     the forest for the trees.

     For it is not ritual observance that makes a man clean within, and  it
     is  not  attention  to  an outer system of laws that brings us to God.
     The heart of the Torah is to "love God with all  our  hearts,  and  to
     love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves."  Yet this is the truth that these
     zealous men missed, since in their passion for the letter of  the  law
     they missed the spirit of the One who gave it.

     And as the Pharisees went, so have the Jewish people gone.

     TRADITIONAL JUDAISM AS WE KNOW IT TODAY IS THE RELIGION OF  THOSE  WHO
     REJECTED YESHUA.  It is a decided reaction *against* faith in Him.  It
     is a system which has been  reconstructed  to  negate  and  counteract
     Messiah's  real  claims.   That's  why traditional Jews throughout the
     ages have stumbled over the person of Yeshua.  But in the beginning it
     was not so.

     The Jewish teachers *before*  Yeshua  emphasized  the  miraculous  and
     believed  in  the  power of God's testimony from heaven.  But when the
     followers of Yeshua had all the healing cures, they  said,  "We  don't
     depend on a miracle!"

     Many of the Jews of Yeshua's day were  looking  for  a  deliverer  who
     would  come  in  the clouds of heaven.  Yet when Yeshua came and said,
     "*I* will come again in the clouds of heaven,"  they  said,  "Not  so!
     Our Messiah will be a teacher of the Law, a rabbi like ourselves!"

     They had the prayers,  they  had  the  laws,  they  had  the  covenant
     tradition  --  how  did  our forefathers miss it?  The answer again is
     simple.  They truly had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge
     (Romans  10:2).   They did not attain what they sought after, for they
     stumbled over the grace of God.

     Messiah had come to make them well, yet they said in reply, "We're not
     sick!"


     But not all of our forefathers missed it.  The writer of  almost  half
     of  the  New  Covenant  was  himself  a Pharisee, born of the tribe of
     Benjamin.  And the Book of Acts records "how  many  myriads  of  Jews"
     there  were  who believed and were zealous for the Torah (Acts 21:20).
     In fact, "a great many of the [Jewish] priests were  obedient  to  the
     faith"  (Acts  6:7),  and even today in our country and throughout the
     world, there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of Jews who  believe  and  confess,
     "Yeshua is the Messiah!  Yeshua is Lord!"

     This, then, is the real Judaism, the Judaism that is truly  Messianic.
     And this is the faith that will bring the world back to God, the faith
     that will cause the nations to believe.  And Yeshua  is  the  One  who
     will  establish  justice  in the earth, "and the coastlands shall [and
     do!] wait for His law!" (Isaiah 42:4).


     The Talmud teaches that for the last forty years before the Temple was
     destroyed,  God  did not accept the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement
     (Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 39).  Year after year, for the  life  of  one
     whole generation, the LORD was saying, "No."

     You see, God had provided one sacrifice for all, a final atonement for
     the  sins  of  mankind.   God had provided the Lamb.  And it was FORTY
     YEARS BEFORE THE TEMPLE WAS DESTROYED that Yeshua  offered  His  life.
     From  that  day  to this, God has been saying "no" to His people.  "No
     more of *your* sacrifices, no more  of  *your*  prayers,  no  more  of
     *your* works.  I have provided the way."

     Yet to all who have ears to hear, God has been saying:  "Yes, you  may
     come!   Yes, you can know Me!  Yes, I will cleanse you from *all* your
     sin!  Believe in the One that  *I*  have  sent.   Messiah  Yeshua  has
     come."

     The spiritual leaders of our people who tell us that  we  cannot  know
     God  are  wrong.   They are only saying, "I don't know Him, so how can
     you?  I've studied for years and I'm still learning.  How can  you  be
     so sure?"

     Once again, our answer is simple and clear.  Messiah Yeshua  has  made
     God  known.   He has revealed the Father to us.  And through His blood
     we have been brought back to God.


                           Tradition will not save us.
                          Opinions will not set us free.
                   Messiah has ransomed our souls from the pit.
                         Let all His Jewish people come!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Michael L. Brown received his Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and
Literature from New York University.  He is the Dean of Messiah Yeshiva and
Graduate School of Theology in Rockville, Maryland.
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- Laura
--
"Who has gone up to heaven and come down ?
 Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands ?
 Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak ?
 Who has established all the ends of the earth ?
 What is his name, and the name of his son ?
 Tell me if you know !"      - Mishlei 30:4
Xref: sparky alt.messianic:4120 talk.religion.misc:27329