Join Rabbi Schneider as he delves into the intricate relationship between Yeshua (Jesus) and biblical Judaism. This episode explores the fulfillment of messianic prophecies as depicted in the Hebrew Bible, and how Jesus’ life and teachings complete the ancient tenets of faith. Rabbi Schneider examines the expectations of Messiah’s coming, as seen in the New Testament and how this ties into the Jewish history.
You see, a lot of times people don’t understand that in the Hebrew Bible, in the Tanakh, not only was God’s holiness and justice revealed when we see God punishing sin, but God’s grace was also revealed in the Hebrew Bible. As we begin, I want you to consider Yeshua’s words at the end of the book of Luke as He was ministering to His disciples. I want to go first of all to the 24th chapter of the book of Luke. As we enter into this 24th chapter of Luke, we find a scenario where Yeshua’s disciples were completely discouraged. Now let’s think about this. They had left everything to follow Jesus. Remember, they were fishermen. They left their occupation. They left everything that they were doing because they believed that Yeshua truly was the Messiah. They thought he would come and liberate the Jewish people many. They were just expecting the kingdom of God to break in upon the earth in such a way that everything would radically change. They had such incredible expectations about the kingdom of God. breaking into the earth through Messiah Jesus, and yet in the middle of their expectations, what happened? Jesus gets crucified. I mean, it turned their world upside down. They didn’t know what side was up and what side was down. They had been completely deflated. And while they’re in this emotional, discouraged, confused state, they’re walking down a road to a city called Emmaus. And they’re probably just looking down at the ground and their head is spinning and they’re talking again, just full of chaos. They don’t know what in the world just happened. And as they’re walking, the scripture says, Jesus approached them on the road, and yet Yeshua approached them with a physical form that was different than the form of Jesus that they knew when they were walking with him upon the earth. In other words, Jesus came and approached them, but he looked physically completely different to them. In other words, rather than his hair being this color, his hair was a little bit different color. Rather than his eyes being this color, his eyes were a little bit different color. He looked like a different person. You ask, how could that be? Listen, God says this, is anything impossible with the Lord? All things are possible with God. I mean, he created the universe. So Jesus approaches them. They didn’t know it was Jesus. And Yeshua, he kind of plays like he doesn’t know what’s going on. He says to them, what’s wrong, guys? Why are you so discouraged? And they look at him like he’s Meshugganah, like he’s not. They said, don’t you know what just happened? That this one that we were so excited about, everybody had heard of him, Yeshua of Nazareth. We thought he was the Messiah. His name spread all over Jerusalem. And yet they crucified him. And Yeshua is acting like, oh, tell me about it. And so they’re continuing on the journey and Jesus lets them talk for a little bit. And then notice what Jesus does. I’m reading now from the book of Luke, chapter 24, verse 25. Then Jesus said to them, O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? Then beginning with Moses, And with all the prophets, he explained to them the things concerning himself in the scriptures. And then he opened their eyes and they recognized him. We find a similar incident taking place at the end of the book of Luke, where the disciples were fishing. I mean, again, their world is still spinning. They’re trying to put it all together. Remember, Peter betrayed Jesus. Peter said he didn’t know him. And so they are still completely floundering. Jesus approaches them once again at the end of the book of Luke. Listen to what he says, verse 46. It is written that the Christ would suffer and again rise from the dead on the third day. And he prefaced that by saying, now he said to them, these are my words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you. Listen now, that all things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand. the Scriptures. So Yeshua Himself right here in these two examples, beloved church, is claiming to be the fulfillment of what I am calling biblical Judaism. In both of these instances, beloved ones, that we just looked at, Jesus said, did you not read the Scriptures? What scriptures was he talking about? He was talking about the Torah, the prophets, the writings, the Psalms, etc. He says, didn’t you read in the Tanakh about me and understand how I would need to suffer these things that I have suffered in order that I would be able to bring atonement and salvation to the world? So Yeshua himself was claiming to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament or the Hebrew scriptures, same thing. And He is the fulfillment here we see of biblical Judaism. Why am I using the term biblical Judaism? The reason, church, I use the term biblical Judaism is because the Judaism that is practiced today, different from what was originally given the children of Israel by Hashem, by Father God in the Torah. Because the revelation that Father God gave Israel in the Torah consisted of three primary foundations. And the three primary foundations of biblical Judaism are, listen now, the sacrifices, the priesthood that offered the sacrifices, and the temple that the sacrifices needed to be offered in. And when the Romans came in and destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD, shortly after Yeshua was crucified, Those three pillars of biblical or Torah-based Judaism fell. When the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, what that meant to the Jewish people is that they could no longer offer sacrifices. And how is sin taken away? The Lord told us how sin was taken away in the book of Leviticus chapter 16 and 17. The Lord said in Leviticus 17, 11, The life of the flesh is in the blood, and I’ve given it to you on the altar to make an atonement for your soul, for it’s the blood by reason of its life that makes atonement. So it was through the blood sacrifices that atonement was granted, and these sacrifices could only be offered by the priesthood, by the Levitical priesthood, and the sacrifices had to be offered, listen, to Hashem, to Father God, in the temple. So again, when the temple was destroyed, sacrifices no longer could be offered, the priesthood scattered, and the temple was gone. And so as a result of that, Judaism morphed. And how this happened is that there was a consul in 90 AD, oftentimes called the Consul of Yavnev. And at this consul, the leading Pharisees of the day, who were, by the way, the offspring of the Pharisees that wanted to see Yeshua crucified because they were threatened by him. They got together. in Yavne, 90 AD, and they basically reinvented Judaism, and they said that the prayer and the liturgy replaced the sacrifices. And this changing of the essence of Judaism that took place beginning in 90 AD is what is practiced today by Orthodox Jews. In other words, Orthodox Judaism today has its origin or genesis back in 90 AD when Judaism was reinvented. And so I say all that to say that the Judaism of today It’s called rabbinic Judaism, and it is very different than biblical Judaism because biblical Judaism demands the priesthood, the sacrifices of the temple, which no longer exist, and they have been replaced by today’s Judaism with liturgy and different other types of prayers.
SPEAKER 01 :
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SPEAKER 02 :
Jesus, as we just looked at in the book of Luke 24, He claimed to be the fulfillment of biblical-based Judaism. He gave His blood, He gave His life as the final atonement for sin. The strongest prophecy of the Lord’s coming in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Tanakh, is in the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah. where the Lord is speaking there about sending his servant and that his servant would be wounded and pierced through for the transgressions of iniquities of his people. But that through God’s purpose, this servant, even though he would pierce through and lose his life for the transgression of God’s people, God would yet prolong his days. In other words, God was going to raise him up from the dead. And through his sacrifice, through the atonement of his servant in Isaiah 53, the people would be forgiven. And so Yeshua completed the prophecies of Messiah’s coming in the Hebrew Scriptures. He became not only the atonement, but he himself became the picture of the final temple, and Yeshua has become the true high priest, right? Without Jesus, beloved, I like to think of this analogy, what it’s like to have faith in God without Yeshua just based upon the Hebrew scriptures. Because the temple and the priesthood and the sacrifices are no longer in place, all we have instead are liturgy and ceremonial traditions and so forth, prayer to replace them. I like to think of it this way. If I wanted to go from Columbus, Ohio to Miami Beach, Florida, and I had a layover in Atlanta, so I fly from Columbus, I land in Atlanta, I’m ready to catch my next flight to get me to my destination, which is Miami Beach, but lo and behold, I miss my flight out of Atlanta to Miami Beach, and I’m stranded in Atlanta. To me, I say humbly, that Judaism without Jesus is like the man that missed his connecting flight. You only get halfway there. You see, Yeshua is the completion of biblical Judaism. Even when we go back to the ancient rabbis, we find that one of the foremost tenets of Judaism is the expectation of the Messiah coming. In fact, in the New Testament, we recall how John the Baptist sent a messenger to Jesus. John the Baptist was imprisoned, but John the Baptist sent a messenger to Jesus, and he told the messenger to say to Jesus, are you the Messiah? Are you the one that we were expecting or should we expect another? And the reason I’m pointing this out, church, is because you see how much of an expectation there was for Messiah to come in the New Testament. John the Baptist sends the messenger to Jesus and says, are you the one we’ve been looking for? Who are they looking for? They were looking for the Messiah. Messianic expectation has been part of Judaism from the earliest days. Now, in today’s generation within the Jewish world, many have lost confidence in the expectation of a Messiah. Many within the Jewish world, as you know, are secular. In fact, more Jewish people in the earth are secular rather than religious. And amongst those that are more religious, some of these don’t actually believe in a literal Messiah coming. Instead, they believe in a messianic age. And so, THERE IS NOT A HUGE NUMBER OF JEWISH PEOPLE, NOT THE MAJORITY OF JEWISH PEOPLE ARE ANY LONGER LOOKING FOR A MESSIAH. BUT WHEN YOU GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING, LOOKING FOR THE MESSIAH WAS VERY MUCH A PART OF THE FOUNDATION AND THE SCRIPTURES THAT GOD GAVE US. LOOK FOR EXAMPLE IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL. DANIEL WROTE MUCH ABOUT THE MESSIAH. THE POINT IS JESUS IS CLAIMING TO FULFILL MESSIANIC PROPHECY HERE IN THE BOOK OF LUKE. JESUS COMPLETELY biblical Judaism. How he does it, beloved, is he completes messianic prophecy, number one. Number two, Yeshua completes biblical Judaism because Yeshua reflects the nature of God that we see revealed in the Torah in the sense that Yeshua shows us, number one, the justice of God, on the one hand, the holiness of God, and then on the other hand, He shows us the mercy, the compassion, and the tenderness of God. So we have two natures, two aspects of God’s nature revealed in the Torah. Number one, we see God’s holiness and his justice. And number two, we see his mercy and compassion. Yeshua brings the fullness of God’s nature to bear because he shows us God’s justice in the sense that God punished sin. How does Yeshua show us that Father God is holy and He’s just and He punishes sin? Yeshua completes or fulfills the holy, just side of God. Listen now. by having to die for our sin. Why did Jesus have to die? Because sin was being punished. Yeshua took our sin in His own body. And because Yeshua now bore our sin, He had to be punished for our sin, and that’s why He was nailed to the cross. That’s why He said on the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? So number one, Yeshua reveals the nature of God’s holiness by showing that because of God’s holiness and justice, sin had to be dealt with, and God dealt with it through the person of Yeshua by giving Yeshua’s life on the cross as our penalty for sin. But then Yeshua also revealed to us God’s compassion and His mercy. Because not only did God punish sin, but God also provided through Yeshua a means to forgive, to show mercy, to show compassion. Why? Because that’s why Yeshua came. He came because God loves us. because God wanted to find a way through the person of Yeshua that we would be able to enter into a relationship with him despite the fact that we sin. So Yeshua brings everything to bear. He completes the penalty that was necessary because of God’s holiness and justice. And at the same time, through his one act of dying in our place, he also releases to us a way for us to receive the mercy and the compassion of God. You see, a lot of times people don’t understand that in the Hebrew Bible, in the Tanakh, not only was God’s holiness and justice revealed when we see God punishing sin, but God’s grace was also revealed in the Hebrew Bible. Over and over again, we see the graciousness of God. In fact, one of my favorite portions of Scripture in the Hebrew Scriptures, in the Torah, is when Moses said to the Lord, Lord, show me that you’re going to be with me. Show me, Moses prayed, your glory. And the Lord told Moses, Moshe, Moses, I want you to go in the cleft of the rock over there. And I want you to call upon my name. And Moses, as you call upon my name, I’m going to let you see the back of my glory. You can’t see my fullness, Moses. You can’t see my face. But the Lord said, I’m going to pass before you and I’m going to cause all my goodness to pass before you. And I’m going to proclaim my name. And what the Lord was saying is, Moses, as you go to the cleft of the rock and pray to me, I’m going to come to you. Listen. and I’m going to reveal myself to you and you’re going to know me and you’re going to know my glory.” So Moses goes to the cleft of the rock, beloved ones. He prays. And as he prays, the Lord comes and fills him with revelation light and overwhelms him with glory. And Moses hears Hashem. He hears the Lord speak to him. And the Lord says to him, I am Yahweh. I am Yahweh God, full of mercy and compassion and kindness. And then the Lord goes on to say there, but I will in no ways leave the guilty go unpunished. This is the clearest and most profound revelation of who God is in the entire Torah. When Moses calls on the Lord, AND THE LORD REVEALS TO MOSES WHO HE IS, THE FIRST THING THAT THE LORD REVEALS TO MOSES, HE SAID, I AM COMPASSIONATE, MOSES, AND I AM GRACIOUS, FULL OF LOVING KINDNESS AND TRUTH, FORGIVING INIQUITY, TRANSGRESSION AND SIN. WE SEE THE MERCIFUL, COMPASSIONATE PART OF GOD’S NATURE. But then the Lord continues on and He says to Moses, But Moshe, I will by no means leave the guilty go unpunished. This is the same person, beloved, we see revealed in the B’rit Hadashah, the New Testament. Jesus came to reveal the Father, and church, He has come to complete biblical Judaism. Yeshua said, whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man come to the Father but by me. I’ve always liked a very simple approach to ministry in both my preaching and, beloved ones, in helping God’s people understand why it’s important to support ministry with our finances. I’m reading a very simple portion of scripture I’ve referred to before, but I love it because it’s so simple and so authentic. Listen to what John says in the book of 3 John, verse 7 and 8. Speaking of those that are sent out to preach the gospel, he says this, for they went out for the sake of the name. And then he continues in the eighth verse by saying this, therefore, we ought to support such men so that we may be fellow workers with the truth. You see, not everybody’s called to do what I do. Not everyone’s called to travel to Africa, Israel, etc., But you can have a part in the lives that are being changed through my ministry, beloved ones, by supporting this ministry. I want to ask you, if you believe in the word that I’m preaching, if you believe in me, if you believe that there is authentic fruit, and if you’re being helped, I want to ask you to support this ministry financially. You’re going to be blessed and have a reward for the lives that are being saved and changed.
SPEAKER 01 :
If God is calling you to give to Discovering the Jewish Jesus, a gift of any amount, please give us a call today. Our number is 800-777-7835. You can also give online. Visit our website. You’ll find us at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And hey, if you’re looking for another way to transform your daily spiritual walk with Rabbi Schneider, I want to encourage you, check out our program on Roku TV. It’s absolutely free and it’s also available from the comfort of your home or wherever you find a Roku. You can experience Rabbi’s passionate teaching style in crystal clear HD. All of his shows are there, including special episodes on location in Israel. And if you’d like to find out more about that or other ways that you can watch Rabbi, just visit our website, discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And once again, if this ministry has encouraged you or strengthened your faith, if it’s helping you grow closer to Jesus, I want to invite you, support this ministry as God leads you. Your support, it allows us to continue sharing God’s word with people all over the world. I want to say thank you to those who’ve given. Thank you for standing with us and being a part of what God is doing through Discovering the Jewish Jesus. Give today at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now here’s Rabbi to wrap up this series, How Jesus Completes Biblical Judaism with the Aaronic Blessing.
SPEAKER 02 :
What I love about the Aaronic blessing is that it did not originate with man. The words actually proceeded from the very essence of God himself. The blessing comes from the book of Numbers, chapter six. So listen to these words and receive the blessing of the Lord into your life today.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with His countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, His peace. God bless you and shalom.
SPEAKER 01 :
This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. And I’m your host, Dustin Roberts. Be sure to come back next week when Rabbi Schneider asks, does God still heal? Learn the answer Monday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
