Rabbi Baruch Rubin

Most Christians know the Great Commission, which says: "Go into the world and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19). But this isn't the Great Commission for Christians; it's for Jews!

All the men addressed in this verse were Jewish. In this statement Jesus was telling the apostles to go to the gentiles and nations, and make disciples of them. Messiah was actually telling them to teach these pagans (since that's what they were) about the God of Israel and his Messiah.

Jews going to gentiles was what the Great Commission was initially all about, even though it has been expanded to Christians going to the lost.

In chapter 11 of Romans, Paul (Rabbi Saul) wrote to the believers in Rome about his people, Israel. He spoke of them as "natural" branches of the olive tree, whereas he considered gentiles to be "wild" branches (11:16-24).

No matter how good your explanation is of the gospel, and no matter how well you know the Bible, if your Jewish neighbor doesn't trust you, your witness will fail. But what makes a person trustworthy?

In my 35 years of talking to my people about the Messiah, I've found that the first step in gaining someone's trust is honesty. This is especially true between Christians and Jews.

All Jewish people know that during the Crusades and Spanish Inquisition vast numbers of Jews were killed "in the name of Christ." Even more so, many Nazis gassed Jews and went to church on Sunday. Many Jewish people have negative feelings about Christians, because of 2,000 years of anti-Semitism from those who named the name of Jesus.

The Messianic Action Committee (MAC) led the fight against two proposed laws meant to make Messianic Judaism illegal in Israel, and both of these proposals failed to become law in the land. Now, the MAC (under the name Action Committee for Messianic Judaism in Hebrew) has been officially recognized as an Israeli not-for-profit organization. This means that the government of Israel now officially recognizes Messianic Judaism!

This is really incredible news! Now, because Messianic Jews have stood their ground, Israelis will be faced with a decision. Is whatever type of Judaism they practice (or don't practice) more true than our form of Judaism—Messianic Judaism?

Recently, several books have been published describing Messianic Judaism in a rather positive light. A new book, written by a rabbi and yet to be published, describes Messianic Judaism as a branch of Judaism. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw a sketch of a seven-branch menorah that included our brand of Judaism along with Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist.

Tevye, the papa in the play/movie Fiddler on the Roof was surveying his sad situation—four unmarried daughters, a dry cow, a lame horse, Russian pogroms—he looked up to God and said,

"God it's nice that you chose me to be one of your chosen people, but would you mind choosing someone else for a change?!"

Obviously, Tevye thought being chosen meant he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. But God chose the Jews for something else. Through the Jewish people, he planned to teach the non-Jewish world about himself. Moses said to his people:

Look, I have taught you laws and rulings, just as Adonai my God ordered me .... Therefore, observe them ... for then all peoples [nations/gentiles] will see you as having wisdom and understanding. When they hear of all these laws, they will ask, "What great nation is there that has laws and rulings as just as this entire Torah which I am setting before you today?" (Deut. 4:5-8, Complete Jewish Bible, CJB).