Witnessing to non-Messianic Jews

[Charity4Ever]

I am curious about your thoughts on witnessing to non-Messianic Jews. My church teaches that they should not be evangelized too. My Bible says to spread the Gospel to ALL nations.

Do you think that gentile Christians should witness to Jews, and *can* they in today's society? If so, how should it be done? If you have experience with this, what have you done in the past?

If not, why? What should we do as Christians instead?

[Mailman Dan]

"How should I witness to a Jew?"

Sadly, many of today’s Jews profess godliness but don’t embrace the Scriptures as we presume they do. Therefore, it is often difficult to reason with them about Jesus being the Messiah. This is why it is imperative to ask a Jew if he has kept the Law of Moses—to "shut" him up under the Law (Galatians 3:23) and strip him of his self- righteousness. The Law will show him his need of a Savior and become a "schoolmaster" to bring him to Christ (Galatians 3:24), as happened to Paul, Nicodemus, and Nathaniel. It was the Law that brought 3,000 Jews to the foot of the cross on the Day of Pentecost. Without it they would not have known that they had sinned (Romans 7:7), and therefore would not have seen their need of the Savior.

Here is the best place to learn how to do it.

http://www.livingwaters.com/

Dan~~~>has tried it before

[mbtcforJesus]

I am curious about your thoughts on witnessing to non-Messianic Jews. My church teaches that they should not be evangelized too. My Bible says to spread the Gospel to ALL nations.

Do you think that gentile Christians should witness to Jews, and *can* they in today's society? If so, how should it be done? If you have experience with this, what have you done in the past?

If not, why? What should we do as Christians instead?

I'm with you Charity. My Bible says the same thing. To ALL nations, WHOSOEVER should believe, WHOEVER will come...etc. There is no restriction, that I know of, on who we should be a witness for Christ.

I used to live in suburbs of New York City. I witnessed to many Jews while living there. I didn't see any conversions, but I know I spread a lot of seeds around. :):

I witnessed to them just as I would any other person. However, when I knew they were Jewish I would talk about Isaiah 53 quite a bit as an OT prophecy on the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I would also tell a Jew that their Passover Feast is an example of the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. As you may know during the Passover, Moses told the Jews to sacrifice a lamb without spot or wrinkle and spread the blood on the doorposts of their homes so the Lord's judgment would "passover" them during their deliverance from Egypt.

In the same manner the shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a lamb without spot or wrinkle, "passes over" us and delivers us from eternal damnation.

Hope this helps a little for you. :):

[mbtcforJesus]

One further thing Charity. As Mailman Dan has touched on the way to witness to Jews is to point them to the Law. The 10 Commandments. You can ask them if they've ever lied, stolen, used the name of the Lord as a curse word, looked at a woman or man with lust in their heart, etc.

If the person is honest they'll respond yes to all. Now tell them that if they were in a court of law how would they be found? Guily or innocent? If they're honest they'll say guilty. Then say the judge asks you in order for me to let you free you have to pay $50,000 for your crimes and you don't have the money.

Then what if someone came along at the last minute just before their sentence was to be carried out and said to the Judge, "I'll pay $50,000 or some large sum of money for that persons crimes (sins). And the Judge says okay if you can pay for that persons crimes than he/she can go free.

This will show the Jew of their need for a Savior. You tell them Jesus paid the price in full at the cross.

[Charity4Ever]

It helps. Many Jews are wary and angry at any perceived attempts of evangelism because they have been historically persecuted and see it as an attempt to wipe out their culture and faith, they have usually heard it before, and they are burned, angered, and wary about it. How do you get past that?

[Mailman Dan]

www.needGod.com

Learn to ask that, and it will help make sense.


Dan~~~>finds it very effective with any group of people

[nooneuno]

ABSOLUTELY WITNESS TO THE JEWS!! :hug

'grew up in L.I., mostly Jewish community..'been praying and witnessing for years..NEVER give up...

Many times it is a matter of just planting the seed and praying.
www.jewforjesus.com, www.chosenpeople.com, www.levitt.com

Prayer!!

May the Lord give you wisdom and the words to speak about our Savior, Yeshua.

Praying.... :nod

[Charity4Ever]

See, i'm in this Intro to Judaism class i'm taking because I wanted a more clear and richer understanding of Scripture that studying that could give me. Our professor is a retired rabbi - Reform Jewish - a sweet old man.

Day 1 he said like he was against evangelism and "proselytizing', and goes to church with friends, and he knows the message, and that he knows he is welcome, etc. and that if he would want to get into that he would. He sounded he was like really burned and wary about even the thought about it.

We had to ask three questions about Judaism we wanted him to cover in class, and I asked about Temple worship (because I find that fascinating), how customs and culture in Judaism relate to Christian scripture (because that's what I came to the class to learn) and I asked about Messianic Jewish congregations, because I was curious about that too. Hopefully, if he does cover these things, we can have discussions and I can kind of mention them from a personal interest standpoint so that he's able to get something out of it.

And I've been praying for his soul already.

[Whosoever]

and I asked about Messianic Jewish congregations, because I was curious about that too.Don't be surprised if he says they aren't "real" congregations. In general, Jews believe Messianic Jews have become traitors and given up their Jewish culture in favor of Gentile teaching. This is something they take very seriously, to the point that a Jewish family will turn their backs on a Messianic convert and mourn them from that day on like they were dead. Witnessing to them isn't very easy; I remember one trip my old Messianic congregation took into NYC, and one of our Rabbis came back with a broken nose because one man took offense at the thought of someone who "still claimed to be a Jew" after accepting Yeshua.

If you, as a Gentile, truly have the heart (and courage) for evangelizing to the Jews, I would do as others have suggested and stick to the Old Testament. Show them where in the OT the Messiah is mentioned, and all the prophecies He was to fulfill. Then, show them how Yeshua fulfilled them all. Some will tune you out right away, while others would be interested to see if you can truly "prove it".

Also (and this is what a lot of Gentiles forget) try to make it clear you aren't asking them to "switch" to Christianity. To them, doing such a thing is tantamount to casting off their Jewish heritage and culture--which is where some of the suspicion comes from. They feel you're telling them they have to give up their Jewishness to "become" a Christian, because in the past that was exactly what evangelists told them. If they didn't accept the label "Christian" and give up "Jew" (and the culture that went with it) then they didn't really believe in Yeshua. Not sure if I'm making much sense on this part, but it's pretty vital to witnessing so I thought I'd mention it.

[antsinmypants]

www.heartofisrael.org/chazak/

[Lvlngandprospr]

I am curious about your thoughts on witnessing to non-Messianic Jews. My church teaches that they should not be evangelized too. My Bible says to spread the Gospel to ALL nations.

Do you think that gentile Christians should witness to Jews, and *can* they in today's society? If so, how should it be done? If you have experience with this, what have you done in the past?

If not, why? What should we do as Christians instead?

There have been many good points mentioned. If I may, add a few more and a few things to keep in mind.

First of all most Jews know what the Gospel is. They reject it. But there are very good reasons as to why they do. "Hear Oh Israel, thy God is one." is the basis. By a Christian who says Jesus is God, in Jewish thought, is pure idolotry. So keeping this in perspective, would you worship anyone other than God in our Lord Christ Jesus name? Would you add Allah? Would you add ________ (fill in the blank)? That is what the Jews think Christians did. That Jesus was added.

This has already been mentioned but please let me add to it. In the name of Jesus, Jews were purposfully sought out beginning just before 100 ad. and it has never ended. It is good to keep in mind the first believers in Jesus were Jews. They were also sought out for persecution by gentile Christians. To a Jewish person, Christians are not to be trusted, and Christians, IMO, need to respect this. Trust can be earned, and once it is earned, the Christian will have a friend for life.

One last thing. God does have a plan, and it will be fullfilled. The Jewish people will know Jesus as Messiah. We are in the time of the gentiles. If the Jews knew Jesus as Messiah, there would not have been a time of the gentiles.

Here are some websites on Orthodox Judaism. I found them very informative, very humbling.

http://www.jewfaq.org/toc.htm
http://www.aish.com/wallcam/
http://www.torah.org/

[Willo]

"How should I witness to a Jew?"

Sadly, many of today’s Jews profess godliness but don’t embrace the Scriptures as we presume they do. Therefore, it is often difficult to reason with them about Jesus being the Messiah. This is why it is imperative to ask a Jew if he has kept the Law of Moses—to "shut" him up under the Law (Galatians 3:23) and strip him of his self- righteousness. The Law will show him his need of a Savior and become a "schoolmaster" to bring him to Christ (Galatians 3:24), as happened to Paul, Nicodemus, and Nathaniel. It was the Law that brought 3,000 Jews to the foot of the cross on the Day of Pentecost. Without it they would not have known that they had sinned (Romans 7:7), and therefore would not have seen their need of the Savior.

Here is the best place to learn how to do it.

http://www.livingwaters.com/

Dan~~~>has tried it before

:thumb

[Lvlngandprospr]

How do I put this? Even the most observant Orthodox Jewish person will not adhere to all 613 Mizphas (sorry about the spelling), laws of Moses, as some are for men only, some for women only, some for Rabbis only, etc. The reasons Jews don't accept Jesus as Messiah goes far beyond that, beginning with God has closed their eyes to Him, for a time.

Scripturally, Jesus didn't fulfill what the Messiah was to fullfill. Here are a couple examples. According to Isaiah, the Messiah will gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel. This includes the Jews of the ten lost tribes. Not only did that not happen, the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and by 130 AD, all Jews were dispersed. So in Jewish understanding, Jesus was not the Messiah. The Messiah is to usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. What happened, the Jews were murdered by Christians. When Jesus came, did that fullfill Zac 14:9? No. Keep in mind, there is no idea, no teaching, no concept of a second comming. When the Jewis Messiah comes, ALL is to be fullfilled. And you know what, it will be.

If one were to go to Is. 53 to show Jesus as the suffering Messiah, you would in essence be...oh.. let me put it this way, you would be puring salt in a deep wound. For mentioning this prophecy describes the exile and redemption of the Jewish people. The fullment of the proophecies of persecution refer in part to the 11th century when Jews were tortured and killed by Crusaders who acted in the name of Jesus. Please think of this from a Jewish person's prospective. Would Messiah actually come to persecute His own?

[architectlink]

I always share my old testament studies with my Jewish friends. I also invite them to see the ROCK & THE RABBI, the story of Jesus from the Jewish perspective.

Heck, they study the old testament. They know the old testament. Why not share our perspectives on their books? The Lord is going to open their eyes and they need to hear the word too! (By the way, I don't know a single Jew who really knows the bible, except the Messianic Jews).


How can you study the bible and miss the Messiah?

[Charity4Ever]

Thank you for all of your wonderful answers. They are a great help.

Charity4Ever--->Still reading, learning, and absorbing

[antsinmypants]

How do I put this? Even the most observant Orthodox Jewish person will not adhere to all 613 Mizphas (sorry about the spelling), laws of Moses, as some are for men only, some for women only, some for Rabbis only, etc.

EXACTLY (... and it's mitzvot when plural, mitzvah when single. (just learned that myself :):) :hug)

The reasons Jews don't accept Jesus as Messiah goes far beyond that, beginning with God has closed their eyes to Him, for a time.

Much of it has to do with how we (Those who are believers) have shown Messiah to them, not to mention the persecution from the RCC, the Lutherans and even other Prodestant groups in the past, and above all-- replacement theology.

Some of it is that their eyes are for the most part closed..

Scripturally, Jesus didn't fulfill what the Messiah was to fullfill. Here are a couple examples. According to Isaiah, the Messiah will gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel. This includes the Jews of the ten lost tribes. Not only did that not happen, the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD and by 130 AD, all Jews were dispersed. So in Jewish understanding, Jesus was not the Messiah. The Messiah is to usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease.

And this is where the two schools of thought come into play as well as the fact that rabbis aren't informing their congregations of what the bible says.

One school of thought (sadducees) teach that this coming of the Messiah was a ONE time thing, not twice- and that it all happens at once.

The other school of thought (Pharisees) teach that the coming if it didn't happen all at once, was most definitely a two parter.

Also, when the talmud was being put together in the middle ages, there was more blinding done in that commentary and references that were friendly towards believers, and those friendly towards Y'shua of Nazareth-- were removed, or shouted down by hundreds of others decrying them.

Guess what everyone reads when they check for bible commentary when they really dig into The Word in yeshivas?


If one were to go to Is. 53 to show Jesus as the suffering Messiah, you would in essence be...oh.. let me put it this way, you would be puring salt in a deep wound.

Not always.

Many (sadducaical thought), think that this is only in reference to ISRAEL and the People, and not Messiah- and have been taught such for about 1,000 years by their rabbis (mainly since the persecution from the church came to a head).

Others are actually reading the bible in Hebrew and examining and seeking truth, and once are presented with this find things and other scriptures (with and without help) that also agree, not to mention examining the jots and tittles. :):

It just depends on one's approach, and the readiness of the listener, and what they've been taught previously.

[Lvlngandprospr]

Very good points to bring up. Thank you.