Jesus Lives On In Jerusalem?

In what can only be called a puff piece or glam article, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth published an article by Yoaz Hendel called "Jesus lives on in Jerusalem." This article must have been a dream come true for the Messianic movement. They could not have paid for a more pro-Messianic article. Hendel presents every idea that Messianics want the Jews to accept and not a single counter-argument against the movement. In fact, there is not a single quote from a rabbi or a leader of the Jewish community! What better way to avoid a religious counter-argument than to ignore the Jewish community!


Overall, the lack of research by Hendel is disheartening. For instance, the article attempts to directly connect the Messianic community to the original followers of Jesus. However, anyone who has studied the history of the Messianic movement knows that there is simply no connection. The Messianic movement (originally called Hebrew Christianity) was created by the Church of England in the 1800s as a method of converting Jews and making Jews more comfortable at church. This is why you never heard of a "Messianic Jew" or "Hebrew Christian" in the 200s, 900s or 1700s....they simply did not exist. The Messianic movement is no more directly connected to Jesus than the Pentecostal movement-and in truth, multiple Pentecostal organizations have created and sponsored Messianic congregations around the world.

The article further attempts to present the Messianic movement as being identical to Judaism except its followers believe that Jesus is the Messiah. This is a false claim. The Messianic movement is a branch of Christianity. Judaism and Christianity are different religions with wide differences in theology. Like all Christians, the Messianic movement believes in the Holy Trinity, that Jesus is divine and that you need to accept Jesus or you are doomed to hell. These beliefs are not similar to true Judaism, either in the present time or at any time in history.

Lastly, the article gives voice to the Messianic claim that Messianic beliefs are guided or based in Torah. In reality, their beliefs are counter to the Torah and all other sections of the Jewish Bible. The Messianic movement believes that Jesus, a man, is divine while the Bible (e.g. Numbers 23:19 and Hoshea 11:9) states bluntly that G-d is not a man. The Messianic believes in the Holy Trinity while the Torah states that G-d is One, Unified Being. Every day we say the verse from Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear O' Israel, the L-rd is G-d, the L-rd is One." Messianics believe that Jesus was a sacrifice for sin and that there is no other way to gain forgiveness. However the Book of Leviticus, the third book of the Torah, is very clear that a human is not on the list of acceptable sin sacrifices. Further, the Bible gives multiple other methods of to receive G-d's forgiveness such as doing good deeds and acting mercifully to othes (e.g. Isaiah 1: 11-18, Proverbs 16:6, Micah 6: 7-8).

I cannot even hazard a guess as to why Yedioth Ahronoth, a major Israeli newspaper, chose to publish such a poorly researched article which read like a Messianic propoganda pamphlet. It reminded me of when the North Korean press writes fawning articles on their dictator while ignoring his true behavior. Frankly, it is just an embarrassment to the reputation of their publication.