Anyone Familiar with "Jews for Jesus"?

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Beezer

Puritan Board Freshman
Greetings friends,

Does anyone here on the board have any familiarity with the organization "Jews for Jesus?"

The church my family attends made an announcement last week that a representative from this group will be giving a presentation at our church next month and it was the first time I had heard of them. I was surprised to see the likes of J.I. Packer, John Piper, and other evangelical leaders endorse them.

Any opinions/critiques on Messianic Judaism? It's a blind spot for me that I haven't encountered or thought much about. I was surprised to learn Schuyler Bibles published a new NIV edition this month catered to these groups that replaces the Jerusalem Cross with a Star of David. I had no idea this movement was as prevalent as it seemingly is.

What would a Reformed response/view be to this?
 
Beezer said:
Greetings friends,

Does anyone here on the board have any familiarity with the organization "Jews for Jesus?"

The church my family attends made an announcement last week that a representative from this group will be giving a presentation at our church next month and it was the first time I had heard of them. I was surprised to see the likes of J.I. Packer, John Piper, and other evangelical leaders endorse them.

Any opinions/critiques on Messianic Judaism? It's a blind spot for me that I haven't encountered or thought much about. I was surprised to learn Schuyler Bibles published a new NIV edition this month catered to these groups that replaces the Jerusalem Cross with a Star of David. I had no idea this movement was as prevalent as it seemingly is.

What would a Reformed response/view be to this?
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They see themselves as being now completed Jews, as they believe in Yeshua as the Messiah of God, and many still celebrate OT festivals, as they now see Jesus in them.
They feel very strongly that the Jewish people need to hear about Jesus, and they go out as witnesses unto them.
 
I read a book awhile back by Baruch Moaz, an Israeli Reformed Baptist who converted from Judaism, that is an extensive evaluation and critique of Messianic Judaism. You can find it here. As far as I'm aware it's the only book-length evaluation and treatment of Messianic Judaism from a broadly Reformed perspective and, as it comes from a former Jew, it was quite helpful in better understanding the the position. It's been years so I can't comment on whether I agree with all of its conclusions, but it's a good place to look to learn more.
 
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The one time I heard a Jews of Jesus presentation, more than ten years ago now, they were NOT advocating the biggest errors we see in the Messianic Judaism movement today, like the celebration of festivals that should be ended because they're fulfilled in Christ. They were pretty much just mainstream evangelicals with an interest in telling fellow Jews about Jesus and in engaging them through the Old Testament.

It would not surprise me if this has changed today. But I'm not sure we should assume Jews for Jesus and Messianic Judaism are the same thing.
 
I claim no particular expertise here, but I think it's possible that two or maybe even three things that aren't necessarily synonymous may be being conflated here.

For one, Jews for Jesus published a book arguing that "Messianic Judaism" is not even Christian. And I don't know that Messianic Jews is necessarily even synonymous with the Hebrew Roots movement, at least in its most extreme form.

The teachings of the Hebrew Roots movement, at least in its most extreme judaizing form, are incompatible with dispensationalism, and Jews for Jesus is generally considered to be dispensational. (For example, see here and here for dispensational and Jews for Jesus friendly critiques of the HRM. The Jews for Jesus website addresses the HRM here.) Whatever one thinks of the generally dispensational theology of Jews for Jesus, they don't teach that the Mosaic Law (other than 9 of the 10 commandments) are applicable to Gentiles, whereas apparently Hebrew Roots teaches that all of the Mosaic Law is applicable to everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, in this age. And much of what Hebrew Roots teaches as being "Hebrew Roots" isn't from the OT and NT but is from later rabbinical tradition.

Reportedly, most of the people involved in these Hebrew Roots type movements, indeed perhaps the vast majority in some congregations, are actually Gentiles who have no Jewish ethnic heritage whatsoever. It seems that Jewish people, whether Christian or not, tend to realize what a pile of nonsense it is. If anything, it is a barrier to Jewish evangelism.

Jews for Jesus does have speakers that go to churches and reenact certain parts of the Passover observance, for example, but my recollection is that this was basically for illustrative purposes and is done to show how it points to Christ. They refer to it as a "Sermonic Demonstration." I think some Reformed people and others would object to this as well, but it is not the same as the Hebrew Roots Movement.
 
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Pilgrim said:
I claim no particular expertise here, but I think it's possible that two or maybe even three things that aren't necessarily synonymous may be being conflated here.

For one, Jews for Jesus published a book arguing that "Messianic Judaism" is not even Christian. And I don't know that Messianic Jews is necessarily even synonymous with the Hebrew Roots movement, at least in its most extreme form.

The teachings of the Hebrew Roots movement, at least in its most extreme judaizing form, are incompatible with dispensationalism, and Jews for Jesus is generally considered to be dispensational. (For example, see here and here for dispensational and Jews for Jesus friendly critiques of the HRM. The Jews for Jesus website addresses the HRM here.) Whatever one thinks of the generally dispensational theology of Jews for Jesus, they don't teach that the Mosaic Law (other than 9 of the 10 commandments) are applicable to Gentiles, whereas apparently Hebrew Roots teaches that all of the Mosaic Law is applicable to everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, in this age. And much of what Hebrew Roots teaches as being "Hebrew Roots" isn't from the OT and NT but is from later rabbinical tradition.

Reportedly, most of the people involved in these Hebrew Roots type movements, indeed perhaps the vast majority in some congregations, are actually Gentiles who have no Jewish ethnic heritage whatsoever. It seems that Jewish people, whether Christian or not, tend to realize what a pile of nonsense it is. If anything, it is a barrier to Jewish evangelism.

Jews for Jesus does have speakers that go to churches and reenact certain parts of the Passover observance, for example, but my recollection is that this was basically for illustrative purposes and is done to show how it points to Christ. They refer to it as a "Sermonic Demonstration." I think some Reformed people and others would object to this as well, but it is not the same as the Hebrew Roots Movement.
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My understanding is that the jews forjesus observe the feasts and festivals in same fashion some observe communion, as a memorial to the Lord Jesus that this all pointed towards.
 
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