RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2021-06-30	Why The Majority of Jewish People Reject Jesus?
		1. It is an Emotional Reaction Even in the first century the idea was clear that you cannot be a Jew and believe in Jesus. Whenever you witness to a Jew about sin and judgment they listen. But the moment you mention the name of “Jesus,” the common reaction is anger and even rage. Oftentimes they will emphasize that they are Jewish and do not want to hear the name of Jesus mentioned again. Yet, many Jews today do not even believe in God. They simply believe that being a Jew is not believing in Jesus. Most Jews today are not religious. Judaism today for most “Jews” is not a religion, it is simply a cultural identity. So, as a cultural Jew, they believe you cannot be a Jew and at the same time believe in Jesus. This mindset is not something they have thought through logically, or even Scripturally. It is something they have learned in their home and culture since they were very young. This mindset goes all the way back to when Jesus walked on the earth. Thus, they reject Jesus because they believe they must because being Jewish is rejecting Jesus. 2. They Teach That God Cannot Appear in Any Other Form When God first revealed Himself to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai, they did not see God. They saw His glory and power revealed (fire, smoke, and mountain quaked), but not God Himself (Ex.19:18). When God gave Israel the 10 Commandments, He said not to make any graven image (Ex.20:4, commandment 2). Exo 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. From the Jewish thinking, God cannot take on the form of a man. Yet, in the Torah God appeared to Abraham in the form of a man (Ge.18:1). Today a Jewish believer in Jesus is not saying that God is a man. He is saying that God clothed Himself in humanity. Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Joh 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Because Jews are trapped in the mindset of rabbinical Jewish teaching, and believe what the Rabbis tell them, they are not open to understanding the deeper mystery of God. 3. They Misunderstood What Jesus Taught About the Law The Rabbis teach that Jesus did away with the Law. And that Jesus broke the Ten Commandments. Mat 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. And His disciples were hungry, and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. Mat 12:2 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to Him, "Look, Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath!" The Jews accused Him of harvesting or working on the sabbath. They say He rejected the Law. But Jesus kept the Law (Mt.5:17). Mat 5:17 "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. Jesus kept the Law in its truest and in its original intent. He kept the Law in the sense that He did what was meant to be done that pleased the Father who gave the Law. The Law's true intent is for man to recognize that we are not in ourselves capable of keeping the Law to perfection. In the end of the day our heart is not true or pure enough to meet the demands of the Law. When we recognize that we are not prepared to receive God's ultimate answer, which is the Messiah, King Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh, that perfectly kept the Law and fulfilled God's ultimate purpose from eternity! Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Evangelical Free Church of America

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