A faith in tension

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, May 7th.

This is WORLD Radio and we’re so glad you’ve joined us today! Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard..

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: faith in Jerusalem.

Many religious Jews in Israel say they're still waiting for the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. But a small community of Messianic Jews says he already came in the form of Yeshua, or Jesus.

WORLD Reporter Travis Kircher now on how those believers are caught between Jewish tradition and Christian faith.

TRAVIS KIRCHER: It’s a Sunday evening in downtown Jerusalem and several dozen worshippers are singing in Hebrew in an office building on Jaffa Street. 

They refer to themselves as a congregation of Jewish and Gentile disciples of Yeshua. And they’re singing a song about His grace, less than four miles from the former site of the Jewish Temple where He rode in on a donkey roughly 2,000 years ago.

Here’s senior pastor Chad Holland:

HOLLAND: Okay, be seated. Praise the Lord for that wonderful and sensitive worship time.

Holland is considered a Gentile, but he also grew up with a Jewish stepfather, received a Jewish education, and later married into a Jewish family.

HOLLAND: I'm a messianic Gentile, but I live my life like other messianic Gentiles you see in the Scriptures, where we attach ourself by calling—not as a mandate, but as a calling—to the nation of Israel, to the Jewish people, to the God of Israel.

Holland says the goal of his congregation is to teach Jews in Jerusalem and the surrounding region to have a saving relationship with Yeshua and to be His disciples.

HOLLAND: We are a part of the global body of Messiah. We are believers in Yeshua as Messiah and the only way to salvation…

That profession of faith is a big deal in this region—one that often comes with a cost. 

Joanna Saada is a member of King of Kings Ministries and a messianic Jewish believer. She says the vast majority of her fellow Jews are respectful of her beliefs. Others, not so much.

SAADA: A lot of times, if I say I'm a Messianic Jew, it's not taken well. Like, it's easier for them to accept Christians. But if you're a Messianic Jew, then you're considered a traitor.

But Saada believes she’s anything but. 

Members of this congregation read not only from the Habrit Hachadashah or New Testament. They also read from the Tanakh or Old Testament. And they see Yeshua not as a contradiction of the Jewish faith, but as a fulfillment of it. 

Holland reminds his congregation about the two goats chosen by the high priest annually on the Day of Atonement. One of the goats would be sacrificed for the sins of the people. The other would be abandoned in the wilderness.

HOLLAND: That's a direct reference to Yeshua! Where they lay hands on the head of the goat, and they say, "You will take the sin of Israel." That's what happened to Yeshua on the cross, right?

King of Kings Ministries incorporates the Jewish calendar and tradition into its services. That means members of the congregation observe Passover, Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and other Biblical holy days. 

And while Holland agrees with the Apostle Paul that believers shouldn’t argue about festivals, he does encourage the Western church to remember its Old Testament roots.

HOLLAND: Why would we not want to focus and build our calendar schedule around the commanded festivals of the Lord? But yet we will build our calendar around things that are not in the Bible at all, and really, many times, have a pagan origin.

In fact, Israeli congregations like Holland’s are often reluctant to refer to themselves as churches at all. 

Rabbi Joseph Shulam is founder of Shepherd of Israel. While King of Kings Ministries incorporates contemporary worship, Shepherd of Israel is a much more traditional congregation of messianic believers. 

Citing high-profile scandals, Shulam is critical of some Western churches, accusing them of failing to live up to the standards outlined for Gentile believers in Acts 15—namely that they avoid foods sacrificed to idols, the drinking of blood, the eating of animals that have been strangled and sexual immorality.

SHULAM: Do you know any church that teaches that they should keep the commandments that the apostles decided?...I don’t know any that does it at all!

But some scholars point out that the food restrictions were included to address pagan practices specific to that time and also to promote fellowship between Jews and Gentiles, not as a requirement for salvation.

Regardless of their assessment of the Western church, disciples of Yeshua are clearly the minority in Jerusalem. Estimates say there are only about 30,000 messianic Jews in Israel—among a population of more than 10 million.

SAADA: It saddens me that they still don't know who the real Messiah is…

Saada remembers one instance when her congregation held a worship event…and members of an extreme sect of Judaism showed up to protest.

SAADA: People are trying to break the doors. And there were times that we were physically attacked. They threw frogs on us, they were cursing. It's like an extreme sect of Judaism..

MUSIC: [Kama Hesed, Kama, Kama, Hesed]

But despite occasional persecution and the cultural challenges, disciples of Yeshua in Jerusalem are united by one creed. While there may no longer be a Jewish Temple—or a chief priest to offer sacrifices there—they know the true Chief Priest has already atoned for the people.

SHULAM: We have Yeshua. God took our sins and transferred it, not to a goat, but to His Son. And that's very significant for us.

Leading these worshippers to sing, “Kama Hesed. Kama, Kama, Hesed.” 

In English: So much grace. So, so much grace.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Travis Kircher in Jerusalem.

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