On the Beauty and Goodness of Christianity
and the Historic Church
Never would I have imagined that, as a Jew, I would write something on the goodness of Christianity, defending the historic Church and traditions such as Christmas. Growing up, of course, I celebrated Christmas like any good Jew would: Chinese food and a movie, and in fact I still do! But as a Messianic Jew who is at once part of the Ekklesia (the body of Messiah) and also part of the body of Israel (the Jewish people), I feel compelled to speak on this topic for the good of the Messianic Jewish movement and the historic Church.
There are many who try to envision Messianic Judaism as a kind of ultimate, pure faith, unencumbered by the traditions of humankind. They would see Christianity on the whole as some kind of heretical, pagan-rooted faith. But I would argue that this calls into question the basic identity of God--specifically his sovereignty and redemptive power over every name that is named. I would also say that this picture of Messianic Judaism is dangerously proud, and the picture of Christianity and the historic Church equally so. Is not pride the ultimate root of idolatry that this view is trying to separate from? Is there even such a thing as a pure Yeshua-faith, unencumbered by the traditions of humans? And if there were, would that even be something to be sought after?
Historic Judaism, Messianic Judaism and Historic Christianity all require tradition. That is, they need a community of shared practice and ritual, or context, in order to exist. There is no community of Judaism without Jews, over time, doing it. Moreover, without a continued, shared practice of identifying as disciples of Yeshua, there is no historic Christianity. We understand faith to be, in a sense, incarnational. The beauty of Messianic Judaism is that it is the marriage of Yeshua-faith within Jewish faith and tradition. Yeshua-faith as a continued tradition was preserved by the historic Church, and for this we are grateful. Jewish identity was preserved in the context of Judaism, and for this, too, we are grateful. And now that we are marrying these two, we cannot all of a sudden ignore their background, context, and almost 2000 years of tradition as if we are practicing a “pure” faith in a historical vacuum. That’s what makes Messianic Judaism, like all marriages, a complex labor of love. But if the matchmaker is Hashem, we know that it is indeed possible, even if the task is challenging.
We must bear firmly in our minds the sovereignty of God over all names and traditions, and his redemptive power. The Hebrew language itself is seen as a holy, pure, language, but in reality it was developed from and influenced by other Canaanite (pagan) languages. When we say Hashem is righteous, we say “Tzedek”; the word Tzedek traces its origins to multiple pagan gods. We identify the Messiah and the tribe of Judah with the lion, but lions were worshipped in ancient cultures such as Egypt. The Jewish calendar has a month named after a pagan god: Tammuz. So much for the pure origins of our Messianic Jewish faith.
Abraham and Moses both had multiple wives. Should we look to their practice as the “pure” form of how to have a family and pluck this practice out of their cultural context and apply it to the modern world? In Acts 17:28, Paul quotes a pagan poem in order to preach the gospel, saying “As some of your poets have said, “We are his offspring.” God is sovereign over culture and context, and can redeem even things with “pagan” origins for his purpose. Abraham himself was called out of Ur, but God redeemed him by faith and created the nation of Israel through his descendents. In other words, the nation of Israel itself, inaugurated by the patriarch Abraham, has a “pagan” origin. The fact that Abraham had these origins does not limit the sovereign God’s power to create from Abraham a holy nation. To say otherwise would limit the redemptive power and sovereignty of God.
Some say the Christian practice of having a Christmas tree has pagan origins as well. The accusation from some arises that this is a kind of idolatry. But Christians today are not bowing down to the tree. Moreover, the bringing of the tree into the home is not related to the pagan traditions but started much later in Germany. Of course, in Judaism and Messianic Jewish practice a Christmas tree is not normative, but we should be slow to call it idolatry for our brothers and sisters in the Church of the nations.
Idolatry is putting something else before God. Our Creator, our Father in heaven, deserves our full adoration and love. When we acknowledge that something else can give us life, or save us from the slavery of sin, or protect us from evil, that’s idolatry. But a person can avoid the holidays of Christmas and Easter and trust in their own “pagan-free” practice to secure their righteousness, and still be in idolatry--it’s the idol of pride.
Of course, the biblical festivals have much depth of meaning in the scriptural narrative; familiarity with Passover and Yom Kippur has many benefits to Yeshua-faith, including the Church of the Nations. In fact, Passover and Shavuot, for example, are the real roots of Easter and Pentecost. Unfortunately, the historic Church has rejected or ignored the Jewish festivals within their practice, as well as much theology that we hold dear as Messianic Jews: the eternality of Torah, God’s faithfulness to the covenants with the Jewish people, and the Jewishness of Yeshua and Paul, to name a few. But despite these shortcomings in the historic Church, we are indebted to them for their continued Yeshua practice and faith, just as we are indebted to the Jewish faith for preserving traditions by which we can follow Torah.
Take Christmas, for example. In Messianic Judaism, and of course historic Judaism, there is no traditional festival by which the entire body of faith recognizes the miracle of the incarnation of the God of Israel in Yeshua. Isn’t the recognition of this miracle worth remembering? The commercialism of the season can certainly be criticized, but ask an American Jewish child about Hanukkah, and you will probably hear that it involves latkes and eight nights of presents. And yes, perhaps Yeshua was not born on December 25th, but this is the date agreed in the historic community to recognize the miracle. On Tish B’av in the historic Jewish community, we recognize all these tragedies that befell our people on the same day, but most historians will tell you that some of the dates are fudged here and there. But this is the date agreed in the historic community to mourn and repent for the destruction of the temple among other tragedies, and there is nothing wrong with that. God is sovereign over communities and dates, and can use these traditions for his purposes.
Yeshua himself struck a good balance with regard to tradition. His concern was that we not elevate our traditions over the principle purpose of the Torah, but he was not anti-tradition. In Luke 11:42, Yeshua addresses the Pharisees and tradition saying this:
“But woe to you P’rushim! You pay your tithes of mint and rue and every garden herb, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You have an obligation to do these things — but without disregarding the others!” (CJB)
In other words, Yeshua was saying that these traditions based on Torah are good, but should not be disregarded for the weightier matters of Torah. Tradition is helpful, but it has its place. The interpretation of the Torah cannot be done in a vacuum, and we simply cannot ignore the centuries of traditional interpretation in order to try to have a “pure” faith. All the prayers that we do in Messianic Judaism come out of rabbinic tradition. Our practice of celebrating feasts like Rosh Hashanah come out of tradition; the Bible itself says nothing of a new year, or apples and honey, or even blowing the shofar. The scripture itself says that it is a day of “shouting.” Only through traditional interpretation can we take this to mean the blowing of the shofar.
The UMJC’s statement called “Defining Messianic Judaism” declares this about Torah interpretation with regard to practice, summed up in the word “halakhah” (literally “the way to walk”):
In the Messianic Jewish way of life, we seek to fulfill Israel’s covenantal responsibility embodied in the Torah within a New Covenant context. Messianic Jewish halakhah is rooted in Scripture (Tanakh and the New Covenant writings), which is of unique sanctity and authority. It also draws upon Jewish tradition, especially those practices and concepts that have won near-universal acceptance by devout Jews through the centuries. Furthermore, as is common within Judaism, Messianic Judaism recognizes that halakhah is and must be dynamic, involving the application of the Torah to a wide variety of changing situations and circumstances.
The reality is that there is no pure faith, and those seeking for the “right way” to follow Yeshua in a community will be disappointed. The fact remains, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see obscurely in a mirror,
but then it will be face to face.
Now I know partly; then I will know fully,
just as God has fully known me.
Of days and rituals and traditions, Paul encouraged us not to get too caught up. Colossians 2:16-17 says:
So don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking, or in regard to a Jewish festival or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat. These are a shadow of things that are coming, but the body is of the Messiah.
As disciples of Yeshua, we are to keep the main thing the main thing: to love God with all our heart, and love our neighbor as ourselves, thus fulfilling the essential meaning of the Torah. This is the heart of halakhah, and should be our focus daily. The rest, as Rabbi Hillel said, is merely commentary.
We need to acknowledge that God is sovereign over and works through both Christian and Jewish tradition. Without tradition and historic practice by flesh and blood communities, these faiths could not exist. It’s a bit like learning a foreign language from a textbook alone. Once you actually interact with people, you find that the book just doesn’t cut it as preparation for real communication and interpreting what real humans actually say. Moreover, we especially need to be thankful for the Yeshua-faith that was preserved by the historic Church, even through traditions such as Christmas.
Many Messianic Jewish communities are connected to the wider body of Messiah in the city where Hashem has planted them, and many of them share the beauty of the biblical festivals with the wider body of Messiah. But that sharing shouldn’t lead to pride, or an erasing of the distinctions which enable mutual blessing in the bilateral body of Messiah. Ours is not the ultimate faith expression. We need to remember that there are even aspects of Judaism which have disparate origins, and remain humble. Is it possible for us to understand the beauty of Shabbat and to remain gracious toward those who worship on Sunday, the day historically given to the resurrection in the Church of the Nations? If our aim is to be like Yeshua, then it must be possible; for indeed, humility, grace, and love are the foundations of halakhah.
Updated March 16, 2020
Rabbi David Wein, Rabbi of Tikvat Israel
There are many who try to envision Messianic Judaism as a kind of ultimate, pure faith, unencumbered by the traditions of humankind. They would see Christianity on the whole as some kind of heretical, pagan-rooted faith. But I would argue that this calls into question the basic identity of God--specifically his sovereignty and redemptive power over every name that is named. I would also say that this picture of Messianic Judaism is dangerously proud, and the picture of Christianity and the historic Church equally so. Is not pride the ultimate root of idolatry that this view is trying to separate from? Is there even such a thing as a pure Yeshua-faith, unencumbered by the traditions of humans? And if there were, would that even be something to be sought after?
Historic Judaism, Messianic Judaism and Historic Christianity all require tradition. That is, they need a community of shared practice and ritual, or context, in order to exist. There is no community of Judaism without Jews, over time, doing it. Moreover, without a continued, shared practice of identifying as disciples of Yeshua, there is no historic Christianity. We understand faith to be, in a sense, incarnational. The beauty of Messianic Judaism is that it is the marriage of Yeshua-faith within Jewish faith and tradition. Yeshua-faith as a continued tradition was preserved by the historic Church, and for this we are grateful. Jewish identity was preserved in the context of Judaism, and for this, too, we are grateful. And now that we are marrying these two, we cannot all of a sudden ignore their background, context, and almost 2000 years of tradition as if we are practicing a “pure” faith in a historical vacuum. That’s what makes Messianic Judaism, like all marriages, a complex labor of love. But if the matchmaker is Hashem, we know that it is indeed possible, even if the task is challenging.
We must bear firmly in our minds the sovereignty of God over all names and traditions, and his redemptive power. The Hebrew language itself is seen as a holy, pure, language, but in reality it was developed from and influenced by other Canaanite (pagan) languages. When we say Hashem is righteous, we say “Tzedek”; the word Tzedek traces its origins to multiple pagan gods. We identify the Messiah and the tribe of Judah with the lion, but lions were worshipped in ancient cultures such as Egypt. The Jewish calendar has a month named after a pagan god: Tammuz. So much for the pure origins of our Messianic Jewish faith.
Abraham and Moses both had multiple wives. Should we look to their practice as the “pure” form of how to have a family and pluck this practice out of their cultural context and apply it to the modern world? In Acts 17:28, Paul quotes a pagan poem in order to preach the gospel, saying “As some of your poets have said, “We are his offspring.” God is sovereign over culture and context, and can redeem even things with “pagan” origins for his purpose. Abraham himself was called out of Ur, but God redeemed him by faith and created the nation of Israel through his descendents. In other words, the nation of Israel itself, inaugurated by the patriarch Abraham, has a “pagan” origin. The fact that Abraham had these origins does not limit the sovereign God’s power to create from Abraham a holy nation. To say otherwise would limit the redemptive power and sovereignty of God.
Some say the Christian practice of having a Christmas tree has pagan origins as well. The accusation from some arises that this is a kind of idolatry. But Christians today are not bowing down to the tree. Moreover, the bringing of the tree into the home is not related to the pagan traditions but started much later in Germany. Of course, in Judaism and Messianic Jewish practice a Christmas tree is not normative, but we should be slow to call it idolatry for our brothers and sisters in the Church of the nations.
Idolatry is putting something else before God. Our Creator, our Father in heaven, deserves our full adoration and love. When we acknowledge that something else can give us life, or save us from the slavery of sin, or protect us from evil, that’s idolatry. But a person can avoid the holidays of Christmas and Easter and trust in their own “pagan-free” practice to secure their righteousness, and still be in idolatry--it’s the idol of pride.
Of course, the biblical festivals have much depth of meaning in the scriptural narrative; familiarity with Passover and Yom Kippur has many benefits to Yeshua-faith, including the Church of the Nations. In fact, Passover and Shavuot, for example, are the real roots of Easter and Pentecost. Unfortunately, the historic Church has rejected or ignored the Jewish festivals within their practice, as well as much theology that we hold dear as Messianic Jews: the eternality of Torah, God’s faithfulness to the covenants with the Jewish people, and the Jewishness of Yeshua and Paul, to name a few. But despite these shortcomings in the historic Church, we are indebted to them for their continued Yeshua practice and faith, just as we are indebted to the Jewish faith for preserving traditions by which we can follow Torah.
Take Christmas, for example. In Messianic Judaism, and of course historic Judaism, there is no traditional festival by which the entire body of faith recognizes the miracle of the incarnation of the God of Israel in Yeshua. Isn’t the recognition of this miracle worth remembering? The commercialism of the season can certainly be criticized, but ask an American Jewish child about Hanukkah, and you will probably hear that it involves latkes and eight nights of presents. And yes, perhaps Yeshua was not born on December 25th, but this is the date agreed in the historic community to recognize the miracle. On Tish B’av in the historic Jewish community, we recognize all these tragedies that befell our people on the same day, but most historians will tell you that some of the dates are fudged here and there. But this is the date agreed in the historic community to mourn and repent for the destruction of the temple among other tragedies, and there is nothing wrong with that. God is sovereign over communities and dates, and can use these traditions for his purposes.
Yeshua himself struck a good balance with regard to tradition. His concern was that we not elevate our traditions over the principle purpose of the Torah, but he was not anti-tradition. In Luke 11:42, Yeshua addresses the Pharisees and tradition saying this:
“But woe to you P’rushim! You pay your tithes of mint and rue and every garden herb, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You have an obligation to do these things — but without disregarding the others!” (CJB)
In other words, Yeshua was saying that these traditions based on Torah are good, but should not be disregarded for the weightier matters of Torah. Tradition is helpful, but it has its place. The interpretation of the Torah cannot be done in a vacuum, and we simply cannot ignore the centuries of traditional interpretation in order to try to have a “pure” faith. All the prayers that we do in Messianic Judaism come out of rabbinic tradition. Our practice of celebrating feasts like Rosh Hashanah come out of tradition; the Bible itself says nothing of a new year, or apples and honey, or even blowing the shofar. The scripture itself says that it is a day of “shouting.” Only through traditional interpretation can we take this to mean the blowing of the shofar.
The UMJC’s statement called “Defining Messianic Judaism” declares this about Torah interpretation with regard to practice, summed up in the word “halakhah” (literally “the way to walk”):
In the Messianic Jewish way of life, we seek to fulfill Israel’s covenantal responsibility embodied in the Torah within a New Covenant context. Messianic Jewish halakhah is rooted in Scripture (Tanakh and the New Covenant writings), which is of unique sanctity and authority. It also draws upon Jewish tradition, especially those practices and concepts that have won near-universal acceptance by devout Jews through the centuries. Furthermore, as is common within Judaism, Messianic Judaism recognizes that halakhah is and must be dynamic, involving the application of the Torah to a wide variety of changing situations and circumstances.
The reality is that there is no pure faith, and those seeking for the “right way” to follow Yeshua in a community will be disappointed. The fact remains, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see obscurely in a mirror,
but then it will be face to face.
Now I know partly; then I will know fully,
just as God has fully known me.
Of days and rituals and traditions, Paul encouraged us not to get too caught up. Colossians 2:16-17 says:
So don’t let anyone pass judgment on you in connection with eating and drinking, or in regard to a Jewish festival or Rosh-Hodesh or Shabbat. These are a shadow of things that are coming, but the body is of the Messiah.
As disciples of Yeshua, we are to keep the main thing the main thing: to love God with all our heart, and love our neighbor as ourselves, thus fulfilling the essential meaning of the Torah. This is the heart of halakhah, and should be our focus daily. The rest, as Rabbi Hillel said, is merely commentary.
We need to acknowledge that God is sovereign over and works through both Christian and Jewish tradition. Without tradition and historic practice by flesh and blood communities, these faiths could not exist. It’s a bit like learning a foreign language from a textbook alone. Once you actually interact with people, you find that the book just doesn’t cut it as preparation for real communication and interpreting what real humans actually say. Moreover, we especially need to be thankful for the Yeshua-faith that was preserved by the historic Church, even through traditions such as Christmas.
Many Messianic Jewish communities are connected to the wider body of Messiah in the city where Hashem has planted them, and many of them share the beauty of the biblical festivals with the wider body of Messiah. But that sharing shouldn’t lead to pride, or an erasing of the distinctions which enable mutual blessing in the bilateral body of Messiah. Ours is not the ultimate faith expression. We need to remember that there are even aspects of Judaism which have disparate origins, and remain humble. Is it possible for us to understand the beauty of Shabbat and to remain gracious toward those who worship on Sunday, the day historically given to the resurrection in the Church of the Nations? If our aim is to be like Yeshua, then it must be possible; for indeed, humility, grace, and love are the foundations of halakhah.
Updated March 16, 2020
Rabbi David Wein, Rabbi of Tikvat Israel
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