It Isn't Easy

"And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying What shall I do...they be almost ready to stone me. And the Lord said unto Moses, GO ON...I will stand before thee...and Moses did so" (Exodus17:4-6).

It isn't easy being a Messianic Jew. If one wants to really understand what persecution and prejudice are, let him walk in Messianic shoes for one day.

Try to imagine what it would be like to attempt normal engagement among your own people, family, co-workers, and friends only to be looked through as if you were a ghost; albeit, that you did not even exist as a ghost, and worst yet - that you were dead, having viewed your own funeral a discreet distance from a very morbid and unloving group of mourners who seem to have forgotten the great commandment, "...Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" (Matthew 22:39-40). No, it is not easy to have taken a step of no return into banishment, by a popular vote, without a trial or accusation other than having become a Christian, a believer in Jesus as the promised Messiah. But having done so, simply let the yes be yes and the no, no (Matthew 5:37).

At first glance it appeared to be simply a traditional white New England clapboard Protestant church, with a cross-topped steeple. But inside, the men were wearing kippas, which are little round skull caps, and tallits, a sort of shawl with long fringe. A Torah with a colorful embroidered cover was taken from the cabinet known as an ark and paraded around the room. Men took a corner of their tallits, touched the Torah as it passed, then touched their lips in a traditional gesture of respect.

"Blessed are you for you have sanctified us by thy word and given us Yeshua the Messiah."

Hearing these words, one would immediately recognize that this church is different. It is not a synagogue of fact. Welcome to a Messianic Jewish congregation. A Messianic congregation is one whose members have accepted Jesus, whom they call by the Hebrew name Yeshua, as their Messiah, but yet have a strong desire to preserve their Jewish heritage and traditions.

This relatively young movement has always received hot-tempered resistance and resentment from observant Jews, who consider these Jewish believers as having fallen into apostasy. Even some mainline Christian denominations frown on them as fish swimming backward.

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