Post by Mark on Dec 10, 2007 8:09:48 GMT -8
One of the things that I'm working on in our community is trying to help those coming from the gentile Church see the beauty and value of the Messianic Liturgy, as taken out of the Jewish Synagogue. I've been writing a paper each week on different prayers and thought some of you might be interested in what I've shared thus far. I'll start posting them in this area, as I go along, hoping that these generate some response of praise to Adonai our God, or stimulate questions on the Judaic perspective of our faith.
The Blessing of the Messiah
There are two elements of our faith that immediately distinguish Messianic Judaism from others who will identify themselves as being Jewish. The first is that Messianic many Messianic believers invite gentiles to participate fully in this faith without qualification. There is no initiation process nor rite of passage to bring someone into the Messianic faith as there is in other forms of Judaism. But, then again, maybe there is…
The second element that distinguishes the Messianic Jew from any other Jew is that he recognizes Yeshua ben Joseph ben David, the carpenter’s son, the One crucified by the Romans as King of the Jews, to be King of all kings and Lord of all lords, and the firstborn of the resurrection of the dead. He is the Messiah: the Promised One whom Adonai has sent to reconcile all men to Himself.
In our benediction of the Messiah, in the liturgical blessing, we proclaim Yeshua our Messiah to be "the way of salvation." The Hebrew word "deh-rek" means "way" or "road". It carries the idea of the path that is well-trodden and familiar, as opposed to a new trail that is uneven or overgrown. It also speaks in the sense of a specific direction, a course or the intent of a destination. It is therefore, in a sense, realistic to see that there is a rite of passage into the Messianic faith. Messiah Yeshua said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6).
It is easily and often misunderstood that speaking the name of, or declaring a verbal acknowledgment of the Messiah is the prescription for a heavenly inheritance. Yet, the Hebraic understanding of such a declaration requires one to be on a path, a deh-rek, which leads to some place. Speaking of Los Angeles when one is en route to New York does not get one to the Pacific Coast. In the same way, making verbal confessions of a name that carries no substance of personal ownership or responsibility of relationship does not put a person in favor with the most High God. Messiah Yeshua said, "Many will come in MY NAME… and I will say, ‘I never knew you.’"(Matthew 7:22-23).
The rite of passage into the Messianic faith is in the Messiah Himself. When He becomes your Lord, you become one of us, regardless of history, genealogy or tradition. When one enters into the Way of Salvation, then we walk together in fellowship, in love and in obedience to Him. When we are learning to walk in obedience to the same Lord, how can we but walk together along the same deh-rek.
The Way of Salvation is both the journey and the destination. It is both the eternal hope and the present assembly. It is the brotherhood and it is the heirship as sons and daughters of the Most High. It is the deh-rek, which speaks to us of the journey and of the destination in the same word. When we walk in obedience, we testify of His salvation as it is a reality in our lives. Indeed, it is the very path on which we walk.
The Blessing of the Messiah
There are two elements of our faith that immediately distinguish Messianic Judaism from others who will identify themselves as being Jewish. The first is that Messianic many Messianic believers invite gentiles to participate fully in this faith without qualification. There is no initiation process nor rite of passage to bring someone into the Messianic faith as there is in other forms of Judaism. But, then again, maybe there is…
The second element that distinguishes the Messianic Jew from any other Jew is that he recognizes Yeshua ben Joseph ben David, the carpenter’s son, the One crucified by the Romans as King of the Jews, to be King of all kings and Lord of all lords, and the firstborn of the resurrection of the dead. He is the Messiah: the Promised One whom Adonai has sent to reconcile all men to Himself.
In our benediction of the Messiah, in the liturgical blessing, we proclaim Yeshua our Messiah to be "the way of salvation." The Hebrew word "deh-rek" means "way" or "road". It carries the idea of the path that is well-trodden and familiar, as opposed to a new trail that is uneven or overgrown. It also speaks in the sense of a specific direction, a course or the intent of a destination. It is therefore, in a sense, realistic to see that there is a rite of passage into the Messianic faith. Messiah Yeshua said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6).
It is easily and often misunderstood that speaking the name of, or declaring a verbal acknowledgment of the Messiah is the prescription for a heavenly inheritance. Yet, the Hebraic understanding of such a declaration requires one to be on a path, a deh-rek, which leads to some place. Speaking of Los Angeles when one is en route to New York does not get one to the Pacific Coast. In the same way, making verbal confessions of a name that carries no substance of personal ownership or responsibility of relationship does not put a person in favor with the most High God. Messiah Yeshua said, "Many will come in MY NAME… and I will say, ‘I never knew you.’"(Matthew 7:22-23).
The rite of passage into the Messianic faith is in the Messiah Himself. When He becomes your Lord, you become one of us, regardless of history, genealogy or tradition. When one enters into the Way of Salvation, then we walk together in fellowship, in love and in obedience to Him. When we are learning to walk in obedience to the same Lord, how can we but walk together along the same deh-rek.
The Way of Salvation is both the journey and the destination. It is both the eternal hope and the present assembly. It is the brotherhood and it is the heirship as sons and daughters of the Most High. It is the deh-rek, which speaks to us of the journey and of the destination in the same word. When we walk in obedience, we testify of His salvation as it is a reality in our lives. Indeed, it is the very path on which we walk.