Two Messianic Jews

Many people believe that Jesus came to replace Judaism and its Torah with something brand new. His teachings then stand in stark conflict with his Jewish contemporaries. Rabbi Matt Rosenberg essentially says, “I beg to differ” in his newly released book, Jesus Never Said Anything New. In this interview, he tackles this important subject that affects how Jews and Christians understand Jesus and live out his teachings today. Enjoy!

To support our work in strengthening the faith and identityof Jewish followers of Messiah, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate  
0:00 – Intro
0:42 – What do you mean by “Jesus never said anything new”?
11:38 – How do you respond to Pastor Andy Stanley’s claim that Jesus’s new command in John 13.34 replaces all of the Torah’s commandments? 20:35 – scholars, pastors, and Jesus-believing Jews discovering the Jewishness of Jesus  
31:16 – Reframing our view of “the Pharisees” through Jesus’s parables in Luke 15
37:57 – What is the relationship between loving God and keeping His commandments?
40:55 – Are Gentiles also obligated to keep the commandments?  
46:27 – A word from Rabbi Matt’s for the Messianic community  
49:01 – Conclusion  
You can purchase Rabbi Matt's book on Amazon
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Matt Rosenberg is the Rabbi at Restoration, a Messianic synagogue in Seattle, Washington. He is ordained by the International Alliance of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues (IAMCS) and serves as its Northwest director. He has a B.A. in Religion from Nyack College and completed course work towards an M.A. at Alliance Theological Seminary in Nyack, New York. For five years, before moving to Seattle, Matt served as Associate Rabbi alongside his father, Rabbi David Rosenberg, at Shuvah Yisrael on Long Island, NY, and in Manhattan. Matt is passionate about sharing the message of Yeshua with his Jewish people in Seattle and all over the world. Matt is a thinker, reader, dreamer, and leader among his generation in the Messianic movement. He has been a featured speaker at many Messianic conferences and was raised in a Messianic home. His family has been involved in the Messianic movement for more than thirty years. Matt and his wife Laura have three children and live in Seattle.  
Restoration Seattle:   
Website: http://shalomseattle.com/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxj58p6-Y6Pmq2ZO12cPHUg  _________________________________________   
Music: bensound.com

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To support our work in strengthening the faith and identityof Jewish followers of Messiah, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

For these mailbag episodes, we want to feel the freedom to give experimental answers and test out ideas that may become future "lecture-style" videos. Because of this, we would especially like to hear your feedback! If you disagree, have anything to add, or want to pitch us to make a fuller treatment of a topic, please let us know! You can message us at [email protected].   

00:00 - Introduction to the Mailbag
2:27 - Why was the Temple destroyed? What about the sacrifices after Yeshua's crucifixion and resurrection?
19:58 - Bad and Good Reasons to be a Messianic Gentile [Bonus Question!]
30:13 - Should Jewish Believers follow Torah? What about Jewish Tradition?  
Videos mentioned:
The Shema's Impact on the Gospel and Replacement Theology
Did Jesus Come to Destroy the Law? (Jonathan's Treatment of Matthew 5)
Did Paul Teach Against Torah in Acts 21?
Christmas is Not Pagan - Inspiring Philosophy
Easter is Not Pagan - Inspiring Philosophy
Articles mentioned:
Anders Runesson, “Saving the Lost Sheep of the House of Israel: Purity, Forgiveness, and Synagogues in the Gospel of Matthew,” Melilah 11 (2014), 8-24.
Russ Resnik, "Messianic Jewish Ethics," in Introduction to Messianic Judaism: Its Ecclesial Context and Biblical Foundations  
Stuart Dauermann, "Messianic Jewish Outreach," in Introduction to Messianic Judaism: Its Ecclesial Context and Biblical Foundations  
Joseph Culberson, "Rediscovering My Gentile Roots," in Kesher Journal

Earlier this year, Reverend Brandan Robertson came out with a Tik Tok video claiming that Jesus was a racist. In a later YouTube video with Dr. Miguel De La Torre, he elaborates that Jesus inherited his racism from his Jewish community. De La Torre makes these same claims in this video and in his sermon, “Was Jesus a Racist?” Their teaching is not just historically and exegetically wrong; it fuels anti-Semitism, which is unfortunately on the rise today. This is my response.
To support our work in combating antisemitism, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

0:00 – Introduction and Thesis Statement  
4:22 – Gentiles as animals in Peter’s vision (Acts 10.11-16)
8:07 – Jews and Gentiles as animals in the Tanakh (Jeremiah 50.6; Psalm 79.13; Isaiah 11.6)
9:25 – Jesus calls Jewish people animals (Matthew 15.24)
9:56 – Jews and Gentiles as animals in 1 Enoch 90
12:46 – Gentiles as animals in Mark 7.27  
13:34 – Why did Jesus prioritize ministering to Jews during his earthly ministry?  
15:52 – Why did Jesus call the Gentile woman a dog?
16:22 – Brandan Robertson’s and Dr. Miguel De La Torre’s claim that Jesus inherited his racism from his Jewish community
18:00 – Dr. Miguel De La Torre’s sermon, “Was Jesus a Racist?”
20:30 – Was Jesus white?  
22:35 – Did Jesus exclude Gentiles from God’s plan of salvation?
25:18 – Was Jesus’s Jewish community racist?  
31:22 – Conclusion_________________________________________  
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Reverend Brandan Robertson's original Tik Tok video - "Was Jesus Racist?"

Dr. Miguel De La Torre's sermon - "Was Jesus a Racist?"

Brandan Robertson's and Dr. Miguel De La Torre's video defending their views
See other responses to Brandan Robertson:  
Mike Winger: "When You Throw Jesus Under the Bus For Your Social Agenda"
Whaddo You Meme?? "Pastor Teaches Jesus was a Racist!"
Noted works:
Oliver, Isaac. “Torah Praxis After 70 C.E.: Reading Matthew and Luke-Acts as Jewish Texts.” PhD diss., University of Michigan, 2012.

Thiessen, Matthew. “Gentiles as Impure Animals in the Writings of Early Christ Followers.” In Perceiving the Other in Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity, edited by Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, Wolfgang Grünstäudl, and Matthew Thiessen, 19-32. WUNT Series 1/394. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2017.
Rudolph, David. "'To the Jew First' Paul's Vision for the Priority of Israel in the Life of the Church." Kesher: A Journal of Messianic Judaism 37 (2020): 11-25.
Music: bensound.com

For centuries, scholars have argued that Paul thought the Church replaced Israel as God's chosen people and that Jewish identity is erased upon the acceptance of Jesus's Gospel message. Here, I argue that when you carefully read Paul's use of the Shema in Romans 3.27-31 and use the Tanakh, Josephus, and later rabbinic literature to expand your interpretative imagination, you find Paul understood God remained the God of Israel and that Jewish Jesus-followers were to maintain their Jewish identity.   

To support our work in combating replacement theology, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

00:00 - Introduction and Thesis Statement
3:10 - The Shema as a Pledge to the God of Israel in Deuteronomy 6.4
6:40 - The Shema abbreviated to 'God is One'  
8:13 - The Shema in Zechariah 14.9
12:40 - The Shema in Josephus 16:12 - Josephus, Paul, and Gentile Conversion
20:31 - Paul's Use of the Shema in Romans 3.29-30
26:17 - The Shema in Rabbinic Tradition
30:24 - The Shema and the Gospel
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Key Citations:  
Josephus was about 19 and active in the Jewish world around when Paul wrote Romans (~55 CE). See The Life of Josephus 10-11. And, F. B. A. Asiedu, Paul and His Letters: Thinking with Josephus (Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2020), xxv.  
Paul and Josephus Claimed to be Pharisees. See The Life of Josephus 10–11; Phil. 3:4-5. And, Asiedu, Paul and His Letters, xxiii.  
Paul and Josephus are writing to Gentiles. For example, Against Apion 1.1–3, 314; 2.1, 65–67, 147, 296; cf. Rom. 1:6, 13; 1 Cor. 12:2; Gal. 5:1-2.  
Josephus's comments on Gentile conversion. For neutral to positive reactions, see Antiquities of the Jews 18.81–84; 20.17–96. For a negative reaction, see The Life of Josephus 111–112.  
Noted works:
Mark Nanos, “Paul and the Jewish Tradition: The Ideology of the Shema.” In Celebrating Paul: Festchrift in Honor of Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, O.P., and Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., edited by Peter Spitaler, 62–80. Washington, DC: The Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2011. Also found in Reading Paul Within Judaism by Mark Nanos.  
Christopher R. Bruno, “God Is One”: The Function of “Eis Ho Theos” as a Ground for Gentile Inclusion in Paul’s Letters. (London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014).________________________________________
Music: https://www.bensound.com

Traditional Jewish scholar, Dr. Zev Garber and Messianic Jewish scholar, Dr. Mark Kinzer participate in a discussion on whether a divine Messiah fits within Judaism and how Messianic Judaism's view of Jesus's incarnation affects its relationship to the broader Jewish world. This discussion took place at the 2020 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting to interact with the ideas presented in Dr. Kenneth Hanson’s and Dr. Zev Garber’s book, Judaism and Jesus, a book analyzing the historical Jesus and Messianic Judaism.

To support our work in strengthening the faith and identityof Jewish followers of Messiah, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

00:00 -  Introduction 

1:43 - Dr. Mark Kinzer  

22:26 - Dr. Zev Garber 

50:04 - Outro

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Judaism and Jesus - https://www.amazon.com/Judaism-Jesus-Kenneth-Hanson-Garber/dp/1527555259

Dr. Mark Kinzer is Senior Scholar and President Emeritus of Messianic Jewish Theological Institute, a graduate school preparing leaders for service in the Messianic Jewish movement. Dr. Kinzer received his PhD in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan (1995), and his rabbinical ordination from the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (2001). He is author of Jerusalem Crucified, Jerusalem Risen: The Resurrected Messiah, the Jewish People, and the Land of Promise (Cascade, 2018), Postmissionary Messianic Judaism: Redefining Christian Engagement with the Jewish People (Brazos, 2005), Israel’s Messiah and the People of God: A Vision for Messianic Jewish Covenant Fidelity (Cascade, 2011), and Searching Her Own Mystery: Nostra Aetate, the Jewish People, and the Identity of the Church (Cascade, 2015). Dr. Kinzer has served on the Theology Committee of the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC) since 1996, and was a member of the subcommittees which drafted the UMJC’s Defining Messianic Judaism document (2005) and the revised UMJC Statement of Faith (2012). From: https://www.markkinzer.com/bio

Zev Garber is Professor Emeritus and Chair of Jewish Studies at Los Angeles Valley College and has served as Visiting Professor in Religious Studies at the University of California at Riverside and as President of the National Association of Professors of Hebrew (NAPH). Author of many academic articles and reviews, his book publications include Methodology in the Academic Teaching of Judaism (1986), Methodology in the Academic Teaching of the Holocaust (1988), Teaching Hebrew Language and Literature at the College Level (1991), Shoah: the Paradigmatic Genocide (1994), Perspectives on Zionism (1994), Peace, In Deed: Essays in Honor of Harry James Cargas (1998), Academic Approaches to Teaching Jewish Studies (2000), and Double Takes: Thinking and Rethinking Issues of Modern Judaism in Ancient Contexts (with Bruce Zuckerman, 2004), Shoah and Israeli Writing (2005), and The Impact of the Shoah in America and in Jewish American Life, Casden Annual, vol.6, USC ( 2008). From: https://lavc.edu/Philosophy/Zev_Garber.html

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Music: https://www.bensound.com

Traditional Jewish scholar, Dr. Kenneth Hanson and Messianic Jewish scholar, Dr. David Rudolph participate in a discussion on whether Jesus claimed to be God and the impact these readings of the New Testament have on Messianic Judaism's relationship to the broader Jewish world. This discussion took place at the 2020 Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting to interact with the ideas presented in Dr. Kenneth Hanson’s and Dr. Zev Garber’s book, Judaism and Jesus, a book analyzing the historical Jesus and Messianic Judaism.    

To support our work in strengthening the faith and identityof Jewish followers of Messiah, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate
00:00 - 1:54 - Introduction
1:54 - 21:04 - Dr. Kenneth Hanson  
21:04 - 41:25 - Dr. David Rudolph
41:25 - 42:07 - Outro  

You can also listen on our YouTube Channel

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Judaism and Jesus - https://www.amazon.com/Judaism-Jesus-Kenneth-Hanson-Garber/dp/1527555259

Dr. Hanson's YouTube channel

Dr. Rudolph's website

Music: https://www.bensound.com

One of the primary arguments a prominent Jewish counter-missionary gave us for why we should leave Messianic Judaism is that Jesus was a copy of pagan myths and never existed as a historical figure. In this final video of the three-part series, we show why this argument is historically implausible based on what our sources tell us about first-century Jewish views of paganism and the fact that the early Jesus movement was a sect within Judaism.  

To support our work in responding to counter-missionaries,you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

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Translations:  

The Wisdom of Solomon – NRSV 

1 Maccabees – NRSV 

Tacitus, Histories – https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Histories/5A*.html

Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews – William Whiston (1987)  
Dr. Isaac Oliver's dissertation - Torah Praxis after 70 C.E.: Reading Matthew and Luke-Acts as Jewish Texts 

Recommended videos:

Is Jesus a Copy of Pagan gods? Testing the Logic | Part 1 

Jesus a Copy of Pagan gods? Testing the Sources | Part 2 

Did Paul Teach Against Torah in Acts 21? Responding to Rabbi Michael Skobac  

Dr. Mike Licona, “Did the Early Christians BORROW from Pagan Myths?” 

Inspiring Philosophy, “Was Jesus a copycat Savior?”

Whaddo You Meme?? "Was Christianity Copied From Pagan Myth? (Mary Jo Sharp)" 

Mike Winger, “Jesus Wasn’t a Pagan God: Debunking Zeitgeist and Religulous”

Podcast episode: Capturing Christianity, Featuring Mary Jo Sharp 

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Music: https://www.bensound.com

One of the primary arguments a prominent Jewish counter-missionary gave us for why we should leave Messianic Judaism is that Jesus was a copy of pagan myths and never existed as a historical figure. In this second video of the three-part series, we go directly to the primary sources. Long story short, this counter-missionary is wrong about the parallels between Jesus and Osiris and Dionysus.

To support our work in responding to counter-missionaries,you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

You can also listen on our YouTube Channel

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Translations:

New Testament: ESV

2 Maccabees: NRSV

Sibylline Oracles: George W. E. Nickelsburg, Jr., Resurrection, Immortality, and Eternal Life in Intertestamental Judaism, Harvard Theological Studies 26 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972), 94.

Plutarch, Isis and Osiris: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Isis_and_Osiris*/A.html 

Recommended videos:

Dr. Mike Licona, “Did the Early Christians BORROW from Pagan Myths?” 

Inspiring Philosophy, “Was Jesus a copycat Savior?”

Whaddo You Meme?? "Was Christianity Copied From Pagan Myth? (Mary Jo Sharp)" 

Mike Winger, “Jesus Wasn’t a Pagan God: Debunking Zeitgeist and Religulous”

Podcast episode: Capturing Christianity, Featuring Mary Jo Sharp 

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Music: https://www.bensound.com

One of the primary arguments a prominent Jewish counter-missionary gave us for why we should leave Messianic Judaism is that Jesus was a copy of pagan myths and never existed as a historical figure. In this episode, we show why his argument suffers from a logical fallacy, and even if this argument were true and sound, it would mean that one of Judaism’s greatest heroes never existed. It’s a weak argument, and we as Messianic Jews should not be bothered by it.   

To support our work in responding to counter-missionaries,you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate
You can also listen on our YouTube Channel   
Follow us on Social Media:   
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Translations: 

Talmud: https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Talmud

New Testament: ESV

Recommended videos:  

Dr. Mike Licona, “Did the Early Christians BORROW from Pagan Myths?”     

Inspiring Philosophy, “Was Jesus a copycat Savior?”    

Whaddo You Meme?? "Was Christianity Copied From Pagan Myth? (Mary Jo Sharp)"   

Mike Winger, “Jesus Wasn’t a Pagan God: Debunking Zeitgeist and Religulous”  

Podcast episode: Capturing Christianity, Featuring Mary Jo Sharp 

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Music: https://www.bensound.com

Listen in as we share our story of how we navigated conversations with atheist professors, atheist and agnostic classmates, and Jewish counter-missionaries while in college! We hope you find encouragement, entertainment, and empowerment as we give you a sneak peek into parts of the journey that has led to us launching Two Messianic Jews! Enjoy! 

To support our work in responding to counter-missionaries,you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

You can listen to more content on our YouTube channel 

Follow us on Social Media:     

Facebook 

Instagram  

References mentioned in the podcast: 

*we don't endorse every view of each one of these thinkers, but they each have extremely valuable content in their libraries that have helped us tremendously* 

YouTube channel Recommendations: 

David Wood  

Mike Winger  

Inspiring Philosophy 

Whaddo You Meme?? 

Capturing Christianity 

Mike Licona 

William Lane Craig 

Frank Turek 

Book Recommendations: 

Introduction to Messianic Judaism 

David Stern - Jewish New Testament Commentary 

Case for the Resurrection in Jesus 

Music: https://bensound.com