Transcript:

What if I told you that every time you pray… you’re speaking to a Jewish Messiah?

And every time you open your Bible… you’re reading a Jewish book?

In this message, “Exploring the Jewish Roots of Christianity,” we uncover a truth that many believers have overlooked—that the Gospel didn’t replace Israel, it flows through Israel. 

From the promises given to Abraham, to the prophets, to Jesus Himself—our faith is deeply, beautifully, and unavoidably Jewish.

If we truly want to know Jesus… we must rediscover Him as He really is—Yeshua the Jew, the Messiah of Israel and the Saviour of the world.

Hi, I’m Rabbi Lawrence Hirsch. I am the rabbi at Beit HaMashiach, or “House of the Messiah”, in Melbourne, Australia, and I’m also the Executive Director of Celebrate Messiah. 

Today I would like to explore with you the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. 

Exploring the Jewish Roots of Christianity

In my previous video, we explored the Jewishness of Jesus and I said that we need to remember that Jesus was 100% God and 100% human. 

Yes, I believe that Yeshua was God in the flesh, Immanuel, God with us, the Messiah, the Son of God. He was 100% God. 

But he was also 100% human. In his incarnation, the Messiah came to this earth as a Jew in fulfilment of God’s promised to the Jewish people in the Jewish Scriptures. 

He was born “king of the Jews” and he died, “King of the Jews.” And the same Yeshua is returning as King of the whole world. 

Remember what the angel said to the disciples witnessing the Ascension:

“…Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”” (Acts 1:11, ESV) 

Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah sitting on the throne at the right hand of God right now and one day he will return. And we long for that day as the world is in turmoil right now. 

Dear friends, if you really want to get to know a person you need to find out not only who they are (their name, their job and where they live, where they were born), but you also need to find out about their family (family name, where do they come from, family history etc) and to know even more about this family you will need to learn about their ethnicity, culture, customs and traditions. 

In the same way, if you want to get to know Yeshua better, you need to get to know his family, his culture and his traditions. The more you know about his family, the more you will know about Him. 

So, not only do we need to understand the Jewishness of Yeshua, but we must also understand that the nation of Israel, the Jewish people, were God’s vehicle of revelation of himself to mankind. 

Yeshua, explaining this to the Samaritan woman at the well said, in a rather politically incorrect manner; 

“You [Samaritans] worship what you do not know; we [Jews] worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.” (John 4:22, ESV) 

“Salvation is from the Jews.” This was certainly a provocative statement given that there was great historical enmity between Jews and Samaritans. But Yeshua must have thought it was important for this Samaritan woman to know as she engaged in a conversation with the Messiah. 

The revelation of God to humanity came through the Jewish people and we do well to remember that today in the current climate with an increase in anti-Jewish sentiment. 

Let us now explore what Rabbi Sha’ul – the Apostle Paul had to say on the Jewish roots of Christianity. 

Talk about the Jewishness of Rabbi Sha’ul of Tarsus…

The Gospel is Good New for Jews

Romans 1:1–3 (ESV) 

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 

Paul affirms that the Gospel he preached was promised by the Jewish prophets in the Jewish Scriptures and therefore, the Gospel is good news for the Jews. In fact, Paul says in Romans 1:16:

Romans 1:16 (ESV) 

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 

Sadly, the Gospel has not always been preached as good news for the Jews…

• Early Christianity…
• The Crusaders
• The Spanish Inquisition 

And in various eras—especially from the 4th century onward, after Christianity became aligned with the Roman Empire—baptism of Jewish converts was often accompanied by expectations such as:

• Taking a new (non-Jewish/Christian) name
• Renouncing Jewish practices (e.g., Shabbat observance, circumcision, festivals like Passover)
• Abandoning dietary laws (kashrut)
• Severing or limiting association with the Jewish community

• In some cases, these expectations were embedded in formal baptismal formulas or catechisms, while in others they were enforced socially or ecclesiastically.

In this way, the Gospel was, tragically, not experienced as good news by many Jewish people. And yet, the Gospel is proclaimed as “to the Jew first”—a truth that is not only historical in its unfolding, but foundational in its very nature. 

It speaks to God’s enduring covenantal priority, and calls us to recover a Gospel that is once again recognisable as truly good news for the Jewish people.

The Gospel is not only truly relevant to the Jewish people first, but the Gospel also came into the world through the Jewish people.

The Gospel Came Through the Jews

In speaking about the Jewish people in Romans 9:4-5 Paul says:

Romans 9:4–5 (ESV) 

4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. 

Here Paul lists 8 spiritual privileges (by my count) which belonged to the people of Israel as God’s Chosen Nation. 

1. The adoption (they are the Chosen People)
2. The glory (God’s glorious revelation of himself)
3. The covenants (several covenants that we made only with Israel and the Jewish people…)
4. The giving of the Law
5. The worship
6. The promises
7. The patriarchs 
8. The Messiah

These 8 provisions of God are the foundations, the Jewish roots of Christianity. Put in another way – what would Christianity be like without the Bible or Jesus?

I would like to put this also in another way, a more emotive concept:

Rabbi Sha’ul said;

“…and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Messiah, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.” (Romans 9:5, ESV) 

Yes, Yeshua was Jewish but have you ever thought about the fact that the blood that saves you, the blood that was shed for you, was Jewish blood? Yeshua’s mother was the young Jewish woman, Miriam, conceived through the Holy Spirit.

Where would we all be without the shed blood of Yeshua the Messiah?

Israel and the Church 

In Romans 11:1-2 Paul asks a question that has been asked time and time again throughout history. Is God through with the Jews? In other words, has God rejected the Jewish people? Paul not only asks the question, but also gives us the answer. 

Romans 11:1–2 (ESV) 

1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? 

When the Jewish people rejected Jesus as the Messiah, God did not reject them as his ancient covenant people. God is a faithful God and it is impossible for him to reject a covenant people. 

And even though salvation can only come through Yeshua through the New Covenant, God’s ancient covenant with Israel and the Jewish people through Abraham remains intact today.

The Church is built upon Jewish foundations…

So, how do the Gentiles fit into God’s plan of salvation? In Romans 11:11, Paul asks another question:

Romans 11:11 (ESV) 

11 So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. 

Salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel spiritually jealous. 

I assume tonight that I am speaking mostly to non-Jewish people. Did you know that your God-given calling is to make Jewish people spiritually envious for what you have in Jesus? When last did you make a Jewish person spiritually jealous?

How do you do that? It is through your life, more than it is through your words. You should be living your faith in is such a way that Jewish people will want what you have. Now, that’s a challenge.

As we continue in Romans chapter 11, Paul presents us with a picture of an Olive Tree. The Olive Tree represents the Kingdom of God. The root of the Olive Tree is God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The original branches are the Jewish people. Paul explains that some of the original branches were broken off out of the tree because of their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah and that a Wild Olive shoot was grafted in (representing the Gentiles) to share in the nourishing sap of the Olive root. 

Then he gives the Wild Olive shoots a serious admonition: 

Romans 11:17–18 (ESV) 

17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, 18 do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. 

This is a strong encouragement from the Apostle Paul to the Gentile Church to be in right relationship with the Jewish people and spiritually connected to God’s revelation to the people of Israel – the Jewish roots of the Christian faith. 

The Gospel came to this world through the Jewish people. They were the first to hear it and they were the first to reject it. No matter how hard it is for us to understand, that was all part of God’s plan of salvation. The original branches were broken off so you, a Wild Olive Shoot could be grafted in. Your calling is now to make Israel envious. 

Yet, Paul tells us that God has a plan to graft the original branches back in again into their own olive tree.

Romans 11:23–24 (ESV) 

23 And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree. 

The task of Jewish evangelism is to present the Gospel to Jewish people so that they can recognise their own Olive Tree and come to faith in their own Messiah. 

When the Gospel is presented in a culturally sensitive and relevant way – Jewish people are able to be grafted back in again. 

And that is what the work of Chosen People Global Ministries and Celebrate Messiah is all about and that is what I what to encourage you… “God has the power to graft them in again.”

God is a great God and has a wonderful plan of salvation for the whole world. No wonder Paul concluded this section of his letter to the Romans with these words:

Romans 11:33–36 (ESV) 

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. 

 Thank you for joining me in exploring the Jewish roots of our faith.

My prayer is that this message not only deepens your understanding of Scripture, but also stirs your heart with love and gratitude—for the Jewish Messiah, for the Jewish Scriptures, and for the Jewish people through whom salvation has come to the world.

As Rabbi Sha’ul reminds us,

“it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.”

So may we walk in humility… live in a way that reflects the beauty of Messiah… and be a people who provoke Israel to jealousy through lives filled with faith, love, and truth.

If this message has encouraged you, I invite you to share it, subscribe, and partner with us at Celebrate Messiah Australia as we continue “Bringing the Message to the Original Messengers.”

Shalom… and may the God of Israel bless you richly.