the messianic synagogue

yesterday [saturday/the sabbath] whitney and i went with our friend mark to a traditional messianic synagogue. the synagogue is held in a small converted apartment with only about fifty people in the congregation. it is completely traditional in every way, except for one big one, they believe that Jesus is the messiah! wooh! needless to say, it was amazing. a bunch of guys stand up in front surrounding a hand written hebrew torah scroll while one reads outloud to the congregation just like it mentions Jesus doing in luke chapter four.

[luke chapter 4:16-20]

16He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. 17The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

20Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

the service was so amazing because as jews these believers are the context for the scripture. and with that first hand understanding of the hebrew language and the jewish culture they teach so accurately. the entire service is spoken in hebrew though the teaching translated for those who need it. it's everything i imagine the early fellowship of jewish believers being. because of my life in america with western christianity with an english bible i sometimes think that the gentiles are the original believers and the jews will one day join in, but after yesterdays service i realized how backwards that thinking is. in acts chapter ten it is a shock to peter that salvation through Jesus is not only for the jews but the gentiles as well; and that the holy spirit would come to the gentiles! these are people they didn't even associate with, much less fellowship with.

now mind you, these messianic jewish believers are not the ones walking around with black coats and black hats [a later tradition of the very conservative orthodox jews, not from the torah], nor will you see them worshiping at the western wall, at least i don't think you would because they have the holy spirit and have no need for a physical temple with no need to make sacrifices [the jews worship at the western wall because it's the side of the temple mount that allows them to get the closest to where their temple once stood]. these messianic believers are jews who are not bound by the law, nor are they slaves to the sabbath, but free as Jesus says in mark.

[mark 2:27]
27Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

the service consisted of torah reading, singing from the psalms, and a teaching from the old testament, the prophets, and the new testament. whitney and i both loved the singing; all acapella lead by a man with a powerful operatic voice, and everyone in the synagogue faced forward while they sang, including the leaders.

one of the most amazing things to me was to see jewish people, a stereotypically stubborn and independent people, totally humbled before their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.