The Jewish Gospel
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1 NASB
Son of God – Jewish orthodox rabbi Daniel Boyarin (yes, the Daniel Boyarin) wrote The Jewish Gospels, just published this year. In it he makes the claim that the gospels are thoroughly Jewish, including the idea of a divine Messiah who will suffer and die. Working from the Jewish understanding of the prophetic passage of Daniel 7, Boyarin shows that long before Yeshua was born, some elements of Judaism were already teaching about, and looking forward to, a second divine person who would fulfill the role of the Messiah. In fact, Boyarin shows that in ancient Jewish thought the title “son of God” designates a human potentate, anointed by God as king of His people, while the title “son of Man” designates a divine personage who comes to earth with the full authority of God’s throne. That’s right. I didn’t mix these up. “Son of God” is the human savior. “Son of Man” is the divine manifestation. Boyarin’s point is that both of these figures were present in Judaism from at least the 2nd century BC. Boyarin suggests that we can now perfectly understand why thousands of Jews accepted Yeshua as the prophesied Messiah. They were expecting him. The only significant difference between Judaism’s view of the Messiah and the claim of the gospels is that the gospels tell us that the Messiah has arrived. Clearly, those Jews who accepted Yeshua’s claim did not do so because they converted to a new religion called Christianity. Christianity as a separate religious system (with a separate Christology) didn’t emerge for another 200 years. The earliest followers of the good news of Yeshua were Jews, and they remained Jews while they believed Yeshua was the Jewish Messiah.
Boyarin’s book is just one more in a line of scholarly works that questions the traditionally held Christian position concerning the uniqueness of Yeshua. But Boyarin is a Jew. Other scholars such as Gage, Young, Eisenbaum, Hengel and Hegg have been in the Christian camp. Now a world-famous Jew has announced that the precursor to Trinitarian dogma and the inclusion of Torah in the Messianic community is Jewish, not Christian. “The implication of my argument,” says Boyarin, “is that Christianity hijacked not only the Old Testament but the New Testament as well by turning that thoroughly Jewish text away from its cultural origins among the Jewish communities of Palestine in the first century and making it an attack on the traditions of the Jews, traditions, I maintain, it sought to uphold and not destroy, traditions that give the narrative its richest literary and hermeneutical context.”[1] Take that to the bank!
If Boyarin is right, then Christianity has been reading the text of the New Testament from the wrong direction. If Judaism already embraced what is commonly held to be Christian-only doctrines, maybe we need to rethink the whole demarcation between Judaism and Christianity in those early centuries. Maybe “the Way” was never anything but a sect of Judaism. Maybe the Christianity that we know today isn’t what we find in “the beginning of the good news of Yeshua HaMashiach, the Anointed King.”
Topical Index: Son of God, Boyarin, Trinity, Mark 1:1
AMEN!!!!!
….and Welcome back Skip!
GOOD MORNING ALL – THEN I DON’T SEE A PROBLEM AT ALL – AGAIN THE JEWS HAVE/HAD THE TRUTH & WE ARE GRAFTED INTO THAT TRUTH – ISN’T THAT WHAT THE SCRIPTURES TEACH US – JUST MORE REASON TO REJOICE IN THE TRUTH.
MY QUESTION IS – IF THE ABOVE IS TRUE WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE OTHER JEWS THAT DIDN’T KNOW THE TRUTH – PROBABLY BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T STUDY THE TORAH… ♥ THEY DIDN’T HAVE THE REVELATION GIVEN BY THE SPIRIT… THEY WERE NOT INTIMATE BUT LEGAL – WHOOPS – DID I SAY THAT???
I found Boyarin’s book to be helpful in confirming that Yeshua was not intending to create a new religion. There was no need. Followers of Yeshua did not need to break from Judiasm. I recommend the book highly.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people
Thank you Skip for this word. I was not aware of the book, The Jewish Gospels, I will read it asap.
May I add what Myles Monroe stated in a sermon a couple of years ago. He said “Jesus is not coming today, because the scriptures say the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to all the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ has not even started to be preached yet, much less to the ends of the earth. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the Torah.”
I’ve often wondered if you could go back to the Torah reading for the time Jesus was in the synagogue reading Isaiah 61:1…(.Luke 4:14-21),it is interesting to know that this haftarah selection comes from Isaiah 61:10-63:9.
This haftarah is read on the last Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah, as the seven weeks of consolation after Tisha B’Av come to a close. This haftarah is read along with the Torah portion Nitzavim (Deuteronomy 29:9-30:20). …choose life, so that you will live…” (Deuteronomy, 30:19)
For those of you that do not follow the Torah readings, I highly suggest that you start.
Deuteronomy 29:28. The hidden things belong to the Lord, our God, but the revealed things apply to us and to our children forever: that we must fulfill all the words of this Torah.
“The only significant difference between Judaism’s view of the Messiah and the claim of the gospels is that the gospels tell us that the Messiah has arrived.”
That’s a pretty big difference isn’t it??????
Yes, it is a big deal, but think of the fact that this might be the ONLY difference. Just how does that square with our usual understanding of the Messiah? And if this is the only difference, why are the Jews not embracing Him? Could it be that we Christians have added lots of other “differences”?
You and Joh should come to Israel with Bob and me. Everyone learned a LOT about all this.
For those of us who still don’t know of THE David Boyarin even after Skip’s glowing praise of him here is another author who has this to say about him:
“Daniel Boyarin is Taubman Professor of Talmudic Culture and rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. In the foreword by Jack Miles, he is called “one of two or three greatest rabbinic scholars in the world.” I’m not qualified to assign numbers to who is or isn’t the world’s greatest Talmud scholar, but it is easy to say that Boyarin knows his Talmud better than any but maybe a few dozen people in the world.”
This is part of a good review of the book by Derek Leman of the book “The Jewish Gospels.” The article can be found here:
http://www.derekleman.com/musings/2012/03/08/review-the-jewish-gospels-by-daniel-boyarin/
Thanks, I’m young in my knowledge of the people involved in these ideas.
Michael and Arnella,
This is an answer to prayer. I’ve often wondered when God would raise up a strong orthodox Jewish leader as a bridge builder. It absolutely thrills me to see this. What exciting times we live in, what challenging times also.
Join me in lifting blessings and praise to YHWH, this is no less than a miracle!!
Dear Michael and Stella, I enjoyed the review by Derek Leman and ended up reading some of his articles on his site. This a sincere question and not to start a debate, but I’m fairly young in my journey regarding, and some of Leman’s opinions/ideas regarding Torah observance is quite disheartening for a non-Jewish believer in Messiah Yeshua, especially considering he is a Rabbi.
What does a non-Jewish believer make of Derek Leman’s stance that Torah observance is for Jewish people only? And that gentile believers in Yeshua is almost better off in church, than trying to worship our Father by living according to His Torah. From what I’ve read I got a sense that much of Leman’s negative stance against “Hebrew Root/Messianic” movement is that he feels they are very disrespectful towards Jewish people? I’m from South Africa, so I don’t know what the situation is there in the US.
But, I found Leman’s blog posts interesting, but also very contradictory in terms of what I’ve learned from people like Dr Moen and Grant Luton for instance. I don’t to start a debate regarding certain theologies, but I would like some guidance regarding the stance of people like Derek Leman towards gentile believers who follow Yeshua and want to be Torah observant.
Jaco,
Thanks for your reply and concern. When I wrote the post I didn’t know anything about the author-Derek Leman. I read his review on another site- though the link I gave directed readers to his web page. With that said, I realize I should have perhaps vetted his theology before I recommended him-lesson learned. On the other hand, after reading some of his posts I did like him well enough to subscribe to his blog and learn more- even after seeing his obvious bias against non-Jewish believers regarding Torah observance. I don’t agree with everything that everyone teaches – even Skip ( or my wife who is a long time Torah teacher and Middle Eastern lecturer), but that I believe is the “working out of your own salvation”. I’m not in America anymore so I can’t speak to the “Hebrew Root/Messianic” movement there and here in Jamaica it is almost non-existent (but being birthed). In our believing community they have “sat under”‘many teachers for the 7 or so years they have met. (I myself, am new to the community via marriage) but among the teachers they have studied under are Dwight Pryor @ The Center for Judiac ChristianStudies, Art Katz, Daniel Lancaster and Boaz Michael @ First Fruits of Zion, Tony Robinson @ Restoration of Torah, and Tom Bradford @ Torah Class.com. There are others, of course, but we have found their teachings profitable spiritually. But no matter who you choose to listen to or read you must discern by the Spirit if they, in fact, minister truth and life to your spirit. Learning to walk in Torah is still a walk of faith. In fact, I will check out Grant Luton whom you made mention of and perhaps add him to my list of “approved” teachers (but I won’t hold you accountable should I find him not to my liking or spiritually incompatible!).
One other teacher you may want to check out is Bob Gorlick; I think I’ve heard Skip refer to him as “his Rabbi” who also co-leads tours to Israel with him. Maybe one reason I like buffets in both restaurants and spiritual teachings is the variety and choice. Viva la choice. Best regards, Michael
Dear Michael, thanks for your reply and list of names of people/teachers to check out. And I agree with you, variety is good and a different opinion isn’t always a bad thing… in fact, I believe it’s a very good thing and helps one grow in your spiritual life. I’ve seen Skips’ “Lesson’s from Israel” DVD set with Bob and really enjoyed what he had to say there.
Regarding Derek Leman, I really hope you didn’t see my post as an accusation or that I wanted to hold you accountable for it. That was definitely not my intention! Reading Rabbi Leman’s blog (and I agree, he has some really interesting articles and points of view), reading it was the first time I actually encountered his particular point of view regarding Torah observance for non-Jewish believers. It came as a bit of a surprise, but I think having encountered it and spend some time studying it, I believe it actually strengthened where I stand spiritually at the moment. Which is good.
But, if you felt that I accused you or wanted to hold you accountable for giving a link to his website – I really am sorry. It wasn’t my intention at all.
Have a great day!
Jaco, Thanks again for your reply. No, I didn’t feel accused or held libel. Sometimes I wonder if English isn’t my second language and misunderstanding my native tongue! I apologize for the undertone. On a positive note I did read some of Grant Luton on his website last night and was impressed. I especially enjoyed reading the free chapter of his book about the Hebrew alaph-bet. My wife is a Hebrew teacher and I am going to share it with her to see if she would want to incorporate any of the ideas he presented to her students. Again, I add a disclaimer to my opinions, likes and dislikes. As Skip pointed out the FFOZ brethren hold to a two Torah interpretation that neither Skip nor Bob G. agree. For the record nor do I. In fact, it’s as if my wife has to restrain me from converting to Hasidism! (any one want to buy a set of used tefillin?) But I’m glad we have the liberty on this site to share openly, not only our positions and opinions, but alas, also our foibles. Michael
As my readers know, I am not an exponent of the “two Torahs” view. On this point, Boaz and I disagree. I see no cultural or Scriptural basis for this view and I believe that those who use Acts 15 as the basis of this argument ignore the cultural setting of that council. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t find enormous value in the work of FFOZ nor does it mean that Boaz and I don’t share a common love for the Lord and for His children. We just disagree over this exegesis. I am in the Tim Hegg camp on this one. Bob Gorelik shares the same view. But we all read each other with great benefit.
Dear Skip, thx for your comment. I spent the past weekend just reading anything I could get my hands on from both “camps”, and I have to agree that both camps do share a common love for the Lord and His children. I also have to agree that having read both sides’ point of view has given me a greater understanding and appreciation not only for both views, but has benefited me in my own faith and understanding.
On a personal note: I would like to thank you for your amazing teaching. My mom has bought and downloaded basically all your books and audio teachings and I’ve had the privilege over the past two and a bit years to listen to most of them. They have been a tremendous blessing to me and has helped lay a solid foundation on which to live a life obedient to G-d’s Torah. I will continue listening to you. It’s a great honor.
As a testimony: My parents started on the “Torah Observant Road” (for a lack of a better term) quite a few years ago. They go away quite often and I decided one time that I am going to take the stuff they listen to and read and then prove that this “new religion” they were following wrong. The first set of audio files I decided to listen to, just happen to be your “Living a Biblical World View”. Needles to say that when they returned I “joined their new religion”. Thank you for being faithful to G-d, because He used you to draw me more close to Him than I ever thought was possible. The journey has been amazing. Next time you are in Cape Town, I’ll come and introduce myself.
I may be in Cape Town soon – Sept or Oct. Look forward to seeing you.
In order to come to a greater under between ourselves (the jew and the goy) I would like to share my “perceptions” concerning what I as a Christian believe concerning Israel. I realize and recognize I am but a small cog in a very large wheel, but nontheless I’ll “let you in” on what one follower of Christ believes concerning the Jew.
My jumping off (and jumping in) place, I love the Jew. All of them. From Abraham and ever since the Jews are and ever will be G-d’s chosen people. G- speaks through the Jew as He speaks through no other. Yeshua is a Jew. Please, friends, do notice, I said “is” a Jew. Not was, for you see this Savior, this Deliver, this Messiah, son of G-d and G-d the Son has come, did die and did rise from the dead three days after He was cruelly and unjustly crucified.
Who crucified the Christ? I can guarantee you an answer. Was it the Jew? No. Was it the Gentile? No. – It was me! My sins nailed Him to the cross. It was my sin that held Him there, until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life- I know that it is finished.
Does a Jew need to be saved? Yes. Assuredly so. And a Gentile? Absolutely so. Why? Because we have determined that Jew and Gentile (both!) are all under the Law. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. How are we going to be determined guilty even we don’t even know the crimes we have committed? Enter the Law. Sin is the transgression of the Law. I had not know sin apart from the Law.
The purpose of the Law? – to establish our need of a Savior. Sorry dear friend- but there is only ONE perfect man (or woman) ever to have lived and we all know His Name. ~ We have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin ~ (Romans 3.19)
We do have something in common with each other!.. – we are all sinners! Whether educated, cultured, coiffed, we all are in the same boat and that boat is the state of our fallen selves. We may say with the Gentile or Jew- “all have sinned and come short of the glory of G-d.” – (just the facts!)
Our humanity ties us together, and we have a common Creator. We all, Jew and Gentile are descended from the original pair and all share one common blood.
So, what will unite Jew and Gentile together? I know beyond knowing, it is the tslav, the execution stake, the cross of Christ. This is where sinful man meets holy G-d and this is the place where man is reconciled with his Father and with his brother. We pray to the very same Giver of Life, and His prayer is that we become one. One in purpose and one in praise. When I sing “praise God from whom all blessings flow”- I am singing to the very same God David sang to on the hills of Judea millennia ago!
In this, I believe as Augustine: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity”
The usual focus of Christian doctrine is on the death (the cross) of Yeshua. Even a cursory look at the Church shows overwhelming attention to the cross, in architecture and doctrine. But this is not the focus of Judaism, not in our contemporary world or in the world of the first century. As Heschel once noted, “Christianity is a religion of death. Judaism is a religion of life.” Therefore, the cross cannot be the bridge between Jew and Christian. To place the emphasis on this symbol of death is to deny the power of Torah, instructions which are all about how to LIVE in this world, not how to die to get to the next. While it may be true that reconciliation is accomplished in the death of the Messiah, it is the resurrection that turns the tide. And resurrection is about new LIFE, not death. I suggest that we leave the cross where it belongs, on Golgotha, and put our attention on the LIFE that results from the removal of guilt – a life of Torah obedience. By the way, when Gentiles embrace Torah, they demonstrate the Jews that the GOd of Israel is their God too (see Ruth).
Agreed, Skip. Is this not what Sha’ul said (or inferred) in Rom 10 and 11 when he speaks about the obedience (faith) of (those who were once) gentiles provoking Israel to jealousy?
[Incidentally, while checking my references for this I made an interesting discovery about Romans 10:17 and a significant difference in reading between the TR and the Morphological GNT (based on NA27) which profoundly alters the meaning and gives a noticeable post-Jewish Christian bias to the meaning of the verse. That might be worth an article in itself.]
Yes, you probably noticed that the TR says “through the word of God” while the Westcott-Hort NA says “through the word of Christ.” That’s quite interesting, since the TR is the basis of KJV and influenced the Christian community for centuries. It would be even more interesting to trace the textual criticism of this verse in the fragments, something I will attend to when I get home. We might wonder what the implications are if we substitute “God” for “Christ”?
I wrote about this some time ago.
https://skipmoen.com/tag/romans-1017/
You can also review the textual criticism here
http://www.jeffriddle.net/2011/08/text-note-romans-1017-word-of-god-or.html
It seems to me that this change does reflect the early Church’s attempt to move toward a Christology as the defining element of the faith. This, of course, pushes the replacement agenda. It is astounding that most Christians today have no idea about these changes, especially since the changes were quite controversial at the time.
Thanks for the links, Skip. If I understand him correctly Jeff Riddle is of the opinion that διὰ ῥήματος Χριστοῦ is the later reading and διὰ ῥήματος Θεοῦ is the earlier. I agree, if this is the case, that the change of “word of God” to “word of Christ” does push the replacement agenda (which was my first instinct when I noticed the difference between TR and NA27).
The “Word of God” is a phrase commonly used throughout scripture and in the cultural and temporal context clearly refers to the Tanakh (and, depending on the context more specifically the Torah and/or the Prophets). The “Word of Christ” on the other hand could be understood to refer to the spoken words of Yeshua, which some like to claim supersede and replace the “Old Testament” as the source of wisdom and instruction for living – a position that is clearly not biblical and in direct violation of the instructions given through Moses.
As to why most Christians are ignorant about these types of textual issues, I think the phrase is “willfully ignorant”. They just don’t bother to dig in for themselves, to ask questions, to think about what they’re reading (if, in fact, they read it at all). It is too easy to simply trust the pastor/minister (who, after all, has spent years studying in Bible college or seminary) to do the work for them and just lap up the milk each Sunday. Been there, done that. You can’t live on milk forever. There are way too many “welfare” churches that are too busy handing out free “meals” and never teaching people to feed themselves (speaking metaphorically of teaching the scriptures, of course).
~~The usual focus of Christian doctrine is on the death (the cross) of Yeshua.~~
Oh hallelujah Brother Skip! (my hear skipped a beat when I read this!) NO! NO! (and NO!)- The focus of Christian doctrine is not on the cross- it is upon the ONE who died upon the cross- (died?yes! – but please, look again. Take another look and this time- take a good look. The cross is no more and the tomb is empty! – Our focus is the gospel (good news) of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus (who is the) Christ, our RISEN Savior!-
A religion of death? Not a chance! For you see, dear brother.. listen… listen intently… The tomb is empty! The ONE we crucified is not dead, for He has RISEN- (just as He said…)
Buddha? dead. Mohammed? dead and gone. Yeshua HaMashiach? Jesus (who is the) Anointed? Alive, alive! Alive Hallelujah! Alive forever! -amen! We (all) serve a risen Savior!!
Come with me to the empty tomb and let us peer inside! Where’s the body? and who rolled the stone away?
The gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ is His birth-life-death and resurrection! But dearest friend and most excellent brother, – the gospel is all about Him. The Bible is our Him-book, the self-revelation of the G-d/man, the union of two houses- the human and the divine, Jesus (who is the) Christ. The promised Messiah has come. From shadow to substance, from darkness to light- from that which is concealed to that which is revealed- The master theme of the book God wrote is “behold the (very Jewish!) Passover Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world.” God’s words to His people and His promise is this: ~ The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt ~ (Exodus 12.13) “when I see the blood,- I will pass over you.”
Baptism is a symbol of death. This much is true. But we are not baptized (immersed) to stay under, for we have been “raised to walk in newness of life!” His words are (to whoever has ears to hear)- I AM come that you might have life!- Does this appear (at all) to anyone to be a religion of death?
I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.
I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good.
LORD, how Thy wonders are displayed, where’er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.
There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou, God art present there.
~ Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I AM with you always, even to the end of the age ~ (Matthew 28.20)
I MUST interject a hallelujah here !
Indeed the risen JESUS is the focus of my Christianity.
Risen Jewish Jesus I add, I love all the Jewish people because of my Savior
Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.
Crown Him the virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born,
Whose arm those crimson trophies won which now His brow adorn;
Fruit of the mystic rose, as of that rose the stem;
The root whence mercy ever flows, the Babe of Bethlehem.
Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where He hath trod, crown Him the Son of Man;
Who every grief hath known that wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, that all in Him may rest.
Crown Him the LORD of life, who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.
Crown Him the LORD of peace, whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round His piercèd feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.
Crown Him the LORD of love, behold His hands and side,
Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
No angel in the sky can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye at mysteries so bright.
Crown Him the LORD of Heaven, enthroned in worlds above,
Crown Him the King to Whom is given the wondrous name of Love.
Crown Him with many crowns, as thrones before Him fall;
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns, for He is King of all.
Crown Him the LORD of lords, who over all doth reign,
Who once on earth, the incarnate Word, for ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light, where saints with angels sing
Their songs before Him day and night, their God, Redeemer, King.
Crown Him the LORD of years, the Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.