Who is Yeshua (Jesus)?

Most people assume that Yeshua (Jesus) has nothing to do with them. Yeshua is the most Jewish of Jews: He was born in Israel to Jewish parents from King David’s royal family; He was circumcised on the eighth day; He was a rabbi who performed unparalleled miracles that brought great blessing to the nation of Israel; and He taught that He fulfilled or established, as opposed to set aside, Torah.

Even though He died nearly two thousand years ago, Yeshua was raised from the dead – He returned to life and overcame death! He is the Messiah of Israel and the Saviour of the world. He is the coming world ruler and mankind’s only true hope. He is the only one who can make us kosher (clean, fit, proper) in God’s sight because He is completely kosher in the eyes of God. He alone is the one who can enable both Jews and Gentiles to have a kosher relationship with God and with one another. Only Yeshua can give genuine peace and joy in this life and eternal life in the world to come.

Some say Isaiah 53 is about Yeshua. Is that right? (Check this PDF edition: Isaiah 53)

How does Yeshua make me kosher?

The first lines of evidence that Yeshua is the Messiah are the many prophesies in the Tenach (Old Testament) that tell us about the Messiah… and Yeshua fulfills them all:

  • The Messiah had to be born in the city of Bethlehem – Yeshua was! (See Micah 5:2; Matthew 2:1–6; Luke 2:1–20)

  • The Messiah had to come before AD 70 – Yeshua did! (See Daniel 9:24–27; Luke 1:5; Luke 2:1–7)

  • The Messiah had to be a descendant of King David’s royal line – Yeshua was! (See Jeremiah 23:5–6; Isaiah 9:6–7; Matthew 1)

  • The Messiah was to triumphantly enter Jerusalem on a donkey – Yeshua did! (See Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:1–9)

  • The Messiah was to be condemned to death even though He was perfectly innocent – Yeshua was! (See Isaiah 53:8; Matthew 27:1–2; Luke 23:1–25)

  • The Messiah would die to make atonement for the sin of Israel and the world – Yeshua did! (See Isaiah 53:5–6, 8, 10–12; Daniel 9:24–27; Zechariah 12:10; Psalm 16:10, 22; John 1:29; John 11:49–52; 1 Corinthians 15:53)

  • The Messiah would be rejected by the majority of the Jewish people – Yeshua was! (See Isaiah 53:1–3; Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 44:18; Psalm 69:22–23; John 1:11; 12:37–43; Acts 4:1–12; Romans 11:5–10)

  • The Messiah was to be raised from the dead – Yeshua was! (See Isaiah 53:12; Psalm 16:10; Matthew 28:1–10; Acts 2:22–32)

The Messiah would have an impact on all nations (see Isaiah 49:6). Yeshua has become the most influential figure in the history of mankind. He is the most famous Jew who ever lived: more famous than Abraham; more famous than Moses or King David; more famous than Freud, Spielberg, or Einstein. Because of Yeshua, the Jewish Bible has become the religious and spiritual heritage of the whole world. The love He inspired, the comfort He gave, the good He engendered, and the hope and joy He kindled, are without equal in human history. He truly has become the light of the world!

Only Yeshua has fulfilled these prophecies. No one else has come close. The probability of one person fulfilling all these prophecies by mere chance is infinitesimally small. There is only one rational conclusion: Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah!

Is there more evidence that Yeshua is the Messiah?

1) There is the evidence of the empty tomb. Both Jewish and Roman authorities admitted that his tomb was empty (see Matthew 28:11–15). All that the authorities (who were hostile to Yeshua) would have had to do to crush the Messianic movement in its infancy would have been to produce Yeshua’s body. They never did.

2) There is the evidence of the empty tomb combined with the appearances of Yeshua (see next paragraph), and that evidence is weighty. If the tomb were empty, but He never appeared to people, then the stolen body story might have stuck. If He appeared to people, but the tomb were still closed up with his body inside, then those appearances would have been mere apparitions. But together, the empty tomb and the appearances combine to validate the resurrection story.

3) There is the evidence of transformed lives. Yeshua appeared to a wide variety of Jewish people in varying conditions, circumstances, and numbers. He appeared to Miriam (John 20:11–18), to other women (Matthew 28:8–10), to Simon Peter (Luke 24:34), to two men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13–35), to 10 of the apostles (Luke 24:36–43), to all 11 apostles eight days later (John 20:24–29), and then to seven men by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1–23). Yeshua also appeared to five hundred people at once, most of who were alive and could verify the event when the New Testament was written (1 Corinthians 15:6)! Yeshua appeared to his brother Ya’akov (James) who became the leader of the Jerusalem Congregation (1 Corinthians 15:7) and to Rabbi Saul of Tarsus, who became better known as the apostle Paul (Acts 9:1–16).

Only Yeshua’s resurrection could have transformed his disciples from a frightened, de-spirited group into a fearless band that changed the course of world history within a generation. Only Yeshua’s resurrection could have transformed once-sceptical family members like Ya’akov (James) into his most ardent followers. Only Yeshua’s resurrection could have transformed someone like Saul of Tarsus, who went from being the most zealous opponent into the greatest proponent of Yeshua that the world has ever seen.

Since the first century, there have been millions of people who have claimed to have encountered the resurrected Yeshua, including some of the greatest thinkers, philosophers, and scientists. What transformed these people? Only one explanation makes sense: Yeshua’s resurrection.

If Yeshua really is the resurrected Messiah, what are the implications?

Yeshua’s resurrection is the most important event in history. His resurrection proves that He is the Messiah, since God would never allow a liar, deceiver, or false Messiah to be resurrected.

Yeshua’s resurrection sets him apart from every other religious figure. And it sets genuine Christianity and Messianic Judaism apart from all other religions and ideologies. Confucius and Buddha are still in their tombs; Mohammed is still in his grave; Marx, Lenin, and Freud are dead and buried. Only Yeshua has overcome death.

Yeshua’s resurrection is God’s seal of approval on who Yeshua is and everything that Yeshua did. As a result, we ought to pay attention to everything about him and listen to every word He ever uttered. You can trust him and his statements more than any other human being.

If we believe in Yeshua, we too can overcome death. Yeshua once said to a Jewish woman named Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26). Yeshua’s resurrection is meant to give us hope that we can overcome death.

If I believe in Yeshua, won’t I lose my Jewishness?

No you won’t! If you are Jewish, God made you a Jew – not a Gentile – and no one can ever change that. Since Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah foretold by Jewish prophets in the Jewish Scriptures, then believing in him is the most Jewish thing that you can do. Faith in Yeshua is kosher no matter what mockers may say, because truth is determined by God – not by a majority vote.

Can Yeshua make a Gentile kosher too?

If you are Gentile, Yeshua can make you kosher too! He came to reach his own Jewish people first, and God wants people from all nations to believe in Israel’s Messiah. Through him, you too can have a kosher heart and be in a right relationship with the God of Israel. It doesn’t mean that you have to become Jewish, but rather that you follow the God of the Jews!

Then what should I do?

  1. Acknowledge God’s awesome love for you.

  2. Repent of the many sins you have committed against God for which He would be justified in punishing you.

  3. Ask God to forgive you for these sins in Yeshua’s name and also for those sins you don’t know about just now.  

  4. Ask Jesus to be your Saviour, deliverer, and Lord, and ask him to fill your life with his Spirit. Ask him to make you born again. And in that moment He will do it!

  5. Believe in your heart that God raised Yeshua from the dead and verbalize it, saying “Yeshua is Lord.”


    For more information about how Yeshua can make you kosher no matter who you are, email Bob Mendelsohn, leader of Jews for Jesus in Australia.