Messianic Jews vs Christians: Are Messianic Jews Jewish?

The main Messianic Jewish bodies confess the same God and the same Messiah as Trinitarian Christians, but they keep a Jewish identity and many Messianic Jews reject the label “Christian.” Mainstream Jewish bodies, most American Jews, and Israel’s Supreme Court treat belief in Jesus as membership in another religion.

Key Points

• The IAMCS says Jewish people who believe in Yeshua “continue to be Jewish according to the Scriptures.” (1)
• A study in the Marburg Journal of Religion says, “Messianic Jews assiduously reject the label ‘Christian’ and the idea that they have converted.” (4)
• In a 2013 Pew survey, 60% of U.S. Jews said a person cannot be Jewish if he or she believes Jesus was the Messiah, and 34% said a person can. (5)
• An Anti-Defamation League rabbi told Christianity Today there is “pretty much a consensus that professing belief in Jesus places one outside of the Jewish community.” (6)
• In Beresford v. Minister of the Interior (1989), Israel’s Supreme Court denied two Messianic Jews immigration under the Law of Return. (7) (11)

What Messianic Jews Say About Their Identity

The UMJC says “Messianic Jewish groups must be fully part of the Jewish people, sharing its history and its covenantal responsibility.” (2) It also says the Messianic Jewish community and the Christian Church together are “the one Body of Messiah.” (2) Jews for Jesus says the Church is “an elect people in accordance with the New Covenant, comprising both Jews and Gentiles.” (3)

For these bodies, the difference from a church is identity and practice, not the creed. They confess the Trinity, as Do Messianic Jews Believe in the Trinity? quotes. They keep the Jewish holy days and, in the UMJC’s words, a Jewish life “rooted in Torah, expressed in tradition.” (1) (2)

How Mainstream Judaism Views the Movement

Pew’s 2013 survey of U.S. Jews found that believing Jesus was the Messiah was “the only clear no-no.” Pew did not count Messianic Jews in its main Jewish population. (5) The UMJC cites the same 34% figure. (8)

Rabbi David Fox Sandmel of the Anti-Defamation League told Christianity Today that “Jewish institutions unequivocally reject Jewish Christians,” while “core Jewish identity is irrevocable.” (6) The Marburg study says the rejection is “not primarily an issue of belief.” (4)

How Israeli Law Treats Messianic Jews

Section 4B of the Law of Return defines a Jew as “a person who was born of a Jewish mother or converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion.” (11) Gary and Shirley Beresford, born Jewish, believed in Jesus as Messiah and belonged to the “Messianic Jews.” The Encyclopaedia Judaica entry, co-written by Menachem Elon, who wrote the lead opinion, says the court “ruled that, nowadays, faith in Jesus constituted rejection of Judaism.” (11) The judgment, given December 25, 1989, dismissed their petition for immigrant visas. (7)

How This Site Evaluates It

This site’s question is the creed, not ethnicity. The Messianic Jewish bodies quoted here confess one God in three persons and Jesus as God, so this site lists them with Trinitarian Christianity. Paul, a Jew who believed in Jesus, asked, “Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite” in Romans 11:1Romans 11:1 · King James VersionI say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.Romans 11:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source. (9) Who counts as a Jew under Jewish or Israeli law is decided by those bodies, and this page reports their rulings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are There Messianic Jews in Israel?

Yes. The MJAA says its international alliance supports national Messianic Jewish alliances in fifteen countries, “including Israel.” (10)

Can Messianic Jews Make Aliyah?

Not under the Law of Return, according to the 1989 Beresford ruling, which treated faith in Jesus as membership in another religion. (7) (11)

Can Messianic Jews Marry Christians?

None of the statements quoted here forbids it. The UMJC and the IAMCS both describe Jewish and Gentile believers as one body. (1) (2)

Keep Reading

• What Is Messianic Judaism?
• What Is the Difference Between Judaism and Christianity?
• Messianic Judaism vs Hebrew Roots