This is a published course made available without copyright by local church pastors for churches like ours. It has been revised and taught by us for use and in our church. Read the handout notes below.

I. UNDERSTANDING JUDAISM

A. History

1. After the Old Testament

2. From 70 AD to Today

B. Major Movements

1. Orthodox: Hoping in the Law.

2. Conservative: Religious but Modern.

3. Reform: Hoping in this Life.

C. Putting It All Together

II. BIBLICAL THEMES TO USE IN EVANGELISM

A. The Coming King: The goal here is to show that the Messianic hope is central to the Torah, and that Jesus fulfills that hope.

• Genesis 3:15: God tells Satan that an offspring of Eve will bruise his head. The whole rest of the book of Genesis is asking the question, who will that offspring be?

• We learn in Genesis 12:1-3 that it is through Abraham’s descendants that God will bless all the families of the earth.

• Then in Genesis 17:5-7, God tells Abraham that kings will come from his line. It seems that the promised offspring of Genesis 3:15 will be a royal figure.

• That leads us to Genesis 49:10, where Jacob is blessing his twelve sons. He prophesies to Judah that a forever King will come from his future offspring, whom all nations on the earth obey!

• This prophesy is reinforced in Numbers 24:17-19, where similar language is used to describe the coming King as a star and scepter who rises from Israel and exercises dominion.

• In Deuteronomy 17:18-20 we learn that the king of Israel should write a copy of the whole Torah for himself so he can live by it. It seems that Israel’s hope is supposed to be in a King who fully obeys the law of God!

• Jewish folks may not be used to the idea of seeing a Messianic figure in the Torah. They associate these books with language of law, not language of a coming King.

• So it may be useful to show that all of this language about a ruler with universal dominion gets picked up in one of the most famous Messianic prophecies, the vision of the Son of Man in Daniel 7:13-14 who ascends next to God to be given everlasting dominion, glory, and kingdom.

• From here, it may be useful to study the first couple of chapters of Matthew to see how Jesus’ genealogy gets traced back to David, Judah, and Abraham, and to see the Magi come to pay him tribute as was predicted in Genesis 49.

B. God’s Provision of Forgiveness: But we also know that the Messiah did not only come to be Israel’s great king, but also to provide lasting forgiveness for those who repent and believe.

• A good place to start is Exodus 34:6, where we learn that God is merciful and gracious, but he doesn’t leave the guilty unpunished. How can he be both forgiving and just?

• As your Jewish friend probably well knows, in the Torah God answers that question by providing the sacrifices we see described in Leviticus. Read Leviticus 16 with your Jewish friend to see how atonement needed to be made every year due to the people’s constant sin.

• Then go on to Lev 17:11 to see God’s ordained way for accomplishing forgiveness: through the death of an innocent.

• That should remind your Jewish friend of the Passover lamb, described in Exodus 12-13. When God’s angel would see the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of the Jews, he would pass over their homes and spare their sons from death. The important thing to see here is that God established Passover as a yearly holiday so the Jews would not forget this image. It’s an image of substitution: the lamb dies in the place of someone else.

• These concepts prepare you well to bring up passages like John 1:29, where John the Baptist says “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”

• Or even better, to do a study of Hebrews 7-10 which explains how Jesus fulfills all the Old Testament sacrifices.

C. Messianic Prophesies: Of course, the Messianic hope in the Hebrew Bible only becomes clearer throughout salvation history, so you’ll want to explore some key prophecies from the writings and prophets with your Jewish friend too.

• Micah 5:2 says the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. That would be very hard for a false Messiah to achieve since you can’t decide where you’re born!

• See 2 Samuel 7:12-17 for God’s promise to David that one of his sons would reign forever.

• Zechariah 9:9-10 predicts the Messiah’s entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey, which Jesus fulfilled.

• Psalm 22 previews the Messiah’s suffering on the cross, including the mocking of passersby (22:7), Jesus’ thirst (22:15), the dividing of his garments (22:18), and the piercing of his hands and feet (22:16).

• Psalm 16:10 foretells how the Messiah would not forever be abandoned to death. Peter uses this text in Acts 2 to show that Christ’s resurrection was predicted by God.

• Finally, the crown jewel of Old Testament prophesies must be Isaiah 53 of the suffering Servant who would be pierced for the transgressions of sinners.

D. Studying the Gospels: At this point we see why it’s so important for our Jewish neighbors to learn about Jesus himself, from the gospels—the writings of the Jews who followed him and knew him.

• See in Matthew 1:23 that Jesus came to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy about a son named Immanuel, or “God with us.”

• See in Matthew 9:6 that Jesus has authority to forgive sins—and all the rabbis knew that only God alone can do that.

• In the same vein, look at all the divine prerogatives Jesus exercises in Matthew, through his authority over nature (8:26-27), over demons (8:29-32), over disease (9:22), even over death (9:25).

• Then note the reason Jesus said he would die, in Matthew 26:28—to establish the New Covenant and offer forgiveness of sins.

III. ANSWERING COMMON QUESTIONS

A. The first is a Theological question: Where Was God during the Holocaust?

1) First, it’s important to listen and empathize with the pain many Jews feel having lost relatives in such a heinous manner.

2) God hates evil and will judge all those who have committed terrible atrocities and don’t repent.

3) God works good through man’s sin even if we can’t comprehend how.

4) Jesus has tasted unjust suffering and so he has compassion for all who have suffered unjustly.

B. The second is a Cultural and Historical question: Isn’t Christianity Anti-Semitic?

1) We should acknowledge that hurtful things have been done by so-called “Christians,” but explain that these actions are contrary to God’s Word, not consistent with it.

2) We should point out the Jewish foundation of our faith. Paul says that Gentiles are like a wild plant grafted into the “nourishing root of the olive tree” of the Jewish people of God (Rom 11:17).

C. Finally, Jews considering Christ may have a deeply Personal question: If I Believe in Jesus, Will I Stop Being Jewish?

1) Sadly, opposition to Jesus as Messiah has become so characteristic of Judaism that many think if they accept Christ then they won’t be Jewish any more.

2) Still, we have to help our Jewish friends count the cost.