Christians follow a Jewish Messiah

What you need to know:
- Over the course of time some Christians broke away from the Church that Jesus founded, and so the name Catholic (universal) was needed to distinguish this Church from the ones that broke off from it.
Convert All things considered, Joanna Wischer, growing up as a Jew who would also become Catholic, says allowed her to experience the fullness of both the Old and New Testaments in the Bible throughout her life.
And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17).
God chose the Jewish people to bear the Messiah (saviour) of entire humanity.
At the age of 30, Jesus was inaugurated as the promised Messiah by God, when John baptised Him in River Jordan.
Paradoxically, many ethnically Jewish people did not recognise Him, and so did not accept Christianity as the completed form of Judaism.
Jesus is still rejected in Judaism as a failed Jewish messiah claimant and a false prophet by all mainstream Jewish denominations. Judaism rejects the claim that Jesus was divine.
Jews believe the Messiah will be a direct (blood) descendant of King David through Solomon on his father's side and will be born naturally to a husband and wife.
Jesus annoyed the Jews by claiming to have existed before their great ancestor Abraham. He claimed to be greater than the Temple, which was regarded as the symbol of Judaism and presence of God (Matthew 12:6).
The term Jew is used in at least two senses in Scripture. It refers to those who are ethnically Jews and to those who are religiously Jews. Jesus was a Jew in both senses.
Jesus claimed to have come, not to destroy, but to complete the Jewish religion by serving as the Messiah (Christ) whom the prophets had long foretold.
The completed form of the Jewish religion is known as Christianity, and its adherents are Christians or “followers of the Christ.” Christianity is open to people of all ethnic groups, not just the Jews.
After Christ’s ascension to heaven, the apostles began to make many Gentile converts to the Christian faith. Hence, being Jewish or Gentile, just like being male or female, has no bearing on God’s love for a person or His desire they be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
St. Paul, formerly a staunch Pharisee and persecutor of Christians, but converted and became a special apostle to the Gentiles, believed there is coming a day when the whole ethnic group of Israel will be saved by trusting in Jesus (Romans 11:26). By 2022 only about 1.9% of the Jewish population were Christians.
Joanna Wischer, Jewish by blood, officially became a Catholic on February 18, 2022.
She views her conversion to knowing the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, as the total embrace and culmination of her Jewish faith.
She was able to discern that this was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures.
“Without my Jewish background, I do not think I’d comprehend as deeply the significance of Jesus Christ, His divinity, and the Church He established for mankind…. By entering the Catholic Church, I did not stop being Jewish … I became more Jewish than ever, because I became a Jew who is following the Jewish Messiah, rather than a Jew who refuses, essentially, to follow the Jewish Messiah and is stuck in pre-Messianic Judaism.” she testifies.
In narrating her journey from Judaism to Christianity, Joanna says she had a strong desire to experience an intimate relationship with God, which she didn’t have yet.
It was after following a homily during a Christmas midnight Mass by Cardinal Dolan of New York, that her life changed forever. She learned that Jesus Christ loves us so ”scandalously” that He happily paid for all of humanity’s sins by His ultimate sacrifice on the cross. She delved deep into Church history and the true meaning of the sacraments Christ gave us, and committed herself to a life with Christ.
Unfortunately, over the course of time some Christians broke away from the Church that Jesus founded, and so the name Catholic (universal) was needed to distinguish this Church from the ones that broke off from it.
These divisions are causing similar confusion and scandal among Christians, just like the divisions in Judaism caused confusion and scandal among Jews. Jesus prayed for unity of His Church, that all may believe in His Messianic mission (John 17:21-23).